First World War

A selection of emotive, thought-provoking images from the period of the First World War has been added to our Commercial Picture Library and Prints Service.

In 2014, National Museum Cardiff held an exhibition, The Great War: Britain’s Efforts and Ideals, which displayed a complete series of 66 lithographs of artistic propaganda prints commissioned by the Bureau of Propaganda (later renamed the Ministry of Information) in 1917. 

The aim of the series was to encourage a war-weary public and to raise support for the war effort. The lithographs were published under the two titles ‘Efforts’ and ‘Ideals’ and contain work contributed by 18 artists including Frank Brangwyn, Muirhead Bone, George Clausen and A. S. Hartrick.

Under the ‘Efforts’ section, nine of the artists were commissioned to produce six works under a heading, including Making Guns, Women’s Work and Wounded. Within the ‘Ideals’ portfolio, the 12 artists illustrated the ambitions and aims of the war. The artists were given subjects to work within and each of the images had to pass censorship regulations.  

Each image shows people going about their daily lives during the war. Like so many others, they were ordinary people living in extraordinary times, selflessly sacrificing for others and all of us today.

To read more about this collection, please open the following link to a blog by Rhodri Viney, Digital Content Assistant at Amgueddfa Cymru:

Blog by Rhodri Viney

To reflect upon the centenary of the end of the First World War, National Museum Cardiff is holding an exhibition entitled Poppies for Remembrance. This exhibition will explore how the poppy became the symbol for remembrance, provide an opportunity for contemplation and reflection on loss and recovery, as well as look at the science of poppy biodiversity, the many species of poppies worldwide and the threats to their existence. The exhibition will run from 21 July 2018 to 3 March 2019. Details below:

Poppies for Remembrance Exhibition

Commercial Picture Library

Museum Wales Prints

April 1st 2018 marks the centenary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, and to coincide with this anniversary I’d like to share with you a remarkable story from the collection. Here at St Fagans, we have a collection of letters and telegrams sent to and from Eli Evans of Cardiff. They relate to the wartime experiences of his son, Arthur Wellesley Rees Evans, and it’s from these correspondence that I have managed to piece together their story.

Arthur Wellesley Rees Evans was born on 18 June 1898 in St Mellons, Cardiff. He lived with his parents – Eli and Laura Evans – at 204 Newport Road, Cardiff and was employed by Mr D. P. Barnett, a ship owner, based at the Baltic Buildings, Cardiff Docks.

In December 1916 Wellesley was accepted for the Officers Training Course, but was medically rejected at Whitehall due to Tuberculosis in both lungs. He was eventually accepted into the British Army and was passed fit for the Royal Flying Corps on 22 August 1917. A week later he was posted to the R.F.C. no 2 Cadet Wing in Winchester, before being transferred to no 25 Training Squadron in Thetford, Norfolk.

On 9 January 1918, Wellesley began his basic flying and fighter training at Old Sarum Training Base in Salisbury and graduated with the 103rd Squadron Royal Air Force on 5 April 1918, four days after the formation of the RAF. He was then transferred to No 1 School of Aerial Navigation and Bomb Dropping in Stonehenge, before leaving for London on 24 September to embark on his journey to France.

Wellesley arrived in Paris on 28 September 1918, and from there transferred to ‘somewhere in France’ where he joined up with the 110th Squadron RAF on 15 October. He took part in his first mission six days later on 21 October when his squadron flew to bomb Cologne, but Wellesley did not return. He and his observer, Lieutenant Thompson, had been shot down.

Eli and Laura Evans received official information from the Air Ministry that their son had been reported missing on 21 October. Eli sent letters and telegrams to the Air Ministry and the International Prisoner's Agency in Geneva requesting news of his son. To their relief, they finally received word that Wellesley was alive and well and being held as a prisoner of war in Limburg, Germany. 

Luckily for Wellesley his time as a prisoner of war was brief. The armistice signed on 11 November effectively brought the First World War to an end. He’d been a prisoner for less than a month. On 3 December, he left Germany for home via Switzerland and France and finally to Dover on 10 December. On 7 February 1919, Wellesley went to the Air Ministry to be demobilized, and a week later he resumed work with Mr D. P. Barnett in Cardiff Docks. A few months after his son returned from the war, Eli Evans passed away at the age of 52. Perhaps the stress and anxiety suffered by him during those weeks may have contributed to his early death.

After the war Wellesley remained in Cardiff working as a Marketing Officer for the National Coal Board. He married Gladys Gwendolyn Mitchell and they had a daughter. Arthur Wellesley Rees Evans died on the 5 January 1965 aged 66 in Cyncoed, Cardiff. He is buried alongside his wife at St Edeyrns Parish Church in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff.

