the welsh guards and the police of south wales · established welsh regiments such as the royal...

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HEDDLU DE CYMRU • SOUTH WALES POLICE

LEARN • ENGAGE • REMEMBER

LED BY IWM

THE GREAT WAR:THE WELSH GUARDS AND

THE POLICE OF SOUTH WALES

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THE GREAT WAR: THE WELSH GUARDS AND THE POLICE OF SOUTH WALES

Glamorgan policemen from Porthcawl who joined the Welsh Guards: Back row left to right: PC DC Grant, PC WJ Thomas and PC D Hayes. Front row sitting left PC W. Richardson, sitting right PC F Trott.

Only PC’s Hayes and Richardson survived the war.

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2015 sees the centenary of theformation of the Welsh Guards inFebruary 1915.

As will be seen in the pages whichfollow, South Wales Police’spredecessor forces of Glamorgan,Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr andNeath had close connections withthe regiment from its formation.

It had been our intention toinclude details of this in our

commemorative booklet for 1915but in view of the amount ofmaterial which we have available,we have produced it as a separatebooklet.

We hope that it will provide afitting tribute to those policemenfrom South Wales who servedwith the regiment during the FirstWorld War and especially thosewho made the ultimate sacrifice.

THE GREAT WAR:THE WELSH GUARDS AND

THE POLICE OF SOUTH WALES

Gareth Madge OBEChair, First World War Project Group, October 2015

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The Welsh Guards is the youngestof the Foot Guards Regimentshaving been formed in 1915 whenit joined the Grenadier Guards,Coldstream Guards, Scots Guardsand Irish Guards which had beenraised at various times over theprevious 300 years.

After the start of the First WorldWar in August 1914, throughoutWales regular army reservists andmembers of the territorial forceswere mobilised into Welshregiments and other units of theBritish Army. In addition, manythousands of men volunteered tojoin the New Armies establishedin response to the call from theSecretary of State for War, LordKitchener, for sufficientmanpower to fight what hebelieved would be a long war.

Many of these volunteers joinedestablished Welsh regiments suchas the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, theWelsh Regiment and the SouthWales Borderers. Eventually, as aresult of the influence of DavidLloyd George, a Welsh Division,the 38th, was formed which wasto fight with distinction from 1915to the end of the war, taking part,in particular, in the fierce fightingat Mametz Wood on the Sommeand at Pilkem Ridge near Ypres.

Notwithstanding the existence ofsuch formations, Lord Kitchenerexpressed a wish to see aregiment of Welsh Foot Guardsbeing raised as well. He clearlyhad a firm view of the matter asemerges from an exchangebetween him and General SirFrancis Lloyd, commanding theLondon District, noted by theHistory of the Welsh Guards inthe First World War:

“The order to raise the regimentwas given by Lord Kitchener to SirFrancis Lloyd on February 6th. Theactual conversation is so typical ofboth men that we give the note,made at the time by Sir FrancisLloyd:

‘Lord Kitchener, very abruptly: ‘Youhave got to raise a regiment ofWelsh Guards.’

Sir Francis Lloyd: ‘Sir, there are agreat many difficulties in the waywhich I should like to point outfirst.’

Lord Kitchener, very rudely: ‘If youdo not like to do it someone elsewill.’

Sir Francis Lloyd: ‘Sir, when do youwant them?’

Lord Kitchener: ‘Immediately.’

Sir Francis Lloyd: ‘Very well, sir, they shall go on guard on St David’s Day.’”


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And so it was that, on 26thFebruary 1915, King George Vauthorised the creation of theWelsh Guards which did, indeed,mount guard at Buckingham Palaceon 1st March.

Officers and NCO’s for the newregiment came from other Guardsregiments and other regiments inthe Army. The first CommandingOfficer, Lieutenant-ColonelMurray-Threipland, for example,came from the Grenadier Guards.

There was, in particular, asubstantial contribution of NCO’sand men from the GrenadierGuards which had traditionallyrecruited in Wales. Some 200recruits from the Guards Depot atCaterham also joined theRegiment.

