Dr Gethin Matthews
‘The sound of battle in our ear’:
Presenting the Great War in Welsh1
T
he selection of detailed Welsh language studies
of the Great War is very limited.2 As will
become evident, we are not always presented
with an objective analysis of the evidence, and often
face the same familiar clichés.
It is no surprise that the Great War
motivated many historians to publish works, as it
was, undoubtedly a major turning point in world
history. However, although historians agree on
the basic issues with regard to the fighting, many
aspects of the developments resulting from the war
are still a cause for debate, and there remains some
disagreement about what exactly changed and how
damaging the consequences were.3
In fact, it is this disagreement over so many
aspects of the war that has led to the profusion of
scholarly works discussing the minutiae – each new
analysis inducing a reaction from those who disagree.
As many military historians bemoan, there is often
an unbridgeable gap between military studies based
1
on current documents, considered in the context
of the contemporary standpoint, and the books
whose starting point is the steadfast view that the
whole affair was futile, purposeless folly. This gap is
summarised by military historians as the conundrum
of ‘the two Western Fronts’: the front that existed
in France and Flanders between 1914 and 1918 and
the imaginary front created by the generations that
looked back in disbelief and horror at the barbarity
of the war years.4 The essential premise of the latter
version is found in the works of the anti-war poets
(especially, in the English context, Wilfred Owen and
Siegfried Sassoon) and the abundance of literature
about the waste of war, including All Quiet on the
Western Front and Goodbye to All That.5
The clear impression given, on reading
Welsh language historical works on the war is that
disillusionment with the war was established much
sooner and had permeated deeper among the Welsh
intelligentsia than it had with the British population
1
‘Sŵn yr ymladd ar ein clyw’ – extract from ‘Rhyfel’ by Hedd Wyn (trans. Wade Dowdell). I am very grateful for the kindness of
all who helped me with this article, in particular Hywyn Williams, Jen Pappas and the staff of the S4C library, Edith Hughes
and the staff of the BBC Wales archive, Owain Meredith of HTV Cymru and Catherine Tiwdor from Canolfan Iaith Nant
Gwrtheyrn.
2
Dewi Eirug Davies (1988), Byddin y Brenin (Swansea: Tŷ John Penry), Gerwyn Wiliams (1993), Y Rhwyg (Llandysul: Gomer),
Gerwyn Wiliams (1996), Tir Neb. Rhyddiaith Gymraeg a’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf (Cardiff: University of Wales Press). A useful book
that derived from a television series is Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr by Ifor ap Glyn (Llanrwst: Carreg Gwalch) (translated by Lyn
Ebenezer) (2008).
3
Jay Winter (1992), ‘Catastrophe and Culture: Recent Trends in the Historiography of the First World War’, Journal of Modern
History, 64 (3), September, pp. 525-32; 525-6.
4
See, for example, Stephen Badsey (2001), ‘Blackadder Goes Forth and the Two Western Fronts Debate’ in Graham Roberts and
Philip M. Taylor (eds.), The Historian, Television and Television History (Luton: Luton University Press), pp. 113-26.
5
The importance of the book All Quiet on the Western Front / Im Westen Nicht Neues (Erich Maria Remarque, 1929) and the
popular film of the novel (Lewis Milestone, 1930) has been emphasised by many scholars, e.g. Modris Eksteins (1980), ‘All
Quiet on the Western Front and the Fate of a War’, Journal of Contemporary History, 15 (2), April, pp. 345-66; Brian Bond
(2002), The Unquiet Western Front: Britain’s Role in Literature and History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) pp. 35-40.
Brian Bond (ibid., pp.30-4) noted that Robert Graves, author of Goodbye to All That (1929), did not consider his work as being
anti-war, but it was generally interpreted as such.
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
at large. One aspect of this writing is that many
essays give precedence to a particular group, the
ministers and prospective ministers who volunteered
their services to the cause without taking up arms
themselves: individuals such as Lewis Valentine,
Dyfnallt and Cynan.6 In the case of Valentine, who
went on to become one of the most prominent
members of the budding Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru,
there is no doubt that disillusionment with the war
deeply affected his political/nationalist ideas, setting
a precedent for the rest of his life.7 In 1916, whilst
serving in France, Lewis Valentine’s essays conveyed
his abhorrence of every aspect of war: ‘My hatred of
the military deepens daily. Authority in the hands
of the cruel gentry is a dangerous instrument.’ 8
Another author who served in the armed forces and
who was totally disillusioned by the war while it
was still on-going was W. J. Gruffydd. On Armistice
Day he wrote, ‘1914-1918: Yr Ieuainc wrth yr Hen’
(‘1914-1918: The Young to the Old’), a ‘bitter’ poem:
‘a vigorous polemic’ in which ‘all Gruffydd’s vengeful
fury boils’.9 And so it was not on the fringes of Welsh
culture, but in the mainstream that the intellectual
voices expressed their discontent with the war.
Gerwyn Wiliams insists that ‘Mab y Bwthyn’ (‘The
Cottager’s Son’), which won the Eisteddfod Crown
for Cynan in 1921, was a ‘milestone in the history
of Welsh poetry’.10 Note, therefore, that this had
earned praise and respect eight years before the
appearance of All Quiet on the Western Front.
