Discover if your relative served with the Welsh Guards during World War 1. The records will reveal your ancestor’s soldier number, rank, if he served with regiments before the Welsh Guards and his place of birth. This is valuable information for your family history. This database of 4,060 names includes a list of officers who served with the Welsh Guards and nominal roll of Warrant Officers and NCOs (Non-commissioned officers).
Discover if your relative served with the Welsh Guards during World War 1. The records will reveal your ancestor’s soldier number, rank, if he served with regiments before the Welsh Guards and his place of birth. This is valuable information for your family history. This database of 4,060 names includes a list of officers who served with the Welsh Guards and nominal roll of Warrant Officers and NCOs (Non-commissioned officers).
Each record includes a transcript of the original Welsh Guards register from the First World War. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:
The Welsh Guards regiment was created in 1915 by Royal Warrant. It was the fifth, and to date, last regiment of Foot Guards to be formed. Earl Kitchener, the Secretary of War, was ordered to raise the regiment whose motto ‘Cymru am Byth’ means ‘Wales Forever’.
During the First World War the Welsh Guards received 20 battle honours, Welsh Guardsmen winning many gallantry awards including a first Victoria Cross for the regiment, awarded to Sergeant Robert Bye for conspicuous gallantry at the Yser Canal during the Third battle of Ypres in 1917. Robert Bye is included in this collection.
These records contain the names of 4059 officers, warrant officers, NCOs and men who served with the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards during the First World War. This roll was first published in the History of the Welsh Guards which was authored by C H Dudley Ward DSO, MC and published in 1920. Typical information includes name, rank and regimental number (in the case of WOs, NCOs and ORs), along with details of awards, casualties, including number of times wounded. Place of birth is also recorded and, in the case of officers, details of former regiments, the date of joining the Welsh Guards, their rank on joining and, in some cases, their former rank.