Headstones

[Muerrisch]

As Michael Caine says 'not a lot of people know this ......'.

During the period of the Great War, the Welch Regiment and the Royal Welch Fusiliers [RWF] were officially "Welsh" on their colours, badges, on the Army List and just about everywhere except their pyjamas.

I know not about the Welch Regiment, but RWF clung, for internal reference, to the version with the letter 'c'. This version was used, on and off, officially over the many years of their existence, and the changes possibly depended only on the slip of a minor clerk's pen.

Army Order 56 of 1920 changed the spelling to the one favoured by the two regiments, Welch.

When the Commonwealth War Graves Commission came to erect memorials and headstones, they were spelled with the 'c' [and, if there are ghosts, the soldier's ghosts would have been content, I suppose].

But in the late 1980's CWGC had pointed out to them that this was an anachronism. Ever since then, all 'c' versions, as they become worn out, are replaced with an 's' version. I have this in writing as a policy statement from CWGC.

So, until the last one is replaced, we will see, side by side, soldiers under one version or another.

Years ago, I attempted to convince the CWGC and the RWF heirarchy that intellectual vandalism was being perpetrated, in that, as I said above, the soldiers were proud to be Welch. I am raising the topic here, one last time, in the hope that I can raise enough support to revisit the case. Otherwise, you will be glad to know, I will wind my neck in. Promise.

[Terry Denham]

CWGC's policy on headstones and in their database is now to abide by what was the official name/badge or whatever at the time of the casualty's death.

Therefore all references for 'Welsh' will appear with an 's' before the official change date. In the same way, 'Army Service Corps' will not have the 'Royal' except for deaths after the appropriate date. Same for RAF/RFC badges on headstones (see another thread).

As you say, the two versions will exist on headstones for some time to come but will all evetually be replaced for the 'correct' versions (here 'correct' means what the army said was correct and not what was in common parlance). The database will get amended quicker but even here some inaccuracies still occur.

[Bernard_Lewis]

All the original records that I have consulted use the term 'Welsh'. Amazingly (to a proud welshman) several of the lads in letters home refer to 'fighting for England' - an idea that modern day Welshmen would find very strange (Britain yes, but England? Not after the recent rugby matches, anyway...) Though I actually prefer 'Welch' I stick with Welsh' wherever practical when writing as it is what the lads would have been familiar with.

Bernard Lewis

[Muerrisch]

For all internal use, ie within the regiments and battalions, Welch was used and taught in RWF. Just look at 'Old Soldiers Never Die' and 'The War the Infantry Knew', for example.