page_title: Welsh Guards
section_title: Present day
hierarchical_section_title: Welsh Guards / History / Present day
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Военный парад, посвящённый 65-летию Победы в Великой Отечественной войне.
context_page_description: The Welsh Guards, part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. Shortly after the regiment's formation, it was deployed to France where it took part in the fighting on the Western Front until the end of the war in November 1918. During the inter-war years, the regiment undertook garrison duties in the United Kingdom, except 1929–1930 when it deployed to Egypt, and late 1939 when it deployed to Gibraltar.
  The regiment was expanded to three battalions during the Second World War, and served in France, North Africa, Tunisia, Italy and Western Europe. In the post war period, the regiment was reduced to a single battalion and saw service in Palestine, Egypt, West Germany, Aden, Northern Ireland, and Cyprus. In 1982, the regiment took part in the Falklands War. In the 21st century, the regiment has deployed as peacekeepers to Bosnia, and on operations to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
context_section_description: In 1984, the Welsh Guards arrived in Hohne, West Germany as part of the 22nd Armoured Brigade and two years later arrived in Northern Ireland for another tour-of-duty before returning to Germany. The regiment returned home to Elizabeth Barracks, Pirbright in 1988. In 1989 The Welsh Guards conducted a six month operational roulement Battalion tour of Belize from April to October 1989 and in 1992 arrived in Northern Ireland for a two year deployment as part of 8th Infantry Brigade. During their tour of Northern Ireland the BBC filmed the documentary In the Company of Men by Molly Dineen, which filmed a deployment to the heavily nationalist County Fermanagh during the regiment's tour.
  On 6 September 1997, 12 Guardsmen of the Welsh Guards led by the adjutant of the 1st Battalion, "The Prince of Wales" Company, Captain Richard Williams MC, hero in 1993 of the Khmer Rouge incident in which he was captured defending civilians in Cambodia, were pulled from security patrols in South Armagh, Northern Ireland and together with members of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery escorted the casket of Diana, Princess of Wales, from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.
  In 2002, the regiment arrived in Bosnia as part of SFOR, a NATO-led force intended to ensure peace and stability in the Balkan nation. During their deployment the Queen Mother died. A number of officers of the Welsh Guards stood in vigil around the Queen Mother's coffin which was lying in state in Westminster Hall, one of a number of regiments to do so. The regiment returned home from its deployment to Bosnia later in the year. It was involved in Operation Fresco, the British armed forces response to the firefighters strike; the Welsh Guards covered the Midlands area, primarily in Birmingham using the antiquated Army Green Goddess fire engines.
  In 2003, the Welsh Guards experienced a unique moment in their history when they moved from Aldershot to RAF St Athan, Wales.
  In 2005, the Welsh Guards were part of Operation Telic and were based in Basra, Southern Iraq. Here they used valuable relationship-building skills, learnt from their time in Bosnia, to build a bond between the regiment and the locals.
  In 2006, the regiment returned to London as a public duties battalion. It will alternate this role with the Grenadier Guards. The regiment deployed to Bosnia in October 2006, replacing the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment. In November 2007, the regiment deployed to Belize at short notice to take part in jungle warfare training, they returned just before Christmas.
  In 2008, the Welsh Guards moved from London to Lille Barracks in Aldershot, in preparation for deployment on Operation Herrick 10 in Afghanistan. The regiment departed in April 2009. Six members of the battalion were killed, among them a platoon commander, a company commander and the battalion commander. It was the first time since the Korean War that a single battalion had lost officers at these three key levels of leadership. The six-month tour was chronicled in the book Dead Men Risen; the Welsh Guards and the Defining Story of Britain's War in Afghanistan by Toby Harnden, which won the Orwell Prize for Books 2012.
  On 1 July 2009, Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe MBE was killed along with Trooper Joshua Hammond of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, following the detonation of an IED in Afghanistan under their BvS 10 Viking during Operation Panther's Claw. Lieutenant-Colonel Thorneloe was the highest ranking British Army officer killed since Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert "H" Jones, VC OBE, in the Falkland Islands.
  As a result of the Army 2020 Refine reforms, the battalion moved to Combermere Barracks which was the former home to the armoured regiment of the Household Cavalry.
caption: The Welsh Guards marching in the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade in Moscow, Russia.
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