Fallen Officers of the Great War   |   Glamorgan Yeomanry

 

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Roll of Honour of Officers of the Glamorgan Yeomanry

Who Died in the Great War

CGlamorgan Yeomanry Capbadge
copyright and source:  quartermaster.nl

Formation and Early History of the Glamorgan Yeomany
The Glamorgan Yeomanry was founded in 1797 in a Home Defence role in response to the growing threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars, but was disbanded in 1831 when the threat subsided.   The 1st Glamorgan Light Horse Volunteers was formed at Cardiff on 15th February 1861, but was disbanded in 1873.   The Regiment was re-raised in 1900 due to the string of defeats during the Second Boer War in December 1899.   The British Government had realized that there was a requirement for more troops to reinforce the Regular Army in South Africa.  A Royal Warrant was issued on 24th December 1899, to allow volunteer forces to serve in South Africa, requesting Yeomanry Regiments to provide each up to 115 men in Company strength units, to be attached to the Imperial Yeomanry (IY), equipped and deployed as Mounted infantry. The 4th (Glamorgan) Company was formed for deployment to the 1st Battalion, IY, in 1900. The mounted infantry experiment was considered a success and the existing Yeomanry Regiments and Companies were converted to IY in 1901, the 4th (Glamorgan) Company becoming the Glamorganshire Imperial Yeomanry in August 1901.   The title 'Imperial' was dropped in 1908 when the Yeomanry were transferred to the Territorial Force (TF) and the Regiment was retitled as the Glamorgan Yeomanry.

The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, which brought the Territorial Force (TF) into being, established the TF as a Home Defence force for service during wartime, and members could not be compelled to serve outside the UK.   However, on the outbreak of war on 4th August 1914, many members volunteered for overseas Imperial Service.  Therefore, in August and September of 1914, TF units were split into the 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and the 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units.  Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line units.

During the Great War the Glamorgan Yeomanry was organised into three separate units as described below.

Regimental Details of the Glamorgan Yeomanry

(As Published in the Army List of August 1918)

Those Officers of the Glamorgan Yeomanry

Who Died in the Great War

No

Date Died

Surname

Forenames

Rank

Decs

Age

Cause

Country

Location

Cemetery/Memorial

Notes

Died in 1916

1

11th May

AYLETT-BRANFILL

Capel Lisle

Capt

-

29

DOI

Egypt

Military Hospital at Cairo

Cairo War Memorial Cemetery (F.55)

(1)

Died in 1917

2

1st November

EDWARDS

William Armine

Lt

-

25

DOW

Palestine

CCS near Beersheba

Beersheba War Cemetery

(2)

3

19th November

ABRAHAM

Geoffrey William Pepperrell

Capt

-

22

DOW

Egypt

Hospital at Port Said

Port Said Memorial Cemetery (F.42)

(3)

4

12th December

MIERS

Richard Henry Probyn

Capt

MiD

38

KWF

UK

Wyton Aerodrome, Cambs

Wyton (St Margaret & All Saints Churchyard)

(4)

5

27th December

MORRIS

James

Lt

-

25

KIA

Palestine

Near Jerusalem

Jerusalem War Cemetery (E.29)

(5)

Died in 1918

6

12th January

BREWER

Edmund

2Lt

-

32

DOW

France

CCS at Achiet-le-Grand

Achiet-le-Grand Community Cemetery Extn ((II.C.8)

(6)

7

9th April

BASKERVILLE

Ralph Hopton

Capt

-

35

KIA

France

East of Laventie

Ploegsteert Memorial (Panel 1)

(7)

8

7th June

PRICHARD

Richard Gerald Mauncell

Major

MiD

42

DOW

Palestine

Hospital at Jerusalem

Jerusalem War Cemetery (P.58)

(8)

9

7th September

WAKEFORD

Charles Herbert Stanley

Lt

-

28

KIA

France

Longavesnes, near Roisel

Tincourt New British Cemetery (VIII.E.20)

(9)

10

29th September

THOMAS

Arthur Tudor

Capt

-

34

DOW

France

DS at Pont D'Achelles, Nieppe

Pont D'Achelles Military Cemetery (III.D.1)

(10)

11

25th December

WAKEFORD

Francis Reginald Steele

Lt

-

25

DOI

UK

Cardiff Royal Infirmary

Penarth (St Augustine) Churchyard,  NW part

(11)

Notes:

1.   AYLETT-BRANFILL died of pneumonia.

2.   EDWARDS was attached to 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion Welsh Regiment and was wounded at Beersheba on     .

3.   ABRAHAM was attached to 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion Welsh Regiment and was wounded at Sheria Forts, Hebron on 6th November 1917.

4.   MIERS was seconded to 31st Training Squadron Royal Flying Corps and was killed when his aircraft crashed near Wyton Aerodrome.

5.   MORRIS was attached to 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion Welsh Regiment.

6.   BREWER was attached to 12th Battalion South Wales Borderers and was wounded at Bullecourt on 12th January 1918.

7.   BASKERVILLE was attached to 18th Battalion Welsh Regiment (2nd Glamorgan).

8.   PRICHARD was attached to 38th King George's Own Central India Horse.

9.   WAKEFORD was attached to 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion Welsh Regiment and was buried in a battlefield grave at Longavesnes.  He was reburied at Tincourt New British Cemetery in April 1920.

