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The Welsh Guards
The Welsh Guards was raised on 26 February 1915 by order of King George V, seeing action in France during the Great War.
During the Second World War, the 1st Battalion was part of the British Expeditionary Force and later fought in all the campaigns of North West Europe. The 2nd Battalion was formed in 1939 and in 1941, a 3rd Battalion was raised and fought throughout the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns. The 1st and 2nd Battalion formed part of the Guards Armoured Division working together and were the first troops to re-enter Brussels on 3 September 1944, after an advance of 100 miles in a single day.
Battalions during the Second World War.
- 1st Battalion
- 2nd Battalion
- 3rd Battalion
Grandfather with two Welsh Guard Friends
These photos are of my grandfather, Thomas Edwin Peedle, in the Welsh Guards, between the years of 1930 and 1945, approximately. I can't give you any names as I don't know who they are. I am hoping that someone will be able to identify some of them. There is a photo that has SAS Concentration camp, Polygan Camp, stated it on the back of it, that was taken in the desert in Egypt. My grandfather, died in December, 1980, he was 68 years old. Sorry I can't tell you any more about the pictures, hopefully someone can help more. Thanking you muchly.
I was born in 1919,in a small mid wales village Caersws Powys. Took the Kings shilling in 1938, serving in Gibralter at the outbreak of WW2. Transferred to British Expeditionary Forces, took part in the Battle of Arras Belguem, then Dunkirk, and later in the Guards Armoured Division in Normandy etc. I was discharged after serving 8 years and 88 days.
All day the sounds of gunfire,exploding shells, screaming planes, exploding bombs, all causing death and destruction. Long lines of Soldiers leaving the flimsy safety of the sand dunes, the lucky ones boarding boats, and being rowed out to larger ships and survival. This was the scene on the beach at Dunkirk, with the British Army, and their French allies desperately trying to escape from the approaching German Army.
After dark the sounds of warfare gradually decreased, with just the movement of solitary soldiers standing on watch for incoming boats, leaving their comrades to try to sleep up on the sand dunes. As one of the watching soldiers, i remember that strange feeling of a complete lull from all the noise, as though all the world had been stilled. Then as I looked around seeing the ships on fire,the smoking town behind me, the only sounds that of the hissing and sighing of the waves at my feet, with bits of equipment, and dead bodies of Soldiers and Seamen being washed ashore.
In that brief spell just before dawn when all is silently awaiting that first burst of life, amongst all that death and destruction, I suddenly realised that I was also looking at an incredable scene of indescribable beauty. The effervesant sand sparkled like a field of diamonds,with the ebb and flow of the tide along the shoreline. The bodiesof the dead lying at the water's edge,all encased in effervesence, as though annointed with a HALo of reverance.
The quietness, the effervesence, the smoke and flames, all combined to give a feeling that just for that brief time some unseen hand had created a picture of intense beauty, and i was left with the feeling that I was privileged to experience something very special, even in that time of great stress. Then suddenly a shout,as more boats appeared, the vision vanished, and the mayhem started again.
A.R.Lewis
Photographs
If you have any Photographs you would like to share please get in touch.
List of those who served with The Welsh Guards during WW2.
- CSM A R "David" Lewis. Read his story
- Thomas Edwin Peedle. Read his Story
- Capt Percival R. J. "Dai" Tilley Read his Story
- Major Clixby Fitzwilliams. 2nd btn. Read his Story
If you have any names to add to this list, or any recollections or photos of those listed, please get in touch.
If you have a story which you would like to share, or a website dedicated to a soldier or regiment please get in touch.
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