On the morning of 4th August 1914, just hours after Britain declared war on Germany, a troop of thirteen Newport policemen armed with borrowed rifles set off from the city to strike the war’s first blow.
Their target was the SS Belgia, a German steamship moored in the Bristol Channel about ten miles from the city. As a merchant ship registered under an enemy flag, she was now a legitimate target.
Carried by boat, the police force quickly took control of the Belgia and brought her up to this spot on the river. The German sailors were arrested as enemy aliens, becoming the first prisoners of the war.