John Williams (born John Fielding; 24 May 1857 – 25 November 1932) was a Welsh recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth forces.

Details

John Fielding was the second eldest of ten children. John's parents were Michael and Margaret Godsil, who married in Abergavenny, Wales in 1855. Both Michael and Margaret were from Cork, Ireland. Michael Fielding died at the age of 82 and is buried in the Cwmbran cemetery. John was born at Merthyr Road, Abergavenny. The entire family were

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. John was tall. Born Fielding, he enlisted under the name of Williams in the Monmouthshire Militia in 1877. Williams was 21 years old, and a private in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot (later

The South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. I ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...

when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. It is known neither why he chose to join the army, nor why he enlisted in a name other than his own. (It may possibly have been to avoid being traced after running away from home). On 22–23 January 1879 at

Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...

, Natal,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, Private Williams and two other men held a distant room of the hospital for more than an hour until they had no ammunition left, when the Zulus burst in and killed one of the men and two patients. Meanwhile, Private Williams had succeeded in knocking a hole in the partition and took the two remaining patients through into the next ward. He was there joined by

Alfred Henry Hook Alfred Henry "Harry" Hook VC (6 August 1850 – 12 March 1905) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for ...

, and working together (one holding the enemy at bayonet point while the other broke through three more partitions) they were able to bring eight patients into the inner line of defence. His citation read: Williams was presented with his VC in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

by Major-General Anderson,

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

in 1880.

Further information

Fielding later achieved the rank of Sergeant in the 3rd Volunteer Battalion,

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. I ...

. In 1914, he volunteered for service and served on the SWB Depot staff at

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and served as a recruiting agent for them. He married Elizabeth Murphy in 1884 and they had 3 sons and 3 daughters; one son was killed while serving with 1/SWB during the

Retreat from Mons The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western F ...

in 1914. He died from heart failure in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

on 24 November 1932. The nursing home directly opposite his burial place in

Llantarnam Llantarnam ( cy, Llanfihangel Llantarnam) is a suburban village of Cwmbran, and is a community and electoral ward in the county borough of Torfaen in south east Wales. The ward covers the same area as the community, but also includes Southville. ...

, was later named in his honour, as was a local pub, the John Fielding, where a picture of him is displayed.

The medal

His Victoria Cross was donated to the SWB Museum by the Fielding family and is displayed at the Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh in Brecon, Powys, Wales.

Parade

The ''

South Wales Argus The ''South Wales Argus'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Newport, South Wales. ''The Argus'' is distributed in Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, and Torfaen. History The paper was founded as the ''South Wales Arg ...

'' revealed in January 2019 that the annual parade, to remember Fielding's heroism, had been cancelled for "health and safety" reasons.

Notes

References

*''

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

'' Harvey, David. (1999). *''John Williams VC: A Biography'' Lloyd, W.G. (1993) *''

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

'' This England. (1997)

External links

John Williams (Fielding)
''(biography, photos, memorial details)''

*The location of his grave is at coordinates {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John 1857 births Military personnel from Monmouthshire 1932 deaths British recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel of World War I Anglo-Zulu War recipients of the Victoria Cross British Militia soldiers South Wales Borderers soldiers People from Abergavenny British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Welsh recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials in Wales