08/05/2026
On this day in 1915, the Monmouthshire Regiment held the British line against German attack during the First World War’s Second Battle of Ypres. Captain Harold Edwards, defiantly brandishing a pistol in this painting, ‘May the Eighth’ retorted to the German call for surrender, “Surrender, be damned!”. Of his regiment, 259 men were killed and approximately 500 wounded. Captain Edwards was among the dead.
In 1934, The South Wales Argus newspaper raised funds to commission a painting commemorating the regiment’s bravery. The picture, ‘May the Eighth’ was completed by accomplished painter of military scenes Fred Roe. In 1935 it was donated to Newport Museum and Art Gallery where it is currently on display.
Ar y diwrnod hwn ym 1915, bu Catrawd Sir Fynwy yn gwrthsefyll yr Almaenwyr ar ran Prydain yn ystod Ail Frwydr Ypres y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Yn y paentiad hwn, ‘May the Eighth’, mae’r Capten Harold Edwards i’w weld yn chwifio’i bistol yn herfeiddiol. Syml oedd ei ymateb i gais yr Almaenwyr am ildiad: “Surrender be damned!” O'i gatrawd ef, fe laddwyd 259 o ddynion a chlwyfo tua 500. Roedd y Capten Edwards ymhlith y rhai fu farw.
Ym 1934, bu’r papur newydd The South Wales Argus yn codi a***n i gomisiynu paentiad i goffáu dewrder y gatrawd, sef ‘May the Eighth’. Fred Roe a’i baentiodd, arlunydd clodfawr sy’n adnabyddus am baentio golygfeydd milwrol. Ym 1935 fe'i rhoddwyd i Amgueddfa ac Oriel Gelf Casnewydd lle mae’n cael ei arddangos erbyn hyn.