In addition to these Christian soldiers many
influential voices had remained stubbornly opposed
6
As well as the detailed discussion of these individuals in Byddin y Brenin and Gerwyn Wiliams’ books, see Arwel Vittle
(2006), Valentine: Cofiant i Lewis Valentine (Talybont: Y Lolfa); D. Densil Morgan (1995), ‘Ffydd yn y ffosydd: bywyd a gwaith
y Caplan D. Cynddelw Williams’, Cylchgrawn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, 29, pp. 77-100; D. Densil Morgan (2001), ‘Y
proffwyd ymhlith y praidd: Lewis Valentine (1893-1986)’ in Cedyrn Canrif: Crefydd a Chymdeithas yng Nghymru’r Ugeinfed
Ganrif (Cardiff: University of Wales Press), pp. 68-104; Gerwyn Wiliams (2010), ‘Chwilio am Albert Evans-Jones: Ailedrych
ar Gerddi Rhyfel Cynan’, Llên Cymru, 33 (1), pp. 151-77; Alan Llwyd (2003), ‘O Wynfa Goll!’, Cerddi Eisteddfodol Cynan:
1921-1931’ in Rhyfel a gwrthryfel: Brwydr moderniaeth a beirdd modern (Barddas Publications), pp. 79-129; R. R. Williams
(1964), Breuddwyd Cymro mewn Dillad Benthyg (Liverpool: Gwasg y Brython). Also, Alan Llwyd and Elwyn Edwards (eds.),
(1989), Gwaedd y Bechgyn (Barddas Publications), includes a discussion on Welsh poems about the Great War, which analyses
the poetry of many authors who opposed the fighting. David Ellis was another poet with pacifist beliefs who served with
the RAMC; a study of his work is available in Alan Llwyd and Elwyn Edwards (1992), Y Bardd a Gollwyd: Cofiant David Ellis
(Felindre: Barddas Publications) and in Kate Roberts (1965), ‘Bardd a Gollwyd’, Taliesin, 11, December, pp. 15-27.
7
See his comments in later interviews: ‘I returned to college from the army hating the military and Englishness with a
passion, a nationalist, with my faith in the Gospel unmoved’, Seren Gomer, Spring 1968, p. 3.
8
From his journal, quoted in Vittle, Valentine, p. 50.
9
Wiliams, Y Rhwyg, pp. 102-14 (extracts from p.113 and 106); see also Llwyd, ‘O Wynfa Goll!’, pp. 80-1 and John Gwilym
Jones (1977), ‘Barddoniaeth Gynnar W. J. Gruffydd’, Swyddogaeth Beirniadaeth (Denbigh: Gwasg Gee), pp. 73-97, 84-5.
10
Wiliams, Y Rhwyg, p.81.
11
Davies, Byddin y Brenin, passim; Aled Eirug (1987), ‘Agweddau ar y Gwrthwynebaid i’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf yng Nghymru’,
Llafur 4 (4), pp. 58-68; and Deian Hopkin (1974), ‘Patriots and Pacifists in Wales, 1914-18: The case of Capt. Lionel Lindsey
& the Rev. T. E. Nicholas’, Llafur, 1 (3), pp. 27-41.
12
2
to the war.11 Although this was the voice of a small
minority during the fighting years, often ridiculed by
many sections within Welsh society, these opinions
were later accepted as the quiet conscience of the
nation, apparently many years sooner in Wales than
in England. In 1923, pacifist George M. Ll. Davies
(who was imprisoned for his beliefs during the war)
was elected as an MP by the University of Wales
graduates.12 When the fighting was over, one element
that struck a chord with all the people of Europe was
the extent of the live lost, as numerous memorials
appeared all over the continent. As Robin Barlow
and Gerwyn Wiliams note, one familiar aspect of
the Welsh narrative given by many historians is the
allegation that Wales provided the armed forces
with a higher proportion of its sons than the other
countries of the United Kingdom.13 It is obvious
that this concept of the particular strength of Wales’
contribution to the war had established itself in
the Welsh psyche very early on, and that the idea
of the exceptional sacrifice of the Welsh had been
used by those who considered the war to be just, as
well as those who rejected the military approach.
Lloyd George claimed that a higher proportion of
volunteers had enlisted in Wales than in any other
country in the British Empire.
However, although the claim is a familiar
one, it is, according to some historians, erroneous,
based on a statement in Ivor Nicholson and Trevor
Lloyd-Williams’ ‘boastful book’, Wales: Its Part in the
War (London, 1919).14 Once these figures had been
Kenneth O. Morgan (1970), Wales in British Politics, 1868-1922 (2nd edition, Cardiff: University of Wales Press), p. 297.
13
See also John Davies (1992), Hanes Cymru (London: Penguin), p. 493; Angela Gaffney (1998), Aftermath: Remembering the
Great War in Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press), pp. 150-1.
14
Robin Barlow (2011), ‘Did Wales go willingly to the First World War?’ in Huw V. Bowen (ed.), A New History of Wales: Myths
and Realities in Welsh History (Llandysul: Gomer), pp. 150-8, 152-3; Wiliams, ‘Dechrau Deall y Rhyfel Mawr’, p. 14.
