| Pembrokeshire Militia Royal Pembroke Rifles Royal Pembroke Artillery | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1661–16 March 1909 |
| Country |  England (1661–1707) Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1909) |
| Branch |  Militia |
| Role | Infantry Garrison Artillery |
| Size | Regiment |
| Garrison/HQ | Haverfordwest Fort Hubberstone,Milford Haven (from 1885) |
ThePembrokeshire Militia, later theRoyal Pembroke Rifles, was an auxiliary[a] regiment reorganised from earlier precursor units in theWelsh county ofPembrokeshire during the 18th Century. Primarily intended for home defence, it served in Britain and Ireland through all Britain's major wars. It was converted into garrison artillery in 1853 and continued until it was disbanded in 1909.
The universal obligation to military service in theShire levy was long established in England and was extended to Wales.[1][2][3][4][5]King Henry VIII called a 'Great Muster' in 1539, which showed the following available in the newly reorganised county of Pembrokeshire:[6]
The legal basis of the militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3) and the maintenance of horses and armour (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2). The county militia was now under theLord Lieutenant, assisted by theDeputy Lieutenants andJustices of the Peace (JPs). The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organisedMilitia of England and Wales.[7][8][9][10][11] Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so after 1572 the practice was to select a proportion of men for theTrained Bands, who were mustered for regular training.[4][11][12][13] During theArmada crisis of 1588 Pembrokeshire furnished 800 trained foot and 30 'petronel's (the petronel was an early cavalry firearm).[14]
In the 16th Century little distinction was made between the militia and the troops levied by the counties for overseas expeditions. However, the counties usually conscripted the unemployed and criminals rather than send the trained bandsmen. Between 1585 and 1602 Pembrokeshire supplied 610 men for service inIreland and 30 for theNetherlands. The levies were commanded by professional captains rather than local men: in 1601 a captain who had raised 100 troops in Gloucestershire was ordered to take the 50 from Pembrokeshire under his command as well. The men were given 'conduct money' to get to the embarkation ports. This was recovered from the government, but replacing the weapons issued to the levies from the militia armouries was a heavy cost on the counties.[15]
With the passing of the threat of invasion, the trained bands declined in the early 17th Century. Later,King Charles I attempted to reform them into a national force or 'Perfect Militia' answering to the king rather than local control.[16][17] The Pembrokeshire Trained Bands of 1638 consisted of 557 men, 276 armed with muskets and 281 'Corslets' (body armour, signifyingpikemen). They also mustered 57 horse. Part of this force may have been organised as the North Pembroke Trained Band.[18] Pembrokeshire was ordered to send 300 men overland toNewcastle upon Tyne for theSecond Bishops' War of 1640. However, substitution was rife and many of those sent on this unpopular service would have been untrained replacements.[19]
Control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between Charles I andParliament that led to theEnglish Civil War. When open war broke out between the King and Parliament, neither side made much use of the trained bands beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops. Most of Wales was under Royalist control for much of the war, and was a recruiting ground for the King's armies. However, Pembrokeshire was divided, with the coastal towns ofPembroke andTenby leaning towards Parliament. These were vital for the Royal army to land supplies and reinforcements from Ireland. On 18 September 1643 during his campaign to take these two towns, theEarl of Carbery as the King'sLieutenant-General forCarmarthenshire,Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire, summoned the Pembrokeshire TBs to Haverfordwest, where they declared for the King and were presumably absorbed into his army. However, Pembroke and Tenby were later recovered byRowland Laugharne for Parliament.[5][18][20][21]
