PROBERT

The Men

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T UW Y

PROBERT, JOHN

Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:

Serjeant
3967392
28/09/1944
23
The Welch Regiment 1/5th Bn.
II. D. 02.
Greater love hath no man than this.
That a man lay down his life for his friends

Additional information:
Son of William and Ellen Mary Probert.

Died of wounds in the fieldhospital in the village of Meerveldhoven. Initially buried there.

My original letter to you mentioned that my Grandmother Ellen Probert and Grandfather William lived in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, in the County of Monmouthshire.  My Grandfather was a Colliery Examiner, who ensured that the pits were safe for the miners to enter.  My mother Clarice Cowdrey was the eldest daughter of William’s second marriage, she had two sisters – Mona and Joyce and three brothers, the elder brother Rufus, then John and finally Graham.  Both Rufus and John were in the Army.  Refus survived the war.

Initial gravesite at Meerveldhoven.

From the service records of John Probert, the following account can be reconstructed.

John Probert was born on 19 July 1921 in Cwm, Monmouthshire. In civilian life he worked as a butcher. His physical description records him as 5 feet 8¼ inches tall, with blue eyes and light brown hair. He was unmarried.

He enlisted in the British Army on 5 August 1940, joining the Welch Regiment. After completing his training, he served with his regiment until being deployed to the North-West Europe theatre of operations on 25 June 1944, following the Allied landings in Normandy.

During the heavy fighting in the late summer of 1944, John Probert was wounded. He died of his wounds on 28 September 1944.

John Probert was a young Welsh soldier whose life was cut short during the difficult and costly advance through North-West Europe in the autumn of 1944.