Caradoc Owen Jones 4545

SAPPER CARADOC OWEN JONES

4545 – 3rd Tunnelling Company

Born in Carnarvon, Wales, Caradoc Owen Jones was a single clerk working in Boulder, Western Australia (WA) when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Blackboy Hill near Perth, WA on 24 January 1916.

Aged 34 years 9 months, he was just 5ft 5½in tall and of fair complexion with brown eyes and brown hair. He had undergone a medical examination at Boulder on 22 January which had found him ‘fit for active service.

He named as his Next of Kin his mother, Mary Jones of Bron Eryri, Nant Peris, North Llandberis, Wales. This was changed to his father, John Jones, of the same address, on 29 January 1918 at his request.

He was appointed to the No.6 Tunnelling Company 1st Reinforcements on 10 March 1916 and officially documented into the unit on 1 May 1916 at the Belmont Camp, WA.

Caradoc embarked at Fremantle WA on board HMAT A69 Warilda with No.6 Tunnelling Company 1st Reinforcements. 1124 Tunnellers of the 4th, 5th and 6th Tunnelling Companies and their Reinforcements were on board Warilda when she sailed from Fremantle on 1 June 1916.

After training in England, most of the Tunnellers proceeded overseas to France on 28 August 1916, leaving behind only those still recovering from a measles outbreak which had affected the camp, and marched in to the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot at Etaples.

The 6th Company members were absorbed into the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company and Caradoc was taken on strength of that unit on 23 November 1916.

He reported sick on 29 December 1916 with ‘pyrexia – not yet diagnosed’ - rejoining his unit on 1 January 1917.

He suffered a broken right fibula on 4 January 1918 when his foot slipped between two boards in the trenches. Initially treated for a sprained ankle he was eventually transferred to England and admitted to Fort Pitt Military Hospital on 24 January 1918. After successful treatment and rehabilitation, Caradoc again proceeded overseas to France on 31 May 1918, rejoining his unit 7 June.

Miss May Christiansen of ‘Maizeland’, North Rockhampton, Queensland wrote to Base records in Melbourne on 20June 1918 seeking information on any casualty report for Caradoc on behalf of a young lady in South Africa who had not heard from him since April 1917.

Base records replied that he had been admitted to the Fort Pitt Military Hospital, Chatam, England suffering a fractured right fibula and provided his unit address for future contact.

The on-line ‘Great War Forum’ contained the following entry by ‘Lieut-Colonel’:

“I have come across an article in a Welsh-American newspaper written by Welshman, Carodoc Owen Jones who fought with the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company in France and in it he speaks of a Christmas day that was disturbed by the zealous bombs of the Germans opposite him. The extract below is translated from the original Welsh. His Welsh is very literary and eloquent which reveals an interest in the classics and would surprise an outsider who would not expect this—a man from seemingly simple slate quarrying stock. My translation does no justice to the richness of the original version:”

“The rest of the article is an exhortation of his faith in an eventual victory and he tries to placate the worries of parents back home of the necessity of sacrifice if one was to overcome the enemy. How possible it would be, I wonder, to find out where Jones was? Where was Hill 70 and who were its occupiers on that day?”

Note: acknowledgment to ‘Lieut-Colonel’.

Caradoc was wounded in action on 4 October 1918 on the Lens / Bethune Road by a booby-trapped shell which killed 7304 Sapper Crowley and wounded five others. Caradoc, not badly wounded, remained on duty.

After the Armistice he enjoyed some leave from 8 to 23 January 1919, again rejoining his unit to work on the after-war projects of road and bridge re-building and carrying out repairs to water and drainage facilities.

Caradoc left France on 28 April 1919 and embarked on the Swakpmund for his return to Australia, leaving London on 15 June and disembarking at Adelaide, South Australia 30 July 1919.

4545 Sapper Caradoc Owen Jones was discharged from the A.I.F. on 18 September 1919 in the 1st Military District (Queensland). He was entitled to wear the British War Medal (22422) and Victory Medal (21762).

The Electoral Rolls record:

1925: Caradoc Owen Jones, Mourilyan, Qld, Mill Hand

A death of a Caradoc Jones in Queensland in 1927, deceased aged 50, is still being investigated.

PRIVATE HUGH HENRY JONES

2433 – 55th Infantry Battalion

Born in Nant Peris about 1876. Son of John Jones of Bron Eryi, Nant Peris and the late Mary Jones. Enlisted in Goulburn, New South Wales. Educated Nant Peris Board School. Presbyterian. Emigrated to Australia when he was 35. Died of cancer at the Royal Infirmary, Liverpool on 13 November 1917, aged 41. Buried at the churchyard of St Peris, Llanberis. A slate quarry miner, he emigrated to Australia about 1907. Embarked on HMAT A60 Aeneas at Sydney 30 September 1916. Had served in France where his health broke down.

All funeral arrangements were carried out by the deceased soldiers relatives.