memorial spelling

[Joseph Kerr1]

Drove over the Somme yesterday and stopped at Dantzig Alley cemetery. Down by the cross there is a memorial to the www1 officers and men of the. WELSH regiment. The badge shows WELCH regiment. Another plaque by the entrance says WELCH regiment and the badge shows the same. Is this just a mistake on the original plaque?

J.

[BillyH]

Have a look at this previous topic :

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=109023&hl=welch

BillyH.

[Scalyback]

Welsh official until 1923 then Welch but within the regiment both are interchangable. Confusion arises with memorials redone after the date. Same as RAF/RFC membership.

I prefer Welch as my grandfather and father had that on the capbadge scroll.

[Joseph Kerr1]

Have a look at this previous topic :

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=109023&hl=welch

BillyH.

Thanks. So in a w w 1 cemetery WELSH is correct and the WELCH badges are wrong. Wonder why nobody realized that when they put them in?

J.

[Joseph Kerr1]

Welsh official until 1923 then Welch but within the regiment both are interchangable. Confusion arises with memorials redone after the date. Same as RAF/RFC membership.

I prefer Welch as my grandfather and father had that on the capbadge scroll.

A bit like people calling their carpet cleaner a Hoover regardless of who actually made it?

J.

[Andrew Upton]

Thanks. So in a w w 1 cemetery WELSH is correct and the WELCH badges are wrong. Wonder why nobody realized that when they put them in?

J.

A lot of regiments who had changes made to their badges/titles late in the war or early post-war were keen to emphasize the fact, even if it meant men being buried under badges they'd never have used whilst alive - ASC men under RASC badges, AVC under RAVC, etc.

[41st]

Members of the 16th Cardiff City Batt'n Welsh Regiment did have Cap badges with the spelling Welch. I have copies of the order for the cap badges and confirmation from the manufacturer and an example of the badge worn. I know of others in other collections.

[nigelcave]

IIRC some years before the war, Welch, definitely Welsh for the Regiment (allowing for battalion idiosyncrasies) during the war and, as pointed out, back to Welch in 1923. A bit like the cemetery really - Dantzig when it, arguably, should be Danzig. Again, IIRC, most privates were just that during the war and then you get the proliferation of Guardsman [that might be a bad example, I have a little knowledge which, as we all know, is a dangerous thing] etc etc etc introduced after the war but used on headstones of the war.