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
quoted in K. O. Morgan’s influential book Wales in
British Politics, many later historians took them as
fact.15
Therefore, in Wales, although many take
pride in the country’s contribution to the victory,
there was obvious disillusionment with regards to
the justice and value of the Great War even before the
major slump in the world economy. When the world
economy had sunk into serious depression, and the
international political situation had deteriorated,
the opinions of the authors and poets about what
little had been gained by the terrible sacrifice, were
confirmed.
In addition, many works were published
that were very critical of the attitudes and decisions
taken by the generals during the war. Without doubt,
the most important contribution was Lloyd George’s
Memoirs, published in six volumes between 1933 and
1936. In the foreword to the new two-volume reprint
in 1938, he refers to how the incredible heroism of
the common man was wasted by useless officials: ‘in
the narrow, selfish and unimaginative strategy and
in the ghastly butchery of a succession of vain and
insane offensives’.16
Then came the Second World War to prove
that any idea that the Great War would be the war ‘to
end all wars’ had been a foolish dream. The Great War
faded from the public consciousness to some extent
during the Second World War years and the decade
that followed. However, there was renewed interest
in the Great War in the 1960s, especially during the
15
16
3
half-centenary years.17 In 1964-65 the BBC broadcast
the ambitious series The Great War (initially on BBC2
and later on BBC1; the series was broadcast twice
more in the 1970s); as well as exploiting interest in
the war, the series created a desire to re-appraise the
events of 1914-18.18
The war described in the history books of
the 1960s was different from the one described by
the first wave of historians. Rather than focus on
the generals, the politicians and the movement of
the battalions, a social history of the war was given,
giving precedence to the experiences of the people
(both soldiers and civilians). Then, following the
introduction into history of post structural ideas,
from the 1980s onwards, increased attention was
paid to the cultural aspects – how new cultures
and identities were conceived during the war, the
effects that this had on the lives of individuals and
communities, and how they tried to make sense of
the war and its consequences.19
In terms of popular conceptions of the war,
and its portrayal in works of popular culture, there
is no doubt that television programmes are the main
vehicles through which the public learn about the
event.20 It is fair to say that the impressions of the
war held by many Welsh people, are derived from
programmes seen on the British channels – both
factual and fictional. An important and influential
example is the series Blackadder Goes Forth.21 In the
works of fiction, the familiar caricature of the brave,
pitiful soldier, and the asinine officers is inevitable.
Morgan, Wales in British Politics, p. 275. Figures given by Nicholson and Lloyd-Williams were quoted by K. O. Morgan once
again in his article (1981), ‘Peace movements in Wales, 1899-1945’, Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru, 10 (3), June, p. 406. For
other authors who quote K. O. Morgan’s figures see the essays of D. Tecwyn Lloyd (1987), ‘Llenyddiaeth Cyni a Rhyfel,
1914-1939’, in his Llên Cyni a Rhyfel a Thrafodion Eraill (Llandysul: Gomer), pp.12-42 (p. 12); ‘Pan fu Gwaedd y Bechgyn
Lond y Gwynt 1914-18’, Y Faner, 31 August 1984, pp.8-9 and ‘Welsh Public Opinion and the First World War’, Planet, X,
25-37 (p. 26); also Hopkin, ‘Patriots and Pacifists in Wales, 1914-18’, p. 32; Alan Llwyd (ed.) (2008), Out of the fire of hell:
Welsh experience of the Great War 1914-1918 in poetry and prose (Llandysul: Gomer), p. xvi; D. Gareth Evans (2000), A History
of Wales, 1906-2000 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press), p. 71.
Quoted in Bond, The Unquiet Western Front, p. 46.
17
Jay Winter and Antoine Prost (eds.) (2005), The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 17; Alex Danchev (1991), ‘Bunking and Debunking: The Controversies of the
1960s’, in Bond (ed.), The First World War and British Military History, pp. 263-88.
18
Literature on the series The Great War and its influence on historical programmes is vast. See the special edition of
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 22 (1), 1 March 2002; Emma Hanna (2007), ‘A small screen alternative to
stone and bronze: “The Great War” (BBC, 1964)’, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10 (1), February, pp. 89-111; Taylor
Downing (2002), ‘The Great War: Television History revisited’, History Today, 52 (11), November; Emma Hanna (2009), The
Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press), passim.
19
Winter and Prost, The Great War in History, pp. 25-31. See also Aviel Roshwald and Richard Stites (1999), ‘Introduction’
in Aviel Roshwald and Richard Stites (eds.), European Culture in the Great War: The Arts, Entertainment and Propaganda,
1914-1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 1-7. Winter and Prost note that the fall of the communist system
from 1989 onwards has helped to promote this idea, as the Marxist concept that had been so influencial in social history
was derided. Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau and Annette Becker also note that the fate of the Soviet Union in the 1990s caused
scholars to reconsider the war as, according to one, the 1914 war had finally come to an end. Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau and
Annette Becker (2002), 14-18: Understanding the Great War (New York: Hill and Wang), p. 6.
20
See the introduction to Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen, pp. 1-5. For the importance of television programmes in
general to create historical awareness amongst the public, see Raphael Samuel (1994), Theatres of Memory (London: Verso),
pp. 13-17 and Jerome de Groot (2009), ‘The public historian, the historian in public’, in his Consuming History: Historians
and heritage in contemporary popular culture (London: Routledge), pp. 17-30.
21
Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen, p. 23. Brian Bond notes in amazement that Blackadder Goes Forth is shown in
schools to teach pupils about the Great War (The Unquiet Western Front, p. 79).
