Tagged: mametz
Dr Jonathan Hicks is the Headteacher of St Cyres Comprehensive School in Penarth. He began his career as an English teacher and has taught in four secondary schools. Married with three sons, one of whom is also a teacher, he is a longstanding supporter of Cardiff City F.C. He is the author of four books on military history: ‘A Solemn Mockery’ on the myths of the Anglo-Zulu War, which in 2006 won the Victorian Military Society’s top award; ‘Strange Hells’ which told the story of his great uncle’s service at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the Great War. He has also written on his hometown’s military past in the 2007 book ‘Barry and the Great War’ – an illustrated account of the part that Barrians played in that conflict, a lecture on which won the Western Front Association Shield in 2010. In 2008 he wrote an illustrated account on the role Barrians played in WW2 - ‘Barry and the Second World War’. AmeriCymru spoke to Jonathan about his first novel The Dead of Mametz
Jonathan: I met a fellow military historian in a pub in Swansea about ten years ago. He told me all about the battle for Mametz Wood as I had never heard the story before. I visited the location with my family in 2004. It was a bright, sunny day as we made our way past the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery towards the wood. Quite suddenly the clouds gathered overhead and there was a rumble of thunder. Being a teacher, I told my three sons to stand still, close their eyes and imagine what it must have been like when the battle commenced. With that, a bolt of lightning flashed and it was all too much for my youngest who ran back to the car! Since that strange, ethereal moment Mametz Wood has always held a fascination for me.
Americymru: Members of the Western Front Association have described "The Dead of Mametz" as: ‘... a great mix of an intriguing storyline and superb historical detail.’ How did you go about researching the historical background for the book?
Jonathan: I was a brought up on Hollywood’s version of the Second World War – John Wayne and Audie Murphy films. All I knew about WW1 was the black and white films of men moving far too quickly (because of the film speed) through oceans of mud. But as I grew older I became more interested in finding out about WW1. I spent several years in the middle of the last decade gathering the stories of the men and women from my hometown, Barry, who served during the Great War. I then wrote a book entitled ‘Barry and the Great War’ which contained photographs, newspaper accounts and memories of their service. I also held two exhibitions to raise funds to restore our local memorial.
Americymru: What were the Military Police and what was their role during WWI?
Jonathan: At the start of the War the Military Police was a comparatively small force of just 3 officers and 761 men. By the end of the War this number had risen to over 15000. In France their role mainly included the manning of ''stragglers'' posts'', traffic control, dealing with crime committed by British soldiers, the control of civilians within the battle area, handling prisoners of war and patrolling rear areas and ports. Walking wounded from Regimental Aid Posts were directed to casualty collecting stations for evacuation, and ''stragglers'' were dealt with. This last-named duty involved halting soldiers who were obviously neither casualties, signallers or runners, re-arming and equipping them if necessary, and sending them forward to rejoin their units, individually or in groups.
Americymru: What investigatory tools were available to the Military Police at that time in history? How might a murder investigation at that time be different from today and more difficult?
Jonathan: Information on the Military Police during the Great War is scant. It is, for example, not even certain which cap badge they wore. As part of my research I visited the museum of the Military Police and spent time with the curator who was able to help me with some additional information. A murder investigation of the time would have lacked all of the sophisticated tools and technology that is currently employed at a crime scene, but my detective relies on his experience and deduction to solve the murder.
Americymru: In your research, were you able to find records of actual homicide cases investigated by the Military Police?
Jonathan: Actually the homicide case that I based the novel on was one I found in the service record of a local soldier. He had indeed shot two of his colleagues but I changed the motive for the killing in my novel as well as regiments, dates and names.
Americymru: Are you working on another novel?
Jonathan: The second novel in the series is virtually complete and will be published next Spring. This time events are set at Gallipoli in 1915 and at Passchendaele in the summer of 1917, as well as in south Wales. I have the plot for the third in the series sketched out and will be commencing work on it this summer.
Americymru: Who do you read for pleasure or inspiration? Any recommendations?
Jonathan: To give me the background knowledge that enables me to write on the period, I read factual accounts of the Great War, memoirs and articles on militaria. For pleasure I also read the great contemporary American crime thriller writers – Jeffrey Deaver, Harlan Coben and Robert Crais.
Americymru: Where can our readers go to purchase your book online?
Jonathan: ‘The Dead of Mametz’ can be purchased through Amazon or Waterstones, as well as all good bookshops.
Americymru: You are a long standing supporter of Cardiff F.C. Do you think they''ll ever make it to the Premier League?
Jonathan: I hope so! I have never seen Cardiff play in the top division in my lifetime, although I did attend their three recent visits to Wembley Stadium. My grandparents went to the 1927 FA Cup Final at Wembley when we beat Arsenal to win the cup. My mother was born exactly nine months later….
Americymru: Any final comment for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Jonathan: I am thrilled at having my first novel published by Y Lolfa and the reviews on Amazon and Waterstones have been very complimentary. I hope that people of Welsh descent who live in America will enjoy the novel and its portrayal of the lives of working people in south Wales at the start of the last century and make them think of the principality. I hope they will also think of the novel the next time they pass a war memorial and as they read the list of names, remember that those men and women once had dreams and hopes for the future.
