JOHN TREVOR REES
1894 – 22nd January 1915
John Trevor Rees was born in Penarth in 1894; his father, John Hugh Rees a Physician was born in
Maesteg in 1857, and his mother, Blanch Gwendoline, was born in Penal in Merioneth in 1867. He
had one brother, Charles H. Gwynne Rees, born 1899 and sister, Marjorie Gwendoline born 1891 in
Penarth. All the children were born in Penarth and in the 1901 census they are living in
"Holmsdale"' 1 Park Road. They also had two domestic servants and one house parlourmaid. By the
1911 census they are still living in Holmsdale and they have another son, Geoffrey Llewellyn born,
in Penarth in 1906.
("Holmsdale", 1 Park Road)
John was first educated at Penarth Lodge and then the Cathedral School Llandaff where he is
remembered on their magnificent memorial . John also spent several years at Shrewsbury School,
from 1908 to 1911 – he was in AFC House. John joined up with the 1st Battalion, the Royal Welsh
Fusiliers. They were stationed in Malta when war broke out. They returned to England immediately
and then landed in Zeebrugge on the 7th October 1914, to assist in the defence of Antwerp. They
arrived too late to prevent the fall of the city and took up defensive positions at important bridges
and junctions to aid the retreat of the Belgian army. They joined 22nd Brigade, 7th Division, and
were the first British troops to entrench in front of Ypres, suffering extremely heavy losses in the
First Battle of Ypres. By 1915 the Division had been reinforced to fighting strength and they were
in action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Battle of Aubers and the Battle of Festubert.
From 10th December 1914 the French launched their first offensive against the entrenched defences
of the German front in the Champagne region; the First Champagne Offensive from 10th December
1914 to 17th March 1915 went on for four months, with Allied attacks also carried out against the
German front from the Yser sector in the Belgian coastal region to the Woeuvre heights south of
Verdun. The gain in ground for the Allies was very little, being up against a well-entrenched
enemy, and Allies casualties from the campaign were in the region of 90,000