The Brecknockshire Battalion was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1859, it became a Volunteer Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. During World War I it served in garrison at Aden, where it was engaged in the Battle of Lahej. It was amalgamated with another battalion in the 1920s but regained its independence in time for World War II, when it served in home defence and supplied reinforcements to the forces fighting overseas. Postwar it was reformed as a light anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery and was one of the founder units of today's 104th Regiment Royal Artillery in the Army Reserve.
Volunteer Force An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) began to be organised throughout Great Britain.Beckett.Spiers, pp. 163–8. Six such RVCs were quickly raised in the county of Brecknockshire:Beckett, Appendix VII.Frederick, pp. 171–3.Westlake, pp. 28–30.Brecknockshire Battalion at Regiments.org. 1st (Brecknock) Brecknockshire RVC, formed at Brecon 21 August 1859 under the command of Captain Henry Gore Lindsay, formerly of the Rifle Brigade; two companies by March 1860 2nd (Brynmawr) Brecknockshire RVC, formed 13 February 1860 3rd (Crickhowell) Brecknockshire RVC, formed 30 August 1860 4th (Hay) Brecknockshire RVC, formed at Hay-on-Wye 7 April 1860 5th (Builth) Brecknockshire RVC, formed at Builth Wells 4 June 1860 6th (Talgarth) Brecknockshire RVC, formed 14 February 1861
From 30 August 1860 these were grouped into the 1st Administrative Battalion, Brecknockshire RVCs, with headquarters at Brecon. Henry Lindsay was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the Admin Bn on 23 July 1861. He resigned in 1867 and his Major, Frederick Ximenes Gwynne of the 3rd RVC, formerly a Lieutenant in the 94th Foot, was promoted to succeed him on 15 May 1867. On the same date, Sir Joseph Bailey, 2nd Baronet of Glanusk, MP, who had been commissioned as a lieutenant in the 3rd RVC on 14 February 1861, was appointed the battalion's Honorary Colonel.Army List, various dates.London Gazette, 21 May 1867.Burke's: 'Glanusk'. The Reverend William L. Bevan, later Archdeacon of Brecon, was appointed Honorary Chaplain to the 3rd RVC on its formation, and continued in this role with the battalion until his death in 1908.
Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Volunteers were brigaded with their local Regular and Militia battalions – for the Brecknockshire Battalion, this was in Sub-District No 25 (Counties of Cardigan, Radnor, Brecon and Monmouth) of Western District, with the following units:Spiers, pp. 195–6.
1st and 2nd Battalions 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot Royal Monmouthshire Light Infantry Militia at Monmouth Royal Brecon Rifles Militia at Brecon Royal Cardigan Rifles Militia at Aberystwyth 1st Administrative Battalion of Monmouth Rifle Volunteers at Newport 2nd Administrative Battalion of Monmouth Rifle Volunteers at Pontypool 2nd Monmouth Rifle Volunteers at Pontypool
Because there had been no regular regiment affiliated with these counties, the 2nd Warwickshire was arbitrarily assigned.Bulloch. Each sub-district was to form a permanent depot for these affiliated battalions, and as the 24th Foot had no previous connection with the region, Brecon was chosen as its site, with both a militia and a volunteer battalion already based there. Brecon Barracks, first built in 1805, were taken over in 1873 and extended.Training Depots 1873–1881 at Regiments.org.Brecon Barracks at Powys History.Jones & Glanusk, p. 126.
A 7th (Cefn) Brecknockshire RVC was formed at Cefn Coed on 15 June 1878 and immediately joined the 1st Admin Bn.
The RVCs were consolidated into larger units in 1880, the 1st Admin Bn at Brecon being designated 1st Brecknockshire RVC on 16 March with the following organisation:
Battalion Headquarters at Brecon BarracksBrecon at Drill Hall Project. A Company at King Edward Road, Brecon (ex 1st RVC) B Company at North Somerset Street, BrynmawrBrynmawr at Drill Hall Project. (ex 2nd RVC) C Company at Bridge Street, CrickhowellCrickhowell at Drill Hall Project. (ex 3rd RVC) D Company at Lion Street, Hay-on-WyeHay at Drill Hall Project. (ex 4th RVC) E Company at West Street, Builth Wells, with a drill station at Llanwrtyd WellsBuilth Wells at Drill Hall Project. (ex 5th RVC) F Company at Bank Terrace, TalgarthTalgarth at Drill Hall Project. (ex 6th RVC) G Company at Cefn CoedCefn Coed at Drill Hall Project. (ex 7th RVC) H Company at Brecon (ex 1st RVC), later disbanded Mounted Infantry Company at Glasbury, formed 1884, disbanded 1898 H Company at Ystradgynlais,Ystradgynlais at Drill Hall Project. formed 1894 Christ College, Brecon, Cadet Corps, formed 1894 Brecon Intermediate School Cadet Corps, formed 1901
South Wales Borderers The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, the regular regiments dropping their numbers and adopting territorial titles, with the militia and volunteer battalions formally affiliated to them. The 24th Foot, which had been arbitrarily assigned to Wales, became the South Wales Borderers (SWB) on 1 July 1881, with the 1st Brecknockshire becoming the first volunteer battalion (VB); it was redesignated 1st Brecknockshire Volunteer Battalion, South Wales Borderers on 1 July 1885 (unusually the county was included in the formal title, not even as a subtitle).Frederick, pp. 292–4. Major T. Conway Lloyd, formerly a captain in the 84th Foot, was promoted to lt-col and commanding officer (CO) of the battalion on 15 December 1883.
