Iconic Welsh location hosts St David’s Day troops

The traditional green and white of pinned leeks to military headdress took its place alongside The Royal Welsh hackle on March 1st at Llandaff Cathedral.

Regular and Reserve troops from both the 1st and 3rd Battalions gathered in Cardiff, alongside veterans and invited guests, to celebrate St David’s Day.

The occasion also marked the 20th anniversary of The Royal Welsh.

A parade in the capital in 2006 saw the amalgamation of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Wales, whose antecedent history stretches back more than 300 years.

Celebrating 20 years of The Royal Welsh

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Adams, Commanding Officer 3 Royal Welsh, said: “St David’s Day has been celebrated by the Regiment since 1689, reflecting our Welsh identity, which remains a critical component of the Regiment’s fighting power today.

"Irrespective of where our soldiers are deployed, we will always find time to mark this key date in the regimental calendar.”

The Regimental Band and Corps of Drums of The Royal Welsh provided the musical accompaniment inside the cathedral.

Royal Welsh soldiers also conducted formal parades, sporting competitions and a formal lunch, where selected soldiers took part in the famous leek‑eating ceremony after marching into the dining hall behind the Regimental Goat Major, mascot and drums.

Regimental traditions and ceremonial customs

Colonel of the Regiment, Brigadier Nigel Crewe‑Read OBE, said: “The Llandaff Cathedral service not only brought the wider regimental family together, but allowed us to remember those Royal Welsh personnel who were killed and injured on operational deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 20 years, as well as all past conflicts."

In addition to an upcoming operational deployment, The Royal Welsh will host a Party in the Park at Cardiff Castle on September 12 to celebrate the last two decades of its formation, as well as its 337 years of antecedent history.

At Combermere Barracks in Windsor, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards will also take part in a range of St David’s Day activities and celebrations.

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Guy Bartle-Jones, the Regimental Adjutant, said: “From the very outset St David’s Day has been central to Welsh Guards history. 

"It was on March 1st in 1915 we first mounted guard at Buckingham Palace and, ever since, we have celebrated it as a regimental day with a service, parade and presentation of leeks.

Welsh Guards mark their own St David’s Day heritage

"The day acknowledges our roots, which are firmly based in Wales as the Welsh Regiment of Foot Guards.”

The Guardsmen will also face the Lance Corporals at rugby for the Soko Shield, played in memory of Guardsman Lemeki Soko, who died in 2018.

A contingent from the 5th/7th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) will also celebrate St David’s Day at Windsor, reflecting a formal affiliation with the Welsh Guards dating back to 1965.

Guy added: “A detachment of the RAR was also present in 2023 at the St David’s Day parade at the barracks, which was the first attended by HRH The Prince of Wales on his appointment as Colonel of the Welsh Guards.

"It is very much a day of togetherness and we will always celebrate this special occasion wherever we are in the world.”

Preparing for deployment to Cyprus

The battalion is preparing for a deployment to Cyprus, marking only the second time the Welsh Guards have been stationed on the island — the previous deployment being in 1975 as part of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force.

The battalion will assume responsibility for security across the sovereign base areas before transitioning to its role as the Regional Operations Battalion, providing Defence with a rapidly deployable strategic option in the event of instability across the Middle East or Africa.