Background
Rhodes was born in Packmoor, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, son of ex-soldier and miner Ernie Rhodes.
Rhodes was born in Packmoor, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, son of ex-soldier and miner Ernie Rhodes.
He was educated in Newchapel and later became a miner at the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.
Around 1910, however, he joined the Grenadier Guards and served for three years, after which he returned to the colliery. On the outbreak of World War I John was recalled to the forces as a reservist. He was killed in action at Fontaine-Notre-Dame, France on 27 November 1917 and buried at Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt.
A memorial plaque was unveiled at Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum on 20 April 1984.There is also a road named in honour of John at nearby Tunstall.
There is a memorial in Packmoor village on the Millennium Green outside Packmoor School which was unveiled in 2000.