Lewis John Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (

né The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

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.

Early life and education

Thomas was born in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, 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 the

Rebecca Riots The Rebecca Riots () 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 men dressed as women, took ...

Pontarddulais Pontarddulais (), also spelled Pontardulais (), is a town and community in Swansea, Wales. It is northwest of the city centre. It is in the Pontarddulais ward of the City and County of Swansea Council. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hend ...

. He was the older brother of Hugh Vaughan-Thomas. He attended Swansea Grammar School, in the Mount Pleasant district of Swansea. At

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, he read modern history and gained a second class

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

Career

BBC

In the mid-1930s, Vaughan-Thomas joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and, in 1937, gave the Welsh-language commentary on the

coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The coronation of the British monarch, coronation of George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Elizabeth, as King of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realm, ...

. 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 correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

s. His most memorable report was from an RAF

Lancaster bomber The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, 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 spec ...

during a real

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

over

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Berlin. Other notable reports were from the

Battle of Anzio The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allies of World War II, Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, an ...

, the Burgundy vineyards,

Lord Haw-Haw Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce and several other people who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the United Kingdom from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling," spoken i ...

'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 concentr ...

. In 1953, he was one of a team of BBC commentators on the

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

. 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 pro ...

in 1965.

Harlech Television

In 1967, after leaving the BBC, Vaughan-Thomas was one of the founders of

Harlech Television ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales and Wes ...

(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. He served as a Governor of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

between 1977 and 1980. In 1985, Vaughan-Thomas notably presented the 13-part series '' The Dragon Has Two Tongues'' 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 soc ...

and Vaughan-Thomas being described by

Geraint H. Jenkins Geraint Huw Jenkins, FBA, FLSW (24 January 1946 – 7 January 2025) was a historian and academic who specialised in the history of Wales. He was Professor of Welsh History at the Aberystwyth University (then University College of Wales, Aberys ...

as his "affable Whiggish 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 region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside resorts, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola, and Ve ...

'', about the Battle of Anzio, the Allied seaborne assault on the Italian port of

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 the

Pembrokeshire Coast Path The Pembrokeshire Coast Path (), 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 at cliff-top level, with a total ...

in the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...

at its southern end, at

Amroth Amroth is a village, parish and community northeast of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Located on Carmarthen Bay, Amroth is noted for its long sandy beach which stretches the length of the village. It regularly earns a Blue Flag award. and is t ...

Private life

In 1946, Thomas married Charlotte Rowlands.

Honours

He was appointed Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 1974 Birthday Honours for services to Wales, and promoted Commander (CBE) in the

1986 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

for services to Welsh culture. He died in

Fishguard Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, on 4 February 1987, aged 78.

Memorial

A memorial was constructed after his death, completed and unveiled in 1990 at Cadair viewpoint, near

Aberhosan Aberhosan () is a village in the Wales, Welsh principal area of Powys, located between the town of Machynlleth and village of Dylife. It is in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Montgomeryshire. History The village school close ...

(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 Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...

, 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

External links

*
BBC Wales History

BBC Cymru

Thames Television Interview from 1972

Wynford Vaughan-Thomas Papers
at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford 1908 births 1987 deaths Welsh-language television presenters Welsh-speaking journalists British male journalists Mass media 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 journalists 20th-century British male writers 20th-century Welsh writers Governors of the British Film Institute