1918 in Wales
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| See also: | List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history
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This article is about the particular significance of the year 1918 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Prince of Wales – Edward
- Princess of Wales – vacant
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Dyfed
Events
- January – Coalowner, Liberal politician and Minister of Food Control David Alfred Thomas is created Viscount Rhondda; following his death on 3 July the title passes by special remainder to his daughter, the suffragette Margaret Mackworth.
- 26 January – An Irish steamship, the Cork, is torpedoed by a U-boat off Point Lynas in Anglesey. Twelve crew are killed.[1][2]
- 29 January – The steamship Ethelinda is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Twenty-six crew are killed.[3]
- 4 February – The steamship Treveal is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Thirty-three people are killed.[4]
- 5 February – The steamship Mexico City is torpedoed by a U-boat off South Stack, Holyhead. Twenty-nine crew are killed.[5]
- March
- Miners' leader A. J. Cook is imprisoned for sedition under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 for his public opposition to the war.[6]
- Submarines HMS R5 and HMS R6 are laid down at HM Dockyard Pembroke Dock; as with HMS L34 and L35 ordered later in the year, they will be cancelled in 1919 before completion.
- 2 March – The British submarine HMS H5 is rammed and sunk, having been mistaken for a U-boat, off Porthdinllaen. All twenty-six crew are killed.[7]
- 7 March – The steamship Kenmare is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Twenty-six crew are killed.[8]
- 7 April – The steamship Boscastle is torpedoed by a U-boat off Strumble Head. Eighteen crew are killed.[9]
- 21 April – The steamship Landonia is torpedoed by a U-boat off Strumble Head. Twenty-one crew are killed.[10]
- 9 May – The steamships Baron Ailsa and Wileysike are torpedoed by a U-boat off Pembrokeshire. Fourteen crew are killed.[11][12]
- 19 May – The German U-boat SM UB-119 is sunk, perhaps off Bardsey Island.[13]
- 15 June – The steamship Strathnairn is torpedoed by a U-boat off Bishops and Clerks, Pembrokeshire. Twenty-one crew are killed.
- 22 August – The steamship Palmella is torpedoed by a U-boat off South Stack, Holyhead. Twenty-eight people are killed.[14]
- 16 September – The steamship Serula is torpedoed by a U-boat off Strumble Head. Seventeen crew are killed.[15]
- 18 September – The 38th (Welsh) Division is involved in the Battle of Epéhy.
- Autumn – Edward Thomas John (Liberal MP for East Denbighshire) defects to the Labour Party.
- 10 October – Three seamen are killed while returning to their ship by boat at Milford Haven.
- 14 October – The steamship Dundalk is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Twenty-one crew are killed.[16]
- 11 November – Armistice Day. Able Seaman Richard Morgan, serving aboard HMS Garland, is the last Welshman – and perhaps the last Briton – to be killed on active service in the First World War, in the course of which over 40,000 Welsh people have lost their lives.
- 15 November – The British submarine HMS H51 is launched at Pembroke Dock.
- 14 December – United Kingdom general election:
- For the first time, a woman stands as a parliamentary candidate in Wales: Millicent Mackenzie[17] stands unsuccessfully for the University of Wales, itself a new parliamentary seat (which is won by Herbert Lewis).
- Home Rule for Wales is included as a policy in the manifesto of the Labour Party.
- William Brace becomes Labour MP for Abertillery.
- Alfred Onions becomes Labour MP for Caerphilly.
- John Hugh Edwards becomes Liberal MP for Neath, his previous constituency of Mid Glamorganshire having been abolished.
- Sir Robert Thomas, 1st Baronet, becomes Liberal MP for Wrexham.
- David Sanders Davies becomes Liberal MP for Denbigh, standing against Edward Thomas John.
- December – The beginning of the 1918 flu pandemic which lasts into the following year and kills about 10,000 people in Wales.
Arts and literature
- John Morris-Jones is knighted for his services to literature.[18]
- August is fixed as the annual month of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Neath)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – John Thomas Job[19]
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – D. Emrys Lewis
New books
- W. H. Davies – A Poet's Pilgrimage[20]
- David Delta Evans – The Rosicrucian
- Moelona – Rhamant y Rhos
Music
- Walford Davies is appointed director of music to the Royal Air Force.
