The 12th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers (3rd Gwent) was a Welsh Bantam battalion recruited in World War I as part of 'Kitchener's Army' from men who were below the normal minimum height required by the British Army. It formed part of the Welsh Bantam Brigade, later 119th Brigade, and served on the Western Front. It saw a good deal of action along the Hindenburg Line and at Cambrai before being broken up early in 1918 to provide reinforcements to other units.

Recruitment

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 war, 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'. K2, K3 and K4 followed shortly afterwards.War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8. However, these were soon joined by groups of men from particular localities or backgrounds who wished to serve together. Starting in London and Liverpool, the phenomenon of 'Pals battalions' quickly spread across the country, as local recruiting committees offered complete units to the War Office (WO), which constituted the Fifth New Army (K5). One such organisation was the 'Welsh National Executive Committee' (WNEC), which on 10 October 1914 was authorised to form a complete Welsh Army Corps of two divisions.Atkinson, p. 69.Frederick, pp. 293–4.Taylor, pp. 23–5.

However, a large number of otherwise medically fit volunteers were being turned away because they did not meet the minimum height requirement of the prewar Regular Army, of 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm). Alfred Bigland, the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, persuaded Kitchener that this pool of potential manpower should be tapped, and he was given authority to raise a battalion of 'Bantams' (named after the small but pugnacious fighting cock). Three Bantam battalions were quickly raised at Birkenhead for the Cheshire Regiment, many of them coal miners who had travelled long distances to enlist, including from Wales, and the scheme spread to other areas. The WO authorised each military district to recruit a battalion, attached to whichever regimental depot had sufficient capacity.Becke, Pt 3b, p. 57.McGreal, pp. 21–48.Taylor, pp. 25–7.War Office Instruction No 138 of 14 June 1915.

The WNEC accordingly began recruiting Bantams. Although it was among those authorised on 10 October 1914, the 3rd Gwent Battalion had been slow to form. On 22 January 1915 the WNEC approved it being raised as a bantam battalion under the designation of 12th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers (12th SWB). The first officer was appointed on 30 January, the first recruits enlisted on 7 February, and the first company began assembling at Newport on 15 March. It was attached to the 3rd Welsh Brigade forming at Colwyn Bay in North Wales, but never actually joined it. On the recommendation of Brig-Gen H.J. Evans of 115th Bde, Major E.A. Pope joined from 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Welsh Regiment, to take command of 12th SWB on 21 April with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Pope began recruiting enthusiastically, and on 1 May the battalion's second company was formed. Facing the same shortage of instructors as all the other Kitchener units, the 12th SWB borrowed drill instructors from the Glamorgan Constabulary. On 18 May 12th SWB, then roughly 470 strong, formed its C Company, and finally D Company three weeks later. In early July 1915 12th SWB left Newport for Prees Heath Camp, where it joined the newly formed Welsh Bantam Brigade.Atkinson, pp. 71–2.James, p. 69.McGreal, pp. 57–8.Taylor, pp. 27–8, 36–7, 40.South Wales Borderers at Long, Long Trail.

Unlike the other units of the Welsh Bantam Brigade (19th (S) Bn, Royal Welsh Fusiliers (RWF), 17th and 18th (S) Bns Welsh Regiment (WR)), 12th SWB struggled to reach its full establishment of 1250 men, being around 900 strong in September and only completing at the end of 1915. However, the battalion seems to have been better than the others at rejecting physically unfit or under-age recruits, which were a problem for all bantam units after the initial volunteer rush of fit miners and other manual workers had waned. A modern analysis of the battalion's make-up shows that only just over 20 per cent of the men came from Wales (Monmouth and Glamorgan, with small numbers from Radnorshire and Brecknockshire); large numbers of the bantams came from Yorkshire, Lancashire, London, Staffordshire, and other English counties, and most were manual labourers rather than miners. Discipline was also poor among the recruits of 12th SWB, with fights constantly breaking out among the men.Taylor, pp. 37, 43–59.

All Kitchener units suffered shortages of uniforms, kit and weapons in their early days. Until khaki cloth could be supplied, most of the men recruited by the WNEC were clothed in the grey Welsh cloth known as Brethyn Llwyd, but there is no evidence that the later-recruited 12th SWB ever wore these uniforms. However, even when khaki was available, all the bantam units had trouble obtaining uniforms and boots in smaller sizes. Each battalion raised by the WNEC received a hundred Lee–Metford rifles of Boer War vintage for training.Taylor, pp. 59–62, 66.

