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History of Wales |
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Wales, as part of the United Kingdom [lower-roman 1] , participated as part of the allies in World War I (1914–1918) and the allies in World War II (1939–1945).
Just under 275,000 soldiers from Wales fought in World War I, with 35,000 combat deaths, in particular at Mametz Wood and Passchendaele. Welsh battalions also had other encounters on the Western, Tsingtao and Gallipoli fronts during the war. Frongoch, in Merionethshire, was the site of a World War I internment camp, initially housing German prisoners of war, but later Irish republicans after the Easter Rising.
In World War II, 15,000 soldiers from Wales were killed, with notable regiments such as the Royal Welch Fusiliers, had battled in the Western and south-east Asian theatres, whilst the South Wales Borderers had battled in the Mediterranean and Middle East, Norwegian and Normandy campaigns. Cardiff, Swansea and Pembroke experienced bombing raids from the German Luftwaffe during World War II, with the Cardiff Docks being a strategic bombing target for the German air force as it was a major coal port.
Just prior to World War II, a "bombing school" of RAF Penrhos was set up in Penyberth, Caernarfonshire, which received opposition from Welsh nationalists. The bombing facility was used throughout World War II. Island Farm near Bridgend, Glamorgan, housed German and other Axis prisoners of war, of whom had later attempted the largest escape by German POWs in Britain during World War II. Island Farm later housed senior SS military leaders awaiting extradition for the post-war Nuremberg trials.
Historian Kenneth Morgan described Wales on the eve of the First World War as a "relatively placid, self-confident and successful nation". The output from the coalfields continued to increase, with the Rhondda Valley recording a peak of 9.6 million tons of coal extracted in 1913. [1]
The first quarter of the 20th century also saw a shift in the political landscape of Wales. Since 1865, the Liberal Party had held a parliamentary majority in Wales and, following the general election of 1906, only one non-Liberal Member of Parliament, Keir Hardie of Merthyr Tydfil, represented a Welsh constituency at Westminster. Yet by 1906, industrial dissension and political militancy had begun to undermine Liberal consensus in the southern coalfields. [2] In 1916, David Lloyd George became the first Welshman to become Prime Minister of Britain. [3]
The First World War (1914–1918) saw a total of 272,924 Welshmen under arms, representing 21.5 per cent of the male population. Of these, roughly 35,000 were killed, [4] with particularly heavy losses of Welsh forces at Mametz Wood on the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele. [5]
The 1st and 2nd battalions of the Royal Welch Fusiliers served on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 and took part in some of the hardest fighting of the war, including Mametz Wood in 1916 and Passchendaele or Third Ypres in 1917. [6] [ full citation needed ] [7] The Welsh-language poet, Hedd Wyn was part of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and was killed during the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I. He was posthumously awarded the bard's chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod for a poem he wrote on his way to the frontline. Evans, who had been awarded several chairs for his poetry, was inspired to take the bardic name Hedd Wyn ("White Peace" or "Blessed Peace") from the way sunlight penetrated the mist in the Meirionnydd valleys. [8]
One of his other poems, Rhyfel ("War") is quoted in popular media [9] [10] ;
Gwae fi fy myw mewn oes mor ddreng, | Why must I live in this grim age, |
Of the South Wales borderers, the 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 3rd Brigade in the 1st Division with the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. [12] The 2nd Battalion landed at Laoshan Bay for operations against the German territory of Tsingtao in September 1914 and saw action at the Siege of Tsingtao in October 1914. [12] After returning home in January 1915, the 2nd Battalion landed at Cape Helles as part of the 87th Brigade in the 29th Division in April 1915; it was evacuated from Gallipoli in January 1916 and then landed at Marseille in March 1916 for service on the Western Front. [12]
Mametz Wood was the objective of the 38th (Welsh) Division during the First Battle of the Somme. The attack was made in a northerly direction over a ridge, focusing on the German positions in the wood, between 7 July and 12 July 1916. On 7 July the men formed the first wave intending to take the wood in a matter of hours. However, strong fortification, machine-guns and shelling killed and injured over 400 soldiers before they reached the wood. Further attacks by the 17th Division on 8 July failed to improve the position. [13]
The Welsh soldiers did not lack in courage, but had been given an impossible task. Eventually Welsh troops fought their way into the woods but were outnumbered by German defenders three-to-one. The Welsh had been trained for this type of warfare. In addition, the wood had poor visibility and was difficult to maintain one's bearings. By dawn of 12 July, the Welsh had taken Mametz Wood. The 38th (Welsh) Division was relieved and taken out of the front line. [14]
The commander over British forces at the Somme, Douglas Haig was later described as "The Butcher of the Somme" and 'Butcher' Haig. [15] [16]
Until 1916 the camp housed German prisoners of war in a yellow distillery and crude huts, but in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, the German prisoners were moved and it was used as an internment camp for approximately 1,800 Irish republicans, held without trial. Among them such notables as Michael Collins, who were accorded the status of prisoners of war. Among the prisoners were the future Hollywood actor Arthur Shields [17] and sportsman and referee Tom Burke. [18] [19] Later the camps such as Frongoch became known as ollscoil na réabhlóide ("Universities of Revolution") where future leaders including Michael Collins, Terence McSwiney and J. J. O'Connell began to plan the coming struggle for independence. [20] [21] Elwyn Edwards, a local councillor, historian and poet suggests that the Irish War of Independence was won in Fongoch in Wales. [19]