At this point it is worth noting thata number of police officers in theGlamorgan, Cardiff, Swansea,Merthyr and Neath forces weremen who had served in the

The first guard mounting by the Welsh Guards, Wellington Barracks, St. David’s Day, 1915. © IWM (69194)

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Regular Army before the war andwere, therefore, recalled to thecolours as reservists on theoutbreak in August. Many of thesewere with Guards Regiments and,especially the Grenadier Guards,and transferred to the WelshGuards on its creation.

After initial training in London, the1st Battalion, Welsh Guards,

readied itself for overseas service.There was only one battalion onactive service during the war. Asecond battalion was in duecourse raised but was a reserve ortraining battalion based in Britain.

Before leaving for France,however, there were ceremonialduties to be attended to. In Junethe Battalion was inspected by the

Some of the men who transferred from other Guards Regiments, White City,London, March 1915. © IWM (Q67393)

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RECRUITING POSTER

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Lord Mayor of Cardiff whopresented a cheque from the Cityof Cardiff in order that theRegiment could purchase drumsand other instruments for its bandand on 3rd August the Battalionparaded for inspection before theKing and Queen in the gardens ofBuckingham Palace.

On 17th August the Battalion leftWellington Barracks, entrained atWaterloo Station and travelled toSouthampton from where theysailed on the SS Palm Branch and

the SS Petersburg to Le Havrewhere they arrived the followingday. Amongst the first NCO’s togo to France with the Battalionwas Lance Sergeant 283 ErnestHelson, (pictured below) ofNumber 4 Company, formerly

PC 138 of theSwanseaBoroughPolice, who,sadly, was todie of woundson 18th July1916.

Detachment of Welsh Guards on first arrival and in new uniform at Chelsea Barracks. © IWM (Q67406)

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The Battalion faced its first majoraction at the Battle of Loos inSeptember and October 1915which claimed the lives of severalpolice officers and their namesappear in the Roll of Honour inthis booklet. During theremainder of the war, as part ofthe Guards Division, the Battalionfought with bravery anddistinction in all the major battleson the Western Front includingthe Somme and Ypres.

The Battalion took part in the final

offensives of the War and at thetime of the Armistice on 11thNovember 1918 it was inNorthern France. It then marchedon foot for over two hundredmiles to reach Cologne inGermany where it was basedbefore it eventually returned toBritain in March 1919.

By the end of the war theBattalion had suffered 856 menkilled and 1755 wounded. It hadalso earned its first Victoria Crossthrough the bravery of SergeantRobert Bye of Pontypridd.

The caption to this postcard reads “Presentation to the City of Cardiff ofGerman Gun captured at Loos by the Welsh Guards, 18th November 1915”

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As far as police officers areconcerned, as indicated, a numberof those who were already in thearmy at the time of the formationof the Regiment transferred to it.In addition, as the war years wenton more and more police officerswere released by their ChiefConstables to join the army, manyof them becoming members of

the Welsh Guards. TheGlamorgan Constabulary, inparticular, made a significantcontribution.

It has not yet been possible toidentify all the police officers whoserved in the Regiment but listedat the end of this section is a Rollof Honour which records thenames of all those police officers

Welsh Guards in a reserve trench, Guillemont (Somme) September 1916.© IWM (Q4415)

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from our predecessor forces whodied whilst serving with the WelshGuards. There are 33 of them outof the 92 police officers in totalwho we have identified diedduring the War.

It is also important to rememberthat police officers were oftenNCO’s in the Battalion andcarried with them responsibilitiesof front line leadership. Manypolice officers also distinguishedthemselves with their bravery asdetailed in this booklet.

