In 1846 permission was granted under General Order No 586 to raise another Defence Force again at little cost to the Government, it was titled 'The Dock Yard Corps' as its name implies the job of this new force was to protect all Ports where Royal Dockyards were located.  In order to enroll the men had to be employed in these dockyards, here in Pembroke Dock the 8th Battalion formed and on doing so the Pater Volunteer Artillery, having formed in 1840 stood down.   As previously mentioned other Battalions of this Corps were being formed in principal Royal Dockyards, those that appeared in the 1847 Army List were; Portsmouth - Devonport - Pembroke - Sheerness - Chatham and Woolwich. Following the Corps formation they were granted a 'Royal' title so becoming the Royal Dock Yard Corps, while the majority of these Battalions would train solely in the infantry role others would also train as artillery and sappers. 

 The Pembroke Dock Battalion was one such unit to do this, as the guns of the Pater Artillery Corps, still mounted in the Pater Fort gave them the ideal opportunity. The Officers were chosen locally from the heads of the various departments within the yard.  The Corps instructors were retired Royal Marines, while the Adjutants of each Battalion were serving Royal Marine Officers.  The many skills used in this dockyard were to assist in making the 8th Battalion the most versatile of them all.  In keeping with the other yards all training was carried out after normal working hours, with the incentive to attend being a payment of 1/- (5p) for every man, which served as a useful bonus on top of their weekly wage. Although the unit was added to the Army’s strength, it was the Naval Department who controlled them.  Uniform were specially designed for them, and when on parade they presented quite a grand sight.  As it consisted of a double breasted tunic of a super fine blue cloth with red collar and cuffs, 16 quilt buttons bearing the inscription 'Royal Dock Yard Battn', with a fouled anchor and a cipher 'VR' in two rows down the front, their original head dress was a blue shako which was later changed for a spiked helmet, not that dissimilar to the home service issue which replaced the shako 31 years later in 1879. 

 The Officers wore a 31 inch blade sword which bore the inscription 'Royal Dock Yard Battn', while the men were issued with sword bayonets and the French percussion musket, this came about due to a fire which destroyed a stock pile of some 260,00 of Britain’s reserve rifles. 

 During the Crimean War 1854/55 the Battalion formed a very important part in the Haven Defence Force, it is said that were they put to the test they would undoubtedly have given a good account of themselves.  During the service of the 8th Battalion there were two Commanding Officers, first was Colonel Gordon Thomas Falcon followed by Colonel Robert Smart, both having previously served as superintendents in the Yard.  Commanding officers received their orders from ex Captain Superintendent Sir Thomas Sabine-Pasley Bart who controlled the defences of the yard.  Other Officers known to have served throughout the life of the 8th (Pembroke Dock) Battalion, and who all bore their commissions dated June 1st 1848 were;  

Major George Chiles                                    Major Richard Bonniwell 
Captain  John Davidson                               Captain James Edwards
Captain Richard Kneebone                          Captain Robert P Saunders
Acting Captain Robert Harwood                    Acting Captain William Cambell
Lieutenant James Potter                              Lieutenant Walter Gillie
Lieutenant John Venning                              Lieutenant Henry Tremain
Lieutenant William Edward Seccombe          Lieutenant Alister Andrew McAlpin

 Major George Chiles being in charge of the dockyard stores was initially commissioned as a Captain only being promoted days before the Battalion formed.

 Records show the 8th Battalion carried out much of their Gunnery training in the Pater Fort, but during the summer months the Battalion would venture into the open for Field Exercises where the public would be encouraged to go and see them.  One such time came in 1853 when an exercise was staged in a field near Great Honeyborough, the Battalion was ferried across to a landing point between Neyland Point and Church Lake, records tell us the day was fine and bright with spectators, numbering thousands, coming from as far away as Pembroke, Haverfordwest and Milford.  The day took the form of a modern day Military Tattoo with the Battalion having formed up with their field guns marched onto the field with their Regimental Band playing, the Battalion halted in an area set aside for the purpose surrounded by the crowds.  Displays, by the troops, varied between foot and musket drill, when at about 1500 hrs they exercised with the field guns, with several rounds being fired.  The first rounds fired were immediately followed by a slight rain fall but as the firing continued so did the rain which shortly broke out into an horrific thunderstorm with flashes of lightening apparently flying in all directions.  The crowds scattered for shelter but there was none, which left the ladies in particular, in a pitiful state as many were clothed in light summer dresses and straw hats.  The review was abandoned as the Battalion limbered their guns and marched off the field en route for the boats to re cross to the dockyard, on reaching the road they found it to be a quagmire as the mass exodus of the crowd having preceded them having churned the mud up, where upon all resemblance of order was forgotten and the shout went up 'Get to the boats as best you can'. this resulted in a third of the Battalion not making it to the embarkation point, as some made straight for home while others strangely enough found themselves in Haverfordwest. 

 The Royal Dock Yard Corps lasted less than ten years when with the exception of the Maltese Battalion all were removed from the 1857 Army List, there was an attempt to reform them in 1860 but it came to nothing.   In that year the Pater Artillery Volunteers reformed to stay in service until 1884.


The following pictures were supplied by one of our readers