The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.
It retained the archaic spelling of Welch, instead of Welsh, and Fuzileers for Fusiliers; these were engraved on swords carried by regimental officers during the Napoleonic Wars. After the 1881 Childers Reforms, normal spelling was used officially, but "Welch" continued to be used informally until restored in 1920 by Army Order No.56.
It should not be confused with the Welch Regiment, a different unit (formed in 1881 from the 41st and 69th) which recruited in South and West, rather than North Wales, and became part of the Royal Regiment of Wales or RRW in 1969.
One of the few regiments to retain its original title, in March 2006 the Royal Welch Fusiliers was amalgamated with the RRW and became 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh, with RRW as the 2nd Battalion.
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.Cannon, p. 1Frederick, pp. 302–6.RWF at Regiments.org. It served throughout the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, including the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690,Cannon, p. 5 and the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 which brought the campaign to an end.Cannon, p. 13 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.Fortescue, p. 161
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,Cannon, p. 83 Kloster Kampen 1760Cannon, p. 84 and Wilhelmsthal in June 1762, before the war ended with the 1763 Treaty of Paris.Westlake, English & Welsh Regiments, pp. 75–6
The regiment was posted to British North America in 1773 being stationed first in the Province of New York then moved to Boston where it took part in the first engagement of the American Revolutionary War at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775.Cannon, p. 89 The light infantry and grenadier companies took heavy losses at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775;Cannon, p. 93 it participated in nearly every campaign up to the Siege of Yorktown in September 1781.Cannon, p. 113 At Yorktown, it was the only British regiment not to surrender its colours, which were smuggled out by a junior officer.
In the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars, it was posted to the West Indies in 1794 and participated in the 1795 capture of Port-au-Prince before returning home in 1796.Cannon, p. 117 As part of the expeditionary force assigned to the 1799 Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, it fought at Alkmaar in October 1799.Cannon, p. 120
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.Cannon, p. 134 Between 1811 and 1814, it fought in many of Wellington's actions, including the battles of Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Nivelle and Toulouse.Cannon, pp.136–150 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.Spiers, pp. 195–6. For the 23rd, this included:Army List, various dates. 23rd Brigade Depot at Hightown Barracks in Wrexham from 1873 Royal Anglesey Light Infantry – converted to Engineers in 1877Frederick, pp. 162–4. Royal Flint Rifles Royal Denbigh and Merioneth Rifles Royal Carnarvon Rifles 1st Administrative Battalion, Denbighshire Rifle VolunteersWestlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 57–8.4th Bn RWF at Regiments.org. 1st Administrative Battalion, Flintshire & Carnarvonshire Rifle VolunteersWestlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 37–8.Carnarvonshire & Anglesey Volunteers at Regiments.org.Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 89–90.Flintshire Volunteers at Regiments.org.
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 CorpsFrederick, pp. 242–3.): 3rd (Royal Denbigh and Merioneth Militia) Battalion – 3rd (Royal Denbigh and Flint Militia) Battalion from 1889 4th (Royal Carnarvon Militia) Battalion – 4th (Royal Carnarvon and Merioneth Militia) Battalion from 1889 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers – from 1st Denbighshire Volunteers''' 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers – from 1st Flintshire & Carnarvon Volunteers' 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers – formed in 1897 from the Carnarvonshire companies of the 2nd VBThe 1st battalion served in the 1899 to 1902 Second Boer War; and returned home from South Africa on the SS Ortona in January 1903.
The 2nd battalion was stationed at Hong Kong from 1898 to 1902, and served in the multinational force involved in the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. They fought alongside the United States Marine Corps (see pages 32–33 in official USMC paper published in 1995). They transferred to India in October 1902, and were stationed at Chakrata.
20th century
The Haldane Reforms of 1908 converted the remaining Militia into the Special Reserve (SR) and the Volunteers into the Territorial Force (TF).Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. 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 BorderersWestlake, Rifle Volunteers, p. 185.Merionethshire & Montgomeryshire Volunteers at Regiments.org.
The four TF Battalions constituted the North Wales Brigade in the Welsh Division.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 117–23.Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Long, Long Trail.53rd (Welsh) Division at Long, Long Trail.
First World War; Regular Army 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.James, pp. 66–8. 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.
J C Dunn, a medical officer with the 2nd Battalion who had also served in the 1899–1902 Boer War, published The War the Infantry Knew in 1931. A collection of letters and diary entries from over 50 individuals, it is considered a classic by military historians for its treatment of daily life and death in the trenches.Good-Bye to All That by Robert Graves was first published in 1929 and has never been out of print; in one anecdote, he records the Regimental Goat Major being charged with 'prostituting the Royal Goat' in return for a stud fee. Graves also edited Old Soldiers Never Die, published in 1933; a rare example of the war seen by an ordinary soldier, it was written by Frank Richards, a pre-war regular recalled in 1914, who served on the Western Front until the end of the war. The poets David Jones and Hedd Wyn, killed at Passchendaele in 1917, were members of Kitchener battalions.
First World War; Territorial and War Service
The TF battalions raised 2nd and 3rd Line battalions; in addition, the regiment raised over a dozen 'war service' battalions, informally known as Kitchener or Pals battalions.Peter Simkins, Kitchener's Army: The Raising of the New Armies 1914 – 1916 (2007)
The 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion was one of the first TF units to see active service, landing in France in November 1914, where it remained until January 1919. Between 1915 and 1918, another ten Royal Welch Kitchener battalions also fought on the Western Front, including the battles of Loos, the Somme and Passchendaele; a number of these were disbanded in early 1918 due to manpower shortages. The poets David Jones and Hedd Wyn served with The 11th (Service) Battalion landed in Salonika in November 1915, where it remained for the duration of the war.