Henry Mayberry was born on 13 December 1895 in Waun Wen, Swansea. He was the son of Martin and Sarah Mayberry.

The first record of Henry is in the 1901 census. At the time he was age 5 and living with his parents and 4 siblings at 2 Brynmelin St, Swansea. His father, Martin was working as a Dry Dock Labourer.

By 1911, the family had moved to 18 Vivian St, Hafod. Martin was now working as a General Labourer in a Copper Foundry and Henry was 15 and had started work as a Message Carrier at the offices of a Copper Mill.

By April 1914, when Henry enlisted in the Welsh Howitzers, he had changed jobs. On his attestation forms, he gave his occupation as a Warehouseman at the Messrs Vivian & Sons Hafod Works.

After war was declared in August 1914, Henry was called up and would have seen little of his family, other than a few brief periods of leave, until he returned to undertake Munitions Work at Vivian & Sons in February 1917.

Henry was demobilized in December 1918 and in the spring of 1921 married Lillian Olliffe in Swansea and they went on to have a family.

In the 1939 register, Henry and Lillian were living at 124 with 2 children. Unfortunately, the record is not clear, but his occupation appears to be ‘Sheet Mill … Copper Warehouseman Heavy Worker’.

Henry Mayberry passed away at the age of 73 on 26 January 1969, at the time he was living in Caemawr, Morriston.

His Grand-daughter kindly provided the following:

He died when I was just a few months old but my mum did speak of him to me as apparently he was worried that I'd never know him.

He was quite bright and bitter that his education had been cut short. She mentioned that he was a great reader and had lots of novels, also a full set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. He was very strong on education and both his daughters were brought up on all of the classics in literature (I had this also as my mum saw it as must too). So, if he was anything like her they would be handed a novel to read and then questions/discussions would take place.

He was also an amazing gardener and very strong considering his ailment of emphysema. He'd work a full day in the Copper Works, walk home to Mayhill (all uphill) and then proceed to work in the garden which was full of food for the family and also beautiful flowers. He was a man that took great pride in his appearance and everything that he did. However, during the Winters he would become bed-bound for long periods - bless him (his chest) and my grandmother would nurse him back to health.

During the depression he was the only man working in three streets and so what he grew, my grandmother cooked and baked and they shared everything with others who had no work.

Also, in WW2 he joined the Home Guard.

Henry Mayberry enlisted as a Driver in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade on 1 April 1914 in Swansea and was given the Service Number 795. Unusually, his service record has survived, so it is possible to track his service throughout the Great War.

Dvr Mayberry joined the Brigade at the age of 18 years 3 months. In his medical, he was described as being 5 foot 3 inches with good physical development. Being from Swansea, he was initially posted to the 1st Glamorgan Battery.

In the months prior to the war he would have attended regular drill sessions in the evenings and when war was declared in 1914, it is likely that he was attending his first summer camp on Salisbury Plain.

The Brigade swiftly returned to Swansea and Dvr Mayberry was embodied on 5 August 1914. The Brigade then travelled to Shrewsbury, where they stayed for 3 weeks. During this time, on 26 August, he was transferred to the Ammunition Column.

At the start of September, the Brigade moved to Northampton and shortly after, the men were asked to volunteer for Imperial Service (that is, to serve overseas). This was a specific requirement of the Territorial Force because their role was to defend the shores of Great Britain, freeing up the Regular Army to serve overseas.

It is unlikely that Dvr Mayberry signed an Imperial Service form at this time as he was still only 18. This was due to a regulation within the British Army that soldiers were unable to undertake Active Service until they were 19 and so he would have been posted to the 2nd Line until he reached 19 and there was a space in the Brigade.

Dvr Mayberry remained with the 2nd Line until September 1916 when he was transferred to 4A Reserve Brigade and almost immediately after, on 27 September, he travelled to France. After a period in the depot, he was posted to D Battery of 173 Brigade on 14 October 1916 where he remained for 4 months.

On 9 January 1917, orders were issued by the Ministry of Munitions to transfer Dvr Mayberry to the Territorial Force Reserve and to return to his civilian job at Vivian & Sons Ltd, Hafod Copper Works. There does appear to have been a delay in getting the message to him and he finally left France on 18 February 1917 to return to Swansea, where he remained for the rest of the War.

Dvr Henry Mayberry was demobilized shortly after the end of the war on 14 December 1918 and for his service he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

His family still have copies of his orders to return to Vivian & Sons and his demobilization papers which are in the Image Library.