Once Parliament had established full control in 1648 it passed new Militia Acts that replaced lords lieutenant with county commissioners appointed by Parliament or theCouncil of State. At the same time the term 'Trained Band' began to disappear in most counties. Under theCommonwealth andProtectorate the militia received pay when called out, and operated alongside theNew Model Army to control the country.[22] By 1651 the militias of the South Welsh counties appear to have been combined, with the 'South Wales Militia' being ordered to rendezvous atGloucester to hold the city during theWorcester campaign.[18][23]
After theRestoration of the Monarchy, the Militia was re-established byThe King's Sole Right over the Militia Act 1661 under the control of the king's lords lieutenant, the men to be selected by ballot. This was popularly seen as the 'Constitutional Force' to counterbalance a 'Standing Army' tainted by association with the New Model Army that had supportedCromwell's military dictatorship.[5][24][25][26]
The Pembroke Militia was called out in 1667 during theSecond Dutch War when there was an invasion panic following theRaid on the Medway and theBattle of Landguard Fort. On 11 July the appearance of a fleet of 38 sail approachingMilford Haven caused great alarm. The deputy lieutenants called out the militia to line the waterside, and Sir Erasmus Phillipps' troop and the 'County Troop' of horsemen, with many volunteers, made ready. However, when the fleet moored in the haven it was seen to consist of cattle boats bound for Ireland.[27]
The militia forces in the Welsh counties were small, and were grouped together under the direction of the Lord President of theCouncil of Wales.[28] As Lord President, theDuke of Beaufort carried out a tour of inspection of the Welsh militia in 1684. On 11 August, when he inspected the Pembrokeshire Militia near Haverfordwest, it consisted of a regiment of foot ('all of firelocks',ie musketeers with no pikemen) and oneTroop of horse. The 1697 militia returns showed the foot as 456 strong underColonelSir Thomas Stepney, 5th Baronet,High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire, organised in seven companies (one commanded by the Mayor of Pembroke), and the troop of 36 horse underCaptainArthur Owen,MP for Pembrokeshire.[29][30][31]
Generally the militia declined in the long peace after theTreaty of Utrecht in 1713.[32]Jacobites were numerous amongst the Welsh Militia, but they did not show their hands during the Risings of1715 and1745, and bloodshed was avoided.[33]
Under threat of French invasion during theSeven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 re-established county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the lord lieutenant. Anadjutant anddrill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from theRegular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits.[34][35][36][37]
Pembrokeshire was given a quota of 160 men to raise. Some of the Welsh counties were slow to complete their regiments: the problem was less with the other ranks raised by ballot than the shortage of men qualified to be officers, even after the requirements were lowered for Welsh counties. On 29 July 1758Sir William Owen, 4th Baronet, ofOrielton, theLord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire, advertised for suitably qualified men to come forward, and must have obtained a sufficient number: he appointed his eldest son,Hugh Owen (later 5th Baronet) as colonel. The militia ballot was then enforced and the Pembrokeshire regiment received its arms on 7 September 1759. It was embodied for permanent service at Haverfordwest, Pembroke Town andNarberth on 15 December that year.[29][38][31][39][40]
After a short period of training and organised into four small companies the regiment marched off in January 1760 to take up garrison duties atBristol. In February it was posted toMonmouthshire, where it alternated betweenMonmouth andChepstow until the end of May. It was then posted toCarmarthen, arriving on 6 June, and remained there before returning to Pembrokeshire in October. The following spring it served inCardiganshire, with companies in various towns includingCardigan andAberystwyth. It went back to Pembrokeshire in August 1761, with various detachments until it concentrated at Haverfordwest in November 1762. The war was coming to an end, and the warrant to disembody the regiment was executed on 4 December 1762. The disembodied regiment was kept up to strength by means of the ballot over subsequent years, but it was rarely assembled for training.[39]
TheAmerican War of Independence broke out in 1775, and by 1778 Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. The militia were embodied, and the Pembrokeshires were called out on 26 March, assembling at Haverfordwest shortly afterwards under the command ofMajor Wyriot Owen. His second-in-command was Capt John Colby, brother-in-law of the former colonel, nowSir Hugh Owen, 5th Baronet of Orielton and Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire.[41][42]
