Ellis (Hedd Wyn) Humphrey Evans
Date of Birth: 13/1/1887
Place Of Birth: Penlan, Trawsfynydd
Date of Death: 31/7/1917
Location died: Pilckem Ridge, Ypres
Gender: Male
Where buried: Artillery Wood Cemetery, Belgium
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Date of birth - 13/1/1887
Where? - Penlan, Trawsfynydd
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Date Enlisted - 1916
Where? - N/A
Age - 29
As -
Battles
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Date of the battle - 31/7/1917
Where? - Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres)
Ranks
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Rank Date - N/A
Rank - As Private
Service - British Army
As - Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Service number - 61117
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Date of Death - 31/7/1917
Where? - Pilckem Ridge, Ypres
Family
- Father - Evan Evans
- Mother - Mary Evans
Address
- Yr Ysgwrn, Trawsfynydd
Language(s) spoken
- Welsh
Additional Information
Ellis Humphrey Evans is perhaps better known by his bardic name, Hedd Wyn. He was a gifted poet and had competed in many local eisteddfodau under the pseudonym HeddWyn. He won his first eisteddfod chair in Bala in 1907.
He was posthumously awarded the bardic chair on 6 September at the 1917 National Eisteddfod in Birkenhead, near Liverpool - under the pseudonym 'Fleur-de-lis' - following his death in the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as Passchendaele) six weeks previously. The winning awdl (or ode) was called ‘Yr Arwr’, or ‘The Hero’, and was completed while he was serving with the Royal Welch Fusiliers in France. During the ceremony, the empty chair, which was made by a craftsman from Flanders, was draped in a black sheet. The Eisteddfod is now more commonly known as ‘The Eisteddfod of the Black Chair’. The chair still resides at the family home in Yr Ysgwrn, Trawsfynydd.
Occupation prior to the war
- Shepherd
- Poet