10. THOMAS was attached to 24th (Denbighshire Yeomanry) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

11. WAKEFORD was attached to No 1 School of Aeronautics and died after a long illness at Bedford House Hospital, Cardiff Royal Infirmary.

 

Regimental History and Battle Honours of the Great War

A detailed history of the Glamorgan Yeomanry can be viewed here and here.

 

During the Great War the Glamorgan Yeomanry was organised into three separate units as described below:

 

1/1st Glamorgan Yeomanry.   Initially deployed in the UK for its mobilisation role of Home Defence duties at Hereford and then at Thetford.   Became a dismounted unit (infantry) in November 1915.   Deployed to Egypt in March 1916 and fought in Egypt and Palestine in the dismounted role.   All personnel of this unit were posted to the 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion Welsh Regiment when it was formed in February 1917, part of 231st Brigade, 75th (Yeomanry) Division, and fought in Palestine until re-deployed to France in May 1918.

 

2/1st Glamorgan Yeomanry.   Formed in September 1914 as a UK Home Defence, depot and training unit providing reinforcements for the 1/1st.   In November 1916, with 2/1st Pembroke Yeomanry, it became 2nd (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Cyclist Battalion in the 1st Cyclist Brigade.   Resumed Regimental identity in March 1917 and continued to serve with 1st Cyclist Brigade in the UK until end of war when it was disbanded.

 

3/1st Glamorgan Yeomanry.   Formed in April 1915 as a depot, reserve and Third Line training unit providing reinforcements for the 1st and 2nd Line units.   In February 1917 the unit was disbanded.

Battle Honours.   The sheer scale of the Great War led to a previously unheard of number of Honours being awarded and it was simply impractical to emblazon every one of them on the Regimental Colour.   In September 1922 it was ordered that  Regiments should select up to 10 Honours to be emblazoned on their Regimental Colours along with previous awards, up to a total of  24.   This led to a storm of protest, since many Regiments would have had to remove previous Honours.    The order was therefore amended the following December, to allow each Regiment to select up to 10 Honours to be emblazoned on its King's/Queen's Colour, Honours from other conflicts continuing to be displayed on the Regimental Colour.   Honours in bold are emblazoned on the Regimental Colours.

The Regiment earned the following Battle Honours during the Great War:

Somme 1918,       Bapaume 1918,       Hindenburg Line,       Epehy.          Pursuit to Mons.          France and Flanders 1918,       Egypt 1916–17,       Gaza,       Jerusalem,       Jericho,       Tell 'Asur,       Palestine 1917–18

 

The Debt Of Honour Register

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) was established by Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC), and pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two World Wars.   It is a non-profit-making organisation founded by Sir Fabian Ware.

The CWGC's principles are:

  • Each of the dead should be commemorated by name on the headstone or memorial.
  • Headstones and memorials should be permanent.
  • Headstones should be uniform.
  • There should be no distinction made of account of military or civil rank, race or creed.

Since its inception, the Commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots, erecting headstones over graves and, in instances where the remains are missing, inscribing the names of the dead on permanent memorials.   Over one million casualties are now commemorated at military and civil sites in some 150 countries.

Together with the tasks of structural and horticultural maintenance, the CWGC is charged with keeping records of the 1.75 million Commonwealth war dead.   At each cemetery and memorial you will find a register showing the service details and, in some cases, family details, of the men and women buried or commemorated there.   Much of the Commission’s day-to-day work is concerned with maintaining the integrity of the casualty database, the electronic version of the records, which can be accessed via the Debt of Honour Register (DoHR).

It should be noted that in December 2020, the Commission reviewed their policy on amendments to the Casualty Database.   One of the outcomes of the review was that they would no longer add Honours and Awards to the database where there is no entitlement to post-nominal letters.   Therefore the recording of "Mentioned in Despatches", for instance, would no longer be carried out.   Included in the list below are names of officers awarded "Mentioned in Despatches" which will not be recorded in the Casualty Database.

Some apparent inaccuracies in the records of Officers of the Glamorgan Yeomanry may have been found in the DoHR.   The Webmaster will investigate and report these errors to the CWGC as the project/website is progressed.

Below is a brief summary of apparent inaccuracies discovered so far and action taken or planned to take.

 

Name

Apparent Inaccuracy

Date Reported to CWGC

Agreed by CWGC

ABRAHAM, Capt Geoffrey William Pepperell

Parent Regiment not recorded.   Welsh Regiment badge inscribed on headstone.

EDWARDS, Lt William Armine

Parent Regiment not recorded.  Welsh Regiment badge inscribed on headstone.

MIERS, Capt Richard Henry Probyn

Parent Regiment not recorded. 

THOMAS, Capt Arthur Tudor

Full title of the Unit and Regiment he was attached to at time of death not recorded (24th Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion Welsh Regiment.

WAKEFORD, Lt Charles Herbert Stanley

Parent Regiment not recorded.  Welsh Regiment badge inscribed on headstone.

WAKEFORD, Francis Reginald Steele

Parent Regiment not recorded. 

 

 

Page last updated: 11th January 2025

 

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