Royal Welsh fusiliers
History of the regiment
The Regiment was raised at Ludlow, the seat of the Council for Wales, by Lord Herbert of Chirbury in April 1689. Soon it went to Ireland to fight for William III against James II’s Catholic army and first saw action at the battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Before long it entered continental Europe which for over three centuries was to be its major battleground. At the siege of Namur in 1695 it gained its first battle honour. In 1702 it was one of three infantry regiments selected to be ‘Fusiliers’. These elite troops, armed with the ‘fusil’, were responsible for guarding the artillery, a role which was short-lived. In 1713 it became a ‘Royal’ regiment with the title of the Prince of Wales’s Own Royal Regiment of Welch Fusiliers and a strong link with Wales has existed ever since. It was to be Wales’s only line infantry regiment until the creation of the Welch Regiment in 1831.
The Regiment fought with distinction under Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession against the French, including such famous battles as Blenheim (1704). One of the most celebrated battles of the eighteenth century was at Minden in 1759 where again the enemy was the French. The Royal Welch Fusiliers was one of six infantry battalions which broke the might of the French cavalry when they charged the British line.
During the American War of Independence (1775-83) the Regiment enhanced its reputation in spite of being on the losing side. When Yorktown capitulated even the enemy praised their ‘intrepidity and firmness’ and, even built a memorial to the Regiment. It was at the battle of Bunker Hill that the presence of the Regimental Goat was first recorded, and noted as being a long-standing custom.
In 1793 war, which was to last for over twenty years, broke out with Revolutionary France. The Royal Welch Fusiliers served in the West Indies, Egypt, Germany and Copenhagen. It was, however, during the Peninsular War against Napoleon in Spain that the Regiment further enhanced its reputation. The 2nd Battalion was in the retreat to Corunna and was the last Regiment to leave the town and embark in the waiting ships, taking with them as they did so the keys to the gates of Corunna.
“The rear-guard was commanded by Captain Thomas Lloyd Fletcher, of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He, with his corporal, were the last to leave the town. On their way to embark, and as they passed through the gates, Captain Fletcher turned and locked them. The key not turning easily, they thrust in a bayonet, and between them managed it. Captain Fletcher brought away the keys, and they are now in the possession of his son. The keys are held together by a ring, from which is suspended a steel plate, with the inscription ‘Postigo de Puerta de Abajo’ (‘Postern of lower gate’). One key still shows the wrench of the bayonet.” The keys of Corunna are now in the Regimental Museum in Caernarfon Castle.
The 1st Battalion fought in most of the major battles in Spain and southern France between 1810 and 1814, including the bloody infantry battle at Albuhera where the casualties were so numerous that one company ended up commanded by a Corporal, and the infamous siege of Badajoz. After Waterloo, Wellington described the Royal Welch as ‘the most complete and handsome military body I ever looked at.’
In the Crimean War against Russia, with France, most unusually, as an ally, the Regiment gained further distinction. Sergeant Luke O’Connor was one of four Royal Welchmen to win the Victoria Cross. He was commissioned in the field, rose to be a Major General and, as Sir Luke O’Connor, became its Colonel in 1914. From the Crimea the Regiment went to India to help suppress the Mutiny. Imperial campaigns followed for the rest of the century including, Ashanti and, Burma.
The second Anglo Boer war began on 11th October 1899 and the 1st Battalion sailed on the Oriental on 22nd October 1899, arriving at the Cape on 13th November. It was sent on to Durban, and along with the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, and 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers, formed the 6th Brigade under Major General Barton.
On 26th November the Battalion marched from Mooi River to Estcourt, a distance of 23 miles which it covered in seven hours.
At Colenso on 15th December 1899 the 6th Brigade saw large scale action for the first time. The 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers were not called upon to play a conspicuous part but nevertheless had three men wounded.
After the failure to relieve Ladysmith, by way of Spionkop, General Buller made his second attempt against the Colenso positions. The 1st Battalion went out with Lord Dundonald to Hussar Hill on 12th February 1900 and, again on the 14th when the hill was finally occupied. All through the fourteen days’ fighting the Battalion took its share. On the 24th February the Royal Fusiliers and Royal Welch Fusiliers were holding some kopjes near Langerwachte under very heavy shell-fire and rifle-fire. On that day the Royal Welch lost Colonel Thorold, another officer, 6 men killed, and 2 officers and 29 men wounded. The battalion was not with General Barton in the assault on Pieter’s Hill at the eastern end of the position. In the fourteen days the battalion’s losses were approximately 2 officers and 8 men killed, 2 officers and 60 men wounded. Lt G E S Salt was recommended for the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry after manning his maxim machine gun after its crew were killed. At the end of the action there were 51 bullets lodged in the gun and carriage. Salt died of enteric fever before the award could be made.
