Welsh Guards

A unit of the Welsh Guards en route to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace

Welsh Guards ( German  Welsh Guard ) is the name of a British Guards Grenadier Regiment , which today serves as part of the British Army in the Guard Division ( Guards Division ). It is one of the five body regiments of Queen Elizabeth II.

history

The Welsh Guards are the youngest of the British Army's guards regiments . They were on 26 February 1915 at the instigation of King George V established. As the fifth oldest footguard, you can recognize them by the fact that the buttons on their parade uniforms are arranged in groups of five.

During the two world wars, the regiment's battalions were deployed on almost all fronts in Europe and North Africa where British troops fought. In the post-war period, the regiment took part in the Falklands War , but also in many operations in the context of UN peace missions. It has also been used in Iraq .

A common soldier in the Welsh Guards is called a Guardsman (while in regular units he is called Private ), an award introduced by King George V after the First World War .

The regiment is used as light infantry and also serves as a guard regiment . It regularly participates in important protocol events in the UK, such as B. Trooping the Color and Remembrance Sunday .

Honorary colonel of the regiment is Prince Charles .

Battle Honors

The regiment has several battle honors (honorable mentions of battles in which it has participated), some of which are listed on the regimental flag.

Battle Honors (English terms)

• First World War : Loos , Bapaume 1918, Somme 1916–1918 , Arras 1918 , Ginchy, Albert 1918, Flers-Courcelette, Drocourt-Quéant, Morval, Hindenburg Line , Ypres 1917 , Havrincourt , Pilckem, Canal Du Nord , Poelcappelle, Selle, Passchendaele , Sambre , Cambrai 1917-1918 , France and Flanders 1915-1918
• Second World War : Defense of Arras , Djebel el Rhorab, Boulogne 1940, Tunis, St Omer-La-Bassee, Hammam Lif, Bourguebus Ridge, North Africa 1943, Cagny, Monte Ornito, Mont Pincon, Liri Valley, Brussels, Monte Piccolo, Hechtel , Capture of Perugia, Nederrijn, Arezzo, Lingen, Advance to Florence, Rhineland, Gothic Line , North West Europe 1940 1944–1945, Battaglia, Fondouk, Italy 1944–1945
• Falkland Islands 1982

Identification mark

The various regiments can not be distinguished on foot from a distance . However, there are certain distinguishing features.

• The Welsh Guard wear a white, green and white feather on the left side of their bearskin hat .
• They wear a leek on their collar , the symbol of St. David's Wales .
• Ten buttons each with 5 and an interrupting pause (from above: 5,0,5) are located above the belt.
• The soldiers wear a black ribbon on the hat of their normal service uniform.

Web links

Commons : Welsh Guards  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• official homepage