John WilliamsVC, was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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John Fielding was the second eldest of ten children. John's parents were Michael and Margaret Godsil, who married in Abergavenny, Wales in 1855. Both Michael and Margaret were from Cork, Ireland. Michael Fielding died at the age of 82 and is buried in the Cwmbran cemetery. John was born at Merthyr Road, Abergavenny. The entire family were Catholic. John was 5 feet 8 inches tall. Born Fielding, he enlisted under the name of Williams in the Monmouthshire Militia in 1877. Williams was 21 years old, and a private in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot, British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. It is known neither why he chose to join the army, nor why he enlisted in a name other than his own.. On 22-23 January 1879 at Rorke's Drift, Natal, South Africa, Private Williams and two other men held a distant room of the hospital for more than an hour until they had no ammunition left, when the Zulus burst in and killed one of the men and two patients. Meanwhile, Private Williams had succeeded in knocking a hole in the partition and took the two remaining patients through into the next ward. He was there joined by Alfred Henry Hook, and working together they were able to bring eight patients into the inner line of defence. His citation read: Williams was presented with his VC in Gibraltar by Major-General Anderson, Governor of Gibraltar in 1880.
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Fielding later achieved the rank of Sergeant in the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, South Wales Borderers. In 1914, he volunteered for service and served on the SWB Depot staff at Brecon throughout World War I and served as a recruiting agent for them. He married Elizabeth Murphy in 1884 and they had 3 sons and 3 daughters; one son was killed while serving with 1/SWB during the Retreat from Mons in 1914. He died from heart failure in Cwmbran on 24 November 1932. The nursing home directly opposite his burial place in Llantarnam, Cwmbran, was later named in his honour, as was a local pub, the John Fielding, where a picture of him is displayed.
The South Wales Argus revealed in January 2019 that the annual parade, to remember Fielding's heroism, had been cancelled for "health and safety" reasons.