On 3rd March the 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers took part in the formal entry of Buller’s army into Ladysmith. Six officers were mentioned in General Buller’s despatch of 30th March 1900, and 1 non-commissioned officer was recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
In April 1900 the brigade was brought round to Cape Colony and concentrated at Kimberley where drafts of reinforcements were received. The Battalion left 225 men sick in Natal and Cape Town, mostly suffering from dysentery. On 5th May the battle of Rooidam was fought, with 1st Battalion Royal Welch and the Royal Fusiliers in the first line.
For their work in the very arduous pursuit of De Wet, in August 1900, the Royal Welch Fusiliers as well as the Scots Fusiliers were highly praised by Lord Methuen.
At Frederickstad between 15th and 25th October 1900, General Barton had a lot of very severe fighting, in which the battalion again gained great praise from the general and Commander-in-Chief. In these actions the battalion had about 15 men killed and 3 officers and 30 men wounded.
Twelve officers and 19 non-commissioned officers and men were mentioned in Lord Roberts’ final despatch.
During 1901 the Battalion remained in the Western Transvaal and took part in the very successful operations of General Babington. In his despatch of 8th May 1901, Lord Kitchener refers to an attack which was made on 22nd April by 700 Boers, under the personal command of General Delarey, upon a convoy passing between General Babington’s camp and Klerksdorp; “the escort, however, being well handled, repelled the attack, inflicting a loss upon the enemy of 12 killed and 6 wounded”. The escort was mainly from the Royal Welch, and Colonel Sir R Colleton and two other officers were commended in despatches for their excellent work. One month before, General Babington had captured a Boer convoy and several guns, and on that occasion Sergeant Darragh gained the Distinguished Conduct Medal for, “on his own initiative, keeping a very superior force of the enemy at bay in a most gallant manner”.
On 23rd May 1901 another convoy going to Ventersdorp was very heavily attacked, but the enemy was driven off. A detachment of the Battalion again formed part of the escort, and lost 1 man killed and 1 officer and 11 men wounded. On this occasion the wounded officer, Captain Hay, and 5 non-commissioned officers and men gained mention for exceptional gallantry.
Towards the close of 1901 the battalion occupied the northern portion of the line of blockhouses running from Potchefstroom to the Kroonstad district.
That the Royal Welch Fusiliers added to their reputation in South Africa is beyond doubt, and the fact that they gained sixteen mentions during the later stages of the war, after Lord Roberts left South Africa, proves they did not grow stale. In Lord Kitcheners final or supplementary despatch the names of 4 officers and 3 non-commissioned officers were added.
Meanwhile in China the 2nd Battalion was the only British infantry with the International Force sent to Pekin (Beijing) to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
During the Great War (1914-18) the Regiment expanded from seven to forty battalions; fought in France, Italy, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Palestine and Macedonia; lost 10,000 men; gained eighty-eight battle honours; and won over 3,000 gallantry awards. Among those who served in its ranks were such literary figures as: David Jones, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, Frank Richards, James Dunn, and Ellis Humphrey Evans who, as Hedd Wyn, won the Bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod at Liverpool in 1917, but was killed only weeks before he could claim his crown.
In the Second World War the 1st Battalion was virtually wiped out in May 1940 but, after re-forming, went on to serve with distinction in Burma. The 2nd Battalion, following the invasion of Madagascar, joined them in Burma. The Territorial battalions, 4th, 6th and 7th, fought in North-West Europe after D-Day.
Since 1945 the Royal Welch has served in Japan (as occupation troops), Germany, Malaya, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and in Bosnia, where their forbearance in 1995 under extreme pressure earned them an international reputation. In November 2004 the 1st Battalion returned from a 6-month tour in Iraq.
On 1st March 2006 the Regiment was re-titled the 1st Battalion The Royal Welch (Royal Welch Fusiliers).
Soldiers of the Royal Welch Fusiliers are 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 the RWF were serving in America when the order to discontinue the use of the flash was issued. Upon their return they decided to retain the ribbons with which the pigtail was tied, and were granted this special concession by the King. The Army Board 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. The King refused to accept this, stating that “The enemy will never see the backs of the Royal Welch Fusiliers”. As a fusilier regiment, the RWF wear a hackle, which consists of a plume of white feathers worn on the headdress, mounted behind the cap-badge.
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