On 1 May 1778 the regiment was ordered to Bristol, and from there it was marched toCoxheath Camp nearMaidstone inKent. This was the army's largest training camp, where the Militia were exercised as part of a division alongside Regular troops while providing a reserve in case of French invasion of South East England. The understrength militia units from small counties (Montgomery,Radnor and Pembroke) were attached to guard the artillery park of the division. On 4 November the camp broke up and the Pembrokeshires marched into Maidstone for winter quarters, sending parties back to Haverfordwest to collect recruits. The regiment spent the summer of 1779 inEssex, where it joined other militia regiments atWarley Camp. By November detachments werebilleted in villages north and east of London, but the regiment then marched off to winter quarters in Haverfordwest, arriving on 18 December.[41][43]
Colby took command of the regiment in January 1780 with the rank oflieutenant-colonel. In addition to its balloted companies, the regiment now had two companies enlisted from volunteers, one of which was designated the Light Company. The regiment moved to Pembroke in January, and then in May marched toTiptree Camp in Essex. TheGordon Riots broke out in London in June, and the Pembroke Militia was called out in aid of the civil power, with short deployments toBrentwood andRomford, without any clashes occurring. In the winter the regiment was quartered across Essex with detachments includingHarwich andWivenhoe. In February 1781 the Harwich detachment relieved theRadnorshire Militia atLandguard Fort and the Wivenhoe detachment moved intoIpswich. The following winter the regiment was again distributed across Essex towns and villages.[44]
In spring 1782 the Pembrokeshires returned to Coxheath Camp, where it became part of a brigade including theBrecknockshire andMerionethshire Militia regiments andSir John Leicester's Dragoons, all commanded by Lt-Col Colby. The Pembrokeshires remained in Kent for the winter, with two companies atDover, one atFolkestone and the remainder atHythe andSandgate. Much of the duty involved guardingprisoners-of-war. Apeace treaty had been agreed and the war was now coming to an end, so warrants to disembody the militia were issued on 28 February 1783. The Pembrokeshires marched back to Haverfordwest where they were disembodied in mid- March.[29][44]
From 1784 to 1792 the militia ballot was used to keep up militia numbers and the regiments were assembled for their 28 days' annual peacetime training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually mustered each year.[44][45] The Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire,Richard Philipps, 1st Lord Milford, becameColonel of the Regiment on 10 June 1786, but John Colby remained lieutenant-colonel.[42]
The militia was already being called out whenRevolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793. The Pembrokeshire Militia under Lt-Col Colby had already been embodied at Haverfordwest on 2 January and later that month it marched viaWorcester to Romford in Essex, where it was stationed until June.[38][46][47]
TheFrench Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in theBritish Isles), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners-of-war, and for internal security, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by theVolunteers and mountedYeomanry.[36][48]
From July to October 1793 the Pembrokeshire Militia was at Warley Camp, then returned to Romford and Hare Street for the winter, during which it received a draft of newly balloted men from Pembrokeshire. Between February and June 1794 it was quartered across various Essex villages before concentrating at Warley. In November it transferred toYarmouth inNorfolk, where all ranks were billeted in public houses and inns until May 1795. That month it moved into a tented camp outside the town. In October and November it went to various village before settling atHolt for the winter. In April 1796 the regiment joined the garrison at Landguard Fort where it provided 'additional gunners'.[46][49]
.jpg)