Jonathan Hicks titles on Y Lolfa and Amazon
Reviews and Interviews on other sites:
Marking The Centenary Of The Battle Of Mametz Wood 1916 With Previously Unpublished Material
By , 2016-07-08
THE WELSH AT MAMETZ WOOD, THE SOMME 1916
‘The Welsh at Mametz Wood, The Somme 1916’ by Jonathan Hicks is a brand new interpretation of the First World War battle for Mametz Wood, telling the story of those terrible days from the viewpoint of soldiers who were actually there.
Using material from his extensive research, as well as sources translated from the original Welsh and the memories left behind by German survivors - many unpublished in English before – Jonathan Hicks gives a fresh insight into the battle.
Drawing extensively on survivors’ accounts and original photographs, the author allows the soldiers to speak for themselves to tell the full story of those dark days. In the words of one soldier: ‘Hell cannot be much worse.’
The 38th (Welsh) Division began the attack on Mametz Wood on the 7 th of July 1916 – the second week of the Battle of the Somme. The division was a citizen force composed of miners from the Rhondda, farmers from Caernarfon and Anglesey, coal trimmers from the docks at Barry and Cardiff, bank workers from Swansea and men from a whole host of other backgrounds and occupations from the counties of Wales.
‘All hell broke loose as machine guns opened up on us from the front and from the flank. We stood no chance and the boys were everywhere falling, but we kept moving forward,’ wrote Private Albert Evans, 16th (Cardiff City) Battalion of The Welsh Regiment.
When it was over, Field Marshal Haig did not consider the performance of the 38th (Welsh) Division at Mametz Wood to be a success, but the fact remains that after days of ferocious hand-to-hand fighting with an enemy from the most effective army in Europe at that time, and terrible loss of life, the division finally succeeded in capturing the largest wood on the Somme.
There were some 4,000 British casualties during the battle.
The book’s publication follows the opening of the new ‘War’s Hell’ exhibition at the National Museum in Cardiff which is an exhibition of paintings, poetry and artefacts associated with the Welsh soldiers at Mametz Wood.
Dr Jonathan Hicks is an award-winning military historian and novelist, and his meticulous research provides new insight into this famous battle. He has previously won the Victorian Military Society’s top award for his work on the Anglo-Zulu War and in 2010 he was awarded the Western Front Association Shield for his work on Barry and the Great War.
Jonathan is also a member of the First World War Programme Board which advises the Welsh Government on the centenary commemorations.
He has previously written novels on the battle at Mametz Wood, including ‘The Dead of Mametz’ and ‘Demons Walk Among Us’.
He has dedicated his book to the fallen and writes:
‘I dedicate this book to the men who fought there in the second week of July 1916, those who died and who were buried in France, and those who are still missing with no known grave.’
Mametz is a powerful novel following the story of three Welsh soldiers – Huw, Cledwyn and Ephraim – and their path from Wales to the battle field in France.
Mametz by Alun Cob is Book of the Month with the Welsh Books Council and National Museum Wales for July 2016.
In July 1916 around four thousand soldiers from the 38th (Welsh) Division were killed or injured in the successful attempt to capture Mametz Wood from the German military. The Battle of Mametz Wood began on 7 July 1916. The wood was intended - by the generals, at least - to be taken in a matter of hours. In the event the battle lasted for five days as the Germans fiercely resisted the assaults of the Welsh Division. Mametz was part of the Somme massacre and was one of the First World War’s biggest battles.
Alun Cob says “This is a novel about the ordinary Welsh lads who went to the Great War and their lives leading up to the massacre at Mametz. The lads’ background and story are important – it’s not just a book about war.”
Mametz is the fifth Welsh-language novel by Alun Cob from Garndolbenmaen, Gwynedd, and is published by Gomer Press. “This is a timely, harrowing novel, full of humanity. It’s one hell of a story!” says the editor Elinor Wyn Reynolds from Gomer Press.
Mametz is now available from your local bookshop or directly from the publisher Gomer Press for £7.99. To read a snippet from the novel log on to www.gomer.co.uk
Bibliographic details
Mametz by Alun Cob
Publisher: Gomer Press
paperback, 190 pages
ISBN 9781785620072
£7.99
Review by Ann Dierikz:
Having seen Mametz with a bus load of fellow friends, I feel completely compelled to write and tell you all about the most amazing piece of production, for I fear 'Theatre' does not do it justice, I have ever witnessed.
Theatre implies sitting in rows and watching a play. Mametz is not that. From arriving in a field and seeing fleetingly a young lad run by in WW1 uniform, you are engrossed and engaged. The walk through the trenches, the casual uniformed men laying on benches writing letters home, Skyping … it was surreal ..yet real….. The onslaught of your senses followed swiftly with a bombardment of prose, play, imagery and smells…. smells of dust and well… I was, for 2 and a quarter hours transported to a trench, near Mametz Wood with a group of young men who waited to venture to certain death.
