Royal Welch Fusiliers

The Royal Welch Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and the imminent war with France. The regiment was numbered as the 23rd Regiment of Foot, though it was one of the first regiments to be granted the honour of a fusilier title and so was known as The Welsh Regiment of Fusiliers from 1702. The "Royal" accolade was earned fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713.

It was one of the oldest regiments in the regular army, hence the archaic spelling of the word Welch instead of Welsh. In the Boer War and throughout the First World War, the army officially called the regiment "The Royal Welsh Fusiliers" but the archaic "Welch" was officially restored to the regiment's title in 1920 under Army Order No.56. During those decades, the regiment itself unofficially used the "Welch" form. The regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Regiment of Wales (RRW) on 1 March 2006, to become 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh (RRW becoming the 2nd Bn).

The regiment primarily recruited from Mid and North Wales. It should not be confused with the Welch Regiment, which recruited from South and West Wales.

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. Upon their return to Halifax in 1809, the order was finally complied with. It is said the regiment decided to retain the ribbons with which the pigtail had been tied as a declaration against over regulation but contemporary evidence is lacking. 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 principle 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 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 face 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.

When the RWF was deployed as UN peacekeepers during the Bosnia conflict, the UN tried to have them remove the flash from their battle dress to give the force a more uniform look. The UN officials making the 'request' were told in no uncertain terms that the RWF "had not removed the flash when requested by their own parliament, they certainly were not going to do it for you."

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.

History
The regiment served in the Williamite War, fighting at the Battles of the Boyne and Aughrim. In the War of the Grand Alliance, they were at the Siege of Namur and in the War of the Spanish Succession, they were at Schellenberg and Blenheim. During the War of the Austrian Succession, they were at Dettingen, Fontenoy and Lauffeld and in the Seven Years' War, they fought at Minden, Warburg, Kloster Kampen and Wilhelmsthal.

American Revolution
The light infantry and grenadier companies of the Fusiliers saw bloody action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, the light infantry only had 5 men left un-wounded. All companies, except the grenadiers who were garrisoning New York City, at the Battle of Guilford Court House in the American War of Independence. The regiment participated in nearly every campaign from the Lexington & Concord to Yorktown. Many first hand accounts of the American War of Independence can be found in "the Diary of Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie" or Serjeant Roger Lamb's "Original and Authentic Journal of Occurrences During the Late American War". Other accounts can be found in the book by Mark Urban.

At the surrender of Yorktown, the Royal Welch Fusiliers were the only British Regiment not to surrender their colours, these were smuggled out due to being tied around the Ensign’s waist and only surrendering their colour poles with leather cases.

In the Wars of the French Revolution, the Fusiliers served in the West Indies in 1793-94, before going to Europe for the Helder Expedition and to Egypt for the Battle of Alexandria.

During the Napoleonic Wars, they served from 1810 to 1814 in the Peninsular War; fighting at Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, the Pyrenees, Nivelle and Toulouse and took part in the Battle of Waterloo where they fought in the 4th Brigade under Lt-Col. Hugh Henry Mitchell, in the 4th British Infantry Division (see Order of Battle of the Waterloo Campaign).

In the nineteenth century, the regiment took part in the Crimean War, the Second China War, the Indian Mutiny and the Third Anglo-Burmese War before serving in the South African War of 1899-1902.

First World War
Several battalions of the regiment saw notable service in France and Belgium during the First World War, in particular the 1st, which became forever associated with the terribly destructive action at Mametz Wood in 1916, and the 2nd, which endured the horrors of the massacre in the mud of Passchendaele (Third Ypres) in 1917. In 1914 The Royal Welch participated in the legendary Christmas 1914 Football Game with the Germans.

During this war, several writers served with various battalions of the regiment in France, including the poets Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, David Jones and Hedd Wyn. Their memoirs, including Graves' Good-Bye to All That and Frank Richards' Old Soldiers Never Die have resulted in the activities of this regiment being vividly recorded for posterity. Ford Madox Ford wrote movingly of the Welsh soldiers he commanded in his four-volume novel Parade's End.

Captain J. C. Dunn, a medical officer attached to the regiment's 2nd Battalion during the First World War, compiled a chronicle of that unit's experiences during its more than four years of service in France and Belgium. His epic, The War The Infantry Knew, has become a classic among military historians for its comprehensive treatment of all aspects of daily life and death in the trenches. The best known account by one of the Other Ranks is Old Soldiers Never Die by Frank Richards DCM, MM. Fusilier Richards was a reservist recalled to the colours at the outbreak of the First World War, and served on the Western Front 1914-1918 (including being in the front line during the famous Christmas Truce of 1914). He also wrote about his pre-war service in a book called Old Soldier Sahib.

Second World War
During the Second World War, the regiment was deployed across Europe and Asia, earning a string of battle honours in both fronts.

Post Second World War
After the War ended, the regiment was mostly based in Germany and other British colonies. The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1957. The regiment did not take part in the Gulf War and did 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 in 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 Muslim Serb reinforcements arrived and fought back. The commanding officer Lt Col Jonathon Riley (later promoted to Brigadier) 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 overtake Goražde the Bosnian Serbs continued south to Srebrenica where they would massacre over 8000 Bosniaks.

Amalgamation
It was one of only five line infantry regiments never to have been amalgamated in its entire history.

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. This merger took place on 1 March 2006, leaving it with the Welsh Guards as the only Welsh foot regiments in the British Army. The Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers, 23rd of Foot) was then the name of the first battalion of the new regiment, which still recruited across Wales. With the July 2012 announcements of further cut backs in the regiments resulting in the disbandment of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh, that left the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers) as once more the only non-Guards based infantry regiment drawn from Wales.

Regimental Goat
As with the Royal Regiment of Wales, the regiment has traditionally had a goat, never called a mascot. The tradition dates from at least 1775, and possibly from the regiment's formation. The goat is given full honours of a corporal by all ranks and attended to by the Goat Major. The goat is the only serving member of the Armed Forces which is still entitled to the cigarette ration as it is good for his digestion. The goat is always named 'Billy' and the current goat has been recruited from Snowdon.

Museum
The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum is located in Caernarfon, Wales, and the official headquarters are at Wrexham.

Army Cadet Force
The Army Cadet Force in North Wales (Clwyd and Gwynedd ACF) is a set of amalgamated cadet force companies that were associated with The Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, The Welsh Guards and The Royal Welch Fusiliers: notably the 4th Cadet Battalion (Clwyd ACF) and the 6th Cadet Battalion (Gwynedd ACF) before they were amalgamated in April 2009 to form 'Clwyd and Gwynedd ACF'. All companies are now associated with The Royal Welsh except for Prestatyn Platoon which is cap-badged 'REME', Llandudno Platoon and Bangor Platoon which are cap-badged 'Royal Artillery', Mold and Porthmadog Platoons which are cap-badged 'Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG)',and Bradley and Benllech platoons which are cap-badged 'Welsh Guards'. All these platoon in North Wales form together 'Clwyd and Gwynedd ACF.