Drill Hall, Home Guard & Bevan Boys

The Drill Hall, sited between the Llanhilleth Miners Institute and the river, was opened in 1912.   It later became Park Side Works and was,  after much deliberation, demolished in 2007 to provide adequate emergency access to the new school attached to the ‘Stute.

River Ebbw flooding at the Drill Hall

The Local Volunteer Territorial Force 1908

According to  David Nicholas, 2005

            “In 1908 the Local Volunteer Territorial Force committed to train as soldiers on a part-time basis.  These men had no obligation to serve overseas, their principal role in time of war was home defence.   However, their duties increased and they were expected to undertake a musketry course, 20 drills and an annual training camp of 15 days.   At this time the 3rd Volunteer Battalion South Wales Borderers were renamed the 2^nd Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment.”

Originally, the Drill Hall was home to ‘F’ Company  of 2nd Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment Territorial Force.    Also known as the 24^th of Foot, earlier members fought in the Battle for Rorkes Drift in South Africa in the nineteenth century.   The drill hall later became the base for the Home Guard.

(Private William Partridge, G Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot was a resident of Six Bells and fought at Rorkes Drift in the Zulu War in 1879.)

WWI

At the outbreak of WW1 when the British Government declared war on Germany, in August 1914, Prime Minister Asquith appointed Lord Herbert Kitchener as Secretary of State for War.     He devised a striking recruitment poster which showed him looking out with his finger pointing straight at the reader, proclaiming “Britons, Join your Country’s Army.   God save the King.”    He was hoping for 100,000 volunteers to join the British Army.   Many men from Llanhilleth signed up to join Kitchener’s Army and fought in the First World War.   Their aim was to stop the German invasion of France.   Some were never to return.  During August 1914 the well-trained British Army swelled uncontrollably with 100,000 enthusiastic volunteer would-be soldiers.   Not all had uniforms and few had military skill, but these raw recruits were all eager to get to France to fight.    Those who had experience of even Boys Brigade, or Boy Scouts were promoted to corporals .

            “Orders to mobilize the 2^nd Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment were received on          5^th August 1914, and the following day the Battalion boarded trains for Pembroke Dock.”

            “The 2^nd Mons were one of only a small number of Territorials to be granted the 1914 Star.  Mobilised for active service,  4 August 1914, they remained in Germany with the Army of Occupation until May 1919.   In November 1914 the Battalion entered the trenches near Ypres in Belgium.   Large numbers of the soldiers had served underground and soon the Battalion became well known for its trench building.   They received the first Distinguished             Conduct Medal granted to a Territorial Unit.    In 1914 the Battalion incorporated men from Abercarn, Blaenavon, Crumlin, Cwmbran, Llanhilleth, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool, with its headquarters at Pontypool.   The age and experience of individuals varied considerably from the boy soldier right through to the veteran of the Boer War.”   (Nicholas, 2005).

Supporting soldiers

Women in villages such as Llanhilleth had been trained to knit and sew from an early age.   “The devil makes mischief for idle hands.”    Young girls were encouraged to start by crocheting dolls’ hats.   Four tacks hammered into the top of a large cotton reel was used for “French knitting.”   These women  formed groups, knitting socks and mufflers for the troupes on the front line.

Jokes were prevalent at the time reflecting not only the war, but the chores carried out by children:

“Hooray, Father’s in the army, no more boots to clean.”

And later, and far more poignant:   “Hooray, Father’s had his leg off, only one shoe to clean.”

Reserved Occupation

Miners were in a reserved occupation, exempt from going to war as their work was essential to the “war effort.”    Many still enlisted and were sent home, or replaced down the pit by others from outside the area.   The war was only to last “’til Christmas,” but resulted in nine million men being killed.    One of those men is William Godfrey who’s story I am proud to relate later in this blog.

After WW1

After WW1, the TA battalion only had 4 companies - Llanhilleth was C Company with Crumlin (opened in 1910) and Cwmcarn (or Abercarn) (building donated in 1903) providing platoons.   C Company was part of 53rd Welsh Division which fought through N W Europe 1944-45,   Members of C Company gained 3 x MCs, 1 x DCM and 1 x MM*.     Names of some of these brave soldiers can be seen on the Memorial in the grounds of Llanhilleth Institute.   If you are aware of a name that should be there, please get in touch with the Institute staff.

*DCM - Distinguished conduct medal
  MM - Military Medal
  MC – Military Cross

The photograph below shows Llanhilleth Territorial Army 2^nd Mons on fire service at Devizes in 1963.

Ten of these men worked at Llanhilleth Colliery and nine of them lived within 200 metres of Llanhilleth Institute.
Back row (L-R):  Mike Edwards, - Mullins, Terry Minchin, Ron Withers, Roy Rogers, Harry Williams, Melvin Minchin.
Front row (L-R):  Mike Prosser, Lyn Watkins, Fire Officer J Morton, Bunny James, Derek O’Connell, Mike Churchill.

“Don’t give in.   Don’t lose your head.   Don’t panic.”

At the start of WWII, the miners of Llanhilleth and other areas were classed as being in a “preferred occupation.”   This meant they would not be conscripted to join the army.   Many Llanhilleth miners, however, did enlist and went to war, leaving a shortage of men to dig coal to keep the country functioning.  Some were sent back to the mines, but young men labelled “Bevan Boys” were conscripted to work down the mines to support the existing workforce.    

On 14 May 1940 the government requested men including working miners, to help the war effort by enlisting in the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) or Home Guard to protect the homeland in the event of an invasion by the enemy.    Within 24 hours they received 250,000 volunteers countrywide.   Llanhilleth had its own Home Guard based in the Drill Hall.   At the outset uniforms and weapons were in very short supply and in some cases non-existent.   The older boys of Brynhyryd School made wooden guns during woodwork classes for the men to use during practice.   They could regularly be seen on exercises around the local area using make-shift weapons including broomsticks.

