Feature

Meet The Royal Welsh's New Kid On The Block

One of the British Army's youngest ever recruits has finished basic training and joined his regiment.

Almost 500 soldiers of Wiltshire-based 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh lined the route as Fusilier (Fus) Llywelyn took his first steps on a road to a sparkling military career.

In weather more akin to his native Welsh mountains, Fus Llyewlyn put his best hoof forward, taking pride of place as he led the annual Rorke’s Drift parade in the garrison town of Tidworth.

A goat has taken the lead at every Royal Welsh parade for centuries, so following the death of his predecessor, Lance Corporal Gwillam ‘Taffy VI’ Jenkins in May of last year, the battalion lost no time in recruiting a replacement.

After receiving approval from Her Majesty the Queen to select and recruit a new regimental goat from the Royal herd at the Great Orme in Wales, the selection process started.

The regiment said he was chosen after an "arduous survey" of the herd, having stood out after showing "more promise than the others".

He'll parade in London for the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations later this year and will also spend the summer as part of the Buckingham Palace guard.

Since the earliest days of the regimental goat, it has been traditional for a young member of the battalion to be awarded the honorary title of ‘Goat Major’, and from the moment Fus Llywelyn was recruited, his goat major has been by his side. They bear overall responsibility for Llywelyn and daily duties include watering, feeding, exercising and grooming.

The current Goat Major for the 1 R Welsh is Fusilier Mathew Owen from Gwalchmai on Anglesey, North Wales.

Fusilier Owen is an experienced Goat Major, having had responsibility for the Battalion’s previous goats Billy and Taffy VI, but this was Mathew’s first official parade with his new ward. Mathew said:

“Since he was recruited in November Llywelyn has undergone intensive training, and preparing for his pass out today. He worked very hard this morning and was absolutely fantastic. Llywelyn has loved the attention, he is one for stardom.”

Fusilier Owen added that he is honoured to work with Fus Llywelyn, who's been dubbed 'the new kid on the block' by his regiment. The mascot's accomodation at barracks includes a sleeping area, paddock, sofa and radio.

The battalion’s antecedent regiments have had a goat at the head of their parades since the late 1700s and there are many stories as to why a goat may have been chosen, from being taken into battle to be eaten, to tales of derring-do where heroic goats bleated the alarm to sentrys, thus saving the men.

It is possible though that the wild goat, which was once common amongst the mountains of Wales, was regarded as a familiar part of the Welsh landscape and it was therefore only natural that it was chosen as a symbol to remind the soldiers of ‘home’, a tradition that remains to this day.

The Welsh Regiments have been presented with a goat by every reigning monarch since 1844, when Queen Victoria presented the Royal Welch Fusiliers with its first official ‘Royal Goat’.