10th Welsh Regiment 1914

[Moonraker]

I've come across several references to a Welsh battalion having to be disbanded or "marched away" from Codford, and one reference suggests it was recruited from South Wales miners. This would indicate the 10th Welsh Regiment (1st Rhondda), recruitment to which commenced in the Rhondda Valley on September 5, 1914. Later that month, it went to Codford as part of the 76th Brigade, 25th Division, but on the 30th moved to join other units raised in Wales. During September there were few amenities at Codford but the weather was good, and a couple of week seems hardly long enough for patriotic fervour to turn into serious discontent; however the 10th's departure may have led to speculation at a time when rumour and gossip were rife. In September concern was expressed about new Welsh battalions being trained alongside English units (even the speaking of Welsh being banned), with David Lloyd George on the 19th suggesting a separate Welsh division; the 10th's move could have resulted from such lobbying, though Kitchener did not agree to the formation of a Welsh division until the end of October. F T Mullins, in his recollections held at the IWM, notes that when he reported to Exeter Barracks just after the outbreak of the war he was put in a room full of Welsh miners who had been working locally. His unit, the 10th Devonshires, moved to Codford in mid-September. After "two months of appalling weather" (actually it was less than this), B Coy, nearly all Welshmen, rioted but quietened down after a dressing down from the colonel. This incident probably contributed to the story of a battalion having to be marched away.

Any comments from someone who has researched the Welsh Regiment?

[Bernard_Lewis]

My research only touched on the 10th and I did not come across any reference to this sort of problem. Could be correct maybe the Regimental history mentions it? (I don't have a copy).

Bernard

[Moonraker]

My research only touched on the 10th and I did not come across any reference to this sort of problem. Could be correct maybe the Regimental history mentions it? (I don't have a copy).

Bernard

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I did write to a regimental historian or museum some years ago and got a very concise reply to the effect that nothing was known. At least I got a reply - as I've obsderved elsewhere in this forum many regimental museums aren't resourced to deal with enquiries.

[Moonraker]

Just after I posted my initial query I got Charles Messenger's "Call to Arms", which looks as good as other Forum members find it to be.

Pages 100 to 103 cover the formation of a Welsh Army Corps and briefly mentions the 10th Welsh originally being a K3 battalion which the War Office handed over to the new Corps.

It's interesting (if minutely so) that the scheme for a Welsh Army Corps was launched in Cardiff on September 29, with the committee having its first meeting four days later. By then the 10th had already moved from Codford to join other Welsh units. Perhaps this was a political gesture to Lloyd George (or perhaps my date for the move is wrong and it was the end of October, not September?)