Overview

This work is a new interpretation of the First World War battle for Mametz Wood in July 1916, telling the story of those terrible days from the viewpoint of soldiers on both sides. It uses primary sources, including personal accounts and photographs which are published for the first time.

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9781784612382

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The battle for Mametz Wood, part of the Somme offensive of 1916, has a special place in Welsh consciousness, memorialised in the figure of the poet Hedd Wyn who fought with the 38th (Welsh) Division at Mametz and was killed, and by David Jones, who survived to write his epic poem about the battle, In Parenthesis. In Wales the 38th (Welsh) are recalled as heroes for their attack on the wood, but Brigadier Price-Woods callous dismissal of the Welsh troops achievement (later retracted) was picked up and magnified by a misinformed Field Marshal Haig. This has cast a long shadow over the action as far as the 38th (Welsh) Division is concerned, which Jonathan Hicks seeks to redress in The Welsh at Mametz Wood. The first half of the book gives a blow-by-blow account of the battle, drawing on a range of contemporary sources. It is followed by almost a hundred pages of survivors accounts, and a chapter on The German Perspective which quotes extensively from the experience of German officers and other ranks as they attempted to hold the wood. Concluding chapters look at how the British press reported on the battle and give an account of the medals won during it. The battle was in many ways a disaster. A preliminary artillery bombardment certainly played havoc with the German line, but even so the Welsh had to advance over open ground in daylight toward a dense wood still heavily defended with machine gun emplacements. Several survivors use exactly the same image about these frontal attacks the men were mown down like corn. Moreover, a creeping artillery barrage was supposed to give the men protection as they advanced, but frequently the timing and range were wrong, and many Welsh soldiers fell victim to their own sides guns. All in all there were 4,000 casualties. The wood itself was blown apart by the shelling, making it even more difficult to traverse once it had been reached. The horror of it all is described by Private Emlyn Davies: Gory scenes met our gaze. Mangled corpses in khaki and field-grey; dismembered bodies, severed heads and limbs; lumps of torn flesh half way up tree trunks; a Welsh Fusilier reclining on a mound, a red trickle oozing from his bayoneted throat; a South Wales Borderer and a German locked in their deadliest embraces they had simultaneously bayoneted each other. A German gunner with jaws blown off lay against his machine gun, hand still on the trigger. The wartime press didnt want to know this of course: Huns Outflanked: Thrilling Charge by Welsh Borderers ran a Western Mail headline. We smashed them to bits with our first volley, and what was left of them bolted like rabbits, boasted an unnamed private from Merthyr Tydfil in the same article. There was some dandy work, I can tell you, and many a Hun was sent packing. One of the most moving features of Jonathan Hickss book is the large number of thumbnail portraits of officers and men who fought at Mametz. They appear on almost every page, staring out at you, nearly all of them appallingly young 18, 19, 20 years old most of them killed in the fighting, and very many of them with no known grave. (The lack of an index is disappointing here, making it very difficult to locate individuals.) The medal issued by the British government to survivors of the war has on its obverse the image of the winged figure of Victory. On the reverse are the words The Great War for Civilisation 19141919. The First World War was in fact a prelude to the great tragedy of the twentieth century and the destruction of European civilisation. Those young men at Mametz died for nothing in a war that should never have been fought. Never believe the lying rhetoric of the State. John Barnie It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council

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