Ladies and Gentlemen,

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1 From Lieutenant Colonel JC St J Kilmister REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS THE ROYAL WELSH Maindy Barracks, Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF14 3YE Telephone Fax INFHQ-POW-RWELSH-REGTSEC@MoD.uk All Members of the Regimental Family j222 Jul RW Update 26 July 2016 Ladies and Gentlemen, At the back of this letter is a list of dates for your diary for the coming year. 1 st Battalion Since the last update in March, the 1 st Battalion has returned from exercises in Turkey and Kenya and are halfway through a very successful spell carrying out Public Duties in London. As at the Colour Parade the soldiers have risen to the occasion and have demonstrated both pride in their Regiment and Wales. The new Regimental Goat, Llywelyn, has performed very well and is a credit to the Goat Major, Fusilier Owen. 3 rd Battalion The 3 rd Battalion continues to train hard in preparation for producing a formed company for Exercise WESSEX WARRIOR on Salisbury Plain Training Area in February Recruiting is going well and above the Reserve average. The Commanding Officer represented the Battalion at the Church Service at Llandaff for the Somme Service and Vigil at Llandaff and at Cathays the following morning. 3 Soldiers from the Battalion in No1 Dress, provided the Guard and protection for the Lamp of Remembrance, for the Vigil throughout the night at Llandaff and then moved to Cathays during the early hours, to provide a guard for the morning Vigil and service. 2 Soldiers dressed in WW1 Clothing & Equipment provided the Escort to move the Lamp of Remembrance from Llandaff to Cathays with a 4 man Escort party around them from other units. On the 4 th July the Battalion showed their ceremonial prowess with a Ceremony of the Keys in Caernarfon Castle and the production of a full Colour Party for the 100 th commemorations of the Battle of Mametz Wood in France. Reunions in 2016 Officers' London Lunch. This was held at the Rifles Mess, Davies Street, London W1 on Friday 15 April and was very well attended. Brecon Reunion. The Regimental Reunion took place in Dering Lines Brecon on the 23 July. There were 220 comrades sitting down to Dinner. The Band of the Prince of Wales Division played during dinner as unfortunately our Regimental Band was involved in the reaffirmation of the Freedom of Conwy which took place on the same day in Llandudno. During the meal the comrades very generously 1

2 raised 500 for Blind Veterans UK and in support of Fusilier Shaun Stocker who despite losing both legs and being blinded in Afghanistan has now, quite amazingly, managed over to walk 100 Kilometres in his fund raising effort for Blind Veterans UK. Wrexham Reunion. The Wrexham Reunion will take place 3 September. Regimental Officers Ladies Day (at Dorney Lake) Peter Kerruish and John Watkins will again run this event on 16 October at 12 noon for 1300 hours. The Eton College Rowing Centre is being refurbished this Autumn but we have very kindly been offered the use of the facilities on Queens Eyot, just up-river. This is a real treat and we know that you will all really enjoy the use of this unique location. See The cost is 40 per person. Transport links: By road, Queens Eyot is close to exit 8/9 on the M4, approx 3 miles. If coming from London, leave the M4 at junction 6. If a number of you are travelling from one particular area then a minibus with driver might be an option to consider. By train, Maidenhead, Taplow, Slough and the two Windsor stations are within a few miles but you will require a taxi from them to Queens Eyot.. Apply to Peter Kerruish on pkerruish@aol.com. Royal Welsh Officers Society Annual Dinner. Annual Officers Society Dinner will be held on 4 November in the Principality (Millennium) Stadium. Public Duties, Freedom Parades & Community Engagements in 2016 July. B (Rorke s Drift) Coy, 1 R WELSH continue with Public Duties in London. There will be one last Freedom Parade in 2016 which will be held on 8 th October Rhondda Cynon Taff. Location TBC but likely to be Pontypridd. WW1 Commemorations 2016 Sunday 8 May 2016 there was a very well attended and organised service of commemoration in St Woolos Cathedral, Newport. Mametz Wood The WW1 commemoration main effort for 2016 was in support of the major Welsh events planned for the battles around Mametz Wood. The whole Regiment was very well represented with the ACF Cadets from Clwyd & Gwynedd, the Battalions produced 2 x Colour parties and Ceremonial Pioneers and the Comrades Branches. There was a significant number of Branch Standards on parade and over 200 comrades made the journey by coach and car from UK. The main event was the commemorations on 7 th July. The 1 st Minister of Wales, the Colonel of the Regiment, Lt Gen JP Riley CB DSO and Commander 160 Brigade were amongst the principal guests. The event was planned and organised by a R WELSH Reserve officer, Major Ian Gumm. It was a blisteringly hot day but all the Regimental representatives were extremely steady on parade. The following day the Comrades visited Delville Wood and the Thiepval Monument. All who took part were humbled by what the antecedent regiments had done a hundred years ago. 2