In a fresh attempt to have as many men as possible under arms for home defence in order to release regulars, in 1796 the Government created the Supplementary Militia, a compulsory levy of men to be trained in their spare time, and to be incorporated in the Regular Militia in emergency. Pembrokeshire's new militia quota was fixed at 331 men.[46][40][50][51][52] Lieutenant-Col Colby went back to Pembrokeshire to supervise the training of the county's supplementaries and was on the scene on 22 February 1797 when a French force landed atFishguard on the north Pembrokeshire coast. A force of militia, yeomanry and volunteers was quickly gathered at Haverfordwest under the command ofLord Cawdor to oppose this invasion. Colby sent his Pembroke supplementaries to relieve a detachment of theCardiganshire Militia guarding the prisoners at Pembroke Dock, allowing the better-trained Cardigan men to join Cawdor. Colby himself was probably with Cawdor as an adviser during the minor skirmishing that followed (theBattle of Fishguard) and the subsequent negotiations for the French surrender.[46][53]
By July the Pembroke supplementaries had completed their training, and those who did not accept a bounty to join the Regular Army were marched off to join the regiment at Landguard Fort. On 13 September the regiment marched to take over garrison duties at Bristol.[46]
In 1798 arebellion broke out in Ireland and an Act of Parliament (theMilitia (No. 4) Act 1798) was passed to allow English and Welsh militia regiments to serve there. The Pembrokeshires volunteered for six months' service and embarked at Bristol on 6 April 1799. The regiment arrived atCork on 18 April, by which time the rebellion had been crushed. After six months' uneventful service, Colby (who had been promoted to Colonel on 23 April) endeavoured to induce the men to extend their service, but they were unwilling, and the regiment embarked atWaterford on 10 November.[29][42][47][46]
The officers were aggrieved that Col Colby had bypassed them and taken the proposal to extend the Irish service direct to the other ranks. Some of his subordinates attempted to have himcourt-martialled. Colby resigned and Lt-Col William Scourfield became commandant.[42][46]
In May 1800 The regiment went into camp onMaker Heights as part of thePlymouth garrison, under the second-in-command, Maj John Lloyd. In common with other small Welsh militia units, the Pembrokeshires provided men to assist the gunners in the redoubts protecting the naval dockyard. Having supplied numbers of volunteers to the Line Regiments, the Pembrokeshires were now down to 170 men out of an establishment of 370, reduced to 201 in 1802 as the war came to a conclusion. After winter quarters inCarmarthen the regiment was back in Haverfordwest when theTreaty of Amiens was signed on 25 March 1802. The Pembrokeshire Militia was disembodied there early in April.[40][46]
However, the Peace of Amiens was short-lived and the regiment was embodied again on 25 March 1803.[29][54] It was now under Lt-Col Owen Philipps who had become commandant on 2 July 1802. However, he joined the regiment late, and it was marched from Haverfordwest toChelmsford, Essex, under Maj John Mathias in mid-May. It then established regimental headquarters (HQ) atColchester with detachments across Essex, and was brought up to strength by a draft of supplementary militiamen.[42][54]
For several years, the regiment had informally used the title ofRoyal Pembrokeshire Militia: on 23 April 1804 this was made official when, along with 11 other Welsh militia regiments, it was granted the 'Royal' prefix.[29][38][31][39][54][55]
The HQ remained at Colchester until the summer of 1806, when the detachments were called in and the regiment concentrated atMaldon before joining the Harwich garrison. In June 1808 the regiment transferred to the Bristol garrison. The following month the Royal Pembrokeshires (except one man) volunteered to be attached to the43rd (Monmouthshire) Light Infantry for service withSir John Moore in thePeninsular War in Spain. Although the offer was not taken up, the regiment was thanked by both theSecretary at War andKing George III.[38][47][54] It was about this time that the regiment was redesignated theRoyal Pembroke Fuzileers (Fusiliers).[38][31][39][54][b]
In May 1809 the Royal Pembroke Fusiliers marched toHastings inSussex, and then on toBexhill-on-Sea, where it joined the Welsh Militia Brigade, which also included theRoyal Flint andRoyal Merioneth Militia. This brigade was dispersed in January 1810 and the regiment, now greatly understrength after supplying numerous volunteers to the line regiments, went toPlayden Barracks nearRye and then back to Bristol with a detachment at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. The regiment was redesignated theRoyal Pembroke Light Infantry on 30 March 1810; as well as a change in training the drums were replaced by bugles and the sergeants'Spontoons by light flintlock fusils.[38][31][39][47][54]
