Richard Wells Rees Private 200879 enlisted at Llanelli into the 1/4th Battalion Welsh Regiment attached to 159 brigade 53rd Welsh Division. The Division landed at Cape Helles, Gallipoli on 9 August 1915 and was immediately thrown into action, spending the next few days in isolated pockets fighting against a Turkish counterattack during the Battle of Sari Bair, and then the attach on Scimitar Hill. The Division remained there throughout the coming months and suffered severe losses during the great November 1915 blizzard on Gallipoli when its total strength was reduced to less than that of a full-strength brigade. On 11 December 1915 the division was evacuated to Mudros and by 23 December 1915 were moved to Egypt. They remained on the Suez Canal Defences for the next twelve months where it took part in operations against the Sultan of Darfur and in March 1917 took part in the advance into Palestine. Richard was transferred into the 1/5th Battalion Welsh Regiment in Palestine and took ill and died in hospital in Cairo on 12 June 1918. He was 21 years old and is buried at Cairo War Memorial Cemetery.