I have had some difficulty tracing this soldier mainly because of conflicting information on Military Documents. I am going to write a biography based on the information I believe to be accurate. I would be happy to hear from any other sources with different information about Thomas Price Jones.
Thomas Price Jones was born in Bettws Yn Rhos, Abergele in 1888.
The 1891 Census for Wales on Ancestry.co.uk shows that the Jones family were living at Bron Deg, Bettws, St Asaph. Head of the household was Isaac age 29, born in Llanellian, a Gardener and Domestic Servant by trade. His wife was called Eliza age 32 a native of Bettws and their children were Elizabeth age 11, Robert age 9, Annie age 7, Mary Ellen age 5, Thomas P age 4 and John age 4 months, all the children were born in Betts yn Rhos.
Ten years on the 1901 Census for Wales reveals that the Jones family were living at Weavers Lane, Dyserth. Head, Isaac Jones was 39 years of age and still in the same trade of Gardener and Domestic. Wife Eliza was 41 years of age and it would appear that their eldest child Elizabeth and third eldest daughter Mary Ellen have left the family home. The children still in residence were,Robert age 19 a Carter on a farm by trade, Annie age 17 a Dressmaker, Thomas P. age 14 a Worker by trade, John age 10 and another addition to the family since the last census, Hugh age 8 born in Llanasa.
The 1911 Census for Wales shows that the Jones family had moved to Vronshead, Tremeirchion, St Asaph. Head Isaac was 48 and a Cowman on a Farm by trade, his wife Eliza age 50 and their children still at home were Thomas Price age 23 a Wheelwright, Coachbuilding by trade, Hugh age 17 a Groom (Carriages) by trade, Lizzie age 10 and Benjamin age 9 both born in Dyserth and additions to the family since the last census.
Soldiers who Died in the Great War 1914-1919 on Ancestry.co.uk
This document shows that Thomas Price Jones enlisted into the 225th Field Company of the Royal Engineers at Rhyl. Regimental Number 154766. Unfortunately it does not give an enlistment date and I cannot find a Service Record for Thomas.
He was killed in action on 24th September 1917 and the document also states that Thomas was born in Chester, but I cannot find any information to confirm this. I have checked on various Chester War Memorials and cannot find Thomas’ name on any memorial apart from St Asaph.
225th Field Company, Royal Engineers, raised in Stockton on Tees in 1915 part of 39th Division.
The following information is from The Long Long Trail Website
The history of 39th Division
The 39th Division began to form around Winchester in early August 1915. It moved to Marlborough Lines at Aldershot on 28 September but by this time only the Divisional Staff, 117th Infantry Brigade, the Pioneer Battalion and 287 Company ASC had yet joined. The remainder (except the Divisional mounted squadron, 118th Infantry Brigade, the Field Ambulances and Veterinary Section) joined at Aldershot by 18 October 1915 and soon after the entire Division moved to Witley, where it was completed.
Mobilisation orders were received in February 1916 and advance parties departede late in the month. 118th Brigade was well behind in its training and was left behind; its staff went to France and took over five new battalions on 29 February. The rest of the Division crossed to Le Havre and by 11 March all units were concentrated near Blaringhem.
The Division then remained on the Western Front for the remainder of the war and took part in the following engagements:
1916
An attack near Richebourg l’Avoue (30 June) in which the Sussex battalions suffered heavy casualties
The fighting on the Ancre*
The Battle of Thiepval Ridge*
The Battle of the Ancre heights* including the capture of Schwaben Reddoubt and Stuff Trench
The Battle of the Ancre*
* the battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916
1917
The Battle of Pilkem Ridge**
The Battle of Langemarck**
The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge**
The Battle of Polygon Wood**
The Second Battle of Passchendaele**
** the battles marked ** are phases of the Third Battles of Ypres 1917
1918
The Battle of St Quentin***
The actions at the Somme crossings***
The Battle of Bapaume***
The Battle of Rosieres***
*** the battles marked *** are phases of the First Battles of the Somme 1918
The fighting on Wytschaete Ridge++
The First Battle of Kemmel++
The Second Battle of Kemmel++
The Battle of the Scherpenberg++
++ the battles marked ++ are phases of the Battles of the Lys
After suffering heavy losses during the Battles of the Lys a decision was taken to reduce the Division down to a cadre. This took place by 1 June.
It would appear that Thomas lost his life during the third battle of Ypres
31 July – 10 November 1917: the Battles of Ypres, 1917.. The British finally got what they had wanted since 1914: the opportunity to attack at Ypres and breakout of the confines of the salient of trenches around it. Often known as the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele, the offensive began with encouraging gains but terrible summer weather soon bogged it down.By August the offensive was clearly failing in its objectives and had descended into attritional fighting. New techniques by both sides led to agonisingly slow forward movement for the British, at enormous cost in casualties to both sides. Bad weather in October led to the battlefield becoming an impossible quagmire.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls and Index Cards 1914-1920 on Ancestry.co.uk
Thomas was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
U.K.Army Registers of Soldiers Effects 1901-1929
I found this register and the name shown as sole legacy and Fa, ( I assume short for Father) is Isaac.
This, I hope will back up the biographical information.
Thomas Price Jones is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium.
The following information is from the C.W.G.C. Website
Historical Information
The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war.
The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence.
There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele.
The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September.
The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be divided between several different sites.
The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates those of all Commonwealth nations, except New Zealand, who died in the Salient, in the case of United Kingdom casualties before 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. Other New Zealand casualties are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.
The TYNE COT MEMORIAL now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F.V. Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett on 20 June 1927.
The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of TYNE COT CEMETERY, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station. The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial grounds. It is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in terms of burials. At the suggestion of King George V, who visited the cemetery in 1922, the Cross of Sacrifice was placed on the original large pill-box. There are three other pill-boxes in the cemetery.
There are now 11,956 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery, 8,369 of these are unidentified.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
