Number Three Company
No 3 Company, the ‘Little Iron Men’, will be marking the WG 100 in their distinctive indomitable style in 2015 and are hugely looking forward to the challenges that this important year will bring. With marathons planned in Tunisia, and ‘iron man’ cycling in Italy the Company will be remembering and celebrating the achievements of previous Welsh Guardsmen in these campaigns. This will also be a chance for us to reflect upon our recent operational history; we have soldiers currently in the company who have served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan so for some such memories are still fresh.
TUNIS
Number Three Company will be following in the footsteps of the Third Battalion Welsh Guards who fought in the North African Campaign. The team will deploy to Tunisia and conduct Battlefield Tours and run marathons in Fondouk, Hammam Lif and Tunis
HAMMAM LIF
FONDOUK
NAPLES
MONTE CASSINO
The 3rd Battalion Welsh Guards landed in Naples with the 1st Guards Brigade and fought its first action of the campaign at Monte Ornito. Number Three Company will cycle the route of advance, covering sixty miles per day over extremely undulating terrain, stopping off at Monte Ornito, Cassino and Piccolo where the 3rd Battalion fought with distinction in the early stages of the campaign. The cycling route will continue up to Terni, which Allied Forces took on 13 June 1944.
TERNI
CAPTURE OF PERUGIA
The cycling tour will follow the Tiber valley up to Perugia, the capture of which was greatly assisted by Welsh Guards action in nearby San Marco, stopping off at Arezzo where the Battalion also fought, before retracing the ‘Advance to Florence’.
FLORENCE
MONTE BATTAGLIA
GOTHIC LINE
The final stretch of the Number Three Company Leg will pass through Battaglia and Bologna, finishing in Venice.
VENICE
During the WG100 we will be focusing on Tunisia and Italy. Both countries the Welsh Guards served in during WW2. In 1943 the Welsh Guards fought in Tunisia as part of the North African campaign and in Italy as part of the Allied advance into Europe. During our marathons we shall be visiting battle sites where the Regiment served, including Monte Cassino, the first time that No 3 coy has travelled here since the war. Both countries will also come with their own quota of arduous legs. For example in Italy we will be cycling 106 kms on day eleven, no small feat after ten consecutive days on the road!
The WG100 comes at a great time for the Iron Men. In the last twelve months we have trained in Belize, Kenya, Spain, Otterburn and Lydd as well as conducting state ceremonial at the Cenotaph and the State Opening of Parliament. All of these activities demonstrate just how busy and varied life in No 3 Company can be. It is this contrast that Welsh Guardsmen sign up for: adventure, hard work and fun.
The WG100 will be tough and soon the company will begin preparing for this challenge. Not only will the soldiers train in work but also an event of this nature will demand commitment out of the workplace; it promises to be an experience that won’t be forgotten easily.