In January 1811 and again in June the regiment, still at Bristol, volunteered to serve in Ireland, or in the Peninsula if required. It embarked for Ireland on 8 September.[29][47][54] Meanwhile, on 17 July 1811 it had received another new designation: it was now the Royal Pembrokeshire Rifle Corps (or simplyRoyal Pembroke Rifles). This entailed a change of uniform and eventually of weaponry, theBaker rifle and sword bayonet replacing theBrown Bess smoothbore musket and socket bayonet.[29][38][31][39][47][54]
By April 1812 the regiment was stationed atBallinasloe, about 16 miles (26 km) fromAthlone. The country was disturbed, with frequent acts of terrorism and attacks on soldiers. In May it moved toAntrim, with half the regiment detached toCarrickfergus. At the end of its tour of duty, the regiment marched toDundalk about 21 April 1813 and sailed toLiverpool. It then marched back to Pembrokeshire, reaching Haverfordwest on 17 June. It remained there, with a detachment at Milford Haven, for the rest of the war, supplying volunteers to reinforce the regulars.Napoleon abdicated on 6 April 1814, ending the war, and the Royal Pembroke Rifles was disembodied on 24 June. Unlike some other regiments, it was not re-embodied when Napoleon escaped fromElba and initiated the shortWaterloo campaign.[29][54]
After Waterloo there was another long peace. Although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia and ballots were still occasionally held, the regiments were rarely assembled for training (only in 1818, 1821 and 1831) and the permanent staffs of sergeants and drummers (who were occasionally used to maintain public order) were progressively reduced. However, the regimental band remained active, paid for privately by the officers.[47][56][57]
The long-standing nationalMilitia of theUnited Kingdom was revived by theMilitia Act 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the Militia Ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:[58][59][60][61][62][63]
he 1852 Act introduced Artillery Militia units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving theRoyal Artillery (RA) for active service. One of the regiments chosen for conversion to artillery in 1853 was the Royal Pembroke Rifles, which became theRoyal Pembroke Artillery Militia. It was given an establishment of 431 all ranks, organised into four batteries, but for several years the numbers recruited were barely half that many.[29][38][31][39][58][59][62][64][65]
War having broken out with Russia in 1854 and an expeditionary force sent to theCrimea, the militia began to be called out for home defence. TheRoyal Monmouth Light Infantry (RMLI) were embodied in May and stationed atPembroke Dock, where they volunteered for overseas garrison service. The non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and men of the Royal Pembroke Artillery, not yet embodied, made the same offer. The regiment was assembled for its first 28-day training at Haverfordwest on 12 June, but it was not until 30 January 1855 that it was embodied for permanent service, with 200 gunners enrolled, together with a small band of German musicians. The regiment began a period of intensive training in the Milford Haven defences. In August it took over security duties at Pembroke Dock from theRoyal Marines, and in August No 1 Company with detachment of the other companies took up duties with the RA onThorne Island. Work on a fort on this island had begun in 1852, and by 1855 it was armed with nine68-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading guns mounted on traversing carriages, sited to created a crossfire withDale Fort to deny the entrance of the Haven to hostile ships.[29][31][62][66]
Just before Christmas 1855, a severe storm cut Thorne Island off from the mainland and supplies ran out. However, the commanding officer and surgeon of the RMLI at Pembroke Dock chartered a small steamer, and got close enough to throw some supplies onto the landing stage on the island. In April 1856 the other three companies of the Royal Pembroke Artillery moved into Pembroke Dock from Haverfordwest and provided gun detachments to man the gun towers round theRoyal Navy Dockyard and other forts around the Haven. It also provide a number of volunteers who transferred to the RA.[67]