Training The WNEC had failed in its attempt to raise two complete divisions; 38th (Welsh) Division was completed, but the Welsh Bantam Bde was instead assigned to 40th Division, which also included English and Scottish units. In September 1915 the brigade moved to Aldershot and became 119th Brigade of the division. The brigade moved into the training area at Blackdown Camp in December. 40th Division had been intended to be a second Bantam division (after 35th Division), but again the supply of recruits was insufficient and the other two brigades were hybrids, with just two Bantam battalions each. Worse, many of the men enlisted by these battalions were not simply undersized but actually unfit for service. 120th and 121st Brigades had to be completely reorganised with normal battalions, holding up the division's training for several months. Once this reorganisation was completed in late February 1916 the training was intensified. In the spring there was a rumour that it would be deployed to Ireland to help suppress the Easter Rising, but this did not happen. Instead in mid-May it was warned to prepare to move to the Western Front. Men who were unfit or required for munitions work were transferred out and replaced by men from the Local Reserve battalions (13th and 14th SWB). Mobilisation was completed between 27 and 31 May and the battalion entrained at Frimley for embarkation at Southampton Docks on 1 June. 12th SWB landed at Le Havre in France next day, under the command of Lt-Col Pope. By 9 June the division had completed its concentration in the Lillers area near Béthune.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 101–8.40th Division at Long, Long Trail.Atkinson, p. 230.Taylor, pp. 38–41, 66–70, 78.Whitton, pp. 1, 7–26.

14th (Reserve) Battalion When 12th SWB left Prees Heath in September 1915 it left behind its depot company to continue training recruits. This was expanded into a Local Reserve battalion as 14th (Reserve) Battalion, SWB and in October it moved to Conway. In November Lt-Col Herbert Porter (Indian Army, retired) was posted from 11th SWB to command 14th (R) Bn. About January 1916 the battalion moved to Kinmel Camp where it joined 14th Reserve Brigade as part of the Rhyl Training Centre. Here it was swelled by transfers from 21st (R) Bn, RWF, in 14th Reserve Bde, and from 19th RWF in 119th Bde at Blackdown. These allowed 14th SWB to form B Company at the end of January. Recruits flowed in steadily, mostly from South Wales but with substantial numbers from London, Lancashire and Cheshire. C Company was formed on 1 April and D Company later that month. When 12th SWB was mobilised for the Western Front, 14th (R) Bn supplied a large draft to bring it up to war establishment, receiving in turn the home service details of 12th SWB and 19th RWF. Some of the men received were classified as labour recruits and were transferred to Class W of the Army Reserve and sent off to work in the munitions factories of Coventry or the coal mines of South Wales. On 8 July Lt-Col Porter was succeeded in command by Brevet Colonel William Beresford-Ash, a retired officer of the RWF. On 1 September 1916 the local reserve battalions were transferred to the Training Reserve (TR) and 14th (R) Bn SWB became 65th Training Reserve Battalion. 14th (R) Bn had just sent a large draft of 250 reinforcements to the Wester Front, and a further 600 were transferred to 3rd (R) Bn, leaving few men to form the new TR battalion under Col Beresford-Ash (the training staff retained their SWB cap badges).Atkinson, pp. 177, 231–3.Frederick, p. 298.Training Reserve at Long, Long Trail.London Gazette, 12 May 1908.London Gazette, 18 September 1916.

On 4 July 1917 65th TR Bn was redesignated 234th (Infantry) Battalion, TR, and on 27 July it moved to Herringfleet and joined 205th (2nd Welsh Border) Brigade in 68th (2nd Welsh) Division in the east coast defences. Then on 1 November it was transferred to become 52nd (Graduated) Battalion, Welsh Regiment, still in 205th Bde. It moved to Lowestoft for the winter, then by May 1918 it was at Saxmundham, then went to Henham Park, east of Halesworth, where it remained until the Armistice with Germany. Postwar it was converted into a service battalion on 8 February 1919 and the following month was sent to join 2nd Brigade of Western Division serving in the occupation forces with British Army of the Rhine. The brigade was broken up in July 1919 and the battalion was disbanded on 31 March 1920.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 83–90.James, p. 83.Rinaldi.Welsh Regiment at Long, Long Trail.68th Division at Long, Long Trail.

Service

12th SWB spent its first week after joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) engaged in training, for example in the use of anti-gas helmets. On 12 June it was sent to the front to be attached by companies to battalions of 3rd Bde in 1st Division: A and B to 1st SWB, C and D to 2nd WR. After this introduction to trench warfare, 40th Division took over the Calonne sector from 1st Division on 3 July. Although both armies were concentrating on the Somme Offensive further south, units in the Calonne sector still saw casualties mount up during the summer. Enemy snipers and trench mortars were active, and 12th SWB carried out its first trench raids. One of these, on 12 August, was led by former Welsh rugby international Captain Charlie Pritchard. Although the raid was successful in obtaining 40th Division's first prisoner for identification, Pritchard was mortally wounded. In September the division moved to the Loos sector, where it was stationed facing the famous Double Crassier spoil-heap. Here the lines were relatively close together and the German wire was unusually deep, making raids difficult. An attempted raid by 12th SWB was disrupted when the Germans fired a small defensive mine when the raiders entered the front trench.Atkinson, pp. 230–1, 292–3.Taylor, pp. 78–93.Whitton, pp. 26–30, 35–40.Pritchard at CWGC Records.