Lt. Bracher with the first 10 recruits
to the 16th (Cardiff City) battalion at Porthcawl Beach (Aug-Sept 1914)
Lloyd George, before an audience of London Welshmen in the Queen's Hall, London on
19
September 1914 delivered what has been described as one of the greatest and most inspired
speeches of his career, one that was to influence his whole future and dramatically affect the
pattern of recruiting in Wales.
Roundly condemning the Prussian Junkers, he said:
'They think we cannot
beat them. It will not be easy. It will be a long job. It will be a terrible
war. But in the end we shall march through terror to triumph. We shall need all our qualities -
every quality that Britain and its people possess - prudence in counsel, daring in action,
tenacity in purpose, courage in defeat, moderation in victory...'
And not content with the few 'Pals' battalions which had begun to be raised on local
initiative in
Wales, he called for a complete Welsh army. He appealed to 'little Wales' to continue to do her
duty to 'little Belgium' and Russia's 'little brother' Serbia:
'I should like to
see a Welsh army in the field. I should like to see the race who faced the
Normans for hundreds of years in their struggle for freedom, the race that helped to win the
battle of Crecy, the race that fought for a generation against the greatest captain in Europe -
I should like to see that race
give a good taste of its quality in this struggle. And they are
going to do it'.
Formal authority for the raising of the Welsh army corps by the Executive Committee
had been
given by the Army Council to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command on 10
October 1914, 'the units to be raised as Service battalions of the existing Welsh regular regiments'.
By this time, thanks to the initiative of local committees, some units were already
taking shape. A
'Pals' battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (RWF) formed at Rhyl and was up to strength by 2
October. A similar battalion of the Welsh Regiment, raised at Swansea, had recruited 347 men by
10 October and was therefore at one-third of full strenght. Another battalion of the Welsh Regiment,
the 1st Rhondda, which formed on 1st October as a Kitchener third army battalion, was diverted to
the Welsh army corps at the Executive Committee's request. At the end of October the Welsh
army corps boasted four full battalions, the three mentioned above and a second from the Rhondda
valley. By the end of the year this had increased to twelve battalions; enough to form the 1st
Division.
|
Battalion No.
|
Batallion name
|
Source of recruits
|
|
13th RWF
|
1st North Wales
|
Rhyl and surroundings
|
|
14th RWF
|
Carnarvon and
Anglesey
|
Llandudno and
surroundings
|
|
15th RWF
|
London Welsh
|
Welshmen in London
|
|
16th RWF
|
2nd North Wales
|
'Overspill' from
13th RWF
|
|
10th Welsh
|
1st Rhondda
|
Rhondda valleys
|
|
13th Welsh
|
2nd Rhondda
|
Rhondda valleys
|
|
14th Welsh
|
Swansea
|
Swansea and district
|
|
15th Welsh
|
Carmarthenshire
|
Caramarthen and
parts of Glamorgan
|
|
16th Welsh
|
Cardiff City
|
Cardiff and district
|
|
17th Welsh
|
Glamorgan
|
Men below normal
height in Glamorgan
|
|
10th SWB*
|
1st Gwent
|
Coalfield and
ironworks in Monmouthshire
|
|
11th SWB*
|
2nd Gwent
|
Monmouthshire
coalfield and Brecon
|
* South Wales Borderers
Shortly afterwards, the 17th Welsh was transferred to a 'bantam' brigade in another
division and the
17th Battalion, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, took its place in the 1st Division. This apart, the
composition of the 1st Division, in terms of battalions, remained unchanged until the last year of
the war.
On 18 November the Executive Committee announced the incorporation of the twelve battalions
into
the three infantry brigades of the 1st Division:
- First Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Owen Thomas),
based at Llandudno, consisting of the four battalions
of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (and known unofficially as the North Wales Brigade).
- Second Brigade (Brig.-Gen. RHW Dunn),
based at Rhyl, consisting of four battalions of the
Welsh Regiment: the two Rhondda battalions, the Swansea battalion and the Carmarthen
battalion.
- Third Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Ivor Philipps),
based at Colwyn Bay, consisting of the two battalions
of the South Wales Borderers, the Cardiff City battalion of the Welsh Regiment and, until
replaced by the 17th RWF, the Glamorgan 'bantam' battalion of the Welsh Regiment.
Two of the brigadiers, Owen Thomas and Ivor Philipps MP, were founder members of the
Executive
Committee. The former, certainly, and the latter, probably, owed his new appointment to Lloyd
George.
On 31 December the citizens of Cardiff turned out 'in their thousands' to give a send
off to the
Cardiff City battalion which had broken its journey at Cardiff station on its way from Porthcawl to
Colwyn Bay. The welcome at the end of the journey was equally enthusiastic. The Cardiff City
battalion and the 1st Gwent were met at Colwyn Bay station by town dignitaries and the clergy and
were given, according to the Western Mail, a 'hearty' reception. The town was gaily decorated in
their honour although this was hardly noticed in the pouring rain. At all three resorts the growing
army of men was comfortably billeted by the sea; hardly conducive to good training the officers
thought, but much appreciated by the troops. 'We are in clover,' one of them said, 'and cannot wish
for greater comfort.'`
After two months marching and drilling - mainly on the sea front before a crowd of
interested
spectators - the units acquired enough 'soldierly bearing' to make a full-scale review worthwhile.
Lloyd George, accompanied by General Mackinnon, the GOC-in-C Western Command, inspected
the North Wales brigade on 1 March, St David's day, and the other two brigades a day later. St
David's day, according to the London Daily News, 'was marked by features distinctly expressive of
what may be termed the new Welsh nationalism. The newly formed Welsh Guards mounted guard
for the first time over the King at Buckingham Palace; Mr Lloyd George was present at a parade of
the North Wales brigade at Llandudno and an address was presented to him at an eisteddfod in the
evening; flags were sold in Wales and London on behalf of the national fund for Welsh troops, and
the Welsh national emblem was flown over the Lloyd George's Chancellor's residence in Downing
Street.'
The correspondent of the Liverpool Daily Post wrote:
Llandudno has today
entertained the largest crowd of excursionists that has ever honoured
the town with a visit in the winter season. They came, thousands upon thousands of them,
men, women and children from all parts of North Wales, not attracted by the sea, though
that was superlatively grand as it rolled in great billows on to the shore and here and there
in angry spurts dashed over the promenade, but to take part in the first inspection of the
First Brigade of the Welsh army corps, to lionise the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and to
celebrate St David's day in an entirely new fashion.
Early comers found
the town thronged with visitors among whom sellers of miniature red
dragon flags were doing a brisk trade for the benefit of the fund to provide comfort for Welsh
soldiers. The four battalions comprising Brigadier-General Owen Thomas's command were
drawn up on the wind-swept promenade, the whole length and width of which appeared to be
carpeted with blue and khaki - the blue uniforms of the 'Pals' and the khaki of the three other
battalions including the stalwart London Welsh. Every man paid homage to St David by
wearing in his cap or through his shoulder strap the leek of old Wales. The march past, first
in column and afterwards in platoon formation, was splendidly done. The men were, of
course, delighted to be on the move, and were aglow with the exercise, marching with a
rhythmic swing and sure tread to their own excellent bands...
