William Henry Griffith, MC - Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 15th (Service) Battalion (1st London Welsh)

Second Lieutenant William Henry Griffith, MC - Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 15^th (Service) Battalion (1^st London Welsh)

Early Life

William Henry Griffith was born in 1894 in Swansea, the son of John Griffith and C. Griffith.

Military Service

William was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 15^th (Service) Battalion (1^st London Welsh), a battalion composed largely of Welshmen living in London. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for gallantry in the field, recognising distinguished conduct and leadership under fire.

On 5^th July 1917, the battalion was serving in the Ypres Salient during the tense weeks leading up to the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). Although this date did not coincide with a major set-piece assault, the sector remained highly active. British forces were engaged in trench consolidation, wiring operations, patrol activity, and intensive artillery exchanges as preparations continued for the forthcoming offensive.

German artillery frequently targeted known trench systems and communication routes, while machine-gun fire and intermittent gas shelling added to the danger. The ground, already devastated by earlier fighting at Messines in June 1917, was heavily cratered and offered little protection. Casualties were common even during routine duties such as repairing trenches or supervising working parties.

It was during this sustained and hazardous front-line service in the Ypres sector that Second Lieutenant William Henry Griffith, MC, was killed in action on 5^th July 1917.

Burial

William Henry Griffith
Mendinghem Military Cemetery,
West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

He is buried at Mendinghem Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, a cemetery associated with casualties from the Flanders campaigns of 1917