After the War various WelshGuards Comrades Associationswere established and theconnection between policing inSouth Wales and the Regimentwas particularly evident in the EastGlamorgan branch, as a history ofthe Regiment published in 1965describes:

“Captain Lionel Lindsay, MVO,OBE, exercised a great influenceover the branch during thisperiod, being Chief Constable ofGlamorgan and a great friend ofour President, though not aWelsh Guardsman. Neverthelesshe was keenly interested inevery activity of the branch,which was made up by themajority of policemen serving inthe Glamorgan Force, and when

these people wanted time off toattend any function, it wasusually granted if dutiespermitted.”

When Captain Lindsay retired in1937 the branch presented himwith a silver salver.

The connection between policingin South Wales and the Regimentcontinues to the present day. Thisyear our Chief Constableattended the presentation of newcolours to the Regiment by HerMajesty the Queen at WindsorCastle. In addition, the rugbyteams of the Regiment and SouthWales Police this year again playedagainst each other for the ElsonCup. Lance Corporal Dane Elsonwas killed in action in Afghanistanin July 2009, and the cup wasinstituted in his memory, his fatherbeing a South Wales Police officer.

The Welsh Guards has, since1915, continued to serve thecountry with distinction. Werecognise the endeavours of allthose who have served in theRegiment over the years and, inparticular, we remember theassociation which arose betweenit and the police forces ofGlamorgan, Cardiff, Swansea,Merthyr and Neath during theFirst World War.

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LANCE SERGEANT 243 JACK RANDALL BIRCHPolice Constable 132 Swansea Borough PoliceKilled in action on 8th December 1916.

PRIVATE 1214 WILLIAM HENRY CARTERPolice Constable 404Glamorgan ConstabularyDied of wounds on 25th October 1915.

PRIVATE 1330 WILLIAM EASTPolice Constable 548Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 6th October 1915.

PRIVATE 801 EDWARD JOHN EDWARDSPolice Constable 576Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 10th September 1916.

PRIVATE 1348 BENJAMIN EVANSCardiff City PoliceKilled in action on 27th September 1915.

PRIVATE 1270 DAVID WILLIAM EVANSPolice Constable 648Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 27th September 1915.

PRIVATE 3704 EDWARD PRICE EVANSPolice Constable 477Glamorgan ConstabularyDied of wounds on 9th December 1917.

BELOW ARE LISTED THE POLICE OFFICERS FROM OUR PREDECESSOR FORCES WHO DIED WHILST SERVING WITH THE WELSH GUARDS DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR:

ROLL OF HONOUR

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PRIVATE 2961 RONALD EVANSPolice Constable 578Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 1st December 1917.

LANCE CORPORAL 719JOHN FARLEYPolice Constable 270Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 16th September 1916.

LANCE CORPORAL 1343HERBERT JAMES FISHERCardiff City PoliceKilled in action on 16th September 1916.

PRIVATE 1331 DAVID CHARLES GRANTPolice Constable 591Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 27th September 1915.

LANCE CORPORAL 1672RICHARD HAMERPolice Constable 363Glamorgan ConstabularyDied of wounds on 12th July 1916.

LANCE CORPORAL 1184 AUGUSTUS HARRISPolice Constable 526Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 16th September 1916.

SERGEANT 283 ERNEST ROBERT HELSONPolice Constable 138 Swansea Borough PoliceDied of wounds on 18th July 1916.

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PRIVATE 103 ALBERT HOLLYMANCardiff City PoliceDied on 21st October 1918.

PRIVATE 987 JOSEPH INMANPolice Constable 150 Swansea Borough PoliceKilled in action on 15th September 1918.

PRIVATE 1380 HENRY MORGAN JONESPolice Constable 117Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 10th September 1916.

PRIVATE 1189 WILLIAM JONES (MM)Police Constable 684Glamorgan ConstabularyDied of wounds on 10th September 1916.

PRIVATE 1347 GEORGE HENRY LOCKCardiff City PoliceKilled in action on 1st July 1916.

PRIVATE 2013 REGINALD LOVISPolice Constable 57 MerthyrBorough PoliceKilled in action on 10th September 1916.

PRIVATE 1210 WILLIAM GEORGE MATHIASPolice Constable 397Glamorgan ConstabularyDied on 20th May 1915.

