In November 1914, Aberystwyth Town Council was informed that the town had been selected as a training centre for the reserve units of the Welsh Division, Territorial Force. The news was greeted with “great satisfaction”, particularly by lodging and boarding house keepers, as business had been poor over the summer and the payment for billeting troops was a means to recoup their losses.
A handbill was distributed to householders giving details of what they would be expected to provide if they were going to billet a soldier:
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Reproduced with the kind permission of the
National Library of Wales
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The plan was to billet 10,000 troops in Aberystwyth, though this number was dependent on the success of recruitment campaigns. After an initial visit to Aberystwyth by Lieutenant-Colonel Jones-Roberts, Commander of the Welsh Division, meetings were held with town dignitaries and the Chief Constable of Police was given the responsibility of finding billets. Many people were very willing to provide accommodation for soldiers but unsurprisingly some were reluctant.
The Welsh Division sent to Aberystwyth consisted of three infantry brigades, each with three battalions:
• The Cheshire Brigade which had battalions from Macclesfield, Birkenhead and Chester
• The North Wales Brigade (The Royal Welsh Fusiliers) which had battalions form Carnarvon, Flint and Newtown
• The Welsh Border Brigade which comprised the 1st and 3rd battalions from Monmouthshire and one from Herefordshire.
In addition there were some units of the Royal Engineers, the Royal Army Service Corps and the Royal Army Medical Corps.
The first contingent to arrive in Aberystwyth were the Cheshires, consisting of about 500 men who arrived by train. They wore smart khaki uniforms but “only half a dozen carried rifles”. They were billeted in the South Road area. The other brigades followed soon after and were lodged in the Marine Terrace and Queens Road areas. The photograph below shows householder, Mrs Rowe, with members of ‘E’ Company, 7th Cheshires, in front of a house in Market Street.
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| Reproduced with kind permission of William Troughton, NLW |
The troops quickly settled into a daily routine of drills, usually on the Promenade or along the main streets, and route marches, for example to Lampeter and back. Some lectures and classes were provided by the University College in subjects such as economics, military history and French. Weapon training was slow to start because of lack of equipment. By the end of their time in Aberystwyth in 1915, some battalions had started to learn about digging trenches, building bombproof shelters and also signalling, sending messages from the Castle Grounds to Constitution Hill.
After only one week the newspapers reported that the town was adapting well even though troops were outnumbering local people. Plans were quickly made by a variety of organisations including the Town Council and local churches to provide entertainment and recreation for the soldiers. The Rink which was in Portland Street and run by the YMCA was a popular venue for concerts and rooms were provided there for the troops for various social gatherings and also for letter writing. In March 1915, the treasurer of the YMCA stated in a letter that as many as two thousand letters were being written by soldiers each day, with all the writing materials provided free of charge.
On Christmas Day 1914 a special concert was arranged for the troops followed by an eisteddfod on Boxing Day. On the whole the townspeople were impressed by the behaviour of the soldiers and enjoyed having them around. They were impressed by the Monmouthshires’ full band, the bugler band of the Cheshires and the goat belonging to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers which was sometimes paraded through the town.
In February 1915 the military authorities declared that they would be reducing the allowance paid to householders for each soldier from 3/- a day to 2/6, a move greeted with dismay by townspeople particularly as food prices were constantly rising. Unfortunately, there was a stark choice to be made as, if the town were to refuse to accept the lower rates, the troops would be moved elsewhere.
However, around the same time in early 1915, there were strong indications that the troops were soon to be moved anyway. The 1st and 3rd Monmouthshire battalions and the 5th Cheshire battalion left for Cambridge on 25th February 1915. Touchingly the 3rd battalion sang the hymn “Jesu, Lover of My soul” (Tune: Aberystwyth) at the station before leaving.
By April 1915, the last troops had left Aberystwyth to continue the next stage of their training elsewhere. The longest billeted troops had been in the town for just five months. A large crowd turned out to cheer them off at the station and many were disappointed to see them leave.
Later the Mayor received letters of thanks from Lieutenant Colonel Anthony saying how his men had thoroughly enjoyed their stay in the town and benefited in both health and discipline. A letter from Lieutenant Colonel Abercrombie of the 5th Cheshire echoed the same sentiments and added that the troops had left Aberystwyth with feelings of considerable regret.
Blog by one of our project volunteers
Source: Cambrian News
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