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
The starting point for this discussion is
the 1964 series The Great War, which broke new
ground and set a precedent for many of the history
programmes that followed, irrespective of whether
or not they referred to the war. This was the first
television production to combine archive footage,
eyewitness accounts and an authoritative script
written by well-respected historians. Nevertheless,
there is no mention in the series of the complicated
relationships between the war and the four individual
countries of the United Kingdom: we are presented
with London’s viewpoint alone.22
In the same year as The Great War, two Welsh
programmes were shown on Wales’ independent
television channel, TWW. What strikes us today as
we look at the programme contents is the restricted
choice of eyewitnesses, as, in all likelihood, many
thousands of Welshmen were still alive in 1964 who
could have spoken of their wartime experiences.
However, only men (and one woman) who were
eminent members of Welsh society, the majority of
whom had already published their observations on
the war, were given the opportunity to present their
evidence. Contributions were given by the author,
the Rev. E. Tegla Davies (a pacifist who opposed the
war), the Archdruid Cynan (who served in Salonika
with the RAMC and as a chaplain in France), Lady
Megan Lloyd George (daughter of the former prime
minister; Labour MP for Carmarthen in 1964), D. J.
Williams (author, pacifist and prominent member
of Plaid Cymru), the Rev. T. E. Nicholas (a poet, who
had vigorously opposed the Great War on the basis
of his communist beliefs), Sir Ben Bowen Thomas
(educationalist, President of the University College
of Wales Aberystwyth) and Ifan Gruffydd (who had
published his autobiography, Y Gŵr o Baradwys [‘The
Man from Paradise’] the previous year, in which he
discussed his time in the army in France and Egypt
between 1914 and 1920).
As we sift through the catalogue of
programmes and items broadcast on TWW and HTV23
during these years, very little content deals with the
effects of the Great War on 1960s and 1970s Wales. A
programme on Hedd Wyn was made in 1967 (on the
fiftieth anniversary of his death): although a powerful
programme containing valuable archive material
(such as an interview with Hedd Wyn’s lover), very
little consideration is given to the war other than as
an external force that impaired the poet’s opportunity
to write, before cutting short his life.24
There has been an abundance of programmes
on the history of Wales on S4C ever since the
establishment of the channel in 1982. Many series
and individual programmes have been (and are still)
broadcast, which follow some aspect of our country’s
history and the history of the Great War years
have not been ignored. Many offer a commendable,
intelligent analysis.
One such programme is Y Rhwyg (‘The Tear’),
a one-hour programme aired in 1988 presented
by John Davies. It not only traces the history of
the fighting, but the sharp script by John Davies
(with the aid of Gerwyn Wiliams) also manages to
convey the various ways in which the Great War
affected the culture, society and economy of Wales. It
considers the effect on the Welsh landscape, through
the disappearance of many old mansions and the
appearance of ‘armies of foreign trees dressed in the
monotonous uniform of the state’; it outlines the
beginning of the downfall of the coal industry and
slate quarries and the economic ramifications of the
war; it emphasises the social changes that resulted
from the war, including the enfranchisement of
women; most of all it emphasises, as Williams Parry
says, the ‘wrench of losing the boys’.25
Despite the admirable qualities of this
programme, the choice of eyewitnesses does give
a cause for concern. We are presented with the
reminiscences of two old men (Ithel Davies of Ddinas
Mawddwy and Griffith Williams of Llithfaen) and
one old lady (Lady Olwen Carey-Evans). It is difficult
to argue that this choice is a representative selection
of those who could have spoken of their experiences
during these years.
In this article we will concentrate on Griffith
Williams’ contribution, as his case embodies some
of the problems associated with the unquestioned
use of oral testimony decades after an event. I am
not suggesting that this brave, honourable man is
lying, nor that he intentionally misleads the audience:
rather, the problem is to do with the nature of human
memory.26
The concept of ‘memory’ is complicated. The
truth is that individuals ‘compose’ the history of their
lives, arranging their memories to create a narrative
that is consistent, understandable and which gives
them comfort.27 Therefore, the researcher cannot
accept the evidence of the eyewitness as fact without
22
The BBC in Scotland apparently pushed for one of the programmes to consider ‘Scotland and the Great War’, but the
producers argued vigorously against the idea. See J. A. Ramsden (2002), ‘The Great War: The making of the series’,
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 22 (1), March, pp. 7-19; 14.
23
Harlech Television / HTV started broadcasting an independent television service for Wales in May 1968, replacing TWW.
24
This programme was repeated on S4C in 2011, as part of the Cofio series.
From ‘Englynion Coffa Hedd Wyn’. This quote is included in many programmes discussed in this article.
25
4
26
Griffith Williams published his autobiography, Cofio Canrif, at 102 years of age (Caernarfon: Gwasg Gwynedd, 1990). Many
of the factual errors that appear in the discussion below (relating to his contributions to television programmes), also
appear in this book.
27
Anna Green and Kathleen Troup (eds.), (1999), The Houses of History: A critical reader in twentieth-century history and theory
(Manchester: Manchester University Press), pp. 233-4.
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
further investigation. An analysis of what Great War
veterans have said at different periods in their lives
has clearly shown how present circumstances and
current social attitudes influence the story being told.
There is hard evidence that veteran soldiers
adapt their stories to conform to current social
prejudices and the expectations of the listener.
