Thomas Hector Rees was born 28 February 1890, and was a miner, living in Nantgarw, before he enlisted in Caerphilly on 7 September 1914. He served in the Royal Army Service Corps, with the rank of 'driver', looking after the horses on the Western Front from June 1915 to the end of the war. Two brothers, Ivor Tudor Rees and George Jacob Rees, were also in the army.