TheTreaty of Paris signed on 30 March 1856 brought the war to an end, and in July the Royal Pembroke Artillery returned to Haverfordwest and was disembodied. The regiment returned to the normal system of annual training in 1857. It volunteered for duty in 1858 during theIndian Mutiny but the offer was not taken up.[29][31][67]
In 1861 theWar Office decided to amalgamate the small Welsh county militia contingents into larger regiments.[68] The decision was made to convert theRoyal Carmarthen Rifles to artillery and amalgamate it with the understrength Royal Pembroke Artillery. In June 1861 theRoyal Carmarthen and Pembroke Artillery Militia came into being. The two contingents retained their HQs and stores at Carmarthen and Haverfordwest, the Pembroke establishment being set at 384 gunners organised into four batteries. Sir Hugh Owen remained joint lt-col-cmdt withSir James Williams-Drummond, 3rd Baronet, of the Carmarthens. There is no record of the Carmarthen and Pembroke contingents training together. The Pembroke militia quota (384 men) was increased to 436 in 1868, and by that date the enrolled strength was 434. In 1871 the Royal Pembroke Artillery regained its independence and title, with 432 effectives out of a new establishment of 526 men.[29][38][39][31][55][67][69][70]
The Militia Reserve introduced in 1867 consisted of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war. From 1871 the militia came under the War Office rather than their county lords lieutenant. Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the regular army.[59][71][72] Following theCardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in theArmy List from December 1875. This assigned places in an order of battle of the 'Garrison Army' to militia artillery units: the Royal Pembroke Artillery's war station was at Pembroke, includingStack Rock Fort,South Hook Fort,Popton Fort,Fort Hubberstone,West Blockhouse Fort, Thorne Island,Scoveston Fort,Mumbles (Swansea) andSt Catherine's Fort (Tenby).[64]
The Royal Artillery and Militia Artillery were reorganised on 14 April 1882, when 11 territorial divisions of garrison artillery were formed, each consisting of a number of brigades.[c] In each division the 1st Brigade was composed of Regular RA batteries, the others being a varying number of militia corps.[58] The Royal Pembroke Artillery joined theWelsh Division, becoming4th Brigade, Welsh Division, RA, with four batteries. (All the militia artillery continued to use their old titles unofficially.) On 1 July 1889 the territorial divisions were reorganised into three large divisions of garrison artillery, the Welsh militia units joining theWestern Division and regaining their county titles (without any 'Royal' prefixes, though these were unofficially retained).[29][38][39][31][58][64][73][74][75]
.jpg)
In April 1885 the Pembroke brigade's HQ moved from Haverfordwest to Fort Hubberstone. This had been built in 1863–5 as an addition to the Milford Haven defences. Sited on a headland it commanded excellent views of the entrance to the Haven. It consisted of a defensible barracks with 28 guns and accommodation for 250 men. The original guns were probably9-inch rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns, but by 1872 eightRML 7-inch guns onMoncrieff Disappearing Carriages had been added. In 1881 the armament consisted of a number of10-inch guns inBarbette mountings.[31][73][76]
By 1885 the enrolled strength of the Pembroke Artillery had fallen to 319, 206 short of establishment: moving the HQ from a town to an isolated coastal fort had a detrimental effect on recruitment, and the unit never again reached full strength. However, the Welsh militia artillery often carried out their annual training at the same time, so the batteries around the Haven could cooperate in live-firing exercises against target vessels, and with the searchlights and defensive mines operated by theRoyal Engineers. In May 1894 the Pembroke, Carmarthen, and Cardigan Artillery carried out combined night firing from Hubberstone, Popton and South Hook forts respectively, and the following year all three units trained together at Popton.[73][77]
The RA was divided into field and garrison branches in 1899, with all the militia and volunteer units becoming part of theRoyal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The RGA's divisional structure was abolished in 1902, when the unit became thePembroke Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia).[29][38][31][39][73]
During theSecond Boer War the Militia Reservists were called out in November 1899 to reinforce the regulars. Then the Pembroke Artillery was embodied from 4 May to 3 October 1900 for home defence. No only did it man Hubberstone Fort, but detachments went toHakin, Milford Haven and Thorne Island.[29][31][64][73]