3 HM Queen 90 th Birthday On the 10 th June HQ the Queen celebrated her 90 th birthday with a service at St Pauls Cathedral. As HM is the Colonel in Chief of The Royal Welsh, we were requested to provide Step Liners for the occasion, provided by the 1 st Bn. The Patrons Lunch was held on the Mall on 12 June, bringing together all the organisations HM is Patron of. The CoR, CO 1 st Battalion, QM 3 rd Battalion, Mall Ball, 3

4 Alan Harrhy, Derek Adams, together with their wives represented the Regiment. A small Marching Contingent of Royal Welsh soldiers from the 1 st Battalion took part in the procession representing the Armed Forces. Somme 100 Commemorations 30 Jun/1 Jul 16 The Regiment were represented at Somme 100 Commemorations at Westminster Abbey, Manchester Cathedral, Cardiff, and Theipval. At the Westminster Abbey Commemorations, which was attended HM The Queen, the Regiment was represented by Lt Col Adam Clark, with soldiers from the 1 st Battalion taking part in the All Night Vigil, where extracts from War Diaries and poems from some of our WW1 Poets were read. The National Commemorations in Manchester Cathedral was attended by Lt Col Jeremy Pughe-Morgan. The Wales Commemorations took place at Llandaff Cathedral, with the Regiment being represented by 3 R WELSH. Soldiers from the 3 rd Battalion also took part in the All Night Vigil, which began at Llandaff Cathedral before moving to the National Memorial in Cathays Park. Commemorations also took place at the Theipval Memorial, Northern France, which was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. The Regiment was represented by Maj Oli Beard and Sgt Waldron (1 R WELSH) Looking ahead to next year 2017 Sunday 5 th March. A St David s Day Curry Lunch has been organised by the RWF Officers Association to be held in the Officers Mess 1 Royal Welsh, Lucknow Barracks, Tidworth by kind permission of the Commanding Officer. This is open to any former Regimental officers and their ladies from any of our antecedent regiments. Details of the price per person and how to obtain tickets will be published in due course. 4

5 Saturday 6 th May. A Freedom Parade will take place on Sat 6 May in Abergavenny. This will coincide with Commemorations for the Battle of Frezenberg (8 May), where all 3 Battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment fought. A service of Commemoration will take place after the parade. More details will be published in due course. 29 th July-1 st August. The Passchendaele Commemorations. A battlefield tour is planned to Passchendaele, Flanders in Belgium to coincide with the official Welsh Commemoration Service which will take place on the 31 st July Coaches and accommodation in Lille, France will be booked to cover the dates 29 th July-1 st August This will give us a three nights and four day trip to the area, with the main event being the Service of Rededication and Remembrance at the Welsh Memorial in Passchendaele on the 31 st July Details can be obtained from Captain Des Williams DCM in Wrexham. Regimental Journal Contributions for the next edition of the Regimental Journal are required by Friday 23 rd September 2016 in order for the next edition to come out by St David s Day From then on the Regimental Journal will come out each year by St David s Day. Digitalisation Project All the RRW Regimental Journals have now been digitalised and the Welch Regiment journals are now undergoing the same process. The Elizabeth Cross We continue to whittle down the list of families eligible for the Elizabeth Cross. We have halved the list from well over 45 to around 20. We are now looking for: 4 x Royal Welch Fusiliers 16 x Welch Regt (14 from Korea) 2 x Royal Regiment of Wales Details can be obtained from RHQ. Recently we held a ceremony in the Officers Mess of the 3 rd Battalion for the family of Major Peter Sutton MC RWF who was killed in Malaya in Lt Gen JP Riley CB DSO kindly agreed to present the EC to Major Sutton s daughter Emma and her brother Jamie. The Sutton Family was very well represented with more than 10 making the journey from Surrey to Cardiff. We were very fortunate to have Colonel Clive Brennan MC at the ceremony. He was on patrol with Peter Sutton when he was killed engaging and killing a Communist Terrorist. There were a good number of representatives from the RWF who were there to honour his sacrifice and to meet the family. 5