For the first time in centuries, the population of Wales went into decline; unemployment reduced only with the production demands of the Second World War. [22]
Welsh nationalism was ignited in the lead up to the second world war, when in 1936 the UK government settled on establishing the RAF Penrhos bombing school at Penyberth on the Llŷn peninsula in Gwynedd. The events surrounding the protest, known as Tân yn Llŷn (Fire in Llŷn), helped define Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru (National Party of Wales). [23] The UK government settled on Llŷn as the site for its new bombing school after similar locations in Northumberland and Dorset were met with protests. [24]
However, UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin refused to hear the case against the bombing school in Wales, despite a deputation representing half a million Welsh protesters. [24] Protest against the bombing school was summed up by Saunders Lewis when he wrote that the UK government was intent upon turning one of the 'essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom, and literature' into a place for promoting a barbaric method of warfare. [24] Construction of the bombing school building began[ when? ] exactly 400 years after the first part of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 which brought Wales into the same legal jurisdiction and administrative state as the rest of the Kingdom of England. [24] RAF Penrhos "bombing school" was in use throughout the second world war, from February 1937 until October 1946. [25]
The war saw Welsh servicemen and women fight in all major theatres, with some 15,000 of them killed. After 1943, 10 per cent of Welsh conscripts aged 18 were sent to work in the coal mines, where there were labour shortages; they became known as Bevin Boys. Pacifist numbers during both World Wars were fairly low, especially in the Second World War, which was seen as a fight against fascism. [26]
The Royal Welch Fusilers regiment was awarded 27 battle honours for World War II, with more than 1,200 fusiliers killed in action or died of wounds. [27] The 1st battalion fought in the short but fierce battles of France and Belgium and was forced to retreat and be evacuated during the Dunkirk evacuation. After two years spent in the United Kingdom, waiting and preparing for the invasion that never came (Operation Sea Lion), the 1st RWF and the rest of 2nd Division were sent to British India to fight the Imperial Japanese Army after a string of defeats inflicted upon the British and Indian troops. The battalion was involved in the Burma Campaign, particularly the Battle of Kohima, nicknamed the " Stalingrad of the East" due to the ferocity of fighting on both sides, that helped to turn the tide of the campaign in the South East Asian theatre. [28]
Of the South Wales Borderers, the 1st Battalion, as part of the 10th Indian Infantry Division, was sent to Iraq to quell a German-inspired uprising in Iraq in November 1941. [29] The battalion saw subsequent service in Iran. The battalion sustained enormous casualties in Libya near Tobruk when they lost around 500 officers and men captured or killed during a general retreat. [29] The battalion found itself cut off when the German forces outflanked them, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Matthews, decided to attempt to escape around the enemy and break through to British lines. It turned into a disaster with only four officers and around one hundred men reaching Sollum. [29]
Upon the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the 2nd Battalion of the South Wales Bordrers was serving in Derry, Northern Ireland, under command of Northern Ireland District, having been there since December 1936. [30] In December 1939 the battalion left Northern Ireland and was sent to join the 148th Infantry Brigade of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, a Territorial formation. [31] In April 1940 the battalion was again transferred to the newly created 24th Guards Brigade (Rupertforce), and took part in the Norwegian Campaign, and were among the first British troops to see action against the German Army in the Second World War. [32] The campaign failed and the brigade had to be evacuated. Casualties in the battalion, however, had been remarkably light, with only 13 wounded and 6 killed and two DCMs had been awarded. [33] The battalion had the distinction of being the only Welsh battalion to take part in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, landing at Gold Beach under command of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and fought in the Battle of Normandy, under command of 7th Armoured Division for a few days in June 1944, before reverting to the 50th Division. [34]
Bombing raids brought high loss of life as the German Air Force targeted the docks at Swansea, Cardiff and Pembroke. [26]
The Cardiff Blitz between 1940 and the final raid on the city in March 1944 approximately 2,100 bombs fell, killing 355 people. [35]
Cardiff Docks became a strategic bombing target for the Luftwaffe as it was one of the biggest coal ports in the world. [36] [37] Consequently, it and the surrounding area were heavily bombed. Llandaff Cathedral, amongst many other civilian buildings caught in the raids, was damaged by the bombing in 1941. [38]
Island Farm, also called Camp 198, was a prisoner of war camp on the outskirts of the town of Bridgend, South Wales. It hosted a number of Axis prisoners, mainly German, and was the scene of the largest escape attempt by German POWs in Britain during World War II. Near the end of the war it was renamed Special Camp XI and used to detain many senior SS military leaders who were awaiting extradition to the Nuremberg trials. [39] [40]
Hedd Wyn was a Welsh-language poet who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I. He was posthumously awarded the bard's chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod. Evans, who had been awarded several chairs for his poetry, was inspired to take the bardic name Hedd Wyn from the way sunlight penetrated the mist in the Meirionnydd valleys.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.