Therefore, as Arwel Vittle notes in his biography
of the Reverend Lewis Valentine, the book that
he published in 1988 was a ‘literary work’, not an
authentic account of his feelings at the time, even
though it was entitled Dyddiadur Milwr (‘The Diary of
a Soldier’). Vittle declares that Valentine is ‘looking
back at the events of the Great War … through the
spectacles of pacifist and nationalist middle age’.28
Even more unexpectedly, many studies
have shown that profound personal memories are
extremely open to corruption by outside sources,
such as films or television programmes, which
can prejudice an individual’s memories of his/her
experiences. There is therefore an intricate problem
when any work that claims to be ‘factual’ depends
mainly on memories supplied by a speaker many
decades after the event. Often, rather than an
account of what actually happened, what we get is the
fruit of many years’ consideration and trying to make
sense of extreme experiences.29 As John Tosh notes,
‘the ‘voice of the past’ is inescapably the voice of the
present too’.30
However, following the example of The Great
War, British programmes on the Great War tend to
dignify the veteran’s viewpoint.31 To the producers,
the advantages of hearing the stories directly from
the mouths of the eyewitnesses were greater than any
doubts about the authenticity of their recollections.
As the number of veterans dwindled they
received more and more attention, and there was
an increased demand for those who were still alive.
Possibly, the individual who attracted most attention
28
– and who became famous as a result of his powerful
and poignant statements – was Harry Patch, born
in 1898.32 Similarly in Welsh: in the 1990s a small
number of veterans came to represent the hundreds
of thousands of Welshmen who had served.
On reaching his 100th birthday, Griffith
Williams appeared in some Hel Straeon (‘Telling
Stories’) programmes discussing his memories of
the old days, which included stories of his personal
experiences in the Great War. He was the only
veteran to speak in the programme Y Rhwyg, and
the voice of John Davies introduces his contribution
with the words: ‘By now there aren’t many left of the
millions who went to war, but there is one gentleman
who joined at twenty-five years of age and who has
now reached one hundred years old, and Mr Griffith
Williams of Llithfaen remembers it all.’
The problem is that we cannot depend upon
the facts presented by Griffith Williams. He states
in his book and in numerous television interviews
that he volunteered for the army in 1915, but he also
states in his autobiography that he arrived at the
Royal Welch Fusiliers’ training camp a fortnight after
Hedd Wyn, who attended the camp in early 1917.33
However, according to official records Williams joined
the army on 16 June 1917, and could not therefore
have met Hedd Wyn at the camp.34
One of the most striking and memorable
stories told by Griffith Williams was that of his
colleague who was executed for daring to question
the war.35 However, although Williams told this tale
as if he himself had been a witness, it appears to be
a combination of many stories, heavily influenced
by the anti-military discussions and attitudes of the
decades following the event.
Although this story is extremely powerful
and a clear statement of how Griffith Williams viewed
his time in the army seven decades earlier, the details
are not believable.
Vittle, Valentine, p. 50.
For a detailed consideration of an example of a veteran tidying up the narrative of specific events, see Fred H. Allinson
(2006), ‘Remembering a Vietnam War Firefight: Changing perspectives over time’, in Perks and Thomson (eds.), The Oral
History Reader, pp. 221-9.
29
30
John Tosh (2006), The Pursuit of History (Harlow: Longman), pp. 318-9.
31
Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen, p .64.
32
See Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen, pp. 66-8. Harry did not speak of his experiences during the war until his
100th birthday, but after that he appeared in many programmes, including Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War
(BBC, 1998); Shot at Dawn (ITV, 1998); The Trench (BBC, 2002); A Poem for Harry (BBC, 2002); World War One in Colour
(Channel 5, 2003); The Last Dawn / Ar Doriad Gwawr (HTV / S4C, 2005) and The Last Tommy (BBC, 2005). His death at
111 years old on 25 July 2009 was reported in every British news programme and newspaper.
33
Williams, Cofio Canrif, p. 47 (in which he states that he joined in April 1915); p. 51 (in which he states that he had been
at the Litherland camp a fortnight after Hedd Wyn). In Y Rhwyg (after approx 18´00), he stated that he joined ‘in early
1915’. In Alan Llwyd’s (1991) book, Gwae Fi Fy Myw: Cofiant Hedd Wyn (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas Publications), p. 207, he
states that Hedd Wyn arrived at Litherland in late January 1917.
34
Griffith Williams notes in his autobiography (p.51), that his number in the Royal Welch Fusiliers regiment was 69188.
The card of Private Griffith R. Williams (69188) in the list of those who received medals notes that he received the ‘Silver
War Badge’ (the medal given to those who left the armed forces due to injury) and that the details can be seen on page
J/988/2. On this page are the details of Private Griffith Richard Williams (69188), which show that he joined the army
on 16.6.17 and was released on 29.10.1918. Also, the release forms received by Griffith Richard Williams on leaving the
army confirm this date. (These documents are available on-line through www.ancestry.co.uk).
35
5
This history is available in Williams, Cofio Canrif, pp. 62-3, and in the programme, Y Rhwyg.
