Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley CB DSO PhD MA FRHistS

Lt Gen Jonathon Riley outlines in detail why having control of our national defence is, as he puts it, ‘a catastrophic risk.’ He explains how the May government has sought to lock Britain into various EU structures created in order to establish control of Europe’s defence by the EU Commission – these structures include the European Defence Fund, the European Defence Agency and the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) mechanism. He references both the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration which make it clear which treaty obligations the UK is tied in to.

Explore the forgotten story of WW1’s second Christmas truce and the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Much has been written about the 1914 truce which saw a series of unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front, including from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Soldiers crossed battlefields to exchange seasonal greetings, food and souvenirs. Prisoner swaps and joint burials took place and, perhaps most famously, men played football with one another.

A year later and Allied commanders gave explicit orders to prevent a repeat. However, a small number of truces occurred, once again involving a Royal Welch battalion.

Lieutenant-General Riley, a former commander in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and now military historian, brings both truces to life through the eyes and stories of Welsh officers and men involved, offering some of the most valuable accounts of what happened on the field of battle.

Ysgrifennwyd cryn dipyn am gadoediad 1914 pan roddwyd y gorau i’r brwydro’n answyddogol mewn nifer o ardaloedd ar y Ffrynt Gorllewinol, ac roedd Ail Fataliwn y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig yn rhan o’r cadoediad hwn.

Croesodd y milwyr faes y gad i gyfnewid cyfarchion y tymor, bwyd a rhoddion. Cafodd carcharorion eu cyfnewid a chladdwyd y meirw gyda’i gilydd. Y rhan fwyaf cyfarwydd o’r cadoediad efallai, yw hanes y milwyr yn chwarae pêl-droed gyda’i gilydd. Flwyddyn yn ddiweddarach, rhoddodd cadlywyddion y Cynghreiriad orchymyn pendant i atal hyn rhag digwydd eto. Er hyn, cafwyd ambell gadoediad ac, unwaith eto, roedd rhai o filwyr y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol yn rhan o’r hanes.

Bydd yr Is-gadfridog Riley, un o gyn gadlywyddion y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig, sydd bellach yn hanesydd milwrol, yn dod â’r ddau gadoediad yn fyw drwy lygaid a hanesion swyddogion a milwyr o Gymru, gan gyflwyno rhai o’r disgrifiadau mwyaf gwerthfawr o’r hyn ddigwyddodd ar faes y gad.

Jonathon Riley discusses Isaac Brock
BBC Radio Guernsey

As preparations are underway to erect a permanent memorial to Isaac Brock on the Island of Guernsey, Lt-Gen Jonathon Riley, gives his views on this outstanding Military Leader and his heroic defence of Upper Canada, where he led a small force of British Regulars, in alliance with the Canadian Militias and First Nations warriors. 

Lt-Gen Riley opens the Brock Exhibition