While the sub-districts were referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the Cardwell system. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.Dunlop, pp. 60–1; Appendix A.Spiers, pp. 228–9. Under this scheme the battalion formed part of the Welsh Brigade; later this brigade exchanged some units with the Severn Brigade and became the South Wales Border Brigade, with its HQ at Port Talbot and its place of assembly at Newport. After the Second Boer War it became the South Wales Border Brigade, comprising the five VBs of the SWB, with its HQ at Brecon. Lieutenant-Col Fleming Gough of Ystradgynlais was CO of the battalion from 20 October 1897.Gough Family at Ystradgynlais History.
Second Boer War After Black Week in December 1899, the volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the Second Boer War. In January 1900 the War Office decided that one Volunteer Service Company (VSC) company 114 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. The SWB's five VBs accordingly raised a service company between them, the numbers of volunteers coming forward being much larger than were required.Beckett, p. 213.Owen, pp. 145–51.
1st Volunteer Service Company, SWB The company assembled at Brecon Barracks for intensive training, with emphasis on musketry, and Capt J. Llewelyn Phillips of the 2nd VB was appointed to its command. The company left Brecon by train on 14 February to link up with the 1st VSC of the Welsh Regiment at Newport, but the train was delayed by snow and the company only just reached Southampton Docks in time to catch the Union Line steamer Greek was preparing to sail with the 1st VSC Welsh regiment and large numbers of other troops. They disembarked at Cape Town on 9 March and after a few days' acclimatisation at Green Point camp, the 1st VSC SWB was posted to guard the railway between Cape Town and De Aar Junction. From its camp at Kettering the nearest of the three bridges it was to guard was distant, involving considerable marching for the guard detachments.
On 2 May the SWB and Welsh Regiment's VSCs joined a column moving north by rail to join Lord Roberts' army advancing towards Johannesburg. At Vet River on 8 May the 1st VSC SWB detrained and marched to join 2nd Bn SWB at Ostfontein. It became 'I" Company of the 2nd Bn, replacing 'D' Company, which had been detached as Mounted infantry. The Volunteers came into action for the first time at the Battle of Zand River on 10 May, when 7th Division dislodged the Boers from their positions on the opposite bank of the river. Covered by their own artillery, Maj-Gen Archibald Wavell's 15th Brigade, including 2nd SWB, attacked the kopjes on which the Boer guns were in action. The enemy vacated their positions on the approach of the British infantry. I Company suffered one man wounded.Amery, Vol IV, p. 121. The Boers retreated, allowing Roberts' advance to continue to Kroonstad two days later. The 2nd SWB then marched on through Rodeval, the unopposed crossing of the Vaal River, Elandsfontein Junction and Witwatersrand Junction before participating in the ceremonial entry into Johannesburg on 30 May.
The battalion was then stationed at Vereeniging. On 10 June most of 2nd SWB, including I Company, marched out to Vredefort Road, north of Rhenoster, where De Wet's Commando was carrying out attacks along the line of the newly reopened railway. On 7 July most of the battalion moved on to Rhenoster, leaving B and I Companies at Vrederfort Road, where they were kept busy digging entrenchments on the kopjes commanding the town and railway.Amery, Vol IV, pp. 271–2. On 8 August the battalion reassembled and returned to Johannesburg before moving on to Krugersdorp for garrison duty. On 29 August 2nd SWB joined Maj-Gen Fitzroy Hart's Potchefstroom Column trying to stamp out Boer resistance. The column marched in 33 days, on 29 of which it saw action, though casualties were very low.Amery, Vol IV, p. 488.
Hart's column returned to Krugersdorp on 30 September, and next day the 1st VSC left 2nd Bn SWB and began the first stage of what was expected to be its journey home. However, the war was not ending as expected, and the company was repeatedly delayed and diverted to duties on the lines of communication, and it was not until 27 April 1901 that it finally embarked on the SS Idaho at Cape Town. Disembarking at Southampton on 21 May the company reached Brecon the same day, and was greeted by a company of the 1st (Brecknock) VB and the Christ College Cadet Corps. the men were discharged and later received the Queen's South Africa Medal.
2nd Volunteer Service Company, SWB