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WW1 nurses in Caernarfon

Red Cross nurses during First World War parade at Caernarfon

© Caernarfon Record Office, Gwynedd Archives Service 2017

On this day in RWF history - May 4th 1917 - The sinking of SS Transylvania

The SS Transylvania was a passenger liner of the Cunard subsidiary Anchor Line, and a sister ship to SS Tuscania. She was torpedoed and sunk on May 4, 1917 by the German U-boat U-63 while carrying Allied troops to Egypt. She sank with a loss of 412 lives which included some RWF.
Joseph Edward Jones 20862 - On Thursday 3 May 1917, he with other troops, boarded the SS Transylvania at Marseille for Alexandria, Egypt. At 10 am on Friday 4 May 1917, the ship was struck by a torpedo fired by U Boat U-63 under the command of Otto Schultz. Joseph along with many others was killed.

Also thanks to Mair Jones (nee Parry)
William Parry from the 7th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers sailed on her and was on board when she was torpedoed. He survived,taken to Savona and eventually sailed on another ship to Alexandria. He was wounded before Allenby’s march on Jerusalem and repatriated in November 1917.

Come meet a WW1 Tommy this Easter at the RWF Museum inside Caernarfon Castle

8^th April

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Our poet at Passchendaele 1917

Hedd Wyn
Ellis Evans, c.1910. Frontispiece in Cerddi'r Bugail (1918)
Born	Ellis Humphrey Evans 13 January 1887 Trawsfynydd, Meirionydd, North Wales
Died	31 July 1917 (aged 30) Pilckem Ridge, Ypres
Resting place	Artillery Wood Cemetery,Boezinge, Belgium
Occupation	Poet Shepherd/farmer
Language	Welsh
Ethnicity	Welsh
Citizenship	British
Genre	Welsh Poetry
Literary movement	Romantic and war poetry
Notable works	Yr Arwr, Ystrad Fflur, Plant Trawsfynnydd, Y Blotyn Du, Nid â’n Ango, Rhyfel
Notable awards	Bard's chair at the 1917National Eisteddfod

Hedd Wyn (born Ellis Humphrey Evans, 13 January 1887 – 31 July 1917) was a Welsh language poet who was killed near Ypres, Belgium, during the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I. 

He was a Royal Welsh Fusilier.

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 (Welsh: blessed peace) from the way sunlight penetrated the mist in the Meirionydd valleys.

His style, which was influenced by romantic poetry, was dominated by themes of nature and religion. He also wrote several war poems following the outbreak of war on the Western Front.

See also the  Oscar nominated 1992 film, Hedd Wyn (film).

For more information:

http://archives.passchendaele.be/en/soldier/1123 

16th March 1689 – ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

Henry, 4th Lord Herbert of Chirbury commissioned to raise a regiment of foot, 1689

On 16 March 1689 King William III authorised nine of his supporters to raise regiments of infantry. Lord Herbert of Chirbury was allocated the counties of Montgomery, Radnor and Shropshire. Pressure of political business soon forced him to resign and he was succeeded by his cousin Charles Herbert. The new Regiment, known as Herbert’s Regiment, assembled
at Ludlow.

11th March 1777 - ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

2nd Lt George Bayntun promoted Lt during the Revolutionary War in America. Bayntun’s service is listed below. The attached portrait of Bayntun was purchased by Brigadier Eric Skaife, in the 1930s and now hangs in the Regimental Museum.
BAYNTUN, George Edward Werden. Born in 1738, the eldest son of Edward Bayntun ( –1777) of the Coldstream Guards, and Susanna (née Werden) co-heiress with her half-sister, the Duchess of St Albans.
He was commissioned 2nd lieutenant RWF, on 22 November 1775 and promoted lieutenant on 10 March 1777. He served in North America during the revolution and is known to have done duty in HMS Centurion from 2 August to 19 September 1778 when the RWF, volunteered for service as marines in the fleet under Admiral Lord Howe.
He is noted as a member of the Officers’ Mess Committee in the minute book signed at Chatham on 25 November 1787 but he transferred to the 2nd Foot as captain on 4 November 1788.
He sold his commission in 1793 and died in 1806.
His portrait in oils by Thomas Beach (1738–1806) was purchased by Brigadier Skaife (q.v.) in ?1937 (see Y Ddraig Goch, January 1937, page 4) and was bequeathed by him to the regiment. Bayntun’s dress in the portrait is discussed in Y Ddraig Goch, March 1961 page 57.
His brother, Admiral Sir Henry Bayntun GCB (1766–1840) commanded HMS Leviathan at Trafalgar.
References Burke, J and JB, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant
Baronetcies of England, London 1838, page 561