Christopher William Griffiths was born in Blaina, Monmouthshire, Wales, on 4th March 1885, the son of William and Rosaline Rosetta Griffiths (née Hancock). The family home was originally The Rising Sun Hotel, Blaina, and later, The Ty-Du Hotel, Rogerstone, near Newport, in Monmouthshire. He was the eldest of four children, having two sisters and a brother. His father was originally a coal miner, but inherited The Rising Sun Hotel on the death of his parents.
Christopher was educated at a private school in Newport and then studied civil engineering at University College Cardiff, from which he subsequently graduated. He then gained professional experience with The Alexandra Dock and Railway Company, before immigrating to Canada in the autumn of 1913, in the furtherance of his profession. He then settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he took up a position with The Canadian Northern Railway Company.
By the spring of 1915, however, perhaps realising that the war in Europe was not going to be over for a considerable time, he decided to return to South Wales and enlist in the armed forces.
As a consequence, he booked second cabin passage home on the Lusitania and having left Winnipeg by rail at the end of April, he joined the liner at her berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour, in time for her last ever sailing from there, which began just after mid-day on 1st May 1915. He was joined on his journey by fellow expatriate Welshman Frederick Jones, who came from Aberystwyth in Cardiganshire. Jones was also an engineer and wanted to return to Wales to use his expertise in the manufacture of armaments.
Just six days later, and only hours away from the steamer's Liverpool destination, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine
U-20, twelve miles off the southern Irish coast. Christopher Griffiths was fortunate to survive, however, probably because he managed to get into one of the few lifeboats which was successfully launched, and having been landed at Queenstown, he was eventually able to reach his native home in Newport. Frederick Jones was not so fortunate, however and having perished in the sinking, never saw his Aberystwyth home again.
Christopher Griffiths applied for financial assistance from the Lusitania Relief Fund and was awarded the sum of £1-0s-0d as a Christmas gift. It is unknown if her received any other payments from the Fund.
Later that year Christopher Griffiths fulfilled his aspirations by volunteering for the British Army and on 10th November 1915, he was appointed to The Engineering Unit of London University Officer Training Corps for training. On 14th January 1916 he applied for a commission in the Regular Army, and at that time his home address was 34 Summershill Avenue, Newport, although he was actually living at 100, Holland Rd Kensington, in London, presumably whilst he was in the O.T.C. there. His preference for a commission was naturally enough, in the Royal Engineers.
He married Maud Mabel Wood in Sheffield in the summer of 1918, presumably while on furlough from the Western Front. Her family home was at 31, Everton Road, Hunters Bar, Sheffield, in Yorkshire.
Having served on the Western Front as a second lieutenant, Christopher Griffiths was gazetted lieutenant on 19th June 1918, (effective from 3rd June). Then, on 29th October 1918, whilst serving with The 123rd Field Company of The Royal Engineers, in northern France, he was severely wounded in action by a gun shot round which entered his back and then went on to penetrate his chest. He was, however, recovered from the battlefield and taken to the 2nd Red Cross Hospital in Rouen, France and whilst there, he was visited by his wife Maud. He was too gravely wounded to be saved, however, and died at 6.40a.m. on 7th November 1918. He was subsequently buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, in Block S, Plot V, Row G, Grave 5, where his remains lie today.
His headstone is a standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission type bearing his regimental badge and personal details. The family and personal message inscribed on the bottom simply states:-
PRO PATRIA MORI
which is part of the Latin text, Dulce et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori, meaning
- It is Sweet and Fitting to Die for One’s Country.
His entry in the cemetery register simply records: -
A survivor of the Lusitania.
When his will was proven, his effects amounted to £2,388-5s-9d., (£2,388.44p.) - a considerable amount at the end of The Great War.
By the time that the St. Sever Cemetery Register had been compiled, his widow had remarried and as Mrs. Maud Mabel Waudby, had moved to 7, Sycamore Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, Lancashire.
British Army pension records state that Christopher fathered an illegitimate child, but no further details are known, except that a pension was granted to her in 1919.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Cunard Records, Aberystwyth War Book Vol. II, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UK WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards 1914 – 1923, Probate Records, British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards 1914 – 1920, Western Mail, IWM GB62, PRO WO339/72303, UniLiv D92/2/34, UniLiv D92/2/11, Graham Maddocks, Joe Devereux, Clive Hughes, Owain Kirby, Roy Makinson, Dick Rayner, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.