Recruiting

When newly appointed Secretary for War Lord Kitchener called for a volunteer army, the initial response was encouraging and queues formed outside recruiting offices with volunteers filled with patriotism and pride.

Over 500 people crowded into the Market Hall, Pembroke Dock, on the night of Sunday 15th August for a recruiting meeting, the first to be held in the town and district since the start of the war.

The audience was reminded that the future of the British nation hung in the balance, and it was vital recruiting should continue. Councillor W.J. Morris, Mayor of Pembroke, appealed to young men to 'step forward, do your bit, and help keep the old flag flying'.

But, of the 200, to 300 men of active service age in the Market Hall that night, only 10 came forward to enlist.

There was also a marked reluctance at a recruiting drive in Fishguard, where despite the presence of Victoria Cross holder, Sergeant W. Fuller, not one man from the town or the surrounding area volunteered for military duty.

While the refusal of men of military age to fight for their country might shock some people, their reluctance was also understandable. The issue of the Pembrokeshire Times for August 19th 1915 for instance listed the names of nearly 100 Pembrokeshire men, who had fallen since the outbreak of war - almost 10 a month.

The same issue carried a graphic description of trench warfare written by Corporal Harry Duncan Demster in a letter to his parents, Mr and Mrs Roberts Demster of Wiston. The news item quoting from this letter added almost callously 'Since writing it he has been killed in action'.

With the local press regularly publishing the latest Roll of Honour, together with personal stories of life in the trenches, it was little wonder that the young men of Pembrokeshire were unwilling to wear the King's coat during the summer of 1915.