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Capt EWD Bell and Sgt Luke O’Connor won VCs at The Alma, Crimea, 1854

Sgt Luke O’Connor, although badly wounded, took up the Regimental Colour and, dashing forward planted it on the Redoubt above the Alma River. When the Russians left the Redoubt Captain Bell, seeing that one of the guns was being withdrawn more slowly than the rest, captured it single-handed and galloped to the rear. Later, he led the 23rd out of the battle. Captain Bell and Sgt O’Connor received VCs, and the latter was commissioned in the field.

20th September 1854 – ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY - Crimea

Battle of the Alma, 1854

The progress of the Allied advance on Sevastopol in the Russian Crimea, was halted by the Russian forces drawn up on hills across the river Alma. In the attack on the Great Redoubt the ensign carrying the Regimental Colour was killed, followed by Lieut-Col Chester, the CO, who had seized it. Eventually the Great Redoubt was taken but a counter-attack forced a withdrawal. Reinforced, it was again taken, but at great cost, the Regiment suffering over 200 casualties.

14th SEPTEMBER 1854 - ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY - CRIMEA

The 1st Battalion lands on the Crimea.

The Royal Welch were one of the first units to land in the Crimea as part of a joint British and French force. Major Daniel Lysons, RWF, claimed to be the first British soldier to have set foot on the Crimea following a hotly contested row to the shore. Lyons went on to command the Regiment in the Crimea following the death of Lieutenant Harry Chester the much loved and respected commanding officer at the Battle of The Alma on the 20th of September 1854. Daniel Lysons wrote an account of his experiences in his book “The Crimea First to Last”.

