Private Llewellyn John Griffiths – King’s Shropshire
Light Infantry, 6th Battalion
Early Life
 |
James Griffiths and Jane Bulton
marriage certificate
St. John the Divine, Richmond, Surrey
|
 |
| Llewellyn John Griffiths |
Llewellyn John Griffiths was born in
1894 at
Llantrisant,
Glamorgan, the son of
James Griffiths and
Jane Bulton, who
were married in
1882 at
St. John the Divine, Richmond, Surrey.
 |
| 1901 Census |
At the time of the
1901 Census, the Griffiths family
were living at
5 Wishlades Row, Duke Street, Kington, Herefordshire.
James, aged 42 and born in Radnorshire, was employed as a
Joiner, while
his wife Jane, also Radnorshire-born, was aged 43. Their children present were
Llewellyn
J. (7) and
Mary E. (3).
 |
| 1911 Census |
The
1911 Census shows the family still residing at
No.
5 Wishlades Row, Duke Street, Kington, Herefordshire. James, now aged 52,
continued to work as a
Joiner, and Jane was recorded as 53 years old.
Their children at home were
Gwenneth Jane (26), employed as a domestic
servant;
Llewellyn John (17), working as a baker; and
Mary Eleanor
(13), who was still in school.
Military Service and Death
Llewellyn first enlisted and served with the Shropshire
Yeomanry, and was stationed in Ireland during the period of unrest and
rebellion. He later transferred to the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry,
serving with the 6th Battalion, and was sent to France in
December 1916. During his time at the front, Llewellyn was first wounded on
17th August 1917,
returning to duty before being wounded a second time on 20th September 1917, suffering a gunshot wound
to the head during the opening day of the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge.
At that time, British troops advanced along the Menin Road as part of the wider
Third Battle of Ypres, attempting to push back entrenched German positions
under heavy fire in difficult battlefield conditions. It was during this
intense fighting that Llewellyn received the wounds from which he would not
recover.
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| Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects |
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| Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield |
Following his evacuation from the battlefield, he was
transferred to
Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield, one of the principal
military hospitals operating in Britain during the war. Originally built as the
South Yorkshire Asylum, the hospital was converted to military use in 1915, its
civilian patients dispersed elsewhere, and from then on it functioned as a
specialist war hospital. At its peak it provided over
2,000 beds,
treating tens of thousands of wounded servicemen brought home from the Western
Front, staffed by military medical personnel, former asylum workers, and
volunteers. Despite the care he received there,
Llewellyn died from his
wounds on 2nd October 1917, as recorded in the
Army Registers
of Soldiers’ Effects.
 |
Llewellyn John Griffiths
Kington Cemetery, Herefordshire
credit - findagrave
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| Kington Times |
Llewellyn’s body was brought home and he was laid to rest at
Kington Cemetery, Herefordshire, and in the days that followed, the
Kington
Times published an article reporting on his funeral.
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