Royal Welch Fusiliers

History

Formation; 1689 to 1773

The regiment was raised by Henry Herbert at Ludlow on 16 March 1689, following the 1688 Glorious Revolution and exile of James II. It served throughout the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, including the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, and the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 which brought the campaign to an end. It joined Allied forces fighting in the Nine Years War and at Namur in August 1695, took part in the attack on the Terra Nova earthwork that inspired the song 'The British Grenadiers.'

On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702, it became the Welch Regiment of Fuzilieers; this denoted units equipped with light-weight muskets or 'fusils' used to protect the artillery, although the distinction later became obsolete. It served throughout Marlborough's campaigns in the Low Countries, including the battles of Schellenberg, Blenheim and Ramillies.

In 1714, George I gave it the title of the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. The next 28 years were spent on garrison duty in England and Scotland, until it returned to Flanders in 1742 for the War of the Austrian Succession. At Dettingen in June 1743, it rallied after being driven back by the elite French Maison du Roi cavalry; its steadiness was a major contribution to what is considered a fortunate victory. It incurred 323 casualties at Fontenoy in May 1745, before a brief period in Scotland during the 1745 Rising. Over 240 members of the regiment were lost at Lauffeld in July 1747, a defeat that led to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

Following the 1751 reforms that standardised naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In the opening battle of the Seven Years' War, it was part of the Minorca garrison that surrendered to the French in June 1756; given free passage to Gibraltar, from 1758 it campaigned in Germany. In the same year the 2nd Battalion was separated from the regiment and became the 68th Regiment of Foot.

At Minden in August 1759, it was one of the infantry units that routed the French cavalry, an achievement still celebrated as Minden Day by their successor unit, the Royal Welsh. Between 1760 and 1762, it fought in the battles of Warburg, Kloster Kampen 1760 and Wilhelmsthal in June 1762, before the war ended with the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

19th century

Apart from Egypt and the Battle of Alexandria in 1801 and the Invasion of Martinique in 1809 the regiment saw little action in the Napoleonic Wars until being sent to the Peninsula in 1810. Between 1811 and 1814, it fought in many of Wellington's actions, including the battles of Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Nivelle and Toulouse. At the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, it was part of Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Mitchell's 4th Brigade in the 4th Infantry Division.

In the nineteenth century, the regiment took part in the Crimean War, the Second Opium War, the Indian Mutiny and the Third Anglo-Burmese War.

The Cardwell Reforms of 1872 linked most infantry regiments in pairs, but because the 23rd already had two battalions it was unaffected. Cardwell also introduced 'Localisation of the Forces', which established permanent regimental depots in county towns and brigaded the regular regiments with their local Militia and Volunteer battalions. For the 23rd, this included:

23rd Brigade Depot at Hightown Barracks in Wrexham from 1873

Royal Anglesey Light Infantry – converted to Engineers in 1877

Royal Flint Rifles

Royal Denbigh and Merioneth Rifles

Royal Carnarvon Rifles

1st Administrative Battalion, Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers

1st Administrative Battalion, Flintshire & Carnarvonshire Rifle Volunteers

The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further. The regiments were given names rather than numbers the regiment officially became The Royal Welsh Fusiliers on 1 July 1881, although "Welch" was used informally until restored in 1920 by Army Order No.56. The depot became the 23rd Regimental District depot, and the militia and volunteers became numbered battalions of their linked regiment (though the Royal Flint Rifles joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps):

20th century

The Haldane Reforms of 1908 converted the remaining Militia into the Special Reserve (SR) and the Volunteers into the Territorial Force (TF). The battalions were now numbered sequentially within their regiment. The TF battalions of the RWF were given subtitles in 1909:

3rd (Reserve) Battalion (SR) at Poyser Street in Wrexham

4th (Denbighshire) Battalion (TF) at Poyser Street, Wrexham

5th (Flintshire) Battalion (TF) at Castle Precinct in Flint (since demolished)

6th (Carnarvonshire & Anglesey) Battalion (TF) at Caernarfon Barracks in Caernarfon

7th (Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire) Battalion (TF) at Back Lane Drill Hall in Newtown – transferred from the South Wales Borderers

The four TF Battalions constituted the North Wales Brigade in the Welsh Division.

The 1st and 2nd battalions served on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 and took part in some of the hardest fighting of the war, including Mametz Wood in 1916 and Passchendaele or Third Ypres in 1917. Claims in 2008 they participated in the semi-mythical Christmas 1914 Football Game with the Germans have since been disproved.

