William Charles John, second son of Thomas and late Rachel John of 2 Penmain Villas, served in the 1/2nd Battalion Monmouth Regiment and arrived in France in May 1915.

In May 1916 the battalion joined the 29th Division as the designated pioneer battalion. In October the division fought on the Somme south west of Bapaume. Wintry weather caused offensive operations to be called off on 19 November.

Towards the end of the month the battalion, enduring cold wet weather, was building trenches in a morass of mud and subjected to sporadic German shelling. Pte W C John (3137) was killed in action 23 November 1916, aged 22, and is buried at the A.I.F. Burial Ground, Flers, Somme.

He is commemorated also on the Battalion Memorial in St Cadoc's Church, Trevethin—sharing his tragic fate just two months after his older brother, John Richard John, fell in the same sector.