Comrade's RWF Blaenau

The History Of The Regiment

The Royal Welch Fusiliers was raised at Ludlow, in the Welsh Marches,on the 16th March 1689. Since that date, it has seen continuous service to the crown and country. It first saw service at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and since then has been in nearly every campaign involving the British Army.

The Regiment fought with distinction in Marlborough's battles from Blenheim in 1704 to Malplaquet in 1709. In 1743 it fought at Dettingenand, in 1759, was one of the six British infantry regiments that defeated the French cavalry at Minden. After taking part in the American War of Independent from 1775 - 1782, the Regiment was involved in the Napoleonic Wars and saw action in Egypt in 1801, Martinique in 1809,the Peninsula from 1810 - 1814 (where in 1811 it fought with outstanding discipline and courage at Albuhera) and finally at Waterloo in 1815.

During the Crimean War at the Alma in 1854 Sergeant Luke O'Connorwon the Regiment's first Victoria Cross later becoming a Major Generaland Colonel of the Regiment. the Royal Welch Fusiliers were later present at the relief of Lucknow in 1857 and participated in many colonial wars before going to South Africa in 1899 and to China to raise the siege of the legations in Peking in 1900.

For World War I the Regiment is credited with 42 battalions which served in France, Flanders, Gallipoli, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Italy. In World War II the Regiment had 13 battalions, five of which fought in North West Europe, Madagascar, and Burma.