The Plugstreet Archaeological Project
1/4th Btn. Royal Welch Fusiliers
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11/4th Btn. Royal Welch Fusiliers were situated in the northern part of the line during the Battle of Messines around the area of Hill60 and The Caterpillar mines as Pioneers with the 47th Division.
Those who served with 1/4th Btn. Royal Welch Fusiliers
at The Battle of Messines.
- Langton DSO
John Henry Major
Old Soldiers Never DieFrank Richards
Frank Richards served in the 2/ Royal Welch Fusiliers along with (at one time or another) Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, and Dr Dunn (compiler of the amazing 'The War That The Infantry Knew'- possibly THE best battalion history of WW1- and a good companion to this book as its interesting to cross reference small incidences somtimes...). Anyway, Richards was slightly different to his literary contemporaries in that he was 'Other Ranks', and a miner by trade. He was recalled to the colours in 1914 after several years on the reserve, and served as a Private right through to 1918. He writes his story as one would imagine he spoke- and for me as I read it, it was a style as if he was telling me his war history in anecdotes down the pub or something, supping over a pint of mild: theres no deep soul searching here, but plenty of bitterness, a lot of detail, and what an experience he had... So if you don't have this in your collection then get it now- one of the very few 'OR' books (IMore information on:
Up to Mametz - and BeyondLlewelyn Wyn Griffith
Llewelyn Wyn Griffith s Up to Mametz, published in 1931, is now firmly established as one of the finest accounts of soldiering on the Western Front. It tells the story of the creation of a famous Welsh wartime battalion (The Royal Welch Fusiliers), its training, its apprenticeship in the trenches, through to its ordeal of Mametz Wood on the Somme as part of 38 Division. But there it stopped. General Jonathon Riley has however discovered Wyn Griffith s unpublished diaries and letters which pick up where Up to Mametz left off through to the end of the War. With careful editing and annotation, the events of these missing years are now available alongside the original work. They tell of an officer s life on the derided staff and provide fascinating glimpses of senior officers, some who attract high praise and others who the author obviously despised. The result is an enthralling complete read and a major addition to the bibliography of the period. Llewelyn Wyn Griffiths was born into a WelMore information on:
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