In memory of Robert Rees
Robert Rees came from a large family who lived at 9 Creswell Road, Neath, writes great nephew Jeff Griffiths. He became a Telegram Messenger. In the lower photo, he is doffing his cap while sitting with fellow Neath Post Office employees in a photographic studio’s mock car. He later worked as a Postman. Like many young men, he played rugby in his leisure time.
Robert volunteered in 1915 and served with the 14th and 9th Battalions of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, being wounded a number of times. While convalescing in Neath in 1916, he persuaded one of his siblings to name her new-born baby Clarice, after a French nurse who had looked after him in a French hospital.
In September 1918, Robert was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his “splendid example of courage and initiative” in repulsing a German trench raid at the Bois de Biez, in the Pas de Calais region of France.
Robert died on 15th November 1918 – four days after the end of hostilities – from war wounds and the Spanish influenza which swept across Europe.
He is buried at Tourgeville, in Calvados. By some oversight, the DCM did not appear after his name on Neath's Gnoll Gates War Memorial, an omission that was rectified in 2011.
Back to original listing page