The Volunteer Training Corps in Aberystwyth

Following the deployment of the BEF to Belgium in August 1914 and the first reports of British casualties sustained during the Battle of the Frontiers it had become increasingly apparent of the need for more forces on the continent to halt the German offensive. Territorial battalions such as the 4th Cheshire’s (billeted in Aberystwyth) who were previously assigned to home defence were now called on for service on the continent. As many more men joined up for active service concerns were raised about home defence and in November 1914 the already established Central Committee was renamed the Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps and called on men passed military age to form battalions tasked for home defence. Many battalions were raised nationwide and in Wales there seems to have been calls for the establishment of such battalions however as The Cambrian News suggests in an article on 14th April 1916 “Wales, regarded generally, has not taken to the movement with enthusiasm."

The Volunteer Training Corps (VTC) struggled for official recognition from the war office for the duration of the war as the threat of invasion died away and the funding of such units deemed unnecessary. Yet by June 1915 there were estimated to be 2,000 separate Corps and roughly 590,000 volunteers. Yet Aberystwyth seems to have been slow to catch up with the rest of the country perhaps due to the unlikeliness of an invasion or enemy raid on the coast of Cardiganshire during this time. The first mention of a VTC battalion in Aberystwyth appear to have taken place at a Borough council meeting on 4th May 1915 when a letter was read out which requested the promoting of legislation which would enable local council’s to adequately fund any VTC units. It was then agreed on the 24th May that a letter be sent to the Prime Minister which was acknowledged 3rd July 1915. 

In The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard on the 7th January 1916 an advertisement called for all men over the age of 41 or men of military age with a “genuine” reason for not joining the regular army to register and muster for drill at the drill hall in town on Wednesday 3-4 and 8-9 and Saturday 3-4 and 8-9. The Commandant for this Aberystwyth Corps was to be Richard T Greer. There were calls for a Volunteer Training Corps in neighbouring towns such as Lampeter and Aberdovey with Aberdovey’s Training Corps appearing to be quite active with shooting competitions advertised in the newspapers. 

Recruitment for the Training Corps appears to be largely unsuccessful and at a meeting which was called to address the lack of members within the Corps just thirty members of the Corps were in attendance which was woefully short of the 600 needed to be officially recognized by the Central Association. At this meeting it was proposed that in order to form a battalion of roughly 600 men Aberystwyth should provide around 120 men, Lampeter provide 50, Cardigan provide 60 and Aberaeron 30. The rest of the battalion would be raised from the rest of the county. This proposal appears to have been unsuccessful however as a desperate appeal for volunteers for the VTC would appear in The Cambrian News on 23rd February 1917. 

Aberystwyth Town Drill Hall. Now Tesco’s supermarket
(c.) John Lucas https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3923916

There appears to have been some very strong opinions on the formation of a Volunteer Training Corps in Cardiganshire with differences of opinion strongly expressed at meetings or through articles in the paper. A strong supporter for the VTC was Thomas H. Edwards who attended most meetings regarding the VTC in Aberystwyth. With two sons, Second Lieutenant Harold T. Edwards (later wounded in Italy in 1917) and Arthur Ewart Edwards a merchant seaman aboard the SS Erington Court he was met with cheers when suggesting that if Britain’s position was similar to that of Belgium the town ought to be prepared to defend itself. 

Not all members of the community were as keen on the idea of an expanded VTC and an anonymous letter sent to the Cambrian News on 6th April makes a mockery out of invasion fears suggesting “invasion is so improbable that it may almost be relegated to the realms of the impossible” and that all the Germans could hope for was to “pay a flying visit in a fast steaming destroyer”. The letter also criticizes a method of VTC recruitment at the time which was the granting of exemption from service overseas for men who in return must attend drill at their local VTC unit. The letter suggests that men involved in food production and farming who work 70-80-hour weeks should not be made to march up and down for 2 hours in the evening and ends the letter on “leave drilling to the army. It will be done quickly and efficiently there.”

It has been difficult to find any information regarding the VTC unit in Aberystwyth however a brief article in The Cambrian News on 10th May 1918 states that the volunteer battalions of Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire would be merged into one regiment which would indicate that a Cardiganshire volunteer battalion had been raised though its numbers would be questionable. 

Blog by Tom Morgan, Project Assistant
Sources: 
Cambrian News
http://anextractofreflection.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-genuine-relics-of-volunteer.html