Born in Oldham, John James Blair enlisted in Swansea - his mother Alice lived in Norton, near the Mumbles. He joined the 6th East Lancashire Regiment and attained the rank of corporal before being killed in action in Mesopotamia (ie. Iraq) on 16 April 1916, aged 21. His name is on memorials in Basra and Mumbles, and he is remembered with honour on the Great War Rood Screen Memorial at All Saints' Church, Mumbles.