The Cardiganshire Home Guard

When most people think of the Home Guard they probably think of something along the lines of the Dad’s Army television show.  While at times there may have been some events reminiscent of the show, being in the Home Guard was a very admirable position. Emrys R D Prosser had once said before a speech to the Cardiganshire Home Guard that, “I should like to say in the first place how happy I am to be of any service to you. You are doing a grand job of work and when the history of this war comes to be written, I am confident the part played by the Home Guard will figure prominently in it.”[1] This shows how important that the work of the Home Guard was seen, even though they may not have come face to face with the enemy they still fulfilled a very important purpose.

Writing about the Home Guard has a special significance for me because my Great Grandfather, Ernest Dewi Evans, had fought in the Cardiganshire Home Guard. The majority of people who joined the Home Guard were those who were either too young or too old to join the army. However, another possible reason was their occupation. For example, the reason my Great Grandfather Ernest Dewi Evans was not conscripted for the war was due to his occupation as a mechanic. The Government released a list of jobs which were considered too important for the workers to leave so they had to stay behind. [2]

Ernest Dewi Evans

The Cardiganshire Home Guard was established soon after Anthony Eden’s speech on May 14th 1940. He broadcast an appeal for volunteers for what was then called The Local Defence Volunteers, which would later be called the Home Guard. Almost immediately men registered at the various police stations across the county. The Lord lieutenant of Cardiganshire, who was also the Earl of Lisburne, had stated that he would take command of this force and then Colonel B. Taylor Lloyd, who was a pharmacist based on Great Darkgate Street (where the Clarks shoe shop is now) had taken his position as second in command. The Lord Lieutenant was not able to keep his position, as he was recalled to join the Welsh Guards leaving B Taylor Lloyd to take command. Lieutenant Colonel J. Albert Evans then took the position of second in command. While initially there was concern there would not be enough volunteers, by September, only four months later, over 3,000 men had enrolled.

Lloyd had wanted the county to be split into three different platoons, however Higher Authority only sanctioned him with two. The 1st Cards., headquartered in Aberystwyth, and the 2nd Cards., headquartered in Cardigan. The 1st Cards. was under the command of Lieut. Col. D.C. Lewis and the 2nd Cards. under the command of Lieut. Col. T. Evans. This would remain the case until February 1942 when Col. Taylor Lloyd, after many requests, had finally been given the permission to form a 3rd Cards.  Battalion, which would be headquartered at Lampeter. Taylor Lloyd’s second in command, Lieut. Col. J. Albert. Evans, then assumed command over this Battalion which then left a certain Lieut. Col. Ernest Evans to take his place as second in command behind B. Taylor Lloyd.

As I mentioned earlier, the Cardiganshire Home Guard had their fair share of Dad’s Army-like incidents, the most dramatic of which is one that took place during one of the Home Guard’s demonstrations. In this particular demonstration, they were taught how to properly use a flame thrower. I’m sure you can guess what happened next!  Major S.J.F. Philpott, who wrote a history of the 1st Cards. Battalion and was present at the demonstration, described it thus, “. . the Flame Thrower wriggled out of the grasp of the demonstrator and poured molten pitch over the onlooking party, causing some hospital cases.” More violent than that, however, Philpott also describes other incidents which would not look out of place in a TV show. For example, when the Home Guard was first formed and the men were not yet fully trained, some basic exercises proved too difficult, while “Small exercises showed, without shadow of a doubt, that our men were so untrained that even getting them across the town from one defence position to another was a manoeuvre taxing our full capacity.” And -  perhaps when they were training how to properly camouflage,  “It was a revelation to most men to watch the progress of others as they crawled, apparently hidden, through thick bracken but revealed every inch of the way by the moving fronds.”

However, these all took place early on and by the end of their service, the members of the Home Guard had much improved. In the early days, it would have been quite obvious as to where they were because of the large clusters of soldiersl in one area. However, by the end "one had great difficulty in finding the unit even when it was known that they were in position" said Phillpot.  Perhaps the reason for such improvement came from the dedication that the men of the Cardiganshire Home Guard had to improving themselves. The men would often take part in drills, exercises, weekend camps, competitions and proficiency tests. In fact, proficiency tests had proved so popular in the Cardiganshire Home Guard that they set up an examination station in Aberystwyth. By the end, they had granted in total nearly 500 certificates and they still had more candidates in preparation out of a total of about 1200 officers and men. This shows how dedicated these men were to protecting their country and their homes from danger. The below is an example of a type of certificate that could be awarded, one that my Great Grandfather had earned in a Voluntary Aid course just before the UK had officially declared war.

 

 

During the first year of the Home Guard’s use of weekend camps, these were held in different locations. For example, their first ever camp was held in the Ardwyn Playing field (where the incident with the flame thrower occurred.) The students of the Ardwyn School (which has now been turned into flats on Llanbadarn Road), were asked to do an important task by the Home Guard. The schoolboys, “armed with rattles, had to sound them every time they saw an attacker” and, according to Philpott, “By the sound of it, the defence was most excellent.” The Ardwyn School was also the location where Army Reserve teacher Milwyn Jenkins and his pupils had held a demonstration for unarmed combat and ju-jitsu. Members of the Home Guard were present at the demonstration and some of them had even taken the time to memorize some of these ju-jitsu moves to help them.

Ardwyn School logbook. Photo courtesy of Archifdy Ceredigion Archives

In the second year of their weekend camps, they had moved them to Devil’s Bridge. Cooks would have been provided by each company taking a turn each. For those that would stay the night, they would sleep in tents and would have extra night exercises. However, in Cardiganshire they had trouble with these weekend camps due to some men not being able to come on Saturday evenings. Therefore many simply came Sunday morning and left Sunday evening without spending the night.

A schedule from the weekend training camp from Devil’s Bridge shows that for those present on Saturday, their training would begin at 16.00, when they would report to their officer. Then they would have some tea until 18.00, when training would really begin. There would be six different instructors, each teaching their own exercises, and six Platoons of men. They would each spend 25 minutes on each exercise then swap in a cyclic order ensuring every Platoon learned every exercise. The exercises would include First Aid, Bombing, Sten Gun, Blacker Bombard, Lewis Gun (aircraft) and Musketry.  This would take from 18.30 till 21.00, when they would then have supper followed by a lecture, then lights out at 23.00. They would have an early morning waking up at 07.00, have breakfast, then begin training drills and have section training.

Sundays also provided the Battalions with a forty-five minute section period when the men were allowed to ask questions and have discussions on any topics that they wanted after training had finished.  Another area they would train in was the Frongoch mine, marching there from the hotel by Devil’s Bridge.  They would plant targets in the mine to try and simulate enemy defence, using live ammunition to practice their platoon attacks. Frongoch mine also had a shooting range and the Home Guard would also practice in the surrounding area and learn how to set up elaborate tank traps.

One of the main purposes of these camps was to ensure that the men of the Home Guard were as active as possible. This was also done through competitions and the Cardiganshire Home Guard held numerous competitions where the prizes were in the form of cups. Towards the end of the war, the Home Guard even presented money prizes for the winners of these competitions. They would hold the competitions in different areas across the county, namely Devil’s Bridge, Rhiw-shon-saer, TynyGraig and Llancynfelin. They also held bombing competitions which, according to Philpott, helped them develop their respect for the weapons after experiencing some close calls.

The most important and popular of the competitions was the fighting patrol, a competition for Aberystwyth held in Morfa Bychan. This competition managed to keep the soldiers on their toes as sometimes the bullets would  be fired a little too close to the  opposing team "to the great consternation of the defending platoon." Sometimes competitions were held between towns throughout Wales as well, for example the Cambrian News stated: "Home Guard News. A fighting patrol representing 1st Battalion of Aberystwyth Home Guard competed in a Fighting Patrol Competition at Carmarthen recently, and were successful in gaining third place out of six competitors in the area competition. The local patrol was represented by No. 4 Platoon of B. Company."

The Cardiganshire Home Guard did not spend much of the war on any form of active duty. However, the 1st Cards. Battalion based in Aberystwyth did see action one night. Philpott describes it as their “only night of what might be called active service”. This service came on night in late September in 1940 during the Battle of Britain. The South Wales Borderers (S.W.B.) were in Aberystwyth and had just completed the construction of a breastworks ( a temporary fortification, usually made from the earth to around breast height.) They were also constructing more defences inland but before these were completed the night alarm was set off and the S.W.B. ordered the men of the Home Guard to man the front. In the pitch black, men rushed to the boardroom, many of them half asleep, armed themselves and rushed out with their squads without much delay. Some of the older men took the few bayonets that were remaining, still in their grease, and some even constructed a string belt to hold them. This was the first time the Home Guard had defended these breastworks, staying out all night until the sun rose in the morning, with some of the lucky posts receiving buckets of tea.  After the sun rose the Colonel of the S.W.B. went and thanked every man for their service during in the night, and sent them off to get cleaned up and rest before their work the next day.

 

Photo Courtesy of LLGC/NLW

As the Cardiganshire Home Guard’s work was supposed to be carried out in secret, there were only two occasions when the public were permitted to see them. The first occasion was the “Salute the Soldier '' week where demonstrations were held in the Aberystwyth area. As part of these demonstrations, a “Defence from Aberystwyth” from sea invasion event was held. In this demonstration, the public was allowed to watch the Home Guard shoot at targets that they had floated off the castle point. They used a variety of different weapons including a rifle, an L.M.G., a Browning, a Smith gun and Blacker Bombard detachments with live ammunition. Philpott described it thus: "The massed fire which was directed so accurately upon these targets created a most impressive spectacle for thousands of onlookers on the Castle Grounds.” The second and final time the public had permission to watch the Home Guard was the Stand-Down Parade where over 800 men took part. This ended with a finale in the Kings Hall and was a very important event in the town which, said Phillpot, “will be remembered for many a long day for its never ending column of stalwart Home Guardsmen.”

The actual purpose of the Cardiganshire Home Guard itself changed towards the end of the war.  According to Philpott the purpose became to “protect Aberystwyth at all costs, due to it being the largest town and the assumption was if the enemy would attack they would want to seize the key area of communication.” Aberystwyth was considered the most important area in the county and all companies who would be protecting the outskirts of the area would have to work their way back to Aberystwyth. There were four companies.  Company A had the responsibility of defending the east of the town; Company B was the local company and therefore it was responsible for holding a “keep” in the centre of the town and was the last wall of defence; Company C was positioned at Southgate and was responsible for holding the enemy there and blocking all attempts at approaching Aberystwyth from the South; and finally Company D was responsible for holding the hills to the north of the town. There was concern that some of the more outlying troops would not be able to make it back to the town in time however most of the Battalions were sufficiently mobile enough for this to not have been a significant issue.

Map showing how each of the Cardiganshire Companies were set up

Blog by Ieuan James

Footnotes:

[1] Handwritten transcripts of speeches by E R D Prosser, Emrys R D Prosser Collection, Accession 1322 and 1447, Ref: PRO/C/1, Archifdy Ceredigion Archives, 1943

^[2] Schedule of Reserved Occupations (Provisional), Presented by the Minister of Labour to Parliament by Command of His Majesty January, 1939 LONDON

Sources:

 WWII miscellaneous collection ADX/404 Archify Ceredigion Archives

Home Guard Commemorative Books, Archifdy Ceredigion Archives  

Author's family memorabilia