Welsh Guards

01/09/2026

Arras. The city that remembered.

On 2 September 1944, Major John Miller of the Welsh Guards found a suitcase waiting for him in Arras.
He had left it behind when the 1st Battalion withdrew from the city in May 1940. Four years of occupation had passed, but Madame Derambure, whose family had accommodated him at their farm, had kept it safe.
She returned his shirts, pyjamas and other clothing freshly laundered.

That same day, another resident handed back a rifle belonging to No. 4 Company. It too had been hidden and protected since 1940.

The relationship between Arras and the Welsh Guards had begun much earlier. The 1st Battalion arrived on the Arras front in December 1917. On 28 March 1918, during the German Spring Offensive, the Battalion helped hold the line near Boyelles. The name ARRAS, 1918 remains among the Regiment’s battle honours.

The Welsh Guards defended Arras again in May 1940. During the withdrawal, Lieutenant the Honourable Christopher Furness, already wounded, led three carriers against a German position blocking the escape route.
His carrier was disabled, and its driver and gunner were killed. Furness continued the attack on foot and fought until he was killed, buying time for a column of more than forty vehicles, some carrying wounded men, to escape.
He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

On 1 September 1944, the 1st Battalion returned to Arras. The soldiers who had been among the last British troops to leave in 1940 were now among the first to return as liberators.

Eighty years later, on 1 September 2024, the Welsh Guards returned once more and received the Freedom of the City.

The battle honour records the fighting. The hidden rifle, carefully guarded suitcase and freshly laundered clothes tell us something else.

The people of Arras had not forgotten.

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Photo 1: Major John Miller of the Welsh Guards, pictured behind Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Lord Mountbatten. It was Miller who, on returning to Arras in September 1944, was reunited with the suitcase he had been forced to leave behind during the withdrawal four years earlier.

Photo 2: Major John Miller in his later ceremonial appointment as Gold Stick Sergeant, pictured with two of the famous Windsor Greys and the Gold State Coach. Miller went on to have a distinguished association with the Royal Household following his wartime service with the Welsh Guards.

Photo 3: Tanks of the Guards Armoured Division advancing towards Arras on 1 September 1944, as British forces swept through northern France following the breakout from Normandy. Four years after the Welsh Guards had fought their way out of the area, Guardsmen were returning as liberators.

31/08/2026

Why do our Lance Corporals wear two stripes?

Ranks and appointments in the Foot Guards can be slightly confusing to anyone looking in from the outside.

Our Lance Corporals wear two stripes. Our Corporals are appointed Lance Sergeants and wear three. We also retain a number of ranks, appointments and badges that are rarely seen elsewhere in the British Army.

The graphics explain the rank structure and some of the appointments found across the Household Division, including the Drill Sergeant, Drum Major, Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, Regimental Sergeant Major, Garrison Sergeant Major London District and the lesser known Superintending Clerk Household Division.

But why does a Guards Lance Corporal wear two stripes?

For that we have to go back to the reign of Queen Victoria.

Guards tradition has it that Queen Victoria did not like seeing members of her Guards wearing a single chevron while guarding the Royal Palaces. The story passed down through generations is that she directed that Guards Lance Corporals should wear two instead.

What we do know is that Foot Guards Lance Corporals changed from one to two chevrons during the 1880s, during Queen Victoria’s reign. Whether the Queen personally ordered the change for that reason is less certain, and it remains one of those great pieces of Guards history and folklore.

More than a century later, the tradition remains.

Our Lance Corporals wear two stripes, our Corporals are Lance Sergeants, and the Household Division continues to maintain ranks, appointments and insignia with a history all of their own.

Have a look through the graphics and see how many you recognise.

We do things differently in the Guards.

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28/08/2026

READY IS BUILT EVERY DAY.

Fitness in the Welsh Guards is not something we switch on for a test. It is part of our working routine and one of the foundations of being ready.

Training changes with the demands of the job. One day might focus on strength and conditioning. Another on running, circuits, obstacles, loaded movement, mobility or recovery. Sometimes we train individually. More often, we train alongside the people we may one day rely on when effort matters more than comfort.

Why is it important?

The job can mean moving across difficult ground, carrying equipment, helping a teammate and continuing to think clearly when the body is tired. Being fast helps. Being strong helps. Being useful at the end matters most.

Daily fitness also builds something harder to measure: confidence and trust. You learn to manage discomfort, keep going and bring others with you. Nobody becomes fit through one heroic session. It comes from consistency, good coaching and turning up again tomorrow.