A number of writers fought with the regiment in France and recorded their experiences; David Thomas (killed 1916), Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon all served with the 1st Battalion. John Bernard Pye Adams, a captain with the 1st Battalion, was wounded in 1916, and while on medical leave, wrote Nothing of Importance, his recollections of trench life. Adams did not live to see its publication — after returning to the front in January 1917, he died in action a month later. His book, published a few months after his death, was the only memoir of trench experiences published in Great Britain during the war and was well received by both The Times and the Daily Telegraph.

Post Second World War

The 2nd Battalion Royal Welch remained overseas after the Second World War, with a posting to Burma (still a colony until 4 January 1948) and performed internal security duties. On 7 March 1947 a party aboard a train were ambushed by bandits and seven soldiers were killed.

The regiment did not take part in the Gulf War, but did perform several tours in Northern Ireland (Operation Banner) before being deployed to the Balkans.

During the Yugoslav Wars, the regiment came to attention when 33 of their men and 350 other UN servicemen part of UNPROFOR were taken hostage by Bosnian Serbs at Goražde on 28 May 1995. The situation caused some political debate as the UN troops had been given orders only to "deter attacks" and did not have a mandate or adequate equipment to fully defend the mainly Muslim town of Goražde, which was initially declared "safe" by the UN, thus rendering them exposed when armed members of the Army of Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Army) ignored the NATO ultimatum and attacked the town without warning. The regiment managed to hold off the Bosnian Serbs until they were forced to retreat into bunkers – those who did not make it quickly enough were taken hostage – and remained trapped underground while BiH Army reinforcements arrived and fought back. The commanding officer, Lt Col Jonathon Riley (later promoted to Lieutenant General), broke with protocol and directly reported to then Prime Minister John Major about the situation over the phone while in the bunker. All the men were eventually safely rescued. An unprecedented five gallantry awards, seven mentions in despatches and two Queen's Commendations for Valuable Service were awarded to the regiment. Although the incident was largely unreported at that time, the regiment was credited in hindsight by observers for saving the town from a possible genocide—after failing to take Goražde, the Bosnian Serbs continued north to Srebrenica, where they would massacre over 8,000 Bosniaks.

Amalgamation

It was one of only five line infantry regiments never to have been amalgamated in its entire history, the others being The Royal Scots, The Green Howards, The Cheshire Regiment, and The King's Own Scottish Borderers. However, in 2004, it was announced that, as part of the restructuring of the infantry, the Royal Welch Fusiliers would merge with the Royal Regiment of Wales to form a new large regiment, the Royal Welsh.

To honour the links between the regiment and the United States Marine Corps on the 16 September 1945 a set of Marine colours were presented to the regiment at the parish church in Wrexham to commemorate their close connection (see page 32 in official USMC paper published in 1995).

The regiment has a chapel within St Giles Parish Church Wrexham containing their colours and other items. There is an image available taken in 2013.

Regimental museum

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum is located in Caernarfon, Wales.

Battle honours

The regiment was awarded the following battle honours:

Namur 1695, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Minden, Egypt

Peninsular War: Corunna, Martinique 1809, Albuhera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula

Napoleonic War: Waterloo

Crimean War: Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol

Lucknow, Ashantee 1873–1874, Burma 1885–1887, Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899–1902, Pekin 1900

First World War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914 '18, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914 '17 '18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 '17 '18, Langemarck 1914 '17, Gheluvelt, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Arleux, Bullecourt, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Lys, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Épéhy, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–1918, Piave, Vittorio Veneto, Italy 1917–1918, Doiran 1917 '18, Macedonia 1915–1918, Suvla, Sari Bair, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915–1916, Rumani, Egypt 1915–1917, Gaza, El Mughar, Jerusalem, Jericho, Tell 'Asur, Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1917–1918, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916–1918

Second World War: Dyle, Defence of Escaut, St. Omer-La Bassée, Caen, Esquay, Falaise, Nederrijn, Lower Maas, Venlo Pocket, Ourthe, Rhineland, Reichswald, Goch, Weeze, Rhine, Ibbenburen, Aller, North-West Europe 1940 '44–45, Madagascar, Middle East 1942, Donbaik, North Arakan, Kohima, Mandalay, Ava, Burma 1943–1945

Victoria Crosses

The following members of the regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross:

Captain Edward William Derrington Bell, Crimean War (20 September 1854)

Lieutenant Thomas Bernard Hackett, Indian Rebellion of 1857 (18 November 1857)

Company Sergeant Major Frederick Barter, First World War (16 May 1915)

Corporal John Collins, First World War (31 October 1917)

Corporal James Llewellyn Davies, First World War (31 July 1917)

Corporal Joseph John Davies, First World War (20 July 1916)

Lt-Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie, First World War (26 April 1915)

