Cap badge the Welch Regiment

The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1969. Until 1920 it was called the Welsh Regiment.

1939 to 1945

1939 - The 1st Battalion moved to Palestine to play its part in operations connected with the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine. At the outbreak of war on 3 September The Welch Regiment comprised the 1st Battalion in Palestine and the 2nd Battalion in India. In South Wales the Regimental Headquarters and Depot was in Cardiff with four TA battalions situated 4th and 15th in Carmarthen and 1/5th and 2/5th in Glamorgan. In this World War the numbers of Infantry Battalions raised by the Regiment was eleven only out of which only the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 1/5th saw active service overseas.

Around 1400 officers and men of the Regiment were killed or died from wounds or sickness.

The 1st Battalion first saw action in the Western Desert

1941 - The 1st Battalion landed on Crete in February but was overwhelmed by the enemy in fighting at Suda Bay; Canea; and Sphakia Beach. Eventually the Battalion reformed in Egypt joining the 4th Indian Division and moved again to the Western Desert.

1942 - After heavy fighting in the area of Benghazi the Battalion was again overrun when the Afrika Corps swept through Cyrenaica, Libya.

1943 - Following a period in Egypt and the Sudan the 1`st Battalion was re-organized as 34 (Welch) Beach Brick and in March landed with 50th Division in the Invasion of Sicily in July. Returning to Egypt it became the 37 (Welch) Beach Brick until May 1944.

1944 - In May the 1st Battalion became an effective Infantry unit again and in July landed in Italy with the 56th (London) Division and took part in heavy fighting on the Gothic Line and in the Croce area.

Having mobilized in 1939 the 4th and 15th Battalions had been retained at home where the 15th rendered valuable service training reinforcements for units overseas. The 4th was in Northern Ireland when in June it was ordered to join the Normandy Campaign. From the start the Battalion was involved in fierce fighting around Caen, the Falaise Gap, the Ardennes and the Reichwald where it sustained very heavy casualties.

Meanwhile the 1/5th and 2/5th, mobilized at the same time as the 4th and 15th Battalions, were retained at home where the 2/5ht also trained and prepared drafts for overseas although it remained at home throughout the War as a Home Defence Battalion. The 1/5th Battalion moved to Europe in late June and fought in North West Europe distinguishing itself at 's-Hertogenbosch, the Falaise Gap, the Ardennes and the Reichwald Forest. Some of the hardest fighting took place around the Falaise Gap where on 16 August 1944, near Balfour. Lieutenant Tasker Watkins won the Victoria Cross for supreme personal bravery and inspired leadership.

1944 - While this fighting was going on in Europe the 2nd Battalion had been retained in India but in October moved to Burma as part of the 19th Indian Division where it joined the 14th Army. In November the Battalion crossed the Chindwin River at Sittang, captured Pinlebu and saw some very hard fighting on the Swebo Plain.

1945 - In March the 1st Battalion joined 1st (Guards) Brigade in 6th Armoured Division and remained with it until the end of the war. The 2nd Battalion saw its bitterest fighting along the Taungoo-Mawchi Road where for a hundred miles, with deep jungle on either side, the Japanese defended vigorously all the way.

The Second World War ended in Europe on the 8 May and in South East Asia on 14 August. The deployment of the active Battalions of the Regiment at this time was: 1st Battalion at Tarvisio, North East Italy; 2nd Battalion at Taungoo, Burma; and the 4th and 5th Battalions in Hamburg, Germany.