We do not train simply to pass a test.

We train so we are ready when tested.

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27/08/2026

27/08/2026

EYES FRONT. SIX DIFFERENCES.

Attention to detail matters in the Welsh Guards. Today, it is your turn to face inspection.

There are six changes to the uniform and Colour hidden between these two photographs. Some are obvious. Others might test even the sharpest eye.

Can you find all six?

Tell us your score in the comments, but do not give the game away. Answers tomorrow.

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26/08/2026

LEADERSHIP ISN'T ISSUED WITH RANK.

In the Welsh Guards, it starts long before the first stripe or pip.

First comes self-discipline: know your job, uphold the standard, look after the people around you and do the right thing when nobody is watching.

Then comes responsibility. Guardsmen are given opportunities to plan, brief, make decisions and take charge. They are trained, tested, coached and trusted. Afterwards, they review what worked, face what did not and go again.

The setting may change. On public duties, leadership demands precision, composure and attention to detail. In the field, it calls for judgement, resilience and clear thinking under pressure. Polished boots or boots covered in mud, the principle is the same: set the example.

Leadership here is not about being the loudest person in the room. It is about knowing your people, earning their trust and putting the team before yourself.

We do not wait for leaders to appear. We develop them, deliberately.

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25/08/2026

THE ART OF THE BERET

The beret may feel as British Army as boots and webbing, but it is actually a relatively modern addition to our uniform.

It first entered British Army service in the 1920s with the Royal Tank Corps, whose crews needed something practical to wear inside cramped armoured vehicles. By the Second World War, berets had spread across the Army, with different colours becoming associated with particular regiments, corps and formations.

Then, of course, there is the Guards Division way of wearing one.

For generations of Guardsmen, a brand-new beret has never simply come out of the packet and gone straight onto your head. It needs work.

Hot water is usually involved. The beret is soaked, fitted and painstakingly moulded to the shape of your head, sometimes worn for hours and, in more determined cases, slept in overnight. Then comes the razor. New berets can be surprisingly fluffy, so shaving the surface down gives them that cleaner, sharper Guards appearance.

And for the particularly discerning Guardsman? The standard lining has occasionally been replaced with silk, because apparently there are levels to this game.

In the Welsh Guards, as across the Guards Division, there has always been a particular way of shaping and wearing the beret. But fashions change. Look through photographs of Guardsmen from the 1960s, 80s, 2000s and today and you will see the shape, height and amount of material pulled over the side gradually changing.

Every generation thinks theirs was the correct way.

And somewhere, right now, an old-school Guardsman is looking at a young Guardsman's beret and quietly losing his mind.

Some traditions are written down.

Others are learned in the block.

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24/08/2026

The Weapons that won the Falklands war.

The Falklands Conflict was fought across the sea, in the air and on unforgiving ground. This excellent film from the Imperial War Museums explores the weapons, aircraft and equipment that helped shape the British campaign, from the Sea Harrier and Sidewinder missile to naval firepower, infantry weapons and armoured support.

Combining historic footage, clear maps and surviving artefacts, the IWM has produced an informative and exceptionally well-told account of the conflict.

For the Welsh Guards, the Falklands remains a deeply significant chapter in our Regimental history. We highly recommend taking the time to watch this superb video.

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22/08/2026

WHAT IF ONE DAY COULD CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF YOUR LIFE?

You can read about life in the Infantry. You can watch it online. You can hear stories from those who have served.

Or you can come and experience a little of it for yourself.

On Wednesday 26 August, the Infantry Experience ’26 Open Day at Warminster gives you the chance to meet serving Infantry soldiers, get hands-on with our equipment, try the indoor weapons simulator and ask the questions that actually matter before deciding whether a career in the British Army could be for you.

No pressure. No obligation. Just an opportunity to step through the door, speak to the people already doing the job and find out what life in the Infantry is really like.

If you have ever wondered whether you have what it takes, this is where you start.

Parents and guardians are very welcome to come along too.

Infantry Experience ’26
Wednesday 26 August 2026
Warminster, Wiltshire
Free event

Find out more and register via the link in our stories and the pinned first comment on this post.

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21/08/2026

Legacy is not something you simply inherit. It is something you prove you are worthy of.

Wearing the Welsh Guards badge means carrying the standards, history and reputation of every Guardsman who came before you.

Your place is earned through discipline, commitment and the way you perform when nobody is watching.

The legacy is waiting. Earn your place in it.

Search Army Jobs and join the Welsh Guards.

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