This project is supported by the Armed Forces Community Covenant

Archibald H. Lee was the first Secretary appointed to National Museum Wales in 1909 and held the post for 44 years. His professional life began in 1899 when he entered the service of the Cardiff Corporation as a junior clerk in the old Town-hall on St Mary Street. During this time he would have worked on the City’s case for the establishment of a National Museum, so it must have been gratifying for him to join the fledgling staff of the new Museum.

After a few quietly productive years, the outbreak of WWI saw a large number of staff leave the museum for military service and Lee was no exception. He commanded a company of the 5^th Welch Regiment and was awarded the Military Cross after the Battle of Gaza.

After the war, Lee resumed his position as Secretary and the Library holds a great number of photographs showing him at the forefront of important events and gatherings. In 1927 the new building at Cathays Park was officially opened by King George V and Queen Mary and Lee lead the Royal party up the steps to officially knock on the door with the ceremonial staff.

He established a life time bond with the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society when he joined in 1909, going on to hold the posts of Honourable Secretary, Council Member, President [1931-2] and finally Honorary Member in 1954. Some highlights during these years were helping to organize and celebrate the Society’s Diamond Jubilee, contributing an article titled Museums in Cardiff for the Society Transactions [1932] and being awarded the Honorary Degree of M.A. by the University of Wales [1937].

During WWII, he was an active member of the 16^th Glamorgan Home Guard ‘National Museum Wales Section’. The Museum suffered some damage through enemy air raids on Cardiff and extensive precautions were implemented to protect the collections. These involved the transfer of important specimens to the basement strong room, sandbagging of sculptural and bulky exhibits, the protecting of all glass cases and windows with gummed strips, and night time ‘fire-watch’ duties, all of which  Lee would most likely have been involved in.

In 1953 Lee retired as Secretary with a civic luncheon held in his honour and the award of an O.B. E [Officer of the British Empire].

He passed away in 1970, aged 87 years.

The collection at St Fagans National Museum of History includes numerous archives relating to the Welsh experience of the First World War. While working with colleagues to produce a digital database to commemorate the centenary of the conflict, I found an intriguing bundle of documents associated with a young soldier with connections to Penarth who died, serving with the Grenadier Guards, exactly 100 years ago today. His name was Oscar Foote and in this blog I have pieced together his last 24 hours from the archives we hold at the Museum.

On the night of 6 July 1917 an exhausted Oscar Foote had just returned from fighting in the trenches of Ypres for some well-earned rest and recuperation in a nearby camp. This camp was well within range of German artillery and on occasions they would shell the area. The morning of 7 July had begun like any other morning for Oscar. He had just put away his shaving kit when shells suddenly started bursting in the vicinity. A shell landed close to Oscar’s hut, creating murderous splinters in its aftermath. One of these splinters caught Oscar in the head and neck. Although his comrades desperately went to his aid, their efforts were in vain. He had been killed instantly. That afternoon, Oscar was buried by his comrades in Canada Farm British Cemetery, near Elverdinghe. A card dated 3 January 1918 includes a photograph of a simple wooden cross marking his resting place. 

The Oscar Foote archives came into the national collection in 1946 – a donation from a Mrs Maillard of Penarth who had been corresponding with him during the War. It appears that Mrs Maillard also donated material to the Imperial War Museum (IWM), possibly in response to the Bond of Sacrifice initiative. More research is needed to unpick how letters addressed to Mrs Maillard from the IWM came into our possession in 1946, but both institutions were actively collecting war memorabilia from soldiers and their families during and immediately after the conflict. Another blog for another day.

The digitisation of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ First World War collection is supported by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

Gan gofio bod llai na blwyddyn ers diwedd yr Ail Ryfel Byd prin iawn yw’r sylw a gawn gan Kate Rowlands o ran sgil effaith y rhyfel ar ei theulu a’i chymuned. Dydi hynny ddim yn syndod i’r rheiny ohonoch ddilynodd ei hanes ym 1914 – wrth ei ddarllen, digon hawdd oedd anghofio fod cysgod y Rhyfel Mawr ar drigolion y Sarnau.

Fodd bynnag, sawl un ohonoch sylwodd ar ei chofnod y ddoe?