In May 1940 the War Minister, Anthony Eden launched the new home force which would be called the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV).   In July, when they received their uniforms the name was changed to Home Guard.  Men from 17 to 65 were eligible.  Josie Webber was in the Home Guard during WWII alongside his brother and his father, Sergeant Major Alfred Webber.   Both Josie and his father held the nickname ‘Sniper’ Webber for obvious reasons.   They practiced regularly ‘up the Dingle’ a wooded area near the village.  

Later they would practice with both sten guns, bren guns and would even practice their bomb throwing ability.   This was carried out on the mountains above Brynmawr.   Each soldier was allowed 5 rounds of ammunition from a locked room in the Drill Hall next to the ‘Stute. 

On occasion they would mount the porch of the ‘Stute and stand, machine gun in hand, guarding the railway bridge against potential invaders.   In another exercise bombs  were planted at the bottom of Swffrwdd Hill, but were never used.

The Llanhilleth Home Guard worked alongside the Abertillery and Ebbw Vale divisions taking turns in guarding the Crumlin Viaduct and the munitions factory at Glascoed, nicknamed “The Dump.”   They also took turns to guard prisoners of war at a place unknown.

One man recalled, times were not always peaceful in the Home Guard.     On entering the canteen after duty one day, at “The Dump,” his team found the other Divisions had finished duty earlier and ate all the food.   All was not peaceful that day.

There were Air Raids during the early years of the Second World War, but the only bombs fell on the farm at the top of the Zig Zag Hill above Aberbeeg and on Pant Side Farm between Crumlin and Newbridge which was later to become a Council Housing Estate created by Abercarn District Council.

H W Bailey was a pupil at Brynhyfryd School in the Summer of 1940 and during air raids those children who lived near enough had to run home while those, like himself, who lived further away, were allocated to nearby houses to seek shelter.   

Just after the War, dances were held at the Drill Hall which had Territorial Army Management.
            

In 1944, the County Youth Service organised Monmouthshire Youth Sports for all the districts. The first  was won by the combined Llanhilleth/Aberbeeg Team.    H W (Bill)Bailey won the 880 yards for the under 17s.    Some of the best runners came from Brynithel  Boys Club which met in the Catholic Church. 
    

In 1941 women aged between 18 and 45 with no domestic responsibility, were conscripted into industry and the services.   This released thousands of men for the front line.

Fridays nights young people would gather at the Drill Hall for dances.   During one Youth Week there was no piano for the Friday night dance in the Drill Hall.    Two lads took a day off school and borrowed a trolley from Llanhilleth Station.   Permission was sought and freely given by the Priest, so they carried the piano from the Catholic Hall down to the Drill Hall ready for use that evening.

Harry Williams recalls the Llanhilleth Division taking part in the Cambrian March.   A four-day, 20 mile endurance race across rough terrain carrying full pack, ammunition and rifle.   Teams would all start at the same point and race to their goal in Towyn.  

He recalls his rifle would keep falling from his shoulder due to the size and weight of his pack.   No-one in the team was allowed to drop out.   To qualify the whole team had to finish.   En route they came across a pond, Harry was so hot and thirsty, without hesitation, he dived in face first, complete with his full pack.   His mates thought he was so desperate he was trying to drown himself.   

Another lad had problems with his feet and couldn’t walk they were so blistered.   Other team mates dressed his feet, padded them, then bandaged them and made wooden crutches for him to continue.   He completed the march with his team mates.

TA at rest

Bevan Boys

The Government needed 40,000 men to replace miners who had gone to War, in order to keep the mines productive.  They decided to hold a ballot amongst the WWll conscripts.    Ten numbers were placed in a hat and drawn out.   The National Service Registration Numbers ending in two of those numbers were directed to the mining industry.   These men came from all over the country and were called the Bevan Boys after Aneurin Bevan.   Young boys from mining families went to War and were replaced by these strangers who knew very little about mining.  

In 1944 the first Bevan Boys were drafted to a one month’s training course at Oakdale Colliery, before being billeted around the South Wales coalfield.   Oakdale was built as a model village by the Tredegar Iron & Coal Co. at the turn of the twentieth century.   The houses had small front gardens and bathrooms with hot water from back boilers behind the coal fire – unheard of in most valley towns at that time.   The seam at Oakdale pit was 9 feet thick, much easier to access than the thinner seams in many other pits.    The comparatively luxurious housing  and pit facilities made Oakdale a less daunting introduction to coal mining than many other pits.   Hence, perhaps the choice of this village to house the men for their initial month’s training, prior to them moving on to other areas.

They were provided with overalls, helmets and boots, which caused upset with the colliers as they had to supply their own clothes and tools.    But the Bevin Boys also had a grievance:  they had to purchase their tools, whereas, soldiers didn’t have to purchase their rifles.   Having done its job and provided sufficient trainees, the training centre closed in May 1945.

These young men found pit work manually hard and would take regular sick days to recover.   Some received abuse from the regular miners as they were resented and mostly  inexperienced.   This added to their stress.   They were also exposed to diseases such as Well’s Disease from rat droppings.

Despite the Bevan Boys, aiding the war effort in the way the Government required, they were treated differently to soldiers when war ended.   They had no right to go back to their previous employment;  they received no rail fare home;  no further education at the expense of the State;  they were not immediately awarded a service medal, and were not allocated a demob suit.

All official records of the Bevan Boys were destroyed in 1950, so there is no official proof of their involvement, unless they kept their own personal documents from that time.  (Glo Magazine)

It was not until 1995, 50 years after VE Day the UK Government allowed them to officially take part in the Remembrance Day Parade at Whitehall in London.