Royal Welsh

The Royal Welsh (R WELSH) (Welsh: Y Cymry Brenhinol) is one of the new large infantry regiments of the British Army. Its formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry and it was actually formed on St David's Day, 1 March 2006. The 2nd Battalion, The Royal Welsh (Royal Regiment of Wales), is to be scrapped as part of the Army 2020 defence review. A more recent news report stated that "it will in fact be the 1st Battalion which will disappear, being dissolved into the 2nd Battalion with the latter then being renamed as the 1st.". After the restructuring and reorganisation of the army in 2006, the Royal Welsh is one of three regiments to trace its lineage and draw its recruits primarily from Wales.

Formation

The Royal Welsh consists of just one Regular Army battalion, plus an Army Reserve battalion, and was created through the merger of two single battalion regiments. The former regiments formed part of the battalion title (in brackets):