About our Club

From early July, 1940, until June, 1941, Pembrokeshire was subjected to numerous air raids. Throughout this period, Pembroke Dock was the centre of the attack. The damage inflicted in Pembroke Dock was as large as that in any blitzed town in the country, every house in the place was damaged to some degree, while the death toll for one raid was as high in proportion as that of the majority of the big towns.

On July 22nd, a week after the attempted bombing (presumably) of the Ferry Lane railway bridge, the ex¬-dockyard town experienced its first night raid. It was a Monday night and according to one report, at least eighteen bombs were dropped that night. One bomb dropped between Front Street and the dockyard railway causing a great deal of damage in nearby houses.

Pembroke Dock had not been deemed worthy of much consideration in the country defence arrangements or even of a mention in the national news bulletins – until on Monday, August 19th, a German `plane flew up the harbour and dropped a bomb plumb on one of the Llanreath oil tanks. Two local children living in Bufferland actually waved to the pilot whom they could see and whom they believe waved back. The blaze, which followed, was one of the biggest in the history of Britain and, anti-aircraft guns began to arrive in the locality and barrage balloons appeared in the sky over Pembroke Dock. The raid at about 15:15 on the Monday afternoon and was made by three aircraft. They flew up the harbour very low and in quite leisurely fashion, turning south before reaching Pembroke Dock and then coming in again to approach the tanks from the direction of Monkton.Workmen engaged on trenching around the tanks looked up at the approaching `planes and thought they were British. Then the bomber dived in and the men ran for shelter. Firebombs were dropped and a hit was obtained on a tank holding 12,000 tons of oil. A great tongue of flame shot up and clouds of black, thick, oily smoke billowed high into the sky. Within seconds it was obvious for many miles around that the tanks were burning. The flames and smoke could be seen from as far away as Haverfordwest. The workmen escaped without injury. The person living in Military Road right alongside the tanks had a severe fright and worse was to come as the wind carried flames and great volumes of smoke in the direction of their homes.

The walls of some of the houses became too hot to touch and the oil-laden smoke percolated into many rooms leaving a trail of ruin. Some of the residents of Military Rd and Owen St worried that the fire would spread during the night and set the street alight took to leaving their houses when darkness fell and snatching as much sleep as they could out on the Barrack Hill.

Very soon after the attack the Pembroke Dock Fire Brigade was on the scene under Mr. Arthur Morris, tackled what they knew was going to be a formidable task with insufficient resources. The Pembroke and Pembroke Dock brigades were largely responsible for preventing the flames spreading to the nearby houses. Help was requested from all parts of the country and brigades from many areas came to join in the fight.

According to Mr Richards:
The tanks fire raged in full fury for eighteen days. During that period over six hundred firemen from all parts of the country fought the flames; eleven tanks each with a capacity of 12,000 tons were destroyed; five firemen lost their lives; the enemy made further savage but fruitless attacks, and the whole town and countryside bore traces of oil carried by the smoke which billowed far and wide. Auxiliary firemen from all parts of the county were on the scene a few hours after the attack and within the next two or three days they were re-enforced by brigades from Carmarthen, Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, Newport and other parts of the country. Altogether twenty-two brigades took part in the colossal task. These men faced one of the grimmest fights of their lives. No battlefield ever presented a more ghastly picture. Flames sprang hundreds of feet into the air and, every few minutes, shot outwards treacherously from the tanks in great enveloping sheets; the heat was overpowering and the smoke blinding, choking, stupefying. Yet the firemen stuck to their task, and in that terrible holocaust sweated and strained until at last, at long last, they got control of the great conflagration. Even on the eighteenth day, when success was in sight, the pumps broke down and an alarming situation developed for several hours. A tank collapsed causing a terrific flare-up which led to the explosion of an adjoining tank. Eventually, when the oil became exhausted the flames died down and at last the fire was under control.Five firemen lost their lives all belonging to the Cardiff Brigade. They were Clifford Mills (31), 118 Brunswick Street, Canton, a son of Mr. Jack Mills, the Welsh Rugby Union referee; Frederick George Davies (31), 6 Llanbradach Street; Ivor John Kilby (29), 44 Gelligaer Street; Trevor Charles Morgan (31), 46 Mey Street, and John Frederick Thomas (30), Elaine Street. These men were working a jet on the tanks just after 1 p.m. on 22nd August, when a large burst of flame enveloped them. Capt. Tom Breakes, Chief Inspector of the Fire Brigades Division of the Home Office, who was standing twenty feet behind the men, stated afterwards that when he last saw them they were trying to retreat. The spurt of flame was caused by a big quantity of oil escaping from the tank where the heat had caused the metal wall to become soft and burst.

