Tagged with: Military
Posts (14)
A Mercantile Marine Medal mystery
Cat Whiteaway
In my spare time when I am not reuniting people I love to try and solve a riddle - and I'm not talking about Sudoko. This year it seemed obvious to me that the most poignant riddles waiting to be solved are those which involve WW1 medals.
The South Wales Borderers and D-Day
Phil Carradice
D-Day, 6 June 1944. Shortly before dawn, the greatest sea-borne armada in the history of the world anchored off northern France preparing to disembark thousands of American, British and Commonwealth troops onto five pre-ordained invasion beaches.
CSM Fred Barter of Cardiff wins the Victoria Cross
Phil Carradice
Company Sergeant Major Fred Barter was Cardiff’s first Victoria Cross winner in the Great War.
The Defensible Barracks - a Victorian wonder
Phil Carradice
Contrary to what many people believe, the west wales town of Pembroke Dock was never a naval town like Plymouth or Portsmouth. It was a dockyard town, a place that built ships, launched them into the waters of Milford Haven - and never saw them again once they had sailed off to duties in many ot...
Welsh Victoria Cross winners
Phil Carradice
The Victoria Cross is the highest decoration available for men and women who have performed acts of great valour in the face of the enemy. Since it was introduced during the Crimean War, the medal has been awarded to just under 1,400 people but, surprisingly perhaps, only 39 of those individuals...
The Llanfair PG column
Phil Carradice
People in Wales might be excused for failing to see the significance of the date 24 November 1816. On the face of it, little happened in the world at large on that day. Yet in the tiny Welsh village of Llanfair PG on Ynys Mon - or Anglesey as it was then known - a great celebration was takin...
American GIs in Wales
Phil Carradice
During World War Two nearly three million American soldiers and airmen were sent to Britain, most of them arriving in the years 1943 and 1944, prior to the D-Day landings in France. General Dwight Eisenhower arrived in Tenby by train. Wales housed more than its fair share of these exub...
Thomas Collins: the youngest man at Rorke's Drift?
Phil Carradice
The story of the defence of Rorke's Drift has gone down in Welsh folklore. The defenders were mainly - but not totally - from B Company, 24th Regiment of Foot, later known as the South Wales Borderers, and took place on the night of 22-23 January 1879. 7 Victoria Cross medals went to th...
Aces on film
James Roberts
In a recent blog article, we touched upon the role of Welsh pilots in the Battle of Britain. One of the most notable men that faced the might of the German Luftwaffe in 1940 and beyond was Wrexham-born Air Chief Marshall Sir Frederick Rosier. This rare BBC News clip from April 1968 catches u...
General Picton: a fast and furious life
Phil Carradice
Wales has had many heroes over the years but none more controversial than Thomas Picton, the most senior British officer to fall at Waterloo. He was a brave and wholehearted man but a temperamental one, a general and administrator whose motto seems to have been "make them respect and hate you...