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
The only interpretation, therefore, that
makes any sense of this anecdote is that Griffith
Williams had compressed numerous scattered
memories and stories into one, influenced by his
uncomfortable feelings about his own military
experiences as he looked back; and also by narratives
heard in subsequent years that emphasised the
barbarity of war. In truth, it is unlikely that Griffith
Williams had witnessed any executions during his
time at the Western Front, but as he ruminated over
his experiences decades later he told the tale of an
imaginary event as though he had seen it unfold.
In the years following Y Rhwyg, Williams
published his autobiography, Cofio Canrif
(‘Remembering a Century’), which included 24 pages
of recollections of the 1914-1918 years (almost a
third of the book), and as he continued to survive,
becoming the oldest man in Wales, his photograph
and story appeared regularly in the newspapers.36 An
interview with Williams was recorded for the BBC
Wales programme, Shadows on the Western Front, in
1993, and one was also recorded for Canrif y Werin
(‘The People’s Century’), a series on the oral history
of the twentieth century, which was broadcast many
years after his death in July 1996.
Therefore, just as Harry Patch came to
represent the soldiers of England, so in Wales in the
1990s a small number of veterans came to represent
the hundreds of thousands of Welshmen who had
served in the Great War.37 However, another veteran
who appeared regularly on S4C was Ithel Davies,
who had refused to serve. As well as his contribution
to Y Rhwyg he was seen in both Mametz and Canrif
y Werin: Y Rhyfel Mawr (‘The People’s Century: The
Great War’), and his words were quoted in the second
episode of Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr (‘Voices of the Great
War’).38
Ithel Davies’contributions to the programme
Mametz cause particular problems. The first, and
most fundamental question has to be why does a
man who refused to fight appear in a programme
focusing on the Welsh who suffered in the carnage of
Mametz Woods? No-one can deny the significance of
this conscientious objector’s story, but weaving his
story into the stories of the Welsh soldiers on 9-10
July 1916 disrupts the narrative and confuses the
programme’s message.
There is also a problem if the producers’
intention was to compare Davies’ suffering, having
6
been beaten by a merciless sergeant at the barracks
in Mold, with the situation of the Welsh soldiers
as they approached the Prussian stronghold in
the woods, with machine guns and shells injuring,
disembowelling and killing their friends all around
them.
Another reason why Ithel Davies’
contribution creates an imbalance in the programme
is that he tells his story much more eloquently than
the soldiers who tell theirs. After the Great War,
Davies wet on to become a solicitor and a politician,
and was accustomed to telling his story and justifying
his actions in the war.
There are other examples of Welsh language
programmes in which the conscientious objector is
given a disproportionate amount of attention, and
the presentation is sympathetic to his situation.
In a scene from Tocyn Diwrnod – Breuddwyd Cymro
mewn Dillad Benthyg (‘Day Ticket – The Dreams of
a Welshman in Borrowed Clothes’), in which we see
two soldiers in conversation, one is heard saying to
the other, ‘Conscientious objectors – maybe they
are the brave ones and we are the fools’. In Cymru
2000 (‘Wales 2000’) Merfyn Jones states, ‘They were
treated harshly, some being persecuted, publicly
derided and imprisoned’. Here therefore is one
aspect that regularly receives more attention in
Welsh programmes than in corresponding English
programmes.39
Hedd Wyn is another character that is
studied thoroughly in many Welsh programmes.
It cannot be denied that, to most Welsh speakers,
Hedd Wyn is by far the most famous Welsh soldier
who fought in the Great War. His tragic story, which
tells of his amazing genius cut down before reaching
maturity, came to represent the futility and waste of
the Great War. The powerful film Hedd Wyn, which
received critical acclaim, tells his story in a polished
and sensitive manner.
Referring to the story of Hedd Wyn
therefore seems to allow programme makers to
convey very succinctly the tragedy of the Great War.
In Canrif y Werin the narrator declares this as being
‘one of the saddest stories of the war’. The series
Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr begins with an extract from
one of Hedd Wyn’s poems (‘Distance cannot make
us forget / Children of the hills / Our hearts remain
together / Although we are apart’). Y Rhwyg concludes
at the grave of Hedd Wyn in Artillery Wood cemetery,
36
See example, ‘My white Christmases’, Daily Post, 24 December 1993; ‘A song in his heart at the age of 104’, Daily Post,
4 June 1992; ‘Dal i fwynhau mwg ei getyn wrth ddathlu ei 105 oed’, Yr Herald Gymraeg, 12 June 1993; ‘Oldest man in
Wales celebrates 108th Birthday’, The Independent, 6 June 1996.
37
Another who appeared in many productions, in both languages, was Bob Owen from Llandudno (d. 1998), who spoke
in an episode of The Slate (BBC Wales, 1994); Shadows on the Western Front (BBC Wales, 1994); Week In Week Out: Shot at
Dawn (BBC Wales, 1997) and Canrif y Werin: Y Rhyfel Mawr (S4C, 2000).
38
Ithel Davies died in 1989: the piece in Canrif y Werin is a repeat of his contribution to Mametz, which tells the story
referred to in the footnote below. Note that the citation in Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr comes from a letter sent by Davies to Y
Faner in 1916 – see Ifor ap Glyn, Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr, pp.77-8.
39
No mention is made of the conscientious objectors in two English language programmes produced by BBC Wales that tell
the story of the war through the testimony of veterans, Mametz Wood (1987) and Shadows on the Western Front (1993).