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On the Tuesday morning less than twenty-four hours after the blaze had been started a German `plane dived through the pall of thick black smoke and dropped four bombs. Fortunately, the bombs exploded half a mile away. A few minutes later the `plane returned and machine gunned the firemen. There was a stampede for safety, most of the firemen diving beneath the fire engines. A dozen men crouching beneath one engine saw a large number of holes appear in a piece of zinc lying a few feet from them. The zinc had been completely riddled with machine-gun bullets! One fireman was taken to hospital with an injury which was not serious.

On Wednesday, the third day of the fire, an enemy machine approached Pembroke Dock from the south-west but three Spitfires went up to intercept and it was driven off. Again, two days later the enemy was in the vicinity but due to our fighter interception, no raid developed. On the night of Saturday, August 24th, bombs were dropped and caused damage to hose lines and appliances. There were also some minor casualties but no serious interruption of operations.
There were air raids on the town on September 1st and 2nd but no attempt was made to bomb the tanks.

Of the seventeen tanks at Llanreath, holding approximately 45,000,000 gallons of oil, eleven were destroyed, representing a loss of 33,000,000 gallons. The twenty-two brigades in attendance used 600 men, 53 pumps, nine miles of hose and 2,000 gallons of water per minute.

That day, August 22nd, was the most critical of the eighteen days. The death of the five men greatly distressed their colleagues and the spread of raging flames which followed the escape of oil did nothing to re-assure anyone. In fact, there was near panic for a short time and this spread to the civil population as the fire ran with devilish speed across adjoining countryside, making Military Road impassable and damaging extensively a cottage, farm buildings and crops. In the evening there was another large escape of oil to add to the almost unbelievable difficulties under which the men worked. This produced another wave of alarm amongst the towns people and started a rumour that another sixty Firemen had been burnt to death, So much credence was placed upon this rumour that ambulances rushed to the scene, as well as police, firemen who were off duty and scores of townspeople. Assurances that there had been no further deaths restored public confidence, and the arrival shortly afterwards of reinforcements from England was a Godsend to the men on the job whose stupendous task was almost beyond endurance.

While the Firemen went about their hazardous work in the 1st hours of the fire, they realised acutely that heat and flames and boiling-oil were not the only dangers which beset them. They knew that at any moment the enemy might return to try and exact a toll of death from their ranks.

Present Day

South Pembrokeshire Golf Club was established in the December of 1969. Until 1993 our clubhouse formed part of the Old Defensible Barracks. In 1995, we relocated to the west end of Pennar, where we now enjoy more comfortable and modern premises with a fully licensed bar, restaurant, changing rooms, and wonderful views of the course and Cleddau Waterway.The openness of the South Pembrokeshire Golf Course can present some challenging shot-making in windy conditions, but equally in benign weather a good score can be achieved. As you walk the 3.6 miles around the course, just stop for a moment, and take-in the surroundings.At South Pembrokeshire Golf Club we welcome visitors who share our love of the game and can offer testing and entertaining golf to individual visitors. We also offer a wide range of golfing days for Societies to suit everyone from beginners to keen golfers.