Pte 36640 John Jones

• Age: 29
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• K.I.A Sunday 6th August 1916
• Commemorated at: Loos Memorial
  Panel Ref: P27-30

John Faltus Jones was born on 02nd August 1887 in Kirkdale, Liverpool, the son of William James Jones and Mary Ann (née Williams).

School records give his middle name as Feltus, whereas the birth registration shows Faltus.  School records also show that he was baptised on 02nd September 1887 in St. Mary’s Church, Kirkdale, and that his parents were married in 1880 in St. Mark’s, Liverpool.  John had older siblings Annie E. Williams, born in about 1877, father unknown and raised as Jones, Mary A. 1881, William J. 1883, Martha 1884, and Isaac 1885, and younger siblings James born 1889, Lily Gertrude 1891, and Thomas, born in 1894.

At the time of the 1891 census the family is living at 43 Delamore Street, Kirkdale. His father is 39, employed as a pawnbroker’s assistant.  They have seven children aged 14 and under, and a lodger.  John is three years old.

His father appears to have died in the June quarter of 1897, aged 44.  

After their father’s death, application was made for Isaac and John to the Bluecoat Hospital School, recorded as “fatherless”, “kept by mother”, their address 367 Westminster Road. John, age 9, was admitted on 05th July 1897, his reading ability noted as fair.  Isaac’s record notes, “doctor”, perhaps implying poor health, as he was not “elected” or admitted to the school. His younger brother James later attended also.

The Bluecoat Hospital School is now known simply as The Bluecoat School. 

The 1901 Census shows John as a child inmate aged 13 at Blue Coat Hospital School.  James, 11, is also at the school. His widowed mother, 43, is a shopkeeper at 367 Westminster Road, Kirkdale.  His six siblings are at home: Ann E. 27, Mary A. 20, Martha 17, Isaac 14, Lillie G. 8, and Thomas 6.  Also in the household are his aunt Elizabeth Williams, 28, and her son William, 3 months.

John left the school at age 14 in 1901, apprenticed on 18th October 1901 to J.H. & S. Johnson, 6 Whitechapel (a manufacturing chemist).  

In 1911 John and four of his siblings are living with their mother at 14 Ireton Street.  Martha 26, has no occupation,  Isaac, 25, is a fruit salesman, John is 23, a shop assistant, Lily, 19, is a provision clerk, and Thomas, 17, works for a biscuit manufacturer.

John enlisted in Liverpool, joining the 13^th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment, and was later transferred to the 20th Battalion of K.L.R. as Private No 36640 when he was killed in action on the 06th August, 1916, aged 29, during the Somme offensive.

John was originally commemorated at Panel 29 on the Loos Memorial, France but his name has recently been added to the Arras Memorial, Addenda Extension.  

The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the end of the war. On either side of the cemetery is a wall 15 feet high, to which are fixed tablets on which are carved the names of those commemorated. At the back are four small circular courts, open to the sky, in which the lines of tablets are continued, and between these courts are three semicircular walls or apses, two of which carry tablets, while on the centre apse is erected the Cross of Sacrifice.

The memorial was designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Charles Wheeler. It was unveiled by Sir Nevil Macready on 4 August 1930.

His CWGC record states, “The commemoration for this casualty has recently been transferred to this Memorial. However, it will not be possible to add his name to the Memorial immediately.  Please note that this casualty’s name is engraved on the Loos Memorial and his name can be viewed on panel 29.”.

John’s name was listed under Rank and File Killed on 14^th September 1916 in the Liverpool Daily Post. 

His effects went to his sister Annie, who also received a War Gratuity of £3.

No pension card has been found, indicating that John had no dependents.  

Soldiers Effects indicate that John was attached to the 8th East Lancashire Regiment whilst serving with the 20th Battalion.

Sadly, John’s two medals, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, were returned, which usually happened because the Army was unable to locate next of kin.

It has not been possible to definitively identify John on any memorial, but J. Jones, East Lancashire Reg’t, is commemorated in Liverpool’s Hall of Remembrance, Panel 66. There are no J Jones' on the Bluecoat School Memorial. 

We currently have no further information on John Jones, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.