William John Hixson was born on 9 July 1892 in Oystermouth. He was the son of Robert Hixson and Sarah Rotheroe.

In the 1901 census, he is listed as 9 year old ‘Willie’ and shown living with parents and 2 older sisters at 14 Boarspit Lane, Oystermouth; his father Robert was working as a Domestic Gardener. By the time of the 1911 census, the family were still at Boarspit Lane and William was aged 19 and had started work as a Masons Labourer for a Builder.

In the run up to the War, William met his future wife, Agnes. She was in Service and had moved to Swansea to work.

Just six months after the start of the Great War, William lost his elder brother Nicholas, who was killed in action whilst serving with the 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment barely a week after arriving in France. Nicholas left a wife and family.

3 days later, on 15 March 1915, William enlisted in the 1st Welsh Howitzers and, other than a few short periods of leave, from that point onwards he would have seen little of Oystermouth, Agnes, his family or friends until after the war. There is a photo of William with Agnes from this time.

In his surviving army papers, William is described as 5 foot 11 inches, fair complexion, grey eyes, light brown hair and his initials (W.H.) tattooed on his right arm. It also states that his occupation was a Labourer and he had 2 older brothers and 4 sisters.

William was discharged from the Army on 14 April 1919 and just 5 days later - 19 April 1915 - married Agnes Jane Munday at St Peters Church, Oystermouth. On their marriage certificate, he gave his occupation as a Labourer and address as Boarspit Lane. William and Agnes went on to have 4 Children, Robert Ivor (1920), Sarah Betty (1922), William (1924) and Peter (1926).

William followed on in his fathers footsteps and ultimately became the Head Gardener for a local family and also drove their car. His Grand-daughter added; The family had a pet monkey and when they went away, William would look after it at his house.

In the 1939 Register, William and Agnes were listed as living with their children at 33 Glen Road, Oystermouth. His family added; Apparently, the residents of Boarspit Lane decided that they didn’t like the name Boarspit, so changed the road name to Glen Road. He actually lived in the same house all of his life. Ironically, the name of the estate later built at the top of the lane was the Boarspit Estate. On the forms he also gave his occupation as “Gardener – Private service”. Shortly after, when the Second World War broke out his family recounted; William was so upset that he went to his room for 3 days; even then, he knew that his sons would have to serve. Thankfully, all of the boys returned home unscathed. William went on to serve in the Home Guard.

William John Hixson passed away at the age of 70 on 20 July 1962 at 31 Glen Road, West Cross.

His Grand-daughter concluded; William died shortly after his 70th birthday when I was 14. He was a good humoured man, traditional, hard working but not wealthy. He loved gardening (they had a massive garden), crabbing and fishing. He used to drape his fishing nets on the hedge outside the house and he would mend them there.

William John Hixson enlisted as a Gunner in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade on 15 March 1915, he was assigned the Brigade service number 1243.

Unfortunately, Gnr Hixson’s service record was destroyed during the Blitz, however the surviving official records coupled with a treasure trove of documents that have survived within his family allow details of much of his service to be reconstructed.

William would have trained initially at the Brigade Depot in Swansea and following that he transferred to Section IV of the 53rd Division Ammunition Column (DAC) at Bedford where he continued his training. His transfer date is not certain, but it is likely to have been shortly prior to July 1915. On arrival at the 53rd DAC, Gnr Hixson was given a new DAC service number of 348.

Gnr Hixson travelled to France on 28 November 1915 with the rest of the 53rd Welsh Divisional Artillery, sailing from Southampton to Le Havre. From Le Havre, he would have moved to the Somme area where they had a period of front-line training in a quiet sector recently taken over from the French Army. Six months later, this sector would mark the southern edge of the Somme Offensive and be the ground the Welsh Divisions fought over near Mametz.

In the run up to Christmas 1915, the Divisional Artillery withdrew from the front-line and received orders to rejoin the rest of the 53rd Division – who had fought at Gallipoli - in Egypt.

At this time, the majority of the DAC was given orders to remain in France and they became the 29th DAC. Only a small number of members of the DAC, including William, went to Egypt. He would have made the dangerous 5 day sailing from Marseilles to Alexandria in February 1916.

From Alexandria, it is therefore reasonable to assume that he initially travelled to Beni Salama where the 53rd Division refitted following their terrible experiences in Gallipoli, and then in May 1916 moved to the Ismalia area, where the 53rd Division took over a section of the Suez Canal defences.

At the end of the 1916, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force Army started its long and difficult march across the Sinai Desert that culminated in the first 2 unsuccessful Battles of Gaza in early 1917. After a change of leadership (General Murray was replaced by General ‘Bull’ Allenby), Gaza was taken later in the year and the route to Jerusalem was opened up. The army continued its advances and took Jerusalem by the Christmas of 1917.

After a period of rest, the army continued its push through Palestine and the Judean Hills until the armistice with the Turkish Armies on 30 October 1918.

The final months of the war were fought in the Jordan Valley which was endemic with Malaria. This coupled with the worldwide influenza epidemic meant sickness was rife within the army. On 11 October 1918, William’s family were notified; I regret to inform you that a report has been received that 725536 Gunner W.J. Hixson, 53rd dac, RFA was admitted to 36 Stationary Hospital, Gaza suffering from Malaria (seriously ill).

Gnr Hixson recovered, returned home and was discharged from the army on 14 April 1919.

For his service in the Great War, Gunner William John Hixson was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He was also awarded the Silver War Badge recognizing that he never fully recovered from the effects of malaria.

Following the war, he received a military pension on the grounds of Debility following Malaria. This stopped in May 1922.

Despite that, William suffered from malaria for the remainder of his life. His Grand-daughter added; I knew he was in Egypt and he used to have recurrent malaria even when I knew him as a child. He would occasionally be bed-bound with the shivers.