CARMARTHENSHIRE

All six numbered rifle volunteer corps raised were included in the county’s 1st Admin Battalion formed with headquarters in Carmarthen in June 1861. The battalion in 1875, however, was broken up and its surviving corps transferred to the military care of Pembrokeshire’s 1st Admin.

Left: 1st Carmarthenshire Rifle Volunteer Corps. Formed at Llandilo in February 1860 and became ‘G’ Company of the 1st Pembrokeshire RVC in 1880. An officer’s shako plate is illustrated showing on an eight-pointed star a crowned strap inscribed ‘ Fy nhywsog a fy ngwlad’ in Welsh, which means ‘For my Prince and my country. Within the strap, the Prince of Wales’s plumes, coronet and motto, and around this, a spray of leeks closing at the top to meet the crown. (Bosley’s Military Antiques)

Left: 2nd Carmarthenshire Rifle Volunteer Corps. Formed at Carmarthen in February 1860 and became ‘H’ and ‘I’ Companies of the 1st Pembrokeshire RVC in 1880. On the shako plate illustrated we have the three-towered castle, from which a pair of Cornish cloughs look inwards, two ostrich feathers and lion, from the town seal. Below this is the motto in Welsh ‘ Rhyddid hedd a llwyddiant’ (Freedom, peace and success). (Bosley’s Military Auctions)

Left: 6th Carmarthenshire Rifle Volunteers. This corps was formed at Carmarthen in 1861 and nine years later in 1872 was absorbed into the 2nd Corps as its No. 2 Company. A shako plate is illustrated which has the Prince of Wales’s insignia over ‘6’ over ‘Carmarthenshire’. (Bosley’s Military Auctions)