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
near the village of Boezinge. In the first programme
of the series Cerdded y Llinell (‘Walking the Line’), Iolo
Williams and Hywel Teifi Edwards discuss the story
of Hedd Wyn at his graveside with the Professor, in
his unique way, discussing how R. Williams Parry
succeeded, through his englynion, to create a ‘sort of
universal figure’ from Hedd Wyn: ‘the young soldier
full of creative talent, who was killed just like millions
of others’. Professor Gareth Williams also travelled to
Pilckem Ridge for Ar Doriad Gwawr (‘The Last Dawn’),
telling the story of the ‘poet heavy under foreign soil’.
The final words of this programme are the powerful,
harrowing lines of the poem, ‘Y Rhyfel’ (‘The War’):
‘…And the boys’ screams filling the wind / And their
blood mixed with the rain’. The same lines are quoted
by Merfyn Jones at the end of the segment discussing
the Great War in Cymru 2000.
Another Welsh icon of the war years is
David Lloyd George, who served as Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Minister for Arms, War Secretary
and (from December 1916) Prime Minister. Gerwyn
Wiliams states, ‘Throughout the War, as the Kaiser
was trampled into the mud Lloyd George was elevated
to a god’.40 In the decades following the war, Welsh
speakers have continued to idolise Lloyd George.
Of the programmes in question, the one that
favours Lloyd George most is Canrif y Werin, produced
by Emyr Price, who was himself the author of more
than one biography of ‘the wizard of Dwyfor’.41
Considering that Lloyd George himself had been
very proactive in fighting the ‘war of recollections’
– portraying himself as one who stood up for the
common soldier against the hard-heartedness of the
predatory generals, stubbornly insisting on sending
thousands of men to their deaths – it is no surprise
that Canrif y Werin is very scathing of the actions
of the higher ranking officers. On camera himself,
Emyr Price talked of the ‘bunglings of the generals’
and the ‘huge ineffectiveness’ of their campaigns; the
subsequent narration also refers to this ‘bungling’.
Discussing the final year of the war, the narration
declares that ‘Lloyd George was ready to get rid of the
hard, pitiless British generals. He wished to end the
war, and bring the boys home’. This incredibly biased
statement is preceded by Bob Owen’s fond memories
of the great man:
‘All the boys thought highly of him. He raised
7
our wages, didn’t he? And if you remember,
he gave those generals the sack, yes. General
Bing, General Plumer, Rawlinson and that
Douglas Haig– he was worth nothing after
Lloyd George had given them the sack. Lloyd
George felt it when boys were killed.’
To summarize the debate, we then have
Emyr Price’s contribution, which emphasises how
important and key Lloyd George was. Gerwyn
Wiliams refers to the ‘loyalty’ shown to Lloyd George
‘until his death in 1945’, but it seems that this loyalty
still holds strong today.42 However, one of Lloyd
George’s most faithful followers often receives strong
criticism in the programmes.
In an article that weighs up the legacy of
the Reverend John Williams, Brynsiencyn, Aled Jôb
states that it would be difficult to discuss the Great
War in Wales without any reference to him. ‘For
many years now, this Methodist minister, who was
so prominent in the recruitment campaign during
the War, grew to become one of Wales’ bêtes noires as
a nation.’ 43 In terms of television programmes on
the Great War Aled’s interpretation hits the nail on
the head: almost all the programmes studied discuss
this great minister’s contribution to the recruitment
campaign, more often than not in a negative way. The
veterans themselves are amongst those who derided
John Williams most bitterly.
Griffith Williams would tell (erroneously) of
how John Williams had left his church in Liverpool
in order to go on a campaign to entice men into the
army, saying ‘he went like a little dog, recruiting
for Lloyd George’.44 On the other hand, in the
programme Mametz Caledfryn Evans remembers
the effect Williams had from the pulpit: ‘A very
handsome man, preaching to us in the Pavilion
in Rhyl … the place crammed to capacity … full of
soldiers. I don’t remember the sermon, only his
presence’.
An actor’s voice is used to dramatize
Williams’ speech: ‘You rosy cheeked boys of Anglesey,
will you let the sallow faced boys of the towns
sacrifice their lives to keep you healthy’ both in Y
Rhwyg and in the first episode of Lleisiau’r Rhyfel
Mawr.45 Extracts from this speech are quoted in
the programme Tocyn Diwrnod. A whole programme
is set aside to weigh up Williams’ contribution to
40
Wiliams, Y Rhwyg, p. 64. See also Llwyd and Edwards (eds.), Gwaedd y Bechgyn, p. 30.
41
Emyr Price (1999), Lloyd George y cenedlaetholwr Cymreig: Arwr ynteu bradwr? (Llandysul: Gomer); Emyr Price (2006),
David Lloyd George (Cardiff: University of Wales Press).
42
Wiliams, Y Rhwyg, p. 81.
43
Aled Jôb (1988), ‘John Williams, Brynsiencyn â’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf’, Barn, 310, November, pp. 10-12, 10. For an essay
reviling John Williams see Geraint Jones (2009), ‘Porthmon Moloch’, in his Epil Gwiberod: Detholiad o ysgrifau ‘Sêt y
Gornel’ (Caernarfon: Gwasg y Bwthyn), pp. 60-3. For an interpretation that, on the other hand, is sympathetic to John
Williams, see Ben Rees (2011), ‘Cloriannu’r Parchedig Ddr John Williams, Brynsiencyn’, Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymdeithas
Hanes y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd, pp. 108-27.
