Tom Baker heads to the ancient hold of Caernarfon Castle, keen to see the vast collection of one of the UK’s most prestigious infantry regiments
The Bishop tells us: ‘When the boys come back, they will not be the same’” wrote Royal Welch Fusilier and poet Siegfried Sassoon, who left his innocence behind in France when he returned to England in 1918. Sassoon described the brutality of the trenches in They and Counter Attack. His works inspired a literary change in Britain with fellow Royal Welch Fusilier poets Robert Graves, David Jones and Hedd Wyn perpetuating a literary renaissance that forwent the archaic styles of innocence in favour of “harshly realistic laments”. So resonant was the impact that the Royal Welch earned the everlasting moniker of the ‘Regiment of Poets’.
A poetic tradition was not the only heritage that defined the regiment. From the custom of presenting a regimental goat to retaining the ‘black flash’, the Royal Welch Fusiliers are famed for their distinguished history. Today, over 3,600 items from the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, held within the looming towers of Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd, Wales, present the illustrious service of one of Britain’s oldest regiments. Origina…
