LANCE CORPORAL J.A. MORGAN
ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT
4TH OCTOBER 1917 AGE 34
BURIED: DOCHY FARM NEW BRITISH CEMETERY, YPRES, BELGIUM
MISSING
Corporal J.A. Morgan, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, wounded and missing. He is the husband of Mrs M. Morgan 109 Coedpenmaen Road, Pontypridd and before joining the Army worked at the United National Collieries, Wattstown. His wife would welcome any information.
Western Mail 30 November 1917
Lance Corporal Morgan's body was eventually discovered at map reference D1 B50 10 in October 1921. Until then his wife would not have not received any firm information.
It was Mrs Morgan who chose her husband's inscription: 'Better death than dishonour'. It's the motto of the Welsh Regiment, yet Lance Corporal Morgan died serving with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. However, Mrs Morgan lived in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales where her husband is commemorated on the town war memorial. The majority of names on this memorial belong to men of the Welsh Regiment, which recruited in the town, so it's more than likely that this was the regiment Morgan originally joined. He had probably been wounded and on recovery was sent to reinforce the Warwickshires. But from his inscription his heart, or certainly his wife's heart, remained with his original regiment.
I can't decide whether the second part of the inscription, 'He fell obeying duty's call', suggests that Morgan was a volunteer or a conscript. Conscription for married men was introduced in May 1916. However, the 'call' usually refers to the 'call to arms' of the original recruiting posters, which would suggest that Morgan obeyed the call of duty to his King and country and was a volunteer.
