Royal Welch Fusiliers

23rd Regiment of Foot
Welch Regiment of Fusiliers
Royal Welch Regiment of Fusiliers
Royal Welch Fusiliers
Cap badge
Active16 March 1689 – 28 February 2006
Country Kingdom of England (1689–1707)
 Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800)
 United Kingdom (1801–2006)
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
RoleLine infantry
Size1–2 Regular battalions

4–12 Volunteer and Territorial battalions

Up to 25 hostilities-only battalions
Garrison/HQHightown Barracks, Wrexham
Nickname(s)The Nanny Goats[1]
The Royal Goats[1]
Motto(s)Ich Dien
AnniversariesSt. David's Day (1 March)
EngagementsWilliamite War in Ireland
Nine Years' War
War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
Seven Years' War
American War of Independence
French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
Crimean War
Second China War
Indian Mutiny
Third Anglo-Burmese War
Second Boer War
First World War
Second World War
The Troubles
Yugoslav Wars
Commanders
Ceremonial chiefThe King
Colonel of
the Regiment
Major-General Brian Plummer
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
HackleWhite

The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.

  1. ^ a b Burnham, Robert; McGuigan, Ron (2010). The British Army against Napoleon. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Frontline Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-84832-562-3.
  2. ^ "Napoleonic Welch Fuzileers Sword". Antique Swords. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum safeguards valuable First World War memories". Welsh Government. 15 April 2014. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)