6 The Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire Mrs Sarah Troughton presenting the Elizabeth Cross and Scrolls to the sisters of Lt Stephen Kirby RWF. Lt Gen Jonathan Riley CB DSO presenting the Elizabeth Cross and scrolls to the daughter and son of Capt Peter Sutton MC RWF. Also present was Col Clive Brennan MC. R WELSH Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum I am pleased to say that the next phase of work to be carried out on The Royal Welsh Memorial will begin in the next few months. It is our aim for this Phase of work to be completed by the end of October An artist s impression of the completed work is shown below. 6

7 To recap, the work to be carried out over the next few months will be as follows: A 3D Bronze casted Royal Welsh Cap Badge mounted onto the face of the central slate monolith. To fix a new Welsh slate plaque inset into the main boulder. Full wording of original inscription to be engraved in silver and presented in both English & Welsh. Wording to read: The cry of battle fills the wind and the blood of lads mingles with the rain. We will remember them. Gwaedd frwydr yn llenwi r gwynt a gwaed hogiau mingles gyda glaw. Ni a i cofion hwy. Cost for this part of the work = 10,500 New riven finished pathway in Welsh Slate paving retaining original Flash shape but extended to join with existing footpath. The new paving area will allow for easier access to the central stone by foot, wheelchair or mobility aid. The paving area and pathway will then continue around central stone allowing the memorial garden to flow together as one complete design. Total cost for this part of the work = 15,000 A curved echelon slate wall that arcs around the central stone but is set slightly back from the monolith so as to not crowd and detract from the central stone. This will allow sufficient space for visitors to walk around. The design of the curved echelon slate wall will continue to the edge of the new harder paving allowing the memorial to flow more seamlessly together. Inset slate plaques/antecedent cap badges onto curved echelon wall. Three plaques on each side of the central stone to represent the following antecedent Regiments: 7

8 o Royal Welch Fusiliers o South Wales Borderers o Welch Regiment o Royal Regiment of Wales o Monmouthshire Regiment o The Royal Welsh Total cost for this work = 35,000-50,000 Future work to be carried out. It is our intention to introduce two Welsh slate benches either side of the Flash pathway along with a plinth to the front of the garden detailing the history of the Regiment and the Memorial itself. RHQ have now opened dialogue with the Arboretum on this and it is hoped that this work will be carried out sometime in 2017 following acquisition of the necessary approval. The costs for this project are significantly higher than we had anticipated. I am most grateful for the contribution of 25,000 from the RWF Comrades Association and 500 from the Welshpool Comrades Branch and 50 from the Bridgend Branch. I am in consultation with other Regimental Trusts and have written to all the Comrades Branches asking them to fund raise for this project. I wish you a very good summer and see you all in the autumn at one of the reunions or dinners. Yours sincerely Chris Kilmister Dates for Diary 2016 Saturday 3 September - Regimental Reunion Weekend in Wrexham. Friday 23 September All contributions to the Regimental Journal, Y Cymro in to RHQ September 150 th Anniversary of the raising of the Ontario Regiment. Sunday 16 October - Regimental Officers Ladies Day Lunch at Queens Eyot. Saturday 8 October Freedom Parade RCT. Exact location TBC but probably Pontypridd. Friday 4 November 16 The Officers Society Dinner will take place in the Principality (Millennium) Stadium. Dates for March - RWF OA St David s Day Curry Lunch Officers Mess 1 RWELSH, Tidworth. 29 July 1 August Battlefield Tour of Passchendaele 8