Pembroke Yeomanry

The Pembroke Yeomanry were formed in 1794, by Lord Milford^[2] when King George III was on the throne, William Pitt the Younger was Prime Minister of Great Britain, and across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation that had recently guillotined its King and which possessed a revolutionary army numbering half a million men. The Prime Minister proposed that the English Counties form a force of Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry that could be called on by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the country.^[3]

In 1797 the French Republican La Legion Noire landed off Carreg Wastad Point, in what would be the Last invasion of Britain, only to surrender to a much smaller force including the Pembroke Yeomanry hastily assembled under Lord Cawdor.^[2] Two of the French frigates involved were captured and one was re-commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Fisgard.^[2] In 1853 Queen Victoria awarded the battle honour Fishguard upon the Regiment.^[2] The unit became the first volunteer unit to receive a battle honour and remains the only unit still serving in the British Army to bear the name of an engagement on British soil.^[2]

Boer War

During the Boer War the Yeomanry provided the 30th (Pembrokshire) Company of the 9th (Welsh) Battalion of Imperial Yeomanry, landing in South Africa in 1890 to fight as Mounted Infantry, and replacing them, a second 30th Company in 1901, both saw considerable action.^[4]

Creation of The Territorial Force

The regiment was formed on the creation of the Territorial Force in April 1908 and placed under orders of the South Wales Mounted Brigade.^[5]

World War I

In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.^[7]

1/1st Pembroke Yeomanry

The 1/1st Pembroke Yeomanry was mobilised on 4 August 1914 as part of the South Wales Mounted Brigade on the outbreak of the First World War. The brigade was assembled at Hereford and moved to East Anglia by the end of August 1914. It joined the 1st Mounted Division in August 1914,^[8] replacing 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade^[9] which moved to 2nd Mounted Division.^[10] In November 1915, the brigade was dismounted. It was replaced in 1st Mounted Division by 2/1st Eastern Mounted Brigade when it departed for Egypt.^[9]

With the brigade, the regiment was posted to Egypt in March 1916. On arrival a detachment from the regiment formed part of the Imperial Camel Corps.^[2] On 20 March, South Wales Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the 4th Dismounted Brigade^[11] (along with the Welsh Border Mounted Brigade^[11]). In March 1917 they were re-roled as infantry and together with the Glamorgan Yeomanry were converted into the 24th (Pembroke & Glamorgan) Battalion, The Welsh Regiment. They joined 231st Brigade in the 74th (Yeomanry) Division.^[12] In May 1918, the Division moved to France, and the battalion saw action on the Western Front.^[7]

As part of the 74th Yeomanry Division they were involved in the following battles Second Battle of Gaza, Third Battle of Gaza, Battle of Beersheba and the Battle of Epehy.^[7] The 24th Welch entered Ath on 11 November 1918, only two and a half hours before hostilities ceased.^[2]

2/1st Pembroke Yeomanry

The 2/1st Pembroke Yeomanry was based at Southwold during the raid by Admiral Boedicker’s battle cruisers on Lowestoft in 1916.^[2] The regiment was converted in a cyclist unit later in 1916 and did not see any active service overseas.^[7]

3/1st Pembroke Yeomanry

The third line regiment the 3/1st was formed in 1915 and remained in the United Kingdom, until they were disbanded in early 1917.^[7]

Between the Wars

On the reforming of the TA, the 14 senior Yeomanry Regiments remained as horsed cavalry regiments (6 forming the 5th and 6th Cavalry Brigades) the remaining Yeomanry Regiments would be re roled as Artillery.^[13] The Pembroke Yeomanry were one of the regiments that now formed part of the Royal Artillery.

World War II

During World War Two the Pembroke Yeomany on mobilisation formed two regiments the 102nd Field Regiment and the second line 146th Field Regiment.^[2]

The first line 102nd Field Regiment, formed from the two Pembrokeshire Batteries, landed at Algiers in February 1943 as part of the 1st Army. After the fall of Tunis they converted to a medium artillery regiment and landed in Italy with the 8th Army, in December 1943, by the end of the war they were on the banks of the River Po.^[2]

Having Reformed as field artillery,between the wars the Pembroke Yeomanry’s Cardiganshire Battery on the start on World War Two now became a separate Regiment.^[2] As 146th Field Regiment they landed in Suez in September 1942, joining the 8th Army and participated in the Battle of El Alamein, as part of the 7th Armoured Division, Artillery Group. When 7th Armoured returned from Italy in 1944 to prepare for the Normandy Landings, the Regiment was converted to medium artillery in England. The Regiment returned to France for the first time since the end of World War One in July 1944, crossing the Rhine on 17 March of the following year having acquired, from their badges, the nickname of the ‘Fishguard Express’.^[2]

Post war

In 1946 the Pembroke Yeomanry received the Freedom of the Town and County of Haverfordwest. Over the years there have been various reorganisations of the Territorial Army, which has resulted in several changes of role for the Pembroke Yeomanry, from Cavalry to Artillery to Cavalry to Infantry to the Royal Corps of Transport and finally in 1993 becoming part of the Royal Logistic Corps, as the 224 (Pembroke Yeomanry) Squadron RLC.^[2]

References

Bibliography

• Becke, Major A.F. (1936). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2A. The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-12-4. 
• Becke, Major A.F. (1937). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2B. The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th) with The Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-00-0. 
• James, Brigadier E.A. (1978). British Regiments 1914–18. London: Samson Books Limited. ISBN 0-906304-03-2.