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WORLD WAR ONE

The Men Who Died

WORLD WAR ONE

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He is immediately assigned to the Royal Engineers, where his mining expertise will be of value to the tunnellers.

He was killed in August 1916 by a sniper's bullet whilst above ground repairing some works. His wife, who had been living in miners’ accommodation is evicted and has to return to live with her family in Brecon.

James and Margaret had 6 children, 5 girls and a boy, and a number remained in Brecon to continue a Morris line, as well as Simpsons, Keddles and Allens.

Margaret Florence remained in The Struet until her death in 1956 and was fondly known as Aunty Flo to street residents.

Sapper James Morris

Royal Engineers, 257th Tunnelling Company,

service no. 158273

Killed in action August 8th, 1916, aged 43

Buried at Pont Du Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue,

France

They marry in 1903, after James has promised to leave the army, which he does. They live in Brecon for a number of years and their first two children are born here, but by 1911 they move to Bedwellty where James becomes a coal miner.

Miners were targets for the army recruiters but apparently James resists on a number of occasions before finally signing up in 1916.

William James Morris was born in Bedwellty in 1873, the eldest child of James and Mary Ann Morris.

He remained with the family up to 1891, living in Bedwellty but sometime after that he has left to join the South Wales Borderers and we have little record of him until after 1901, when he is at Brecon barracks and meets Margaret Florence Smith de Lonra, a local girl and a barmaid in a Brecon hostelry.