The regiment was formed in 1969 by the amalgamation of the
South Wales Borderers and the
Welch Regiment. The then Prince Charles (later King
Charles III) was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the new regiment in early 1969, his first Army appointment. The amalgamation parade of the two regiments took place in
Cardiff Castle in early 1969, in front of the then Prince Charles. From 1969 to 1973 the regiment was posted to
Osnabrück in
West Germany, returning to Northern Ireland on two occasions for short tours. The battalion returned to Belfast in 1973 for two years as the resident unit then in 1975 it was posted for two years in
West Berlin. In 1977 the battalion were brought back to the United Kingdom and posted to
Aldershot, also during this period they spent time in
Belize and
Hong Kong as well as on exercise in Germany and a further tour in Northern Ireland. The battalion re-enacted the defence of
Rorke's Drift as part of the centenary events at the Cardiff Castle Tattoo in 1979. Towards the end of 1979, soldiers from the regiment were to play a significant role during Operation Agila, which monitored the fragile ceasefire in
Rhodesia (now
Zimbabwe) prior to and during the first all-party elections. In 1982 the regiment was posted to
Lemgo in West Germany to begin a six-year tour of duty as a Mechanised Infantry Battalion. Northern Ireland continued to dominate life in the battalion’s history and during this period. Of particular note was its deployment to Belfast for an emergency tour in May 1981 during which the regiment formed the spearhead for the funeral of hunger-striker
Bobby Sands. There were further operational tours in the province of Northern Ireland during 1983-84 and 1986-87. In 1988 the regiment returned to the United Kingdom to
Warminster in
Wiltshire as the School of Infantry's Demonstration Battalion and in 1990 the regiment arrived in Hong Kong where it was deployed to the Sino-Hong Kong Border and also carried out anti-smuggling operations with the police. In 1992 the regiment returned to Britain to be stationed at
Clive Barracks in
Shropshire and in 1994 the regiment changed roles and began an intense period of Northern Ireland training prior to its deployment to
Shackleton Barracks in
County Londonderry as a Resident Battalion. The regiment moved to
Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow in
London in 1996 and then moved to
Paderborn (Germany) to take up an Armoured Infantry role, equipped with Warrior armoured fighting vehicles, in
1st (UK) Armoured Division, part of
NATO's
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in 1998. The regiment deployed operationally to
Bosnia (Operation PALATINE) in 1999, C coy also deployed to
Kosovo (Operation AGRICOLA) 1999 and 2000 and to
Iraq (
Operation Telic 3) in 2003. It moved to
Tidworth in 2005 and units were deployed on Operation Telic 6 later that year. On 1 March 2006 it was announced that, as part of the reorganisation of the infantry, the
Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot) would amalgamate to form the
Royal Welsh. This occurred on 1 March 2006,
St David's Day, the national day of Wales. == Colonel-in-Chief ==