      21 Gorffennaf 1946 - Adref trwy'r dydd. Dewi Jones (Tai mawr) yn pregethu yn Rhydywernen. Dechreu Rations ar y bara.

Ar drothwy’r Ail Ryfel Byd roedd Prydain yn mewnforio 60% o’i bwyd. Wrth gofio am y prinder yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, cyflwynodd y llywodraeth y sustem dogni ym mis Ionawr 1940. Dosbarthwyd llyfrau dogni i bawb a bu’n rhaid i bob cartref gofrestru gyda chigydd, groser a dyn llefrith lleol. Roedd y rhain yn derbyn digon o fwyd ar gyfer eu cwsmeriaid cofrestredig. Y bwydydd cyntaf i gael eu dogni oedd menyn, siwgr a ham. Ymhen amser cafodd mwy o fwydydd eu hychwanegu at y sustem, ac fe amrywiai swm y dogn o fis i fis wrth i’r cyflenwad o fwydydd amrywio. Dyma enghraifft o ddogn wythnos un oedolyn:

               Bacwn a ham                     4 owns               

               Menyn                                2 owns

               Caws                                  2 owns (weithiau caniatawyd 4 neu 8 owns)       

               Margarin                             4 owns

               Olew coginio                     4 owns (ond yn aml cyn lleied â 2 owns)

               Llefrith                                3 peint (weithiau dim ond 2 beint, ond caniatawyd

                                                               paced o lefrith powdwr bob 4 wythnos)

               Siwgr                                  8 owns

               Jam                                    1lb bob 2 fis

               Te                                       2 owns

               Wyau                                  1 wy yr wythnos os oeddynt ar gael

               Wy powdr                          paced bob 4 wythnos

O fis Rhagfyr 1940 roedd popeth arall gwerth eu cael ar y sustem ‘pwyntiau’. Cai pob person 16 pwynt y mis i brynu detholiad o fwydydd fel bisgedi, bwyd tun a ffrwythau sych, gyda’r gwerth y nwyddau’n codi yn dibynnu ar eu hargaeledd.

Roedd hi’n dipyn o dasg gwneud i’r dognau bara’ tan ddiwedd yr wythnos, ac roedd yr ymgyrch ‘Dig for Victory’ yn annog y boblogaeth i balu eu gwelyau blodau a’u troi nhw’n erddi llysiau. Cafodd pawb eu hannog i gadw ieir, cwningod, geifr a moch - rhywbeth oedd yn ail-natur mewn cymuned wledig fel y Sarnau. Efallai nad oedd siopau lleol Kate wastad yn gallu cael gafael ar y danteithion megis y bisgedi, y bwydydd tun neu bysgod ffres o’r môr fel siopau’r trefi a’r dinasoedd, ond roedd manteision i fyw yn y wlad a’r wybodaeth gynhenid o fyw ar y tir. Doedd dim angen cwponau na phwyntiau i hela cwningod gwyllt, colomennod, brain a physgod dŵr croyw. Byddai’r plant yn cael eu gyrru i gasglu ffrwythau gwyllt a fyddai'n cael eu defnyddio i greu cacenni a phwdinau blasus, yn jamiau a jeli. Byddent yn casglu cnau cyll, cnau ffawydd a chnau castan, madarch, dail danadl poethion a dant y llew – ac mae’r arfer hwn o fynd i chwilota am fwyd gwyllt wedi dod yn arfer ffasiynol unwaith eto i’n cenhedlaeth ni.

Gwaethygu gwnaeth y sefyllfa bwyd ar ddiwedd y rhyfel. Yn dilyn cyfnod sych a chynhaeaf gwael, bu’n rhaid dogni bara ar y 21ain o Orffennaf 1946. Roedd hwn yn benderfyniad dadleuol a gythruddodd y boblogaeth – nid oedd bara wedi cael ei ddogni yn ystod y rhyfel. Ysgwn i faint o wahaniaeth gafodd hyn ar deulu Kate? Gwyddom ei bod yn parhau i bobi bara ceirch yn ystod 1946 – dyma oedd y bara a fwyteid fwyaf cyffredin yng Nghymru tan y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg. Gwyliwch y ffilm hyfryd o’r archif yn dangos o Mrs Catrin Evans, Rhyd-y-bod, Cynllwyd, yn paratoi bara ceirch.

Daeth dogni bara i ben ar y 24ain o Orffennaf 1948, a chodwyd cyfyngiadau ar de ym 1952 – rhyddhad mawr i genedl o yfwyr te! Tynnwyd hufen, wyau, siwgr a da-das neu fferins oddi ar y sustem ym 1953 a menyn, caws ac olew coginio ym 1954. Daeth 14 mlynedd o ddogni i ben ar y 4ydd o Orffennaf 1954 pan godwyd y cyfyngiadau ar gig a bacwn. Mae hi’n anodd amgyffred y rhyddhad a deimlwyd, yn arbennig o ystyried yr ystod eang o fwydydd a danteithion sydd ar gael i ni heddiw.