284 lines
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284 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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obituaries
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military-obituaries
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army-obituaries
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8529275
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-----
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# Major-General Peter Welsh
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## Major-General Peter Welsh, who died on April 17 aged 80, commanded one of
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the resident battalions in Derry during the events of "Bloody Sunday".
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![][1]
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Maj-Gen Peter Welsh
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5:15PM BST 22 May 2011
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[Comments][2]
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Welsh took command of 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets (2 RGJ) in 1971.
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By the following January the battalion was only halfway through its 18-month
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tour in Northern Ireland.
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The problems that had begun with young men chucking stones had intensified.
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Nail bombs and petrol bombs were being thrown; houses were set on fire to draw
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the soldiers into streets where snipers were hiding; and gunmen used the cover
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of rioters to set up ambushes.
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It was a constant struggle to keep one step ahead of these rapidly changing
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tactics, but Welsh made it clear to his men that the policy remained one of
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containment, not domination.
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On January 30 1972, when the civil rights march at the centre of the ensuing
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controversy took place, he deployed only one company in Derry. Its task was to
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man a checkpoint known as Barrier 14 and prevent the protesters getting into
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the city centre. His other companies were held in reserve.
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That afternoon, Welsh was in a helicopter flying over the Bogside. His role
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was to observe what was happening on the ground, to inform Brigade HQ of the
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exact route of the march and to ascertain whether separation between the
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peaceful marchers and the rioters had occurred.
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The Inquiry into the events of that day, chaired by Lord Saville, was told
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that Welsh had expressed his misgivings to a senior officer that units of 1st
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Battalion the Parachute Regiment were to be deployed during the march, given
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their reputation for toughness.
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In his report into the tragedy in which 13 civilians lost their lives, Saville
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singled out for commendation 2 RGJ for the restraint and proportionality with
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which they had responded to the rioting. Welsh was appointed OBE at the end of
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his tour.
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Peter Miles Welsh, the son of Brigadier WM Welsh, DSO, MC, was born in London
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on December 23 1930. At Winchester he was in the cricket and soccer XIs. He
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also gained his colours at athletics and was in the racquets pair that won the
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public school doubles in 1949.
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After Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps and
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served in BAOR with the 2nd Battalion. In 1958 he joined the Kenya Regiment on
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attachment and, after Staff College, was posted to 129 Brigade (TA) as brigade
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major.
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Welsh then commanded a company of 2 GJ in the Far East. In the course of a
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five-month operational tour in Sarawak in 1965 during the "Confrontation" with
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Indonesia, he led a large number of successful fighting patrols.
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These involved crossing wide, deep, fast-flowing rivers in full equipment. The
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riflemen were frequently out of their depth and the threat of an enemy attack
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by machine guns or mortar fire was ever present, but he inflicted significant
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losses on the enemy without losing a single man or weapon. He was awarded an
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MC, his citation stating that his courage, calmness and determination to close
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with the enemy were an inspiration to the whole battalion.
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In 1967 Welsh moved to the MoD as military assistant to the Assistant Chief of
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Defence Staff. He was a member of the directing staff at Staff College,
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Camberley, before commanding 2 RGJ in Northern Ireland, Catterick and Belize.
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In 1974 he commanded 5 Airportable Brigade and then moved to HQ BAOR as
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Brigadier General Staff. Two years with the Light Division in Winchester
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followed and, from 1983 to 1985, he was president of the Regular Commissions
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Board in the rank of major-general. He retired from the Army in 1986.
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Welsh was an accomplished boxer and also a first-rate shot. He twice won the
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Henry Whitehead Cup at Bisley and represented the Army six times in the United
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Services' Cup. At racquets, he won the Army Doubles in 1952 and 1953 and the
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Combined Services Doubles in 1953. He also played squash for the Army.
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A large man and the most generous of hosts, he was a connoisseur of food and
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cooking. He married rather late, and when he was invited out to dinner by
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young married couples, there were a few anxious moments until he had taken his
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first mouthful. After a nod of approval from him, the party could relax and
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enjoy themselves.
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Welsh had no children of his own. He married, in 1974, June McCausland (_nee_
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Macadam), and made a great contribution to the family, which had been
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devastated by the murder by the IRA in 1972 of June's husband, Captain Marcus
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McCausland, an officer in the Ulster Defence Regiment.
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In retirement, settled near Ballykelly, he helped to organise successful fund-
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raising events for many charitable organisations, including the British Heart
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Foundation.
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Peter Welsh is survived by his wife and by two stepsons and a stepdaughter.
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Telegraph
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## [Army Obituaries][8]
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* ### [News »][9]
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* ### [Obituaries »][10]
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* ### [Military Obituaries »][11]
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In news
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[![Captain Dickie Annand][12] ][13]
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### [Captain Dickie Annand VC][13]
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[![Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe][14] ][15]
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### [Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe][15]
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[![Khushwaqt][16] ][17]
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### [Colonel Khushwaqt-ul-Mulk][17]
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[![Amedeo Guillet][18] ][19]
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### [Amedeo Guillet][19]
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[![][20] ][21]
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### [General Marcel Bigeard][21]
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