After the Boer War, the future of the Militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry andVolunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed bySt John Brodrick asSecretary of State for War. Some batteries of militia artillery were to be converted to field artillery. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out.[78][79]
Under the sweepingHaldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by theSpecial Reserve, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for regular units serving overseas in wartime. Although all seven officers and 125 out of 184 other ranks of the Pembroke RGA (M) accepted transfer to the Special ReserveRoyal Field Artillery, as thePembroke Royal Field Reserve Artillery on 5 July 1908, it was disbanded on 16 March 1909.[31][38][39][55][58][73][80][81][82][83]
The following officers commanded the regiment:[39][42][64]
The following served asHonorary Colonel:
When the regiment was inspected in 1684 the colour of the Horse Troop'scornet was unrecorded, but it bore a scroll inscribed 'FOR GOD AND THE KING'.[84] In 1759 the regiment carried twoRegimental Colours in addition to the King's Colour, a most unusual arrangement. Both of these colours were blue, one carrying theCoat of arms of Pembrokeshire, the other those of Haverfordwest. By 1808 the (single) regimental colour wasGarter blue appropriate to a Royal regiment: it bore theUnion Flag in thecanton and in the centre was a Union Wreath of roses, thistles and shamrocks encircling the title 'ROYAL PEMBROKE FUZILIERS' with thePrince of Wales's feathers, coronet and 'ICH DIEN' motto above.The regiment ceased to carry colours when converted to a rifle corps in 1811, and the last pair carried were laid up inSt Mary's Church, Haverfordwest, in 1909.[85]
From about 1759 the regiment wore a red uniform with bluefacings. When converted to a rifle corps it adopted aRifle green uniform with black facings similar to theRifle Brigade. On conversion to artillery in 1852 the regiment adopted the blue uniform with red facings of the RA.[85][47][64]
About 1800 the regiment wore a universalShako plate without regimental distinctions. An officer'sEpaulette of about 1811 carries as a badge the Prince of Wales's feathers, coronet and motto with a scroll beneath inscribed 'ROYAL PEMBROKE'.[55][85] After conversion to artillery, the regiment wore the standard RA helmet plate of the Royal Arms over a gun, the scroll beneath reading 'MILITIA ARTILLERY', changed to 'WELSH DIVISION' in 1882. An embroidered title reading 'WELSH' was worn on both shoulder straps 1882–89. After 1889 the scroll on the helmet plate read 'ROYAL PEMBROKE'. From 1901 the letter 'M' (for Militia) appeared between the gun and the lower scroll. About 1860 the badge on the officers' pouchbelt plate consisted of the Prince of Wales's feathers, coronet and motto inside a crowned garter inscribed 'ROYAL PEMBROKE'. On khaki service dress the brass shoulder title read 'RGA' over 'PEMBROKE' and the cap badge was that of the RA with 'M' between the gun and the scroll. The officers'Field service cap badge was an embroidered 'bomb' over a scroll reading 'ROYAL PEMBROKE'.[31][85][86]
In 1759 it was ordered that militia regiments on service were to take precedence from thedate of their arrival in camp. In 1760 this was altered to a system of drawing lots where regiments did duty together. During the War of American Independence and French Revolutionary War the counties were given an order of precedence determined by ballot each year. However, counties like Pembrokeshire with no more than two companies were ignored. Another ballot for precedence took place in 1803 at the start of the Napoleonic War and remained in force until 1833: Pembrokeshire was 54th. In 1833 the King drew the lots for individual regiments and the resulting list continued in force with minor amendments until 1855. The regiments raised before the peace of 1763 took the first 47 places and the Royal Pembroke Rifles became 28th.[39][55][64][56][87]
The first artillery militia units formed were given an order of precedence in 1855 based on alphabetical order: the Royal Pembroke was 24th, which happened to be the same as the Royal Carmarthen's precedence as an infantry regiment. The combined regiment used this precedence 1861–71; after it split the Royal Carmarthen retained the precedence of 24th among artillery militia units but the Royal Pembroke dropped to 31st.[39][58][87]