Thomas was born in Cymmau in 1893 the second child of Thomas Bunnell and Mary Ann Peters who were married in Cheshire in 1888.

In 1891 the family was living in the Ffrwd, but by 1901 they were living in Kate Cottage, Cymmau.  Thomas was 35, a coal miner (hewer), Mary Ann was 32, Ann Jane was 11, Thomas John was 8 and Edith was 6.

In 1911 Thomas was living in Cymmau with his widowed Aunt, Jane Sarah Edwards, her three daughters and his (Thomas’s) little sister.  Jane Sarah was 40, a widow, Agnes Gwen was 13, Phillys was 5, and Elsie was 3.   Thomas John Bunnell was 18, nephew, waggoner in coal mine and Lydia Bunnell was 6, niece.

Four years later, on 8th February 1915, Thomas married his cousin, Agnes.  From the records we learn that Thomas and Agnes later had a daughter, Violet, in 1915.

Thomas’s mother died aged 38 in 1907, and in 1911 his father and younger sister Edith were visiting his Uncle John’s family in Stockport.

Unfortunately Thomas’s military records have not survived, so we don’t know when he enlisted, but we do know that he enlisted in Caergwrle.  However, the announcement of his wedding in the local newspaper in February 1915 describes him as Pte Thomas John Bunnell of RWF, so he had obviously enlisted before then.

From The Long, Long Trail website (www.1914-1918.net) , it would appear that the 10th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers was a service unit that was formed in Wrexham on 18th October 1914.  The battalion was based in this country until September 1915.  They landed in Boulogne on 27th September.

Thomas was killed in action on 16th August, 1916;  at the time the 10th battalion was fighting at the Battle of Delville Wood on the Somme in France.

he UK, Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 This records what the UK government owed to the next of kin upon a soldier’s death. Agnes Gwendoline is recorded as his next of kin.

He is also listed on Hope and Llanyfynydd War Memorials.