44
Y Rhwyg, approx 16´00 in. John Williams retired from his ministry in Prince’s Road chapel, Liverpool, in 1912.
45
For the full quote see Wiliams, Y Rhwyg, p. 14.
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes
Wales’ campaign during the war in Eryr mewn Coler
Gron (‘Eagle in a Round Collar’), which includes a reenactment of many of his recruitment speeches.46
Thus many Welsh programmes about the war
tend to re-produce the same material to tell the story.
Presenters are seen in the same locations, such as
those parts of the trenches that have been preserved
(or rather re-built) as they were, in Sanctuary Wood
near Ypres. The producers have even chosen to use
similar music: Welsh hymns in minor keys, played at
a funereal tempo.
Unfortunately, as they tell the same story
these representations of the war also very often reproduce the same ambiguous information. Many of
the programmes shown on S4C discussing the Great
War spread the same erroneous ideas regarding the
degree of recruitment in Wales. In Ar Doriad Gwawr
Gareth Williams and Deian Hopkin state that a
greater proportion of Welsh men joined the army
than any other part of the United Kingdom; the
presenter in Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr makes the same
statement. In David Lloyd George: Prydain a’r Byd
(‘David Lloyd George: Britain and the World’) Hywel
Williams states: ‘By the end of the war 300,000
Welshmen had served in the armed forces – a much
higher proportion than from any other part of the
United Kingdom’.47
Another deficiency in the programmes is
the failure to explain why Britain was fighting in the
first place. There is no explanation of the source or
purpose of the war in Mametz, Tocyn Diwrnod or Y
Rhwyg; the programme Canrif y Werin jumps directly
from the shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in
Sarajevo to the havoc in the trenches. Without any
further explanation of why war between the great
European powers broke out, this direct shift into
the carnage makes no sense, making the fighting
seem pointless. It may be that the tendency to give
the veterans priority in the programmes clouds the
situation: decades later, it is very difficult for these
men to justify why they were fighting. ‘We knew
nothing of what we were fighting for,’ says Griffith
Williams. ‘We had no idea – only to keep the big boys
happy.’ 48
In order to comprehend the true significance
of the Great War, and the ensuing chaos and rifts,
we must start by attempting to ignore the decades
of preaching about the fighting, and draw nearer to
the viewpoint of those people who experienced the
tragedy and who voiced their feelings at the time.
This is the distinct advantage that Lleisiau’r Rhyfel
Mawr has over other programmes, as it uses current
46
This was a drama-documentary, part of the series Dilyn Ddoe, which was first broadcast on 5 July 1997. The part of John
Williams was played by the famous actor from Anglesey, J. O. Roberts. Note that no mention is made of John Williams in
the BBC Wales programmes, Mametz Wood (1987) and Shadows on the Western Front (1993).
47
This figure is much higher than the records available of men born in Wales who served, namely 272,924: see Chris
Williams (2007), ‘Taffs in the Trenches: Welsh national identity and military service 1914-1918’, in Matthew Cragoe
and Chris Williams (eds.), Wales and War: Society, Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Cardiff:
University of Wales Press), p. 126.
48
8
evidence not corrupted by the passage of time.
However, there is a way forward for studying
the history of the Great War in which the Welsh have
a distinct advantage, and where the later evidence
of the veterans themselves will be very valuable. As
was stated earlier, the historiography of the war has
developed over recent decades to focus on the effects
of the fighting years on the culture of the various
countries. The fact that Wales has its own culture,
which witnessed major changes as a result of the
carnage, opens the door to a study of how exactly
the talons of war affected the lives of the nation, and
the lives of regions, communities and individuals. As
there are many scholarly studies that analyse Welsh
war literature, much of the essential work has been
done, at least with regard to tracing the attitudes of
the country’s intelligentsia. I have already referred to
the impression that these intellectuals experienced
feelings of great disillusionment, much sooner and
more deeply than the British population at large.
What then of the attitudes of the other Welsh people
who were involved with the war?
It is possible to approach this subject from
two different angles. We can either consider the
current works of the individuals who suffered these
appalling experiences – as with Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr
– and try to follow how some families or communities
adapted to their new circumstances, or we can study
the statements of veterans as they look back over the
decades and try to make sense of their experiences,
analysing the way in which they have composed their
recollections. The researcher can therefore build a
picture of which aspects of Welsh culture these men
considered to be important, and how the war affected
their identity. In this case, no one can deny the
validity of the testimony of the elders, all of whom
speak sincerely from the heart. Therefore, why not a
study of interviews with the old veterans analysing
their statements in terms of what they convey about
Welsh culture in the decades after the carnage, rather
than accepting every statement as an immutable
‘fact’?
As we approach the centenary of the events
of 1914-1918, we are bound to hear ‘the sound of
battle in our ear’ once again, with numerous debates
in the media regarding the significance of the war and
its consequences. We can only hope that we in Wales
will hear, respect and understand, the voices of brave
men such as Griffith Williams and Bob Owen, as well
as listen to the opinions of David Lloyd George and
read the poetry of Hedd Wyn.
This quote was taken from Canrif y Werin, but Griffith Williams used almost the exact same words in Y Rhwyg.
Y Cylchgrawn Hanes