Film
- The Life Story of David Lloyd George (drama, not shown publicly until 1996)
Sport
Births
- 15 January – Billy Lucas, international footballer (died 1998)
- 7 May – Robert Davies, politician (died 1967)
- 9 May – Sir Kyffin Williams, artist (died 2006)[21]
- 20 May – William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech (died 1985)[22]
- 6 June – Susan Williams-Ellis, founder of Portmeirion Pottery (died 2007)[23]
- 4 July – Tony Garrett, chairman of Imperial Tobacco (died 2017)
- 19 August – Dilys Elwyn Edwards, composer (died 2012)[24]
- 19 September – Penelope Mortimer, writer (died 1999)[25]
- 26 September – John Rankine, author (died 2013)
- 3 November – Glyn Williams, international footballer (died 2011)
Deaths
- 15 February – William Evans, judge, c.71
- 13 April
- David Ffrangcon Davies, baritone, 62[26]
- Thomas Tannatt Pryce, VC recipient, 32 (killed in action)[27]
- 3 July – David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda, industrialist and politician, 62[28]
- 13 September – Samuel Thomas Evans, MP, 59[29]
- 21 September – Emily Charlotte Talbot, heiress, 78[30]
- 27 September – Morfydd Llwyn Owen, composer, pianist and mezzo-soprano, 26 (medical complications)[31]
- 15 October – William David Phillips, Wales international rugby player, 63
- 4 November – Wilfred Owen, poet from the Welsh borders, 25 (killed in action)[32]
- 25 November – William Griffith, mining engineer who worked with Cecil Rhodes
- 1 December
- John Griffiths, artist, 81
- Fred Perrett, Wales international rugby union player, 27 (died of wounds received in action)[33]
References
- ^ "Cork". Uboat.net. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Irish cross-channel boat sunk". The Times. No. 41699. London. 29 January 1918. col D, p. 3. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Ethelinda". Uboat.net. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- ^ "Treveal". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ "Mexico City". Uboat.net. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Martyn Ives (15 September 2016). Reform, Revolution and Direct Action amongst British Miners: The Struggle for the Charter in 1919. BRILL. p. 163. ISBN 978-90-04-32600-2.
- ^ "Ceremony for Armed Forces Day marks submarine tragedy". BBCNews. BBC. 19 June 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ^ "Kenmare". Uboat.net. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Boscastle". Uboat.net. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ "Landonia". Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
- ^ "Baron Ailsa". Uboat.net. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ^ "Wileysike". Uboat.net. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ "UB 119". Uboat.net. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ "Palmella". Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ "Serala". Uboat.net. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ "Dundalk". Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ^ Cylchgrawn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru: The National Library of Wales Journal. 2003. p. 337.
- ^ Parry, Sir Thomas (1959). "MORRIS-JONES (formerly JONES ), Sir JOHN (MORRIS) (1864-1929), scholar, poet, and critic". Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
- ^ "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 3 October 2019.
- ^ "Poet's Pilgrimage". Gwales. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ David Meredith. "WILLIAMS, Sir JOHN KYFFIN (1918-2006), painter and author". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ Barnaby J. Feder (27 January 1985). "Lord Harlech is dead at 66". New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ "Susan Williams-Ellis". The Telegraph. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Rhidian Griffiths. "ELWYN-EDWARDS, DILYS (1918-2012), composer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ Giles Gordon (22 October 1999). "Penelope Mortimer". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ David Thomas Ffrangcon-Davies (1968). The singing of the future. Pro Musica Press. p. 277.
- ^ David Harvey (1999). Monuments to Courage: 1917-1982. K. and K. Patience. p. 111.
- ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. Committee for Privileges (1922). Margaret Haig Viscountess Rhondda: Proceedings and Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee for Privileges. H.M. Stationery Office.
- ^ Publication (London Topographical Society) (1931). London Topographical Record. p. 34.
- ^ The New International Year Book. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1919. p. 446.
- ^ Gerald Norris (June 1981). A musical gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland. David & Charles. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-7153-7845-8.
- ^ Philip Guest (12 August 1998). Wilfred Owen: On the Trail of the Poets of the Great War. Pen and Sword. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-85052-614-1.
- ^ Robin Turner (25 May 2014). "World War One: The Wales rugby internationals who died on the battlefield". WalesOnline. Retrieved 14 October 2019.