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Pte. Joseph Thomas
British Army 10th (1st Rhondda) Battalion Welsh Regiment
from:1 Llanharry Road, Brynsadler
(d.31st January 1917)
Joseph Thomas was my great, great uncle and his name is on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. I understand that he had ginger hair, unusual in our family. In about 1998, I found my grandmother cleaning his large memorial plaque and other 'Mutt and Jeff' war medals. They had been passed down to her through Joseph's sister, Lydia, my great grandmother who died in 1960. As a history teacher, I had visited Ypres many times on WWI trips but never realised that my ancestor's name was on the wall. I managed to tell my grandmother that I had found her uncle's name on the wall in Ypres about a week before her own death in 2004. I went on to find out more about Joseph Thomas and my own family history, meeting and corresponding with relatives I never knew I had.
I'd be very interested to know more about the 10th Battalion Welsh Regiment. I still have Joseph's medals. I know the regiment went out to Mametz Wood in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, but I can't seem to find any evidence of Joseph being there. I believe he may have been conscripted in 1916. His date of death at the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, specifically the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, 31st of July 1917, the same date of death as Hedd Wyn (Ellis Evans), the Eisteddfod winning Welsh poet. Being Welsh, I am very proud of that fact.
I'd love to know who his pal was too in the photos. I have photos of Joseph in civilian dress too and the same face appears. Joseph's name also appears on the War Memorial in Pontyclun.
