The Swansea Rifles, later the 6th (Glamorgan) Battalion of the Welch Regiment, was a Volunteer unit of the British Army from 1859 to 1954. It fought on the Western Front in the First World War. As a searchlight unit in the Second World War it defended South Wales against air raids. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army (TA) as a heavy anti-aircraft artillery regiment until amalgamated with other Welsh units in 1954.
Volunteers The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.Beckett.Spiers, pp. 163–8. One such unit was the 3rd (Swansea Rifles) Glamorganshire RVC formed in Swansea on 12 October 1859, under the command of the local industrialist and Member of Parliament, Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn, who was commissioned as captain.Beckett, Appendix VII.Frederick, p. 296.Westlake, pp. 93–5.6th Welch at Regiments.org.London Gazette, 25 October 1859Dillwyn obituary, Weekly Mail, 25 June 1892.
From February 1861 the unit was attached to the 2nd Administrative Battalion, Glamorganshire RVCs, based in Swansea, but it soon reached a strength of four companies and became an independent corps under the command of Dillwyn, now promoted to major, and the Admin Battalion was broken up some time in 1862. In 1864 the 5th Glamorgan RVC at Penllergaer was attached from the 1st Admin Bn to the Swansea Rifles but was disbanded in 1873. The 4th Glamorgan RVC from the 1st Admin Bn was also attached to the Swansea Rifles 1872–73.Army List, various dates.
Dillwyn continued to command the unit (which was often known as 'Dillwyn's') for many years, rising to Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant in 1877 and full colonel in 1888. In 1881, while inspecting the troops after they had completed a week's training, he fell from his horse and sustained serious injuries. Dillwyn was succeeded in command by John Crow Richardson of Glanbrydan Park, who had enlisted in the unit as a private in December 1859 and was commissioned as ensign in 1864. He became a full colonel in 1897 and commanded the battalion into the 1900s.,The Cambrian, 6 February 1891.
Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and Militia battalions. The 3rd Glamorgan was placed with the 41st (Welsh) and 69th Foot in Brigade No 24 (Pembroke, Carmarthen and Glamorgan) in Western District.Spiers, pp. 195–6. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, the linked battalions became single regiments and the Volunteers were formally affiliated to their local Regular regiment. The 41st and 69th combined to form the Welch Regiment (Welch Regiment from 1920) and the 3rd Glamorgan RVC became a six-company Volunteer Battalion of the regiment. It ranked as the regiment's 4th VB, but did not change its traditional title, despite the potential for confusion with the regiment's 3rd (Glamorgan) VB at Pontypridd. The battalion headquarters (HQ) was at Prince of Wales Hall, Singleton Street, Swansea.Swansea at Drill Hall Project.
When a comprehensive mobilisation scheme for the Volunteers was established after the Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888, the 3rd Glamorgan RVC was assigned to the Welsh Brigade, the South Wales Brigade from 1895, then the Severn Brigade charged with defending the ports of the Severn Estuary, and back to the Welsh Brigade by 1902.
A detachment of volunteers from the battalion served in the Second Boer War, winning the unit its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–1902. The battalion expanded to nine companies in 1900, and then to twelve in 1905 when the Swansea personnel (C, D and E Companies) of the 2nd VB were transferred to it.
Territorial Force When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. the unit became 6th (Glamorgan) Battalion, Welsh Regiment,London Gazette 20 March 1908. with the following organisation:Conrad, British Army 1914. HQ at Swansea A Company at Maesteg B Company at Swansea C Company at Swansea D Company at Swansea E Company at Hafod F Company at NeathGlamorgan at Great War Centenary Drill Halls. G Company at Clydach H Company at Gorseinon
The battalion formed part of the independent South Wales Brigade in the TF.Welsh Rgt at Long, Long Trail. On 9 March 1911 Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, second son of the 3rd Marquess of Bute of Cardiff Castle, was commissioned Lt-Col in the battalion and took command the following year. Lord Ninian was a former lieutenant in the Scots Guards and MP for Cardiff since 1910.Crichton-Stuart at Christ Church Oxford alumni.Crichton-Stuart at Parliament.uk.Crichton-Stuart at Welsh History Month.
First World War Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, units of the TF were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and Lt-Col Crichton-Stuart volunteered his battalion. On 31 August 1914, the War Office authorised the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit for each TF unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
1/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion Having mobilised at Swansea the 1/6th (Glamorgan) Bn was the first Welsh TF unit to go overseas.Edmonds, 1914, Vol II, p. 378 & Appedix 4. Crichton-Stuart addressed the unit at the drill hall in Swansea prior to their departure, saying 'The greatest honour a man can receive is that he has been provided with a chance to give, if need be, the greatest that he has, which is his life, for his country. I do not doubt every man on this parade will give it and give it as willingly as I mean to give it myself.'
