Wynford Vaughan Thomas on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
A memorial was constructed after his death, completed and unveiled in 1990 at Cadair viewpoint, near Aberhosan (at ), in the form of a
BBC Wales History
BBC Cymru
Thames Television Interview from 1972
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas Papers
at the National Library of Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford 1908 births 1987 deaths Welsh-language television presenters Welsh-speaking journalists British male journalists People from Swansea People educated at Bishop Gore School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Welsh journalists Welsh radio presenters Welsh television presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British writers 20th-century British male writers
Lewis John Wynford Vaughan-Thomas ( né Thomas) (15 August 1908 – 4 February 1987) was a Welsh newspaper journalist and radio and television broadcaster. In later life he took the name Vaughan-Thomas after his father.
and, in 1937, gave the Welsh-language commentary on the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. This was the precursor to several English-language commentaries on state occasions he was to give after the Second World War. During the war, he established his name and reputation as one of the BBC's most distinguished war correspondents. His most memorable report was from an Early life and education
Thomas was born in Swansea, in South Wales, the second son of Dr. David Vaughan Thomas, a Professor of Music, and Morfydd Lewis, the daughter of Daniel Lewis who was one of the leaders of theRebecca Riots
The Rebecca Riots (Welsh: ''Terfysgoedd Beca'') took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often me ...
in Pontarddulais
Pontarddulais (), also known as Pontardulais (), is both a community and a town in Swansea, Wales. It is northwest of the city centre. The Pontarddulais ward is part of the City and County of Swansea. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hendy ...
.
He attended the Bishop Gore School
The Bishop Gore School ( cy, Ysgol Esgob Gore) is a secondary school in Swansea in Wales, founded on 14 September 1682 by Hugh Gore (1613–1691), Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. It is situated in Sketty, close to Singleton Park and Swans ...
, Swansea, where the English master was the father of Dylan Thomas, who was just entering the school at the time that Vaughan-Thomas was leaving for Exeter College, Oxford
(Let Exeter Flourish)
, old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall''
, named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter
, established =
, sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, rector = Sir Richard Trainor
...
. At Oxford he read modern history and gained a second class academic degree.
Career
BBC
In the mid-1930s, Vaughan-Thomas joined theBBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
Lancaster bomber
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling ...
during a real bombing raid
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systemati ...
over Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Berlin. Other notable reports were from the Battle of Anzio, the Burgundy vineyards, Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English acc ...
's broadcasting studio and the Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentrati ...
.
In 1953, he was one of a team of BBC commentators on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...
. He commentated on the funeral of his fellow wartime BBC correspondent Richard Dimbleby
Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator.
As host of the long-running current affairs ...
in 1965.
Harlech Television
In 1967, after leaving the BBC, Vaughan-Thomas was one of the founders ofHarlech Television
ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV (TV network), ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom.
There is no channel, past or present, ...
(HTV, now ITV Wales), being appointed director of programmes. As a frequent TV broadcaster himself throughout his early career with the BBC, he had adopted the required BBC accent of the time, but employed his more natural native Welsh accent to even better effect in his later career.
In 1985, Vaughan-Thomas notably presented the 13-part series ''The Dragon Has Two Tongues
''The Dragon Has Two Tongues'' was a 13-part television series, broadcast in the UK in 1985 by HTV and Channel 4. It was about the history of Wales and was presented jointly by Gwyn Alf Williams and Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, and produced by Colin T ...
'' with Gwyn Alf Williams. The series saw lengthy and often passionate discussions on Welsh history, with the two presenters representing opposing points of view, Williams being a Marxist historian
Marxist historiography, or historical materialist historiography, is an influential school of historiography. The chief tenets of Marxist historiography include the centrality of social class, social relations of production in class-divided so ...
and Vaughan-Thomas being described by Geraint H. Jenkins as his "affable Whiggish
Whig history (or Whig historiography) is an approach to historiography that presents history as a journey from an oppressive and benighted past to a "glorious present". The present described is generally one with modern forms of liberal democracy ...
co-presenter".
Writing
Vaughan-Thomas wrote numerous books, many on Wales and a favourite subject of his, the Welsh countryside. His wartime overview and experiences, and his successful broadcasting career later, enabled him to view life and its vagaries with what he called "pointless optimism" — a perspective that served him. His 1961 book ''Anzio'' was adapted as the 1968 Italian-American film ''Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands ...
'', about the Battle of Anzio, the Allied seaborne assault on the Italian port of Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands ...
south of Rome during the Second World War.
Heritage
In May 1970, when president of the Council for the Protection of Rural Wales, Vaughan-Thomas officially opened thePembrokeshire Coast Path
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path ( cy, Llwybr Arfordir Sir Benfro), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly a ...
in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of three national parks in Wales, the others b ...
at its southern end, at Amroth.
Private life
In 1946, Thomas married Charlotte Rowlands.Honours
He was appointed Officer of theOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the 1974 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1974 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 7 June 1974 for ...
for services to Wales, and promoted Commander (CBE) in the 1986 Birthday Honours for services to Welsh culture.
He died in Fishguard
Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two p ...
, Pembrokeshire, on 4 February 1987, aged 78.
Memorial
A memorial was constructed after his death, completed and unveiled in 1990 at Cadair viewpoint, near Aberhosan (at ), in the form of a toposcope
A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen ...
looking out over the rolling hills and mountains of Wales, with a depiction of Vaughan-Thomas pointing towards Snowdon, Wales' highest peak, which is just visible on a clear day. ''Across the hills towards Yr Wyddfa and the Snowdonia National Park''
Works
* ''Anzio'' (1961) * ''Madly in All Directions'' (1967) * ''The Shell Guide to Wales'' (1969, with Alun Llewellyn) * ''Portrait of Gower'' (1976) * ''Great Little Trains Of Wales'' (1976) * ''Trust to Talk'' (1980) * ''Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's Wales'' (1981) * ''Princes of Wales'' (1982) * ''The Countryside Companion'' (1983) * ''Dalgety'' (1984) * ''Wales: a History'' (1985) * ''How I Liberated Burgundy: And Other Vinous Adventures'' (1985)References
Further reading
* – autobiographyExternal links
*BBC Wales History
BBC Cymru
Thames Television Interview from 1972
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas Papers
at the National Library of Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford 1908 births 1987 deaths Welsh-language television presenters Welsh-speaking journalists British male journalists People from Swansea People educated at Bishop Gore School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Welsh journalists Welsh radio presenters Welsh television presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British writers 20th-century British male writers