Pupils of a Caernarfon primary school have been given a taste of more than 300 years of the history and heritage of one of the British Army’s most famous infantry regiments.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers, which fought its first campaign in 1689, has been running a programme of schools events, including recent outreach visits, sponsored by Swayne Johnson, one of North Wales’s oldest law firms, from its museum in Caernarfon Castle.
The regiment draws its recruits mainly from North Wales and its battle honours include Waterloo, the Boer War, both world wars and peace-keeping missions in Bosnia in the 1990s before it was merged into the Royal Welsh Regiment.
Museum staff with their expert re-enactors have taken the story of the regiment’s role and its history to Prestatyn High School and Ysgol Glan Clwyd, St Asaph, this year and have just hosted a visit from Ysgol Santes Helen, Caernarfon.
Shirley Williams, the Museum’s Education Officer, said: “We reach out to schools across North Wales, mainly to deliver World War One and Two workshops.
“We host visits from schools at the museum and also have an outreach programme and the sponsorship from Swayne Johnson helps us reduce the costs to the schools.
“We’re lucky to have our expert re-enactors, Jerry Bone and Lorraine Lister, who have a fantastic collection of memorabilia which we can take with us to anywhere in North Wales.
“I can contact schools and let them know the offer is there and if we have grant funding such as we have had from Swayne Johnson then we can offer the visits free of charge.
“It’s down to the generosity of firms like Swayne Johnson and to support from the Thomas Howell Fund that we haven’t had to charge for the past seven years.”
Lawyer Kaye Jones, who heads up Swayne Johnson’s Private Client Team at their Llandudno Office, paid a visit to the museum and said: “The Museum provides a fascinating insight into the history of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, a regiment that has been such an important part of the heritage of North Wales for so long.
“There must be so many families who have had relatives and ancestors that served in the regiment over so many years, particularly in the First and Second World Wars.
“Their outreach programme and the schools visits they host continue the link between the people of North Wales and the regiment that has endured for so long and at Swayne Johnson we’re happy to be able to support that tradition.”
Famous Royal Welch Fusiliers include Hedd Wyn and fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon, artist Sir Kyffin Williams, Lloyd George’s youngest son Gwilym, and Coronation Street star William Roache.
