In memory of Herbert Edward Jones
Herbert Edward Jones served in the First World War and died of influenza in 1918. His grave in Llanrwst was unmarked until the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) erected a headstone (pictured) in 2022, following research by local historians Steve Binks and Daniel Casey.
Herbert was born in Liverpool in 1891 to John William Jones and Gayney Louisa Jones. By 1901 the family had moved to Llanrwst, where John was a grocer. By 1914 John owned two shops, both known as “Comet Stores”: one in Llanrwst and one in Old Colwyn.
In 1911 Herbert was living with his parents at 24 Station Road, Llanrwst, and working as a teaching assistant at a “council school”, probably the one in Llanrwst. He enlisted in the army at Llanrwst in February 1915, but by then his address was Glan-y-Wern, Old Colwyn. He was then an elementary teacher.
Herbert’s “poorly developed” physique resulted in him joining the Army Service Corps (ASC) as a clerk. He was promoted Acting Sergeant in April 1915 and sailed to Le Havre at the end of that month.
He was a clerk with various ASC companies and promoted Sergeant on the 1 March 1917. He was due to return to France after home leave in October 1918 when his stomach became inflamed. He was admitted to a London hospital and died on 17 November 1918.
In 2018, Steve Binks found a newspaper report of Herbert’s funeral at Seion Chapel churchyard, Llanrwst. Daniel Casey used the burial register to pinpoint the plot, which had no headstone. The CWGC erected a headstone in 2022 which also commemorates Herbert’s mother, buried at the plot in 1909.
Return to Llanrwst war memorial page
Return to Old Colwyn war memorial page