The battalion landed at Le Havre on 28 October 1914 to work on the Lines of Communication. Based at Boulogne and Saint-Omer the men were employed in handling railway traffic, escorting prisoners, and providing carrying and burial parties. In 1915 a number of the TF battalions in France were used to reinforce the weak brigades of the Regular divisions. On 5 July 1915 1/6th Bn joined 84th Bde of 28th Division, in which the 1st Bn Welsh Regiment had been serving since its return from India in late 1914. The division had already suffered heavy casualties in the Second Battle of Ypres.Becke, Pt 1, pp. 108-9.28 Division at Long, Long Trail.Rawson, p. 97.
Hohenzollern Redoubt
At the end of September 28 Division moved up to join the Battle of Loos. 85th Brigade went in first on 27 September to continue the actions against the Hohenzollern Redoubt.Cherry, pp. 251–4.Rawson, pp. 98–108. By 30 September the brigade was exhausted and was relieved by 84th Brigade. At 20.00 on 1 October the 1st Welsh launched a surprise attack on 'Little Willie' trench, a section of which they captured despite heavy casualties. The following day the Germans subjected the trench to heavy bombardment and counter-attacks. The 1st Welsh were cut off and supplies of food, water and ammunition could not be carried to them across No man's land. Crichton-Stuart ordered his men to dig a sap across to them, which was completed about 14.30. But it was too late: the 1st Welsh had to be withdrawn from Little Willie under covering fire from the 1/6th Welsh. Crichton-Stuart was killed while looking over the parapet to supervise his battalion's fire.Cherry, pp. 256–7.Rawson, p. 111–3. One report stated that Crichton-Stuart was preparing to lead a counter-attack to recover his close friend Maj Reginald Browning of 1/6th Bn who was still in the abandoned trench. Lt-Col Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart was buried in Béthune Town Cemetery.Bethune at CWGC.Rawson, pp. 163–6. Major Browning is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing, together with 19 other men of 1/6th Bn (and many more from 1st Bn) who died on 1–2 October 1915 and have no known grave.Loos Memorial at CWGC.
On 19 October 1915, 28th Division was given warning orders for a move overseas (it eventually went to Salonika) and the 1/6th Bn's period of attachment ended on 23 October when it transferred to 3rd Bde in 1st Division, in which 2nd Welsh were serving.Becke, Pt 1, pp. 33-9.1 Division at Long, Long Trail.
Further actions On 15 May 1916, the 1/6th Welsh became the Pioneer Battalion of 1st Division, a role that it carried out for the rest of the war. The role of divisional pioneers was to provide working parties to assist the divisional Royal Engineers in tasks ranging from trench digging and wiring, to road making, while remaining fighting soldiers. Typically in action they were used to consolidate captured positions, form flank guards etc. 1st Division took part in the following major actions during the war:
1916 Battle of the Somme: Battle of Bazentin Ridge (14–17 July) Battle of Pozières Ridge (23–26 July, 15 August–3 September) Battle of Flers–Courcelette Battle of Morval (25–28 September)
1917 German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich) (14–21 March) Operations on the Flanders Coast (21 June–20 October) Defence of Nieuport (10 July) Third Battle of Ypres: Second Battle of Passchendaele (5–10 November)
1918 German spring offensive: Battle of Estaires (9–11 April) Battle of Hazebrouck (15 April) Battle of Béthune 918–19 April) Allied Hundred Days Offensive: Battle of the Drocourt-Quéant Line (2–3 September) Battle of Épehy (18 September) Battle of the St Quentin Canal (29 September–2 October) Battle of the Beaurevoir Line (3–5 October) Battle of the Selle (17–25 October) Battle of the Sambre (4 November) Crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal (4 November)
After the Armistice with Germany came into force on 11 November 1918, 1st Division was ordered to the Rhine as part of the occupation forces. On 24 December it reached Bonn and joined the British Army of the Rhine. 6th Battalion Welsh Regiment was disembodied on 25 October 1919.
2/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion 2/6th Bn Welsh Regiment was formed at Swansea in December 1914. The primary role of 2nd Line battalions at this stage was to train reinforcement drafts for their 1st Line battalions serving overseas. In November 1915 the 2nd Line battalions of the independent South Wales Brigade were absorbed by units of the 68th (2nd Welsh) Division concentrating at Bedford for home defence as part of First Army (Home Forces) of Central Force. The 2/6th Welsh were absorbed by the 2/5th (Flintshire) Bn, Royal Welch Fusiliers, which remained in home defence until it was disbanded in March 1918.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 83–90>RWF at Long, Long Trail.
3/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion 3rd Line TF battalions were formed to take over the duty of training drafts for the 1st and 2nd Lines. 3/6th Battalion Welsh Regiment was formed at Swansea on 23 March 1915. It was redesignated 6th (Glamorgan) Reserve Battalion on 8 April 1916 and on 1 September 1916 was absorbed into the regiment's 4th Reserve Bn.
Interwar The TF reformed on 17 February 1920, reorganising as the Territorial Army (TA) the following year. On 31 December 1921 the 6th (Glamorgan) Bn absorbed the 7th (Cyclist) Bn of the Welch Regiment (as it now spelled its title) at Cardiff.7th (Cyclist) Bn at Regiments.org.
67th (Welch) Searchlight Regiment