Private 39962 Wood, J.   12th South Wales Borderers.

Died 25 November 1917, aged 22.
Decorations: The 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal and The Victory medal.

John was born in Leek, Staffordshire. His father Samuel took on the tenancy of The Elms Farm, opposite to where Cwrt Morgan has been built, and brought the family with him in 1913. Samuel eventually bought Runston Farm, near Crick.

John delivered milk around Caerwent using a yoke from which two buckets were hung.

He enlisted in Chepstow, initially with the 1st Monmouthshire Regiment. He served for a long time in France and was eventually killed in the battle of Cambrai, November 1917.

The battle was opened by the British, who used tanks effectively for the first time, but within a week of John’s death the Germans recovered. The net gain from this action was zero.

His sister Lizzie worked for Mrs Bailey at the old Post Office in Caerwent and later, having married Frank Drower in 1917, took charge of the present Post Office, where her daughter Marjorie, as Mrs Marjorie Morgan, in turn presided until retiring in 1999. She has been succeeded by another generation of the family, her daughter-in-law Mrs. Muriel Morgan.

His great-nephew, Bryan Morgan, is the author of the Caerwent Community website.

Another niece, the late Grace Foxley, also lived in the village, in the Burton Homes.

JN December 1997