208171 Pte. John Scannell British Army 22nd (Wessex & Welsh) Battalion Rifle Brigade from:19 Charls St, Porth, Rhondda, Glamorgan My grandfather, John Scannell was born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales in 1873 the son of Irish immigrants. Before he married my grandmother, Jemima Morgan in 1901, he had served as 9874 Private John Scannell with the 1st Battalion, The Welsh Regiment during the Boer War. During that campaign he was awarded the South Africa medal with 5 bars for his action at Diamond Hill, Johannesburg, Driefontein, Paardeberg and the Relief of Kimberley. After the Boer War he married and settled in Porth, Rhondda, Wales where he brought up a large family, including my mother Catherine Scannell. My grandfather found work as a coal miner in the Rhondda until the call to arms in 1914 when he was sent off to fight with the Rifle Brigade in places such as Usemli and Sokolovo to name just a few. He received the Great War Medal and the Silver Badge and was discharged 15/02/1919, he returned to Wales where he died in Merthyr Tydfil in 1929 aged 56. I have recently discovered that his last resting place is an unmarked grave at Pant Cemetery, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. R.I.P.
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