Thomas Aloysius Guilfoyle Jones born c.1881

Thomas Aloysius Guilfoyle Jones (seated).

Colchester 1906.

Thomas Aloysius Guilfoyle Jones. Born c.1881 Manchester.
He was the first born of Theresa Guilfoyle and her first husband Thomas Henry Jones. He was the half brother of my grandmother, Ursula Angela Haslam.
Thomas was a career soldier and served with the 2nd Battalion, Kings Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). He enlisted around 1897 (The battalion was stationed in Manchester in 1897).

He saw action in the South African War 1899-1901 (Boer War) and the First World War.

During the Boer War he took part in the British army's 'scorched earth' policy of farm burning. Farms were evacuated and torched to prevent farmers from providing support for the so-called rebels. The displaced families were massed in concentration camps where many thousands died from disease.