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LANCE CORPORAL 1345PERCY JOHN MARKSCardiff City PoliceKilled in action on 4th September 1917.

PRIVATE 951 THOMAS VOYLE MORGANPolice Constable 69 Merthyr Borough PoliceDied of wounds on 25th May 1916.

PRIVATE 120 LEONARD NOWELLPolice Constable 255Glamorgan ConstabularyDied of wounds on 12th October 1915.

PRIVATE 1246 ARTHUR RICHMONDPERKINSPolice Constable 77Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 10th September 1916.

CORPORAL 1888 SIDNEY AMBROSE PHELPSPolice Constable 730Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 25th September 1916.

PRIVATE 2528 ARTHUR PUGHPolice Constable 292Glamorgan ConstabularyDied of wounds on 22ndSeptember 1916.

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PRIVATE 1279 ERNEST LEWIS REEVESPolice Constable 364Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 27th September 1915.

SERGEANT 242 AUBREY ALFRED SMALEPolice Constable 26 Swansea Borough PoliceDied of wounds on 10th September 1916.

LANCE CORPORAL 1385EDWARD JOHN TAYLORPolice Constable 62Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 8th May 1916.

PRIVATE 1333 WILLIAM JONES THOMASPolice Constable 319Glamorgan ConstabularyDied on 13th April 1917.

LANCE SERGEANT 1245FRANK TROTTPolice Constable 324Glamorgan ConstabularyDied on 11th November 1918.

LANCE CORPORAL 1101WILLIAM JAMES WILLIAMSPolice Constable 225Glamorgan ConstabularyKilled in action on 1st July 1916.

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ALBERTEVANJOHNSON

Albert EvanJohnson wasConstable 542of theGlamorgan

Constabulary, who came from Yeovilin Somerset and was stationed atGorseinon at the outbreak of war.He joined the Welsh Guards asPrivate 1795 and was eventuallypromoted to Sergeant. He wasawarded the Military Medal for hisbravery in, as a newspaper report ofthe time described it, “putting anenemy gun out of action in a charge”whilst police records state that it

was for “capturing an enemyblockhouse and prisoners” inOctober 1917. He was woundedduring his service on the WesternFront. After the War he returned topolice duties and was stationed atPontardulais for many years beforeretiring as a sergeant in 1945.

ARTHUR GEORGE HAM

Arthur George Ham was originallyfrom Somerset and was a Neathpoliceman. He became Private 1663in the Welsh Guards and waseventually promoted to Sergeant.

He was awarded the Military Medalduring his service on the WesternFront and on 28th March 1918, theLondon Gazette announced the

BRAVERY AWARDS

WE REMEMBER BELOW THOSE POLICE OFFICERS FROM OURPREDECESSOR FORCES WHO WERE RECOGNISED FOR THEIRBRAVERY WHILST SERVING WITH THE WELSH GUARDS IN THE

FIRST WORLD WAR.

DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL

MILITARY MEDAL

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award to him, as a Corporal, of theDistinguished Conduct Medal withthe following citation:

“For conspicuous gallantry anddevotion to duty in an attack. Herushed his Lewis gun forward underheavy fire and engaged someenemy machine guns which weregiving trouble. On reaching theenemy’s trench he got a capturedmachine gun into action againstthe enemy and was of the greatestassistance in organising machinegun teams and getting the gunsinto action. His cheerfulness andcourage were a splendid exampleto all.”

After his war service he returned topolice duties in Neath.

THOMASNORGATE

ThomasNorgate wasPoliceConstable 471in theGlamorgan

Constabulary and stationed atGowerton at the start of the War.Originally from Ropley in Hampshire,he joined the Welsh Guards asPrivate 1889 on 5th August 1915 andduring his service on the WesternFront was awarded the MilitaryMedal. Police records state that itwas for “bravery and devotion toduty whilst acting as a stretcher

bearer” on 31st July 1917.He waspresented with his medal by theChief Constable of Glamorgan,Captain Lionel Lindsay, at a civicreception for the GlamorganConstabulary held in Barry onArmistice Day, 11th November1918. He was discharged from thearmy on 14th December 1918 dueto his wounds and was awarded aSilver War Badge in recognition ofthe fact.