LYSONS, Daniel�Born on 1 August 1816 at Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, he was the second son of Rev. Daniel Lysons MA FRS, of Hempsted Court, Gloucestershire, and his second wife Josepha Catherine, daughter of John Gilbert Cooper Esq. of Thurgarton Priory, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at the Reverend Harvey Myatt’s School at Bath, and Shrewsbury School (1829–32), after which he was in Nîmes for two years (1832–3) learning French.
He purchased his commission as ensign in the 1st (The Royal) Regiment of Foot on 26 December 1834 and as lieutenant 23 August 1837. He served with his regiment in Canada during the insurrection, including the actions of St. Denis (November 1837), where he was honourably mentioned in Colonel Gore’s despatches, and of Eustache. He was also mentioned in despatches and in General Orders on the occasion of the wreck of the transport Premier on 4 November 1843 and was promoted captain in the 3rd West India Regiment on 29 December the same year.
He transferred to RWF and purchased his majority on 3 August 1849. The first British soldier to land in the Crimea, he was present at the battle of the Alma where he acted as Assistant Adjutant General, 2nd Division, a service for which Lord Raglan, in his despatch of 28 September 1854, reported that ‘Lieutenant-General Sir de Lacy Evans eulogises the conduct of Major Lysons’. Promoted lieutenant-colonel on 21 September 1854 he took command of RWF in succession to Lieutenant-Colonel H. Chester who had been killed in action (q.v.). He was also present at the battle of Inkerman, the minor affairs of Bulganac,
Kirby update by RJMS - May 2011 Edn
McKenzie’s Farm and the capture of Balaclava. Present during the whole of the siege of Sebastopol, he led the main column of the attack on the Redan by the Light Division on 18 June 1855, commanding the 1st Brigade of the Light Division in the later part of the action when he was severely wounded in the leg and was mentioned in despatches. At the final assault on the Redan on 8 September 1855 he was severely wounded when a ball lodged in his thigh.
Appointed CB on 5 July and promoted brevet colonel on 17 July 1855, he was given command of 2nd Brigade, Light Division from October 1855 until the end of the war in the Crimea. He received the Crimea medal with the clasps ‘Alma’, ‘Inkermann’ and ‘Sebastopol’; The Turkish Crimea medal and the Sardinian medal ‘Al Valore Militare’ and was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honour 4th Class and to the 3rd Class of the Turkish Order of Medjidie.
After the Crimean War he was sent to Canada to organise the Militia of Canada at the Trent affair in December 1861. His subsequent promotions and appointments were DQMG in Canada 1862-67; major-general 6 March 1868 commanding the Brigade in Malta; Brigade Commander at Aldershot 1869-1872 and Northern Division 1872-74; QMG to the Forces 1876–80; promoted lieutenant-general 2 June 1877 and elevated to KCB. He was appointed colonel 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot on 28 August 1878. Promoted General on 14 July 1879 he commanded the Aldershot Division from 1880-83. On 26 June 1881 he was appointed Hon. colonel 1st (Volunteer) Bn. The Royal Fusiliers (10th Middlesex), elevated to GCB in 1886 and on 26 March 1890 was appointed Constable of the Tower of London.
He was responsible for the publication of various drill books and wrote The Crimean War From First to Last, John Murray (1895) and Early Reminiscences, John Murray (1896). He married first Harriet Sophia, daughter of Charles Bridges of Overton in 1856 and
second Anna Sophia Biscoe daughter of Rev. Robert Tritton of Morden, Surrey, in 1865. His second son, Lieutenant Henry Lysons, was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Zulu War.
Lieutenant-General Sir Daniel Lysons GCB died on 29 January 1898 at 22 Warwick Square, London. The Times of 3 February 1898 carries an account of his funeral on 2 February at Rodmarton, and simultaneous memorial service, at which the Queen was represented, in St Gabriel’s Church, Warwick Square, London SW. A list of those who attended, which included three field marshals, four admirals and eighteen generals, is in the Parish Magazine.
The Oxford DNB has a detailed biography, including many sources and a list of portraits. The National Portrait Gallery has two likenesses of him, one of which is a chromolithograph (1878) by Sir Leslie Ward (the caricaturist Spy).
Obituary�The Times 31 January 1898�St Gabriel’s Parish Magazine, March 1898 (RWF Museum L/652/53) Who Was Who, Vol. I
Memorials�St Giles’s Church, Wrexham, North Wales
Also of�General Sir Daniel Lysons GCB sometime Lieut Colonel Commanding 1st Battn RWF QM General of the Forces and Constable of the Tower Born 1816 Died 1898
References�Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online at
Kirby update by RJMS - May 2011 Edn
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/17297
Burke, Bernard J, Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1852 vol. 1, page 780–1
Wikipedia – Royal Welch Fusiliers officers online at
http://en.wikipedia.org/…/Category:Royal_Welch_Fusiliers_of…
The Times 3 February 1898�Auden, J. E. (Ed.) Shrewsbury School Register, Vol. 1 1798–1908, Wilding & Son,
Shrewsbury, 1928, pages 76–7�Ward, Beatrice (Ed.), Letters of Edwin Utterton from the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny,
Privately printed Gibraltar, 1964, pages 16, 18, 24, 24, 36, 46�Kirby, Major E. L. (Ed.) Letters of Boscawen Trevor Griffith from the Crimea. Privately
published, nd.

RWF Llandudno 1915

The 17th service battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers on parade in 1915 at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno, North Wales, UK

Our World War One Faces Project

Do you have photograph of a Royal Welch Fusilier from WW1?

May we have a copy?

rwfmuseum1@btconnect.com

Our Memorial Garden

Please do come and place a Poppy Cross in out=r Memorial Garden inside Caernarfon Castle. It will be in place until November 20th. Come and remember any soldier from any regiment in WW1. 

Contact us on rwfmuseum1@btconnect.com for details.

