Battledress Officer Royal Welch Fusilliers

Pattern 1940 jacket with original “Flash” and mounted insignia of a Lieutenant Royal Welch Fusiliers 71th Brigade of the 53rd British Infantry Division 

Size 13 and dated 1943 

This item is in excellent condition, with a few traces of wear. 

The “Flash” is a regimental distinction of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, shared by no other regiment in the British Army.

This distinction dates back to the early 18th century, when soldiers wore their hair in a braided tail.

The tail was abolished in 1808, but the Royal Welch Fusiliers ignored the order to remove the five black ribbons from the collar of their coat.

Initially stationed in Nova Scotia, their disobedience was hardly noticed, but back in England in 1834, a General Inspector ordered the Royal Welch Fusiliers to remove the ribbons, and the regiment appealed to King William IV to override the order.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers won the right to wear the “Flash” as a regimental distinction, and still do today.