Editing Hedd Wyn (section)

===Conscription===
[[File:30a Sammlung Eybl Großbritannien. Alfred Leete (1882–1933) Britons (Kitchener) wants you (Briten Kitchener braucht Euch). 1914 (Nachdruck), 74 x 50&nbsp;cm. (Slg.Nr. 552).jpg|thumb|190px|The "[[Lord Kitchener Wants You]]" recruitment poster from 1914.]]

Although farm work was classed as a [[reserved occupation]] due its national importance, in 1916, the Evans family were required to send one of their sons to join the [[British Army]]. The 29-year-old Ellis enlisted rather than his younger brother Robert. In February 1917, he received his training at Litherland Camp, [[Liverpool]], but in March 1917 the government called for farm workers to help with ploughing and many soldiers were temporarily released. Hedd Wyn was given seven weeks' leave. He spent most of this leave working on the [[awdl]] ''[[Yr Arwr]]'' ("The Hero"),<ref>[http://freepages.books.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alwyn/Cerddibugail/yr_arwr.shtml Full text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427130357/http://freepages.books.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alwyn/Cerddibugail/yr_arwr.shtml |date=27 April 2009 }} {{in lang|cy}}.</ref> his submission for the National Eisteddfod. According to his nephew, Gerald Williams, <blockquote>"It was a wet year in 1917. He came back for fourteen days leave and wrote the poem, ''Yr Arwr'', on the table by the fire. As it was such a wet year, he stayed for another seven days. This extra seven days made him a [[deserter]]. So the [[Royal Military Police|military police]] came to fetch him from the hayfield and took him to the jail at [[Blaenau Ffestiniog|Blaenau]]. From there he travelled to... the war in [[Belgium]]. Because he left in such a hurry he forgot the poem on the table, so he wrote it again on the journey. So there are two copies: one in [[Aberystwyth]] and one in [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/2056/ |title=National Library of Wales interviews Gerald Williams |publisher=Museumwales.ac.uk |access-date=2014-05-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320072246/http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/2056/ |archive-date=20 March 2012 }}</ref></blockquote>

In June 1917, Hedd Wyn joined the [[15th (Service) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers (1st London Welsh)]] (part of the [[38th (Welsh) Infantry Division|38th (Welsh) Division]]) at [[Fléchin]], [[France]]. His arrival depressed him, as exemplified in his quote, "Heavy weather, heavy soul, heavy heart. That is an uncomfortable trinity, isn’t it?" Nevertheless, at Fléchin he finished his National Eisteddfod entry and signed it “[[Fleur de Lys|Fleur de Lis]]”. It is believed it was sent via the [[Royal Mail]] around the end of June. On 31 July 15 Battalion marched towards the major offensive which would become known as the [[Battle of Passchendaele]].