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Up to Mametz and Beyond
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General Jonathon Riley has discovered Wyn Griffith’s unpublished diaries and letters which pick up where Up to Mametz left off through to the end of the War.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 Welsh speaking family in Llandrillo yn Rhos, North Wales. He joined the Civil Service as a Tax Surveyor. Aged 24 on the outbreak of War, he was accepted for a commission in the 15th (1st London Welsh) Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and served in the Battalion or on the staff for the rest of the War. Returning to the Inland Revenue he was responsible for the pay-As-You-Earn tax system, retiring in 1952. He filled many distinguished appointments, such as the Arts Council, and was a regular broadcaster. Awarded an Honorary DLitt by the University of Wales, he was holder of the CBE, OBE, Croix de Guerre and an MID. He died in 1977.
General Jonathon Riley has discovered Wyn Griffith’s unpublished diaries and letters which pick up where Up to Mametz left off through to the end of the War.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 Welsh speaking family in Llandrillo yn Rhos, North Wales. He joined the Civil Service as a Tax Surveyor. Aged 24 on the outbreak of War, he was accepted for a commission in the 15th (1st London Welsh) Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and served in the Battalion or on the staff for the rest of the War. Returning to the Inland Revenue he was responsible for the pay-As-You-Earn tax system, retiring in 1952. He filled many distinguished appointments, such as the Arts Council, and was a regular broadcaster. Awarded an Honorary DLitt by the University of Wales, he was holder of the CBE, OBE, Croix de Guerre and an MID. He died in 1977.
- GenresNonfictionWorld War I
224 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 25, 2026
This was a little treasure that I hadn't managed to read over the years. I was drawn to both buying and reading this book from the excellent Not So Quiet On The Western Front podcast, and managed to find a lovely copy via Abe.
Wyn Griffiths provides a thoughtful, clear, atmospheric and, indeed, emotional account of his time on the Western Front. Firstly, as a junior officer he is with his Welsh brethren of the 15th Battalion, The Royal Welch Fusiliers, and then on the brigade staff, which takes him back into the trenches and front-line where he sees dreadful sights that both mark him at the time and in later life. His brother's death is told in heart-rending prose, as is how he had to simply carry on.
Very well-written, this is a book that I would heartily recommend to those who are interested in WWI personal memoirs, Welsh soldiers at war, and also officers who served on the General Staff (the Brass Hats or Red Tabs of lore).
The book also reminded me of another of my favourite WE1 memoirs: Twelve Days by Sidney Rogerson.
My copy was the lovely hardback1988 Gliddon Books Great War Classics series. Up To Mametz was originally published by Faber and Faber in 1931.
Wyn Griffiths provides a thoughtful, clear, atmospheric and, indeed, emotional account of his time on the Western Front. Firstly, as a junior officer he is with his Welsh brethren of the 15th Battalion, The Royal Welch Fusiliers, and then on the brigade staff, which takes him back into the trenches and front-line where he sees dreadful sights that both mark him at the time and in later life. His brother's death is told in heart-rending prose, as is how he had to simply carry on.
Very well-written, this is a book that I would heartily recommend to those who are interested in WWI personal memoirs, Welsh soldiers at war, and also officers who served on the General Staff (the Brass Hats or Red Tabs of lore).
The book also reminded me of another of my favourite WE1 memoirs: Twelve Days by Sidney Rogerson.
My copy was the lovely hardback1988 Gliddon Books Great War Classics series. Up To Mametz was originally published by Faber and Faber in 1931.
March 28, 2021
Well, I read this book as a follow-up to David Jones's 'In Parenthesis' which makes an admirable companion as Llewelyn Wyn Griffith's account is a parallel prose version of 'In Parenthesis'. Indeed, this edition of the book contains many of David Jones's illustrations.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers seem to have produced a number of writers who have written their accounts of their war experiences: Robert Graves, Seigfried Sassoon, David Jones, and Frank Richards (whose book 'Old Soldiers Never Die' is next on my reading list after this.) So, you have multiple viewpoints on the same incidents to compare and contrast. My understanding is that Robert Graves's version is a little less factually solid than others, but I pass this on as a piece of second-hand information rather than something I know for definite.
Llewelyn Wyn Griffith's book doesn't get mentioned with quite the same reverence as Grave, Sassoon or Jones, which might be something to do with the fact that he wasn't known as a war poet particularly or that he became a staff Captain and therefore his story is seen with a more jaundiced eye?
That's certainly unfair. Wyn Griffith's paints a picture as bluntly grim and honest as any of the other writers. His account of the battle of Memetz Wood and its aftermath is brutal and painful. The part of the book which deals with the discovery of his brother's death is heartbreaking, but at no point is Wyn Griffith melodramatic, which actually makes it all the harder to read. Comparing his account of Memetz Wood in the aftermath of the battle with David Jones's account would be a fascinating exercise. The same things are seen and explained in two entirely different styles.
This is a fine, direct book that manages both to explain what happened and analyse Wyn Griffith's own reaction to it. It is particularly self-reflective.
I have read a lot of World War One memoirs and novels. Not just British ones, but French and German ones too. This is a fine addition to that list. It should be better known in my opinion.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers seem to have produced a number of writers who have written their accounts of their war experiences: Robert Graves, Seigfried Sassoon, David Jones, and Frank Richards (whose book 'Old Soldiers Never Die' is next on my reading list after this.) So, you have multiple viewpoints on the same incidents to compare and contrast. My understanding is that Robert Graves's version is a little less factually solid than others, but I pass this on as a piece of second-hand information rather than something I know for definite.
Llewelyn Wyn Griffith's book doesn't get mentioned with quite the same reverence as Grave, Sassoon or Jones, which might be something to do with the fact that he wasn't known as a war poet particularly or that he became a staff Captain and therefore his story is seen with a more jaundiced eye?
That's certainly unfair. Wyn Griffith's paints a picture as bluntly grim and honest as any of the other writers. His account of the battle of Memetz Wood and its aftermath is brutal and painful. The part of the book which deals with the discovery of his brother's death is heartbreaking, but at no point is Wyn Griffith melodramatic, which actually makes it all the harder to read. Comparing his account of Memetz Wood in the aftermath of the battle with David Jones's account would be a fascinating exercise. The same things are seen and explained in two entirely different styles.
This is a fine, direct book that manages both to explain what happened and analyse Wyn Griffith's own reaction to it. It is particularly self-reflective.
I have read a lot of World War One memoirs and novels. Not just British ones, but French and German ones too. This is a fine addition to that list. It should be better known in my opinion.
March 28, 2017
I really liked this one! It's a fictional reselling of a real event as told by a soldier who was actually there. The characters were engaging and even though I knew the whole ordeal was going to be a disaster, I was rooting for the officers and their soldiers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews