Pembroke Royal Garrison Artillery


The Pembroke Royal Garrison Artillery was a part-time unit of the British Army that defended the coast of West Wales during both world wars. Although it never saw action in its coastal defence role, it manned a number of siege batteries of heavy howitzers for service on the Western Front and Italian Front in World War I.

Territorial Force

In 1910, the Glamorgan and Pembroke Royal Garrison Artillery, which had been reorganised in the new Territorial Force two years earlier, was broken up into separate Glamorganshire and Pembrokeshire units. The resulting Pembroke Royal Garrison Artillery had the following organisation:
It was designated as a Defended Ports unit in Western Coast Defences, which was based at Pembroke Dock and included the Regulars of Nos 44 and 57 Companies, Royal Garrison Artillery.

World War I

Mobilisation

The Pembroke RGA mobilised in August 1914 in Western Coast Defences under the command of Major T.W. Price of No 1 Company. On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and on 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate brigades, companies and batteries were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.
By October 1914, the campaign on the Western Front was bogging down into Trench warfare and there was an urgent need for batteries of Siege artillery to be sent to France. The WO decided that the TF coastal gunners were well enough trained to take over many of the duties in the coastal defences, releasing Regular RGA gunners for service in the field, and 1st line RGA companies that had volunteered for overseas service had been authorised to increase their strength by 50 per cent.
Although complete defended ports units never went overseas, they did supply trained gunners to RGA units serving overseas. They also provided cadres to form complete new units for front line service, thus the siege batteries formed in late 1915–early 1916 were a mixture of Regular and TF gunners from the RGA coast establishments with new recruits. Three of the siege batteries formed at Pembroke Dock in 1915–16 had cadres provided by the Pembroke RGA, two others by the Glamorgan RGA, while a number of others may have included trained men from the Pembroke and/or Glamorgan RGAs among the regulars and recruits, although the War Office or Army Council Instructions did not specifically order this.
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68th Siege Battery, RGA

68th Siege Battery was formed under War Office Instruction 144 of October 1915 from one company of the Pembroke RGA with equal numbers of men from the Regular RGA. The battery left the UK on 31 March 1916 and landed at Le Havre on 1 April to join the British Expeditionary Force. It took over four obsolescent 6-inch 30 cwt howitzers from 28th Siege Bty and joined VI Corps' Heavy Artillery.

Gommecourt

In June the battery moved to join VII Corps, which was preparing for the Attack on the Gommecourt Salient in the forthcoming 'Big Push'. Its main role was to bombard German trenches and strongpoints facing 56th Division's attack frontage. However, the bombardment was unsatisfactory because of ammunition shortage and the bad weather that hindered observation.
On Z Day, the entire artillery supporting the 56th Division fired a 65-minute bombardment of the German front, then lifted onto their pre-arranged targets in the German support and reserve lines as the infantry got out of their forward trenches and advanced towards Gommecourt. However, the German guns laid a Barrage across No man's land preventing supplies and reinforcements from reaching the leading infantry waves who had entered the German trenches. Also, 68th Siege Bty was ordered to change targets to support the 46th Division's failing attack on the other side of the salient. By mid-afternoon the 56th Division's slight gains were being eroded and had to be abandoned after dark.
VII Corps' costly attack was only a diversion from the main BEF attack further south, and was not renewed after the first day. 68th Siege Bty was transferred to Fourth Army, which continued the offensive throughout the summer and autumn. On 13 September the battery was rearmed with four modern Vickers-built 6-inch 26 cwt howitzers.

1917–18

It was the policy to switch heavy batteries around as the situation demanded. In late 1916 and early 1917 68th Siege Bty made frequent switches, all in relatively quiet sectors. On 6 August 1917 the battery was joined by a section from the newly-arrived 402nd Siege Bty, and was made up to a strength of six howitzers. The battery then moved to Second Army, in time for the final days of the Battle of Passchendaele. Second Army HQ was sent to the Italian Front shortly afterwards, and the battery moved to join Third Army. Third Army was partially involved in defending against the German Spring Offensive in 1918, then the battery transferred to Fourth Army, which played a leading role on the Allied Hundred Days Offensive from 8 August. By early October Fourth Army had reached the River Selle. 68th Siege Bty was assigned to the massive fireplan for the Battle of the Selle on 17 October, when the 50th and 66th Divisions made an assault crossing of the river, with German counter-attacks broken by the guns. The BEF then closed up for the final set-piece engagement, the Battle of the Sambre. 68th Siege Bty was with Fifth Army by the time of the Armistice with Germany. It was disbanded in 1919.

114th Siege Battery, RGA

114th Siege Battery was formed at Pembroke Dock under Army Council Instruction 535 of 8 March 1916, which laid down that it was to follow the establishment for 'New Army' units, with a cadre of three officers and 78 men from the Pembroke RGA. It went out to the Western Front on 14 June 1916 equipped with four modern 6-inch 26 cwt Howitzers and joined 32nd HAG with Reserve Army.
The battery moved to 31st HAG with Third Army on 8 July and then to 28th HAG with First Army on 31 July. 28th HAG joined Fourth Army on 10 September for the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. By now massive quantities of artillery were employed for each phase of the continuing offensive as Fourth Army attacked again and again through the autumn. The battery was withdrawn from the line for rest, training etc from 27 December to 20 January 1917.

Vimy

The battery moved to 44th HAG with First Army on 22 March 1917. The group supported the Canadian Corps at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on 9 April. The artillery plan for the heavy guns emphasised counter-battery fire. At Zero hour, while the field guns laid down a Creeping barrage to protect the advancing infantry, the heavy howitzers fired further ahead to hit the rear areas on the reverse slope of the ridge, especially known gun positions. The attack went in on 9 April with the Canadian Corps successfully capturing Vimy Ridge. Fighting in the southern sector continued into May.
After a number of transfers 114th Siege Bty joined 88th HAG with II Corps of Fifth Army in the Ypres Salient, during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge) that launched the Third Ypres Offensive. Just before the battle, on 28 July, a section from the newly-arrived 376th Siege Bty joined, bringing 114th Siege Bty up to a strength of six howitzers.
Gun batteries were packed into the Ypres Salient – II Corps had 36 RGA batteries in the Dickebusch area – where they were under observation and counter-battery fire from the Germans on the higher ground. Casualties among guns and gunners were high, and II Corps had failed to make much progress. The offensive continued through the summer and autumn of 1917: the Battles of the Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde were highly successful because of the weight of artillery brought to bear on German positions. But as the offensive continued with the Poelcappelle and First and Second Battles of Passchendaele, the tables were turned: British batteries were clearly observable from the Passchendaele Ridge and were subjected to counter-battery fire, while their own guns sank into the mud and became difficult to aim and fire. There was no respite for the gunners: although 88th HAG moved out of the Salient in October, 114th Siege Bty stayed with Fifth Army, transferring to 68th HAG on 1 October. After 68th HAG was converted into a permanent RGA brigade on 1 February 1918, 114th Siege Bty remained with it until the Armistice.

Spring Offensive

Fifth Army was attacked on 21 March 1918, the first day of the German Spring Offensive. Artillery Observation Posts were blinded by early morning mist and many were overrun along with the infantry in the forward zone. The German bombardment was savage. The batteries of 68th Bde were with XIX Corps, which was particularly hard hit, but 68th Bde was still intact at the end of the first day, unlike some heavy units in other parts of the front, either caught in the fighting or forced to abandon their guns as the Germans advanced rapidly. Next day the Germans continued their advance, and 68th Bde stood at Roise trying to stem the tide before pulling out after dark. On 23 March XIX Corps was forced back to the Somme, and over following days the RGA struggled to get their guns back during the 'Great Retreat'.
Fourth Army HQ took over all of Fifth Army's formations and units on 2 April. The last attack in the first phase of the German offensive came in on 4 April. The divisions holding the front were again pushed back, but they were backed by a mass of field and heavy artillery, including the batteries of 68th Bde, and the attack was stopped dead by the guns. Further attacks came on other parts of the front for several months, but none broke through completely.

Hundred Days

The Allied Hundred Days Offensive opened at 04.20 on 8 August at the Battle of Amiens. By now 68th Bde was supporting the Australian Corps on whose front the barrage fired by field and heavy artillery was so thick and accurate that scarcely a German shell fell after 05.40, and all the Australian objectives were secured.
The Allied advance continued through the autumn up to the River Selle. Preparations to cross it began on 11 October, with 68th Bde allocated to the II US Corps, which was operating under Fourth Army's command and had no artillery of its own. The weather was misty, which hindered air and ground observation for counter-battery fire, but when the assault went in on the morning of 17 October the Selle itself was not much of an obstacle on II US Corps' front, and the objectives were taken.
For the final part of the Battle of the Selle on 23 October, II US Corps was relieved by the British IX Corps, which took over most of the Australian and RGA artillery. This massive corps artillery reserve supported the attack into the wooded slopeds beyond the Selle. Again, bad weather hindered air observation and CB work before the attack, but the barrage was deadly accurate. As the regimental historian relates, "The guns of Fourth Army demonstrated, on 23rd October, the crushing effect of well co-ordinated massed artillery. They simply swept away the opposition". After a pause to regroup and reconnoitre, IX Corps stormed across the Sambre–Oise Canal on 4 November. After that the campaign became a pursuit of a beaten enemy, in which the slow-moving siege guns could play no part. 114th Siege Battery was disbanded in 1919 after the Armistice.

171st Siege Battery, RGA

The 171st Siege Bty was formed at Pembroke Dock on 13 June 1916 under Army Council Instruction 1239 of 21 June with another cadre of three officers and 78 men from the Pembroke RGA. It went out to the Western Front on 16 September 1916 equipped with four 6-inch 26 cwt howitzers and joined Second Army, switching to Fifth Army shortly afterwards.
Fifth Army was engaged in the final weeks of the Battle of the Somme, then in a number of small actions in early 1917 as the German Army retired to the Hindenburg Line. During the Arras Offensive of April–May 1917 Fifth Army fought in attack and defence around Bullecourt and Lagnicourt.
171st Siege Bty was joined by a section from 368th Siege Bty on 29 June 1917, and brought up to the strength to man six 6-inch howitzers, but it seems that the additional guns never joined. The heavy guns of Fifth Army were engaged in a long artillery duel with the Germans throughout July in preparation for the Third Ypres Offensive, but the battery was transferred to Third Army after the first day of the battle. Third Army was not engaged in any major actions during this period.
In October the battery transferred back to Second Army, which had taken over direction of the faltering Third Ypres Offensive and fought a series of successful battles employing massive weight of artillery. But the offensive continued towards Passchendaeleit bogged down in the mud.

Italy

Following the disastrous Battle of Caporetto on the Italian Front, Second Army HQ and several of its sub-formations were sent to reinforce the Italian Army; 171st Siege Bty was selected as part of these reinforcements, and went to support the First Italian Army. In April 1918 the British artillery was concentrated for a planned offensive, but finding level sites for the howitzers was difficult in the wooded mountainous terrain. The Allied offensive was postponed when it became clear that the Austrians were planning their own: the howitzers were ready when the Austrian assault began on 15 June. The heavy howitzers systematically destroyed the Austrian guns on the Asiago Plateau and the offensive failed all along the front.
The heavy guns were then moved to join the British-commanded Tenth Italian Army for the final battle on the Italian Front, the stunning success of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The assault crossed the River Piave on 27 October, with the heavy guns engaging all known Austrian gun positions. A bridge was ready by 29 October and the heavy guns crossed the river. By 1 November the Austrian army had collapsed and the pursuing British troops had left their heavy guns far in the rear. Austrian signed the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November, ending the war in Italy. 171st Siege Battery was disbanded in 1919.
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Later war

Under Army Council Instruction 686 of April 1917, the coastal defence companies of the RGA were reorganised. The Pembroke RGA serving in the Milford Haven garrison was reduced from the three 2nd Line companies to just one, albeit with a slightly larger establishment of five officers and 100 men, and was to be kept up to strength with Regular recruits. Early in 1918, Nos 44 and 57 Companies were absorbed into No 25 Coastal Fire Command, responsible for the defence of Milford Haven. In April 1918 the Milford Haven Garrison comprised the following batteries:
After the TF was demobilised in 1919 the Pembroke RGA was placed in suspended animation. It was reformed in 1920, and when the TF was reconstituted as the Territorial Army in 1921, the unit was designated as the Pembrokeshire Coast Brigade, RGA. In 1924 the RGA was subsumed into the RA, and the coast brigades were redesignated as heavy brigades. The Pembroke Heavy Bde was in 53rd Divisional Area with the following organisation:
Finally in 1938 the RA redesignated its brigades as regiments, the unit becoming the Pembrokeshire Heavy Regiment, RA.
A 1927 report on coastal defences by the Committee of Imperial Defence had made recommendations for the defence of 15 'Class A' home ports, including Milford Haven, but little was done to modernise them before the outbreak of World War II, and the Milford Haven scheme was still unfinished.

World War II

Mobilisation

The regiment mobilised in Western Command on the outbreak of war in September 1939.
When the Battle of France turned against the Allies in May 1940, the Admiralty made a number of 6-inch guns available to the army for coastal defence, and when the whole of the UK was put on invasion alert after the Dunkirk evacuation a massive programme of coastal defences was initiated. Although this mainly involved the likely invasion areas of South and South-East England, an emergency battery of two BL 6-inch Mk XII naval guns was authorised on 12 June for Soldiers Rock Battery at Milford Haven. By November 1940 Milford Haven was protected by two 9.2-inch and six 6-inch guns.
The coastal artillery regiments had been reorganised in September 1940, with the Pembroke regiment becoming 532nd Coast Regiment.

Mid-War

By June 1941 the regiment had been reorganised and expanded:
By the end of 1942 the threat from German attack had diminished and there was demand for trained gunners for the fighting fronts. A process of reducing the manpower in the coast defences began in 1943, but there were few organisational changes for 532nd Coast Rgt:
The manpower requirements for the forthcoming Allied invasion of Normandy led to further reductions in coast defences in April 1944. By this stage of the war many of the coast battery positions were manned by Home Guard detachments or in the hands of care and maintenance parties. The regiment lost its ancillary units: 14, 32 and 62 Coast Observer Detachments were disbanded in April, 106 was renumbered 33 the following month and left to join 530th Coast Rgt on the Isle of Wight in July, while No 7 Plotting Room at Milford Haven reverted to Western Command.

620th (Pembroke) Infantry Regiment, RA

By the end of 1944, serious naval attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted and the War Office began reorganising surplus coastal units into infantry battalions for duties in the rear areas. Meanwhile 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry. In January 1945, the War Office accelerated the conversion of surplus artillery into infantry units, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service. In early 1945, 532nd Coast Rgt reorganised to the infantry role as 620th Infantry Regiment, RA, though it does not appear to have served overseas. 357 and 367 Coast Btys remained as independent batteries under Western Command until the end of the war.
The regiment was placed in suspended animation in 1946

Postwar

When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the Pembroke coast artillery was reformed as two regiments:
Both regiments formed part of 104 Coast Brigade, but the following year 424 Coast Rgt reorganised as 424 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Rgt. It was disbanded in 1950, with some personnel transferring to 302 Field Rgt and some to 109 Transport Column, Royal Army Service Corps.
In 1953, 425th Coast Rgt amalgamated with 664 Coast Rgt to form 408 Coast Rgt, which changed its title to 408 Coast Rgt the following year. The new unit was based at the Defensible Barracks, Pembroke Dock, with 425 Rgt providing P and Q Btys.
In 1956 the regiment was broken up again and the Pembroke batteries were amalgamated with 302 Field Rgt, while the Glamorgan Btys amalgamated with 281st Field Rgt
The Pembroke Yeomanry reverted to their 'cavalry' role in 1961 as a unit of the Royal Armoured Corps, ending the artillery lineage.

Honorary Colonels

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit: