Having a Go at the Kaiser

Gethin Matthews

Description

This book is based on more than a hundred letters sent home by three Swansea brothers during the First World War, almost all of which relate to the period 1916–18 when Richard, Gabriel and Ivor Eustis were serving in different theatres. The run of letters written to different members of the family allow us to build a picture of what the brothers thought about a range of different issues as the war was being waged, and of how their beliefs and ideas evolved as situations changed. In common with other soldiers’ letters to their families, information on the battles fought is scarce – they are rather concerned with keeping the family bonds strong during the men’s absence. The dynamics of the family are revealed in letters full of sibling rivalry and affection.

Acknowledgements
Tables
Maps
Illustrations
Abbreviations
1. Introduction – The Eustis family; the local community; the letters
2. Richard and Gabriel, 1913 – 1915
3. Richard Eustis in Egypt, 1916 – February 1917
4. Ivor Eustis at school, 1914–1916, and in north Wales, May–November 1916
5. Gabriel Eustis aboard HMT Saxon, to February 1917
6. Richard Eustis in Egypt, March 1917 – January 1918
7. Ivor Eustis in north Wales, 1917
8. Richard Eustis in Palestine and Egypt, February 1918 – June 1918
9. Ivor Eustis on the Western Front, December 1917 – September 1918
10. Gabriel Eustis aboard HMT Saxon, November 1917 – October 1918
11. Richard Eustis in Egypt, July 1918 – November 1918
12. Ivor Eustis in England and Wales, October – November 1918
13. November 1918 – January 1919
14. Aftermath
15. Patterns and Perspectives
Appendix 1 List of all the extant letters and postcards sent by the Eustis brothers
Appendix 2 Servicemen from Mynyddbach / Tirdeunaw / Treboeth mentioned in the text
Appendix 3 Information on servicemen from other parts of Swansea and West Glamorgan mentioned in the text
Select Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Histoire
• Great Britain
• History
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Wales Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786833495
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Having a go at the
KAISER
Having a go at the
KAISER
A Welsh Family at War
GETHIN MATTHEWS -->

UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS 2018
© Gethin Matthews, 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright owner s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales Press, University Registry, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NS.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78683-347-1
eISBN 978 - 1 - 78683 - 349 - 5
The right of Gethin Matthews to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Cover images: Gabriel, Richard and Ivor Eustis (photographs by kind permission of Pamela John and Rhian McGivan).
Cover design: Olwen Fowler
For a chess player, an optimist
and a cricketer
Contents
Acknowledgements
Illustrations
Abbreviations
1. Introduction - the Eustis family; the local community; the letters
2. Richard and Gabriel, 1913-1915
3. Richard Eustis in Egypt, 1916-February 1917
4. Ivor Eustis at school, 1914-1916, and in north Wales, May-November 1916
5. Gabriel Eustis aboard HMT Saxon , to February 1917
6. Richard Eustis in Egypt, March 1917-January 1918
7. Ivor Eustis in north Wales, 1917
8. Richard Eustis in Palestine and Egypt, February 1918-June 1918
9. Ivor Eustis on the Western Front, December 1917-September 1918
10. Gabriel Eustis aboard HMT Saxon , November 1917-October 1918
11. Richard Eustis in Egypt, July 1918-November 1918
12. Ivor Eustis in England and Wales, October-November 1918
13. November 1918-January 1919
14. Aftermath
15. Patterns and perspectives
Notes
Appendix 1: List of all the extant letters and postcards sent by the Eustis brothers
Appendix 2: Servicemen from Mynyddbach/Tirdeunaw/Treboeth mentioned in the text
Appendix 3: Information on servicemen from other parts of Swansea and West Glamorgan mentioned in the text
Select bibliography
Acknowledgements
T he first I heard of the story of the Eustis brothers at war was in 2010-11, when I was running the Welsh Voices of the Great War Online project at Cardiff University. Marianne Eustis told me the outline of the story, though she had few concrete details of the war service of her uncles Richard and Ivor Eustis. She shared photographs of her father, Gabriel, in his Royal Navy uniform, but had no written matter by him. I was interested, because these were my grandfather s cousins, but in truth I did not pursue the research because I had many other collections to study, where there was a wealth of written material.
In 2013-14 I co-ordinated a HLF-funded project at Treboeth, centred upon the Roll of Honour at Caersalem Newydd Baptist Chapel. With a lot of help from the community, it was possible to piece together not just the story of the eighty-one men listed on that memorial, but also of the impact of the war upon their families and the whole community. The sources unearthed by the project gave me much information about the activities of Richard Eustis s unit, the 3rd Welsh Field Ambulance, as a dozen Caersalem men served alongside him. It became clear that this was a local story with a very broad sweep: many of these men, like Richard, were members of the Treboeth Temperance Brass Band who enlisted as Territorials in July 1913, and then served together in England, Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine from the very beginning of the war through to 1919.
Then in 2015, quite by chance, I got to know Ian Eustis, son of Daniel, the younger brother of Richard, Gabriel and Ivor. One day he said to me, I have something that I think will interest you , which has turned out to be something of an understatement. He entrusted to me a small box full of the family s treasures. I did not expect the quantity of letters that had been preserved thanks to the parents, and then the sisters Bess Ann and Lottie Eustis: only one other family collection that I had encountered while running the Welsh Voices project had more than a dozen letters in total. It took me some time to appreciate the quality of these hundred-plus letters, and the window they provide into the family conversation, in particular of 1916-18. After I realised the value of the material, I am grateful that Dr Llion Wigley and the staff of the University of Wales Press were so willing to listen to my proposal, and that they concurred that this was a story that deserved to be told, and material that demanded a book-length analysis.
I am very grateful to Swansea University for providing financial backing for the publication of the book and to the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, who sponsor my post, for their support and encouragement. The book has also benefited from the insights I have gained while running the Welsh Memorials to the Great War project, which was generously funded by the Living Legacies WW1 Engagement Centre from 2015 to 2017.
Specialist help regarding military matters has come from the Rev. Clive Hughes and Hywyn Williams, and from some of the contributors to the Great War Forum, most notably Horatio2 who assisted greatly in deciphering Gabriel s war record. Ivor Williams of the Treboeth History Group passed on a copy of the programme for the unveiling of the Treboeth War Memorial and Peter Williams shared a photograph of the Mynyddbach rugby team from 1913-14. I am grateful to the staff at the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University; West Glamorgan Archives; the National Library of Wales and my colleagues at the Department of History at Swansea for their interest and support. Prof. Paul O Leary at Aberystwyth University provided very valuable feedback and encouragement at different stages of the project. My father has been supportive throughout and my wife has been very patient.
The most substantial support for this project has come from three grandchildren of John and Mary Eustis and one great-granddaughter. I am particularly indebted to Ian Eustis for opening up the family s treasures to me, and to Marianne Eustis for her support and encouragement. Pamela John (daughter of Grace, and thus a niece of the Eustis brothers) has also been generous in sharing some of the material safeguarded by her side of the family with me. Rhian McGivan (granddaughter of Richard, the eldest brother) lent me his diaries from 1916 and 1917. Other family members have shared pieces of information: Christine Collins, Dave Gordon, Julie Eustace and the late Rose Davies. Diolch yn fawr to all for every piece of assistance.
Illustrations
Tables
Table 1: The Eustis family of Pengwern Road, Mynyddbach
Table 2: The Eustises of Crowan and north Swansea
Table 3: The Rees family of Mynyddbach
Maps
Map 1: Mynyddbach
Map 2: Mynyddbach, Llangyfelach, Treboeth and Morriston
Photographs
1.1 Photograph of Mary Eustis
1.2 Gabriel Eustis s letter to his sister Hannah (GE1918-09-13)
2.1 Richard Eustis, Dai R. Thomas, plus an unknown comrade and boy
2.2 Richard Eustis
3.1 Richard Eustis and Dai R. Thomas in front of the Great Pyramid and Sphinx
4.1 Ivor Eustis as a lance-corporal
4.2 Gabriel and Ivor Eustis, with a sister
4.3 Ivor and Gabriel Eustis, having swapped uniforms
5.1 Gabriel Eustis in a group photograph of trainees
5.2 Gabriel Eustis with two shipmates
6.1 Richard Eustis in a glengarry
6.2 Two desert photographs
6.3 Two desert photographs
7.2 Group photo, Kinmel Park
14.1 Richard Eustis with his father, daughter and granddaughter, c .1945
14.2 Family photograph from August 1964
14.3 Gabriel and Theodosia Eustis on their wedding day
14.4 Ivor Eustis in his sergeant s uniform
Sketch
7.1 Not at home , by Ivor Eustis
Abbreviations
Newspapers
CDL
Cambria Daily Leader
HoW
Herald of Wales
SWWP
South Wales Weekly Post
Military terms
ADS
Advanced Dressing Station
CB
Confined to Barracks
CO
Depending on the context, either Conscientious Objector or Commanding Officer
DCM
Distinguished Conduct Medal
MM
Military Medal
MO
Medical Officer
OC
Officer Commanding
OR
Other Ranks
NCO
Non Commissioned Officer (typically corporal or sergeant)
SBR
Small Box Respirator
Units
BEF
British Expeditionary Force
EEF
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
KOSB
King s Own Scottish Borderers
RAMC
Royal Army Medical Corps
RFA
Royal Field Artillery
RWF
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
RNVR
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
SWB
South Wales Borderers
WFA
Welsh Field Ambulance
Other abbreviations
CWGC
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
WGAS
West Glamorgan Archive Services
1

Introduction - the Eustis family; the local community; the letters

T ABLE 1 : The Eustis family of Pengwern Road, Mynyddbach

T hree days before the Armistice brought the fighting on the Western Front to a close, Ivor Eustis wrote a letter home to his mother from the Wrexham barracks of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, where he was convalescing after being wounded a month earlier. He was in high spirits as he pondered the fate of poor old Kaiser Bill , and in the letter he dreams of inflicting a series of indignities upon the Kaiser which correlate with the pain and discomfort he has been through in