Rees John Williams was born on 23 October 1895 in Mylor, Cornwall, the eldest child of Edward Williams and his wife Mary. At that time, Edward was serving as a Royal Marine on-board HMS Ganges, a boys training ship anchored at Mylor. Edward was a veteran of the Sudan campaigns of the 1880s.

By 1901, Edward was coming to the end of his military service. In the census of that year, the family (Edward, Mary, Rees and 2 eldest sisters, Cissie and Dulcie) were living in Chatham Barracks in Kent and Edward is listed as an ‘Officers Servant- Domestic’.

By 1907, Edward had left the Marines and the family had moved to Swansea where Edward took over the Rum Puncheon Hotel, Waterloo Street.

Rees attended the Swansea Municipal Secondary School where he did well. A copy of the school magazine recognizes him in a number of categories including ‘Being neither late nor absent, Boys with highest marks (Geography, History & Physics), Boys who got full marks (Geography, Drawing).

In 1912, after leaving school, Rees took a pupilage with Charles Ruthen, a leading Swansea engineer, a position which he left in order to enlist on 5th September 1914.

After the War, Rees returned to Swansea and worked for Swansea Borough as an Engineering Assistant. From this point onwards, his Engineering career accelerated and he moved around the country undertaking various different roles.

On 19 Oct 1933, Rees married Ella Wilcox in Esher, Surrey. His daughter recollects Their honeymoon included a visit to Egypt because my mother used to say what a dirty place Egypt was! I’ve always assumed that he wanted to share some of his war memories with our Mother. They would surely have travelled there by ship so perhaps Egypt was part of the cruise, the wedding write up mentions Tangiers.

Rees and Ella had 4 children and Rees ultimately became the Borough Engineer for Tottenham and the Chairman/Vice-President of the Royal Sanitary Institute. He was directly involved in rebuilding after the Second World War and this included choosing the site for Harlow New Town.

Rees died on 14 Sep 1954 aged 58. His obituary read His genial personality and willingness to cooperate with others quickly endeared him to his colleagues and was reflected in the success he made of his professional work. He leaves a wife and four children, two sons and two daughters, none of whom has completed his or her education.

Rees enlisted on the 5 September 1914 and was given the service number 953.

Rees’ service record did not survive, but a wealth of information was kept by his family (including a photo album and his discharge papers) which allows much of his service to be pieced together.

Rees underwent Basic Training in Swansea and in either late 1914 or early 1915, joined the Brigade at Cambridge and was posted to the A Sub of the 2nd Glamorgan Battery.

Training in Cambridge continued through early 1915, punctuated by an inspection by the King. In May, the Brigade moved to Bedford and finally on 22nd November, Rees along with the rest of the Brigade embarked at Southampton and travelled to Le Havre. Rees had a camera with him during this period and his pictures give a fascinating insight into his experiences.

In France, the Brigade moved to the Front and underwent further training culminating in a spell in a quiet section of the Front Line just south of Albert – a location that 6 months later would mark the southern fringe of the Somme battlefield.

Shortly after Christmas 1915, the Brigade was given orders to rejoin the 53rd Welsh Division in Egypt and sailed from Marseilles to Alexandria at the start of February 1916. After a period of acclimatization at Beni Salama, the Division took over No.2 Section of the Suez Canal Defenses. The photo album also contains a range of pictures from this period.

In late 1916/early 1917, Rees was seconded out of the Brigade. His 1925 application to the Institute of Civil Engineers describes this as Seconded to Survey of Egypt, and assisted on topographical survey of Sinai and South Palestine. Mentioned in Despatches. His obituary gives further information; In association with Col. Lawrence of Arabia he did valuable intelligence work behind enemy lines and was mentioned in despatches for conspicuous bravery. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to identify the link between Rees and Lawrence of Arabia or to be sure how and where he earnt his Mention in Dispatches.

Thanks to his photo album, it has been possible to work out what Rees did for the remainder of the War. After the first 2 unsuccessful battles of Gaza, it became clear the Army needed better maps and a new unit, the 7th Field Survey Coy, Royal Engineers was set up to work with the Survey of Egypt to solve this problem. On May 8th 1917, their War Diary states O.C Coy sent list of names (A) suggested by 53rd Division to 52nd Division to serve as guide in giving new names. It is very possible that, given Rees’ background, he was one of the names put forward by the 53rd Division.

The photo album contains almost 20 aerial photos of Gaza and the Judaen hills. These were sensitive documents at the time, and it is unlikely any soldier would be able to get copies. We therefore believe that he was closely involved in the production of maps based on aerial photos for the remainder of the war – right at the cutting edge of photo-reconnaissance.

Rees was twice recommended for a commission (the first time in the Royal Engineers in Dec 17, and the second time in the Royal Artillery on the day after the end of the War). Copies of both recommendations survived in his family's archive and are included in the photo gallery. On both occasions he declined.

Rees returned to the UK shortly after the end of the war and was given 28 days furlough on 28 Feb 1919. He was disembodied on 27th March 1919. Copies of his discharge documents have survived and are shown in the image gallery. His character certificate stated that he served with the Colours for 4 years, 7 months and his character during this period was Very Good:- Being Honest, Sober, Intelligent & Trustworthy. Has shown special aptitude as a Surveyor & Draughtsman, in which work he has shown great initiative.

Rees was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Because of his Mention in Dispatches, he also could wear an oak leaf on the ribbon of his Victory Medal .