ANTHONYAUGUSTUS WEST

Anthony Augustus West was aGlamorgan Constabulary policeofficer stationed at Port Talbot who,after returning to police dutiesfollowing the First World War,became an Inspector in the force.During the war he served with theWelsh Guards as Private 758. Hewas presented with the MilitaryMedal for bravery by CaptainLindsay at the same civic ceremonyin Barry at which Thomas Norgatereceived his medal as mentionedabove. After the war he was, formany years, chairman of the EastGlamorgan Branch of the WelshGuards Comrades Association.

WILLIAM JONES

William Jones was born in Llangelernear Newcastle Emlyn inCarmarthenshire in 1891. The familymoved to live at Pencastell Farm inCymmer, following the re-marriage

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of his widowed mother. He workedon the farm until he joined theGlamorgan Constabulary shortlybefore the outbreak of war at whichtime he was stationed at Maesteg asConstable 684. He joined the WelshGuards as Private 1189. He wasawarded the Military Medal forbravery on the Western Front. TheHistory of the Welsh Guards in theFirst World War states that on 9thJuly 1916, Private West (mentionedabove) and Private W. Jones werepresented with their Military Medalribbons by Major General Feilding.They were also members of a party,which included Lance Corporal 1245Trott (PC 324 Glamorgan), whichrepresented the Guards Division at aparade in Paris on 14th July.

The “Glamorgan Gazette” for 4thAugust 1914 reproduced a letterfrom Private W.J. Thomas, WelshGuards to a police colleague:

“Our boys-the Welsh Guards-wentover the top and were verysuccessful. They gained the lines oftrenches, and are still holdingthem. Several were killed andwounded. P. C. William Jones, ofMaesteg, went with an officer intothe German trenches and broughtback two prisoners. The officertook his name and recommendedhim, and he now wears theMilitary Medal ribbon.”

On the other hand, the “PoliceReview” for 22nd September 1916

reported that he had received it inthe following circumstances:

“...for carrying Lance Corporal E. J.Taylor, Welsh Guards, who wasmortally wounded, across a fire-swept zone into a place of safety.They were comrades in the PoliceForce previous to joining theArmy.”

The Lance Corporal Taylor referredto was formerly PC 62 Edward JohnTaylor of the GlamorganConstabulary also stationed atMaesteg before the War, who diedon 8th May 1916 aged 26.

Whatever the position may havebeen, what is not in doubt is thebravery of William Jones. Sadly, hedied of wounds on 10th September1916 aged 25. He has no knowngrave but is commemorated on theThiepval Memorial to the Missing ofthe Somme and on the GlamorganPolice War Memorial at Bridgend.

DAVID J. EVANS

David J. Evanswas originallyfrom Bedwas.He was aconstable in theCardiff City

Police stationed at Cathays PoliceStation before he joined the WelshGuards as Private 1360, later beingpromoted to corporal. He wasawarded the Military Medal duringhis service on the Western Front.

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South Wales Police iscurrently gathering

information about themany police officers fromour predecessor forces of

Glamorgan, Swansea,Merthyr Tydfil, Neath andCardiff who served in thearmed forces during the

First World War.

We want to ensure weuncover as much

information as possibleabout our proud

history, and the many men who served both

the force and their countryto ensure they

are never forgotten.

All the stories andinformation collected,

including photographs,letters and newspapercoverage from that timewill be shared online andon Facebook.

To make a contribution please email:[email protected]

FIRST WORLD WARPROJECT GROUPGareth Madge (Chair),Danny Richards, RobinMellor, Peter Wright, Paul Wood, Daryl Fahey,Allison Tennant, CoralCole, together with PhilipDavies of the WesternFront Association.

THE

GREAT WARCENTENARY1914-1918 2014-2018

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