Private Albert Hill, First World War (20 July 1916)

Colour-Sergeant Luke O'Connor, Crimean War (20 September 1854)

Lance-Sergeant William Herbert Waring, First World War (18 September 1918)

Lance-Corporal Henry Weale, First World War (26 August 1918)

Colonels-in-Chief

The Colonels-in-Chief of the Regiment were:

1901: King George V

1936: King George VI

1953: Queen Elizabeth II

Regimental Colonels

The Colonels of the Regiment were:

1689: Col. Henry Herbert, 4th Baron Herbert of Chirbury

1689–1691: Col. Charles Herbert

1691–1692: Col. Toby Purcell

1692–1693: Col. Sir John Morgan, 2nd Baronet

1693–1705: Lt-Gen. Richard Ingoldsby

The Royal Regiment of Welch Fuzileers (1723)

1705–1739: Gen. Joseph Sabine

1739–1743: Col. Newsham Peers

1743–1761: Gen. John Huske

1761–1775: Lt-Gen. Hon George Boscawen

1775–1786: Gen. Sir William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB

1786–1823: Gen. Richard Grenville

1823–1851: Gen. Sir James Willoughby Gordon, Bt., GCB, GCH

1851–1855: Lt-Gen. Sir George Charles D'Aguilar, KCB

1855–1860: Lt-Gen. Henry Rainey, CB, KH

1860–1875: Gen. Sir William Codrington, GCB

1875–1898: Gen. Charles Crutchley

The Royal Welsh Fusiliers (1881)

1898–1910: Gen. Sir Edward Earle Gascoigne Bulwer, GCB

Alliances

The regiment had an alliance with the Canadian Royal 22e Régiment from 1927 until its amalgamation in 2006; this alliance included the frequent exchange of personnel between the two regiments.

Regimental mascot

As with the Royal Regiment of Wales, the regiment traditionally had a goat, never called a mascot. The tradition dated back to at least 1775, and possibly to the regiment's formation. The goat was always named 'Billy'.

Uniform

Soldiers of this regiment were distinguishable by the unique feature of the "flash", consisting of five overlapping black silk ribbons (seven inches long for soldiers and nine inches long for officers) on the back of the uniform jacket at neck level. This is a legacy of the days when it was normal for soldiers to wear pigtails. In 1808, this practice was discontinued but when the order was issued the RWF were serving in Nova Scotia and had not received the instruction when the regiment departed to join an expedition to the West Indies. In 1834 the officers of the 23rd Foot were finally granted permission by William IV to wear this non-regulation item as a distinction on the full dress uniform as "a peculiarity whereby to mark the dress of that distinguished regiment". This was extended to all ranks in 1900.

Khaki service dress replaced the scarlet tunic as the principal uniform, and the Army Council attempted to remove the flash during the First World War, citing the grounds that it would help the Germans identify which unit was facing them. As Fusilier officer Robert Graves reported, "the regiment retorted by inquiring on what occasion since the retreat from Corunna, when the regiment was the last to leave Spain, with the keys of the town postern in the pocket of one of its officers, had any of His Majesty's enemies seen the back of a Royal Welch Fusilier?," and the matter remained "in abeyance throughout the war." The efforts of the regiment to retain the distinction was further reinforced at a medal ceremony when King George V saw an officer of the regiment in the line. He ordered an About Turn and seeing the flash still on the tunic said sotto voce, "don't ever let anyone take it from you!" The wearing of the flash on service dress was extended to other ranks in 1924.

As a fusilier regiment, the RWF wore a hackle, which consisted of a plume of white feathers mounted behind the cap-badge of the modern beret. The full dress of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, as worn by the entire regiment until 1914, included a racoon-skin hat (bearskin for officers) with a white hackle and a scarlet tunic with the dark blue facings of a Royal regiment. This uniform continued to be worn by the RWF's Corps of Drums and the Regimental Pioneers until the merger of 2006.

Regimental Prayer

The Regimental Collect (or prayer as it is also known as) was in Welsh:

Tragwyddol Dduw, a gyfododd trwy dy nerth yr Arglwydd Iesu Grist o'r meirw, gynnal fe weddiwn, gwrhydri hynafol y Ffiwsilwyr Cymreig, fel yr oddefwn galedi yn ôl ei esiampl, ac y cyfodwn gydag ef i lewyrch fel yr hal yn dy deyrnas, trwy'r un Iesu Grist ein Harglwydd. Amen.

And in English:

Eternal God, whose strength raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, uphold, we pray thee, the ancient valour of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, that we may ever endure hardship after his example, and may rise with him to shine as the sun in thy Kingdom, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.