Presently over 3000 poppies planted by people from 52 countries raising almost £8000 for the Poppy Appeal to date

10th September 1943 ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

Sinking of HMS Abdiel, 1943

The 6th Bn (Royal Welch) The Parachute Regt was serving in North Africa. It was warned for operations which turned out to be in Italy. The battalion boarded HMS Abdiel on the evening of the 8th. When it reached Taranto Bay in Italy, no move was made to disembark the troops. On the 10th, shortly after midnight there was a violent explosion and Abdiel began to sink. Fifty-eight members
of the battalion were lost, including the CO and RSM.

Welcome to the Medals Room in our museum.

Thought you might like a bit of a virtual tour of our Medals Room in our museum. Enjoy! Come along and see the real thing.

Photos copyright Lynn Arrowsmith

8th September 1855 ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

Assault on the Redan, Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia, 1855

The 23rd took part in the terrible assault on that part of the stronghold called the Redan. The Russian fire was so intense that 14 of the 18 officers became casualties as they led their men across
285 yards of open ground to the objective. As no second line reinforced it the Regiment had to fall back. The Russians, however, had had enough and they abandoned it.

7th September 1736 ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

Porteous riots in Edinburgh, 1736

The 23rd was in Edinburgh when, on 15 April, Captain Porteous, commander of the City Guard, ordered his men to fire on a mob, killing or wounding 17 persons. He was found guilty of murder but reprieved by the Queen. On 7 September a mob seized Porteous from prison and hanged him. The city magistrates called for assistance from the 23rd, which was deployed throughout the city.

4th September 1918 - ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

The death of Acting Captain John Shingler MC, 4th Battalion, The Royal Welsh Fusiliers

John Stanley Marsh Shingler, was born at Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia, the son of Sarah Elizabeth and the late John Hilton Shingler of Scotland Street, Ellesmere. Shrops, was educated at Ellesmere College, and served with the College Contingent Junior Division, OTC. Was commissioned 2/Lt (11/11/14) to 4 RWF joining the battalion in France. Then converted to a pioneer battalion in Sept 1915 in the 47th London Div, he was promoted Temp Lt (2/3/16) and Lt (1/6/16).Was gazetted (20/7/16) A/Capt and while working on the trenching and tramway along the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge, he was awarded the MC 6 Jul 1917 for an action on the 11/12th Jun at Bluff Tunnels. He commanded D Coy, but lost his company in the battalion re-organization 27 Jan 1918 when his coy was split into three platoons and transferred, one to each of the other coys in the battalion. Later he commanded a coy (28/6/18) with the rank of A/Capt, was wounded in mopping up operations at St. Pierre Vasst Wood 2 Sept, and died of wounds 4 Sept 1918 age 25. Buried Dernancourt Communal Cemy Extension, France.

MC Citation :- For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at a critical moment when hostile shell fire was constantly concentrated upon his platoon, who were working in a trench. He steadied and collected his men, going up and down the trench for the purpose, and showing utter disregard of his own safety while doing so. He led them then from the shelled area, afterwards taking them back to their work and completing it with success before day-light. Throughout the operation he has displayed coolness and untiring energy when employed on similar work.

MC (LG 25/8/17).

Captain John Shingler seated on right of photograph.

4th September 1916 ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

Lieut Albert Nevitt won Albert Medal, 1916

He was giving bombing instruction at Bodelwyddan Park, near Rhyl on 4 September 1916. A bomb fell into the trench. At the second attempt he found it in the water and threw it over the parapet
where it exploded. A similar incident occurred three weeks later. On 4 October he stayed with an injured sergeant after an explosion in the bomb store. He had earlier won an MC and been mentioned in despatches while serving with 10 RWF.

2nd September 1882 ON THIS DAY IN RWF HISTORY

2 RWF march through North Wales, 1892

When the 2nd Battalion returned from Ireland a recruiting march was planned from Holyhead to Wrexham. Some of the journey was covered by train and the route included Bangor, Caernarfon,
Harlech, Dolgellau, Llanrwst, Abergele, St Asaph, Denbigh, Corwen, Llangollen and Wrexham. Officers and men were lavishly entertained along their route. Only a few recruits came forward and the Goat was accidentally killed.