38th (Welsh) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, (38th (W) Hvy Bty, RGA) was a New Army ('Kitchener's Army') unit of the British Army raised in Wales during World War I, originally as part of 38th (Welsh) Division. The battery served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from early 1916, including the Arras, Ypres and Cambrai offensives of 1917. It fought against the German Spring Offensive and took part in the Allies' victorious Hundred Days Offensive, often supporting the Guards Division. After the Armistice with Germany it was part of the British Army of the Rhine until its disbandment in 1920.
Recruitment and training
On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army, and the newly appointed secretary of state for sar, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8.
The flood of volunteers overwhelmed the ability of the army to absorb and organise them, and by the time the Fifth New Army (K5) was raised, many of the units were being organised as 'Pals battalions' under the auspices of local recruiting committees up and down the country. One of the largest of these was the 'Welsh National Executive Committee' (WNEC) formed after a meeting held at Cardiff under the chairmanship of David Lloyd George on 28 September. The WNEC proposed to raise a complete Welsh Army Corps of two divisions. This proposal was authorised by the WO on 10 October, and recruitment got under way. As well as the infantry Pals battalions raised by these initiatives, the K5 divisions required supporting arms such as artillery and engineers. The first artillery battery for the 1st Welsh Division was formed at Sophia Gardens at Cardiff towards the end of October. It was then sent with the other artillery recruits to the training camp at Porthcawl where they were organised into subsections. There were no uniforms before the WNEC obtained clothing in the grey Welsh cloth known as Brethyn Llwyd, which was worn until sufficient khaki could be obtained. There was a complete lack of equipment with which to train, and gun drill had to be carried out with improvisations such as a pair of old horse-drawn omnibus wheels fitted with a pole and hook to practise limbering-up. 1st Welsh Division was numbered as 43rd Division on 10 December 1914. During March and April 1915 the recruits and sections of 43rd Divisional Artillery were organised to complete the required establishment of 16 batteries (4 brigades) of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and 1 heavy battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The short-lived 43rd Division was renumbered 38th (Welsh) Division on 27 April, when the embryo heavy battery became 38th (Welsh) Heavy Battery, RGA.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 81–9, Appendix 2.38th (Welsh) Division at Long, Long Trail.Munby, pp. 1, 6–8.
However, current policy on the Western Front was to detach single heavy batteries from the infantry divisions and group them into RGA brigades of 3–4 batteries, and this organisation was adopted for the new units being formed in the UK. 38th (W) Heavy Bty with its own ammunition column was detached from 38th (W) Division before June 1915.Farndale, Annex E. The battery may have been at Charlton Park, near Woolwich, at the end of January 1916, possibly while receiving its equipment of four 60-pounder guns.Frederick, p. 700. When it completed its training it joined 120th and 129th (Bristol) Hvy Btys to form a new 42nd Heavy Brigade, RGA, at Bordon Camp on 2 March 1916. The brigade was mobilised for overseas service on 8 March and it embarked at Southampton Docks on 27 March to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. It landed at Le Havre in France on 30 March.Frederick, p. 712.
Service
As soon as the brigade arrived, artillery policy was changed again, and during April the RGA brigades were redesignated as Heavy Artillery Groups (HAGs), without change of numeral. HAGs had a more fluid organisation, and batteries were frequently switched between them. The long range 60-pdr batteries in the HAGs were primarily used for counter-battery (CB) fire. During April 38th (W) Heavy Bty moved to 28th HAG, which was being reorganised as a large group of both heavy and siege batteries for CB work. On 3 May, for example, the group's 35th Heavy Bty came under fire from German 5.9-inch guns, and 38th (W) and 2nd London Hvy Btys retaliated with a few rounds of Shrapnel shell or Lyddite high explosive (HE) on all identified '5–9' batteries in the area.'Allocation of Heavy Batteries RGA', The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/5494/2.28th HAG War Diary, August 1915–December 1916, TNA file WO 95/541/1. 38th (W) Heavy Bty returned to 42nd HAG on 28 May until 53rd HAG arrived at Beuvry from the UK and took over command of 38th (W) Bty's four 60-pdrs and two of 2nd London Hvy Bty's old 4.7-inch guns on 28 July. 38th (W) Heavy Bty continued its almost daily CB shoots during the summer.53rd HAG War Diary, March 1916–June 1917, TNA file WO 95/226/1.
Ancre So far 38th (W) Hvy Bty had only served with groups under First Army, which held the quiet sector from Laventie to Vimy Ridge while the Battle of the Somme was being fought further south. However, on 3 October 38th (W) Hvy Bty transferred south to Pommier in Third Army, first under 47th HAG, then 35th HAG took over from 18 October. The battery was now in VII Corps' sector, ready to reopen Third Army's participation in the Somme offensive, but nothing came of these plans.'Headquarters Heavy Artillery Groups', TNA file WO 95/5494/1.47th HAG War Diary March 1916–July 1919, TNA file WO 95/473/1.35th HAG War Diary September 1916–April 1917, TNA file WO 95/390/2.Miles, 1916, Vol II, p. 244.