160th (Welsh) Brigade or Brigâd 160 (Cymru), is a regional brigade of the British Army that has been in existence since 1908, and saw service during both the First and the Second World Wars, as part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. It is a regional command responsible for all of Wales. The Brigade is also regionally aligned with the Eastern European and Central Asian regions as part of defence engagement.
The 38th (Welsh) Division of the British Army was active during both the First and Second World Wars. In 1914, the division was raised as the 43rd Division of Herbert Kitchener's New Army, and was originally intended to form part of a 50,000-strong Welsh Army Corps that had been championed by David Lloyd George; the assignment of Welsh recruits to other formations meant that this concept was never realised.
Trawsfynydd is a linear village in Gwynedd, Wales, near Llyn Trawsfynydd reservoir, and adjacent to the A470 north of Bronaber and Dolgellau and 10 km south of Blaenau Ffestiniog. It also neighbours the towns of Porthmadog and Bala.
Company Sergeant Major Ivor Rees VC was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth forces.
The Battle of Albert is the British name for the first two weeks of British–French offensive operations of the Battle of the Somme. The Allied preparatory artillery bombardment commenced on 24 June and the British–French infantry attacked on 1 July, on the south bank from Foucaucourt to the Somme and from the Somme north to Gommecourt, 2 mi (3.2 km) beyond Serre. The French Sixth Army and the right wing of the British Fourth Army inflicted a considerable defeat on the German 2nd Army but from near the Albert–Bapaume road to Gommecourt, the British attack was a disaster, where most of the c. 57,000 British casualties of the day were incurred. Against the wishes of General Joseph Joffre, General Sir Douglas Haig abandoned the offensive north of the road to reinforce the success in the south, where the British–French forces pressed forward through several intermediate lines closer to the German second position.
Frongoch is a village located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, on the A4212 road.
Alan Llwyd, original name Alan Lloyd Roberts, also known under the Bardic name Meilir Emrys Owen, is a Welsh poet, literary critic and editor. He is one of the most prolific Welsh-language poets of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and has won the bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod three times and the Crown twice.
The Mametz Wood Memorial commemorates an engagement of the 38th (Welsh) Division of the British Army during the First Battle of the Somme in France in 1916.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1916 to Wales and its people.
Hedd Wyn is a 1992 Welsh anti-war biopic, written by Alan Llwyd and directed by Paul Turner.
The 115th Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army raised during both the First and Second World War.
The 119th Brigade, originally the Welsh Bantam Brigade, was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army during World War I. Part of Lord Kitchener's 'New Armies', it served in the 40th Division on the Western Front. The brigade number was reactivated for deception purposes during World War II.
The Capture of Mametz took place on 1 July 1916, when the British Fourth Army attacked the German 2nd Army on the Western Front, during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Mametz is a village on the D 64 road, about 20 mi (32 km) north-east of Amiens and 4 mi (6.4 km) east of Albert. Fricourt lies to the west, Contalmaison is to the north, Montauban to the north-east and Carnoy and Maricourt are to the south-east. Mametz Wood is 1,000 yd (910 m) to the north-west and before 1914, the village was the fifth largest in the area, with about 120 houses and had a station on the line from Albert to Péronne. During the Battle of Albert the II Bavarian Corps attacked westwards north of the Somme but was fought to a standstill east of Mametz. Reinforced by the XIV Reserve Corps the Germans on the north side of the Somme attacked again and took Mametz on 29 September. After a mutually costly battle for Fricourt, where the French were eventually forced out, the front line stabilised and both sides began to improvise defences. In mid-December a French local attack in the Mametz area was a costly failure.
The Welsh National Memorial Park is a war memorial in Langemark near Ypres (Belgium) for soldiers of World War I, located near the Pilkem Ridge in the former Ypres Salient. It commemorates the service of men and women of Welsh origin, wherever they served during the Great War as part of the Allied Powers, as well as the non-Welsh soldiers serving in Welsh formations.
The Welsh at Mametz Wood by Christopher Williams portrays the 11 July 1916 Charge of the Welsh Division at Mametz Wood, part of the Somme offensive. Painted at the request of the Secretary of State for War, David Lloyd George. Williams visited the scene in November 1916 and later made studies from a soldier supplied for the purpose. The painting is in the collection of the National Museum of Wales, to whom it was presented by Sir Archibald Mitchelson in 1920.
The 2nd Gwent Battalion was a Welsh 'Pals battalion' formed as part of 'Kitchener's Army' during World War I. Raised by local initiative in Monmouthshire and Brecknockshire, it became the 11th (Service) Battalion of the local regiment, the South Wales Borderers. It served in 38th (Welsh) Division and led the division's costly attack on Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme. The battalion continued to serve on the Western Front, including the Third Battle of Ypres. It was disbanded early in 1918, but many of its personnel remained together for a few weeks in a composite battalion that saw action at the Battle of Estaires in April 1918.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna; Lynch, Peredur I., eds. (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales . Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.