28th December 1917

 Men of the 15th Royal Welch Fusiliers (London Welsh) outside their dug outs in the trenches at Fleurbaix, #otd 28 December 1917.

#WWI #Britisharmy @RWFMuseum #RoyalWelchFusiliers #Britishhistory

Merry Christmas

 Day 24 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar and the theme is #Santa

#Star

 Day 23 #ArchiveAdventCalendar & theme is #Star.The 1914 Star, was known as 'Pip' or the 'Mons Star'.

This Bronze Star was authorised in April 1917, to be awarded to those who served in France or Belgium between 5th August and midnight on 22nd/23rd November 1914.

Recipients were officers and men of the pre-war British army, specifically the British Expeditionary Force (the Old Contemptibles), who landed in France soon after the outbreak of the War and who took part in the Retreat from Mons (hence the nickname 'Mons Star').

365,622 were awarded in total.  Recipients of this medal also received the British War Medal and Victory Medal. These three medals were sometimes irreverently referred to as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.

Monty’s Moonlight

 Day 21 #ArchiveAdventCalendar #FestiveLights With just days to go till the commencement of the Normandy landings, a curious sight was seen, as infantry and tanks attacked an enemy position. The battlefield illuminated by a form of eerie twilight generated by a Searchlight Battery.

They set their searchlights on a low trajectory to light the ground. This was the final test exploring whether 'Artificial Moonlight' really aided attacking infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel MH ap Rhys Pryce, RWF, had the idea for it back in 1943, inspired after watching searchlights

reflect off low cloud and light the ground around him, much like the effect of a full moon. His idea was passed up the chain of command, before being subjected to repeated experimentation to prove Artificial Moonlight's worth as it was signed off for operational use.

Artificial Moonlight first saw operational use on 15 July 1944 by 344 Searchlight Battery during Operation Greenline in support of 15th Scottish and 53rd Welsh Divisions, thereafter becoming colloquially known as Monty's Moonlight.

Frozen Rhine

 Today is Day 22 #ArchiveAdventCalendar and the theme is #Sledging. Well this isn't sledging but an interesting photo from our #OgilbyMuster collection of a frozen Rhine in 1929 where 2RWF were based at #Biebrich at the time #armymuseumsuk 

#chimney

Day 20 #ArchiveAdventCalendar the theme is #chimney. A few chimneys here for Santa to choose from! 

#Presents

 Day 19 #ArchiveAdventCalendar theme is #presents for the armed forces - now and then.

#FedtiveTraditions

 Day 18 #ArchiveAdventCalendar  #FestiveTraditions Christmas Cards. Have you posted yours yet?

#coal

 Day 17 of the #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #Coal. 

Gresford Colliery disaster 1934

There was a catastrophic explosion at Gresford Colliery on September 22nd 1934 near Wrexham. 261 men lost their lives. Many were former members of the Regiment, some of whom had served during the war.

Some others were serving members of the 4th & 5th TA Battalions.

John Rowlands MM, RWF regularly worked nights as he operated a coal-cutting machine at the face but many men that Friday were “doubling up” to get time off to watch the Wrexham v Tranmere Rovers match the next day.

#Decorations

 Day 16. Today's theme is  #Decorations for #ArchiveAdventCalendar 

Here we have RWF barracks decorations going back to 1899. Note the Regimental Goat Christmas decoration!

#Family

 Day 15 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #Family! Here are some RWF in WW1 with their families and John Collins VC with his dad.

#Givingseason

#MuseumCollectionChallenge is #GivingSeason so here is a #gift of a goat! In 1884 Queen Victoria presented the RWF with a Kashmir goat from her royal herd. Subsequently, the Royal Welsh have obtained all their regimental goats as a gift from the monarch. This  means that they are deemed ranking members of the Regiment rather than mascots.

#FestiveFood

Today's theme for #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #FestiveFood. Here we have:

1. Christmas dinner - SHWEBO Burma 1909

2. Christmas Day Dinner Capt Elliot adjutant carving 1916

3. C Coy 1RWF Christmas table Quetta 1928

#Festiveclothes

 

Day 13 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #festiveclothes.

#toys

 Day 12 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #Toys for the young and not so young!

#candles

 Day 11 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #candles. In 2016 over 11,000 poppy crosses were laid from people from 53 different counties in our memorial garden.  It was opened by Lord-Lieutenant, Mr Edmund S Bailey, and was established with the support of Gwynedd Council and @Cadw. It was maintained by volunteers from the Caernarfon Veteran Association who added a lantern with a lit #candle. We raised £52,000 for the British Legion Poppy appeal. @RBLWOS

Battle of ’s-Hertogenbosch.

 

Looking for a unique present for Christmas? The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum is delighted to be able to offer a limited edition print of a newly commissioned painting of the Battle of ’s-Hertogenbosch. The painting, by the renowned military artist Stuart Brown captures the key action of the battle.

In October 1944 the 53rd (Welsh) Division launched its largest assault to date, in the North West Europe Campaign. Operation Alan liberated the Dutch city of ’s-Hertogenbosch from German occupation. The pivotal moment in the battle came when Major John Dugdale led the men of A Company, 7th Battalion, The Royal Welch Fusiliers in a spectacular dash to seize the one remaining crossing of the Zuid-Willems canal. The seizing of these lock gates opened the way for the capture of the city centre and unhinged the Germans defence of the rest of the city.

This is a limited edition print, measuring  49 x 66 cm and comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity. The prints cost just £35 with £10 p&p and are available on the Museum website shop. Print comes without RWF Proof written on it!

https://www.rwfmuseum.org.uk/shop/s-hertogenbosch-print.html

6 RWF Parachute Battalion

 Day 10 in the #ArchiveAdventCalendar is #ChristmasJumper but we have struggled with this one so can only offer these "jumpers"- RWF 6th  Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment raised during the Second World War.

The battalion was created in 1942 by the conversion of the 10th (Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers to parachute duties. The battalion's first combat parachute jump was during Operation Dragoon the Allied invasion of the south of France.

Soon after the invasion, the battalion returned to Italy and took part in a second combat parachute jump, Operation Manna in Greece.