38th (W) Heavy Bty continued occasional CB shoots. On 20 October it fired 34 rounds directed by a balloon observer against a German anti-aircraft (AA) battery, and two days later 30 rounds at another AA battery. However, the intensity of firing increased on 11 November when 35th HAG was ordered to cooperate with Fifth Army, which was preparing to launch the final phase of the offensive (the Battle of the Ancre). This brought down German fire on Pommier and other British positions, to which 38th (W) Hvy Bty replied. Firing continued until Zero at 06.00 on 14 November, when Fifth Army attacked. During the day 38th (W) Hvy Bty fired at targets ordered by 39th HAG. The final attack of the offensive came on 18 November when 35th HAG cooperated again. V Corps of Fifth Army succeeded in taking Beaumont-Hamel and Beaucourt, which had resisted capture on 1 July.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 111–120.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 161–7.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 476–9, 504–10, Sketches 47, 48.
Arras At the end of November Third Army reorganised its heavy artillery. Both 38th (W) Hvy Bty and 35th HAG HQ were ordered north to join VI Corps in front of Arras. The battery left Saulty on 1 December and marched by way of Habarcq to Anzin-Saint-Aubin, where it joined 48th HAG. The battery was in good positions above the watermill east of the village, with water for the horses, good dugouts along the road and good billets in the village. Following a policy decision made in the summer, 60-pdr batteries were being increased from four to six guns, and 38th Hvy Bty must have received its additional guns by now, because it deployed behind three hedges, one two-gun section behind each. The only drawback to the position was that the arc of fire was spoiled by trees. After improving and camouflaging its positions and dumping a supply of ammunition, the battery commenced CB fire on 5 December at a German 150 mm battery that had been detected near Feuchy by 3rd Field Survey Company's sound ranging. Over the following days 38th (W) Hvy Bty continued CB work, with aircraft observation when the winter weather permitted, or on predetermined 'night lines'. A few shots for registration, or on a target of opportunity such as an enemy working party, were fired on most days. On 29/30 December the battery moved forward to prepared temporary positions and took part in a special night shoot with a number of other batteries, firing simultaneous salvoes on targets deep behind enemy lines, though the salvoes were ragged. On 6 January the battery fired a large number of rounds against various targets in retaliation for the enemy's gas shelling of Arras. The battery remained here for over four months, though its command changed to 65th HAG when VI Corps heavy artillery was reorganised on 18 February 1917. 32nd HAG arrived on 25 March and took over the battery.38th (Welsh) Hvy Bty War Diary, December 1916–March 1917, August 1917, January–February 1918, TNA file WO 95/395/2.48th HAG War Diary August 1915–June 1917, TNA file WO 95/225/1.
In late March the intensity of shelling increased as Third Army prepared for its Arras Offensive. The CB programme was highly effective, many German batteries being put out of action even before the main bombardment began. This was to be of four days' duration (V, W, X and Y), with the 60-pdrs shelling billets, tramways and light railways, and 'sweeping' communication trenches and dead ground. At night they kept up harassing fire. The heavy batteries were allocated 100 rounds per gun per day. Z Day for the attack was delayed by 24 hours, giving an additional day (Q) of bombardment. The attack was then launched on 9 April, behind a massive barrage of field guns and howitzers, while the 60-pdr batteries swept and 'searched' behind enemy lines to catch machine gunners and moving infantry as well as continuing the CB fire. With this amount of preparation the first day at Arras (the First Battle of the Scarpe) was notably successful, but subsequent phases of the offensive were increasingly costly. However, VI Corps did achieve some advances on 10 April and that afternoon 38th (W) Hvy Bty was switched to the command of 47th HAG supporting Cavalry Corps. Together with 35th Hvy Bty it moved up to a position between Tilloy and Feuchy, beside the Cambrai road. This area was known as 'Battery Valley' because so many German batteries had been located there. These were now replaced by British heavy and siege batteries moving up to shorten the range, which were established among the derelict German guns. However, the German batteries that had evacuated now had to be painstakingly re-located and registered. 35th and 38th (W) Hvy Btys engaged positions north of Rœux and east of Monchy-le-Preux which were attacked on 11 April. There was no gap for the Cavalry Corps to exploit, so 47th HAG returned to VI Corps' command that evening. 38th (W) Hvy Bty continued firing as VI Corps attempted to capture Guémappe and the Wancourt ridge, and on 14 April took part in a defensive barrage to stop a German counter-attack on Monchy. The British offensive was resumed on 23 April (the Second Battle of the Scarpe) and 47th HAG's heavy batteries had some fleeting opportunities to fire on enemy parties near Guémappe, the forward observation officers (FOOs) reporting severe losses inflicted on the enemy (confirmed by prisoners' statements). On 25 April 38th (W) Hvy Bty moved to new positions north-west of Wancourt.32nd HAG War Diary, April 1916–July 1916, TNA file WO 95/389/2.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 89–98.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 169–74.Falls, 1917, Vol I, pp. 177–85, 214–5, 239–40, 251–3, 282, 292, 383–4, 389–94, Sketches 7, 9, 12, 13, 19.Farndale, pp. 164–74, Map 23.47th HAG War Diary March 1916–July 1919, TNA file WO 95/473/1.