19 Facts About Hedd Wyn

Hedd Wyn wrote several war poems following the outbreak of war on the Western Front in 1914.

Hedd Wyn was the eldest of eleven children born to Evan and Mary Evans.

Hedd Wyn spent his life there, apart from a short stint in South Wales.

Hedd Wyn left school around fourteen years of age and worked as a shepherd on his father's farm.

In 1913,26-year-old Hedd Wyn began to find fame for his poetry when he won chairs at the local eisteddfodau at Pwllheli and Llanuwchllyn.

Hedd Wyn was a Christian pacifist and did not enlist for the war initially, feeling he could never kill anyone.

Hedd Wyn spent most of this leave working on the awdl Yr Arwr, his submission for the National Eisteddfod.

Hedd Wyn came back for fourteen days leave and wrote the poem, Yr Arwr, on the table by the fire.

In June 1917, Hedd Wyn joined the 15th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Flechin, France.

Hedd Wyn was fatally wounded within the first few hours of the start of the Third Battle of Ypres on 31 July, 1917.

Hedd Wyn fell during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge which had begun at 3:50 am with a heavy bombardment of the German lines.

Hedd Wyn was going in front of me, and I saw him fall on his knees and grab two fistfuls of dirt.

The poem Yr Arwr, for which Hedd Wyn won the National Eisteddfod, is still considered his greatest work.

Hedd Wyn's sacrifice was not in vain, his face In our minds will remain, Although he left a bloodstain On Germany's iron fist of pain.

For years, Gerald and his brother Ellis continued to farm the land surrounding the farmhouse as custodians of both Yr Ysgwrn and Hedd Wyn's legacy, welcoming visitors and working to ensure Hedd Wyn's story lived on.

The war memorial stands close to the spot where Hedd Wyn was mortally wounded in July 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele.

In November 2017, as part of the annual British Armistice commemorations, a video installation commemorating the life of Hedd Wyn was beamed onto the exterior walls of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.

In 1993, Hedd Wyn won the Royal Television Society's Television Award for Best Single Drama.

In July 2017, Y Lolfa published An Empty Chair, a novel for young people telling the story of Hedd Wyn as seen from the point of view of his teenage sister, Anni.