Author: Matthew K Barrett

Lt-Col. C.F.C. Coleman

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Lieutenant-Colonel C.F.C. Coleman
4th Battalion, Welch Regiment

Brigadier Coleman has command his brigade throughout the campaign in North West Europe with an unbroken series of successes. The extraordinary success of his Brigade is very largely due to his ability, energy, personality and disregard of his own personal safety … He can certainly be said to have played a great part in the liberation of Holland

(Order of the Bronze Lion or Medal of the Bronze Cross, 15 Oct 1945)

Born on 16 April 1903 in Stonehouse, Devon, Cyril Frederick Charles Coleman was commissioned into the Welch Regiment after completing RMC, Sandhurst in 1923. With prewar service in China, Malaya and India, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Battalion, Welch Regiment in September 1941. Just as the 53rd Welsh Division deployed to France, on 21 June 1944, Coleman was promoted to brigadier of the 160th Infantry Brigade. His predecessor, General Lashmer Whistler had been elevated to command 3rd Infantry Division.

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Lt-Col. C.H. Bowker

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Lieutenant-Colonel C.H. Bowker
1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment

 

The C.O. was away when I was with the unit, and the second in command, Major C.H. Bowker, was my next introduction. He has had a long experience in the Army and a deep understanding of men. We had some really keen arguments on several occasions on a variety of subjects, but I am sure we understood each other’s point of view, and so far as I am concerned I left him with a deep regard and respect for a fine officer and gentleman.

(T. Longville Bowen, Merthyr Express, 7 Apr 1945, 3)

Born on 28 August 1905 in Bath, Somerset, Charles Harington Bowker was commissioned into the Prince of Wales Volunteers in 1926. Prior to be posted second-in-command of the 1/5th Welch Regiment by 1945, he served in India, including a period reportedly with the Long Range Penetration Groups, the special operations unit known as the Chindts.

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Lt-Col. J.S. Morrison-Jones

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Morrison-Jones
1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment

Throughout the day he was continually with the fwd troops, and by his own complete disregard to danger in very close country, set a very fine example to his Battalion. It was entirely due to this Officer’s drive and imitative that the enemy was driven back across the stream.

(Military Cross citation, 1 March 1945)

Born on 15 October 1912 in Hendon, Middlesex, Jack Spencer Morrison-Jones was a cricket player who in October 1939 took an emergency commission with the Welch Regiment in October 1939. By the time the 53rd Welsh Division landed in Normandy in late June 1944, he had risen to second-in-command of the 1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment. After Lieutenant-Colonel E.R.G. Ripley was accidently killed by a sentry, Morrison-Jones took the unit into battle on 1 July.

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Lt-Col. J.T. Gibson

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Lieutenant-Colonel J.T. Gibson
1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment

“Hoot” Gibson was the hero of many daring escapes. In India, Africa, Sicily, Italy and France, and other fighting fronts wherever the Wech Regiment was in the thick of battle, soldiers talked of him as a dashing, fearless leader whom they would follow “into hell.” In between battles he found time to indulge in hunting and yachting.

(Liverpool Daily Post, 5 Oct 1944, 4)

Born on 18 September 1903 in Deal, Kent, Jack Tremayne Gibson was a sportsman, naturalist and big game hunter. A graduate of RMC, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Welch Regiment in 1923 and served with the King’s African Rifles from 1930 to 1936. He participated in almost every theatre India to North Africa to Europe. He fought with the 1st Battalion, Welch Regiment, surviving the near destruction of the unit twice in Crete and Libya.

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Lt-Col. E.R.G. Ripley

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Lieutenant-Colonel E.R.G. Ripley
1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment

Colonel Ripley, a giant of a man resembling a Viking went on a recce, with me, in a jeep towards the hamlet of Le Valtru. After passing Cheux, he became restless. It was getting dark and approaching the crossroads, he leaped off the jeep and strode down the road towards the buildings. He was challenged by a sentry, failed to respond (he had a hearing defect) and was shot. A dreadful blow at a time when we hadn’t been bloodied.

(Capt. Bill Tudor quoted from Patrick Delaforce, Red Crown and Dragon, 38)

Born on 5 November 1911 in Yorkshire, Edward Robert Guy Ripley was heir to the baronet Ripley, of Acacia, Rawdon, West Riding of Yorkshire and Bedstone House, Shropshire. He was educated at Stowe School, Buckingham and commissioned with the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. His great-grandfather, Sir Henry William Ripley, 1st Baronet (1813–1882) was a member of parliament and his father Henry William Alfred Ripley, 3rd Baronet (1879–1956) was a Boer War veteran and colonel in the First World War.

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Lt-Col. H.W. Tyler

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 Lieutenant-Colonel H.W. Tyler
7th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers

Born on 7 March 1909 in Honiton, Devon, Hugh William Tyler was a Territorial Army officer commissioned into the South Wales Borderers in 1929. He was promoted to captain in 1938, and had served widely before the war including in Japan, Palestine, China, India and Northern Ireland. At the start of the Second World War, he was attached to the headquarters staff of 8th Division.

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Lt-Col. G.F.T.B. Dickson

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Lieutenant-Colonel G.F.T.B. Dickson
7th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers

Bullets spattered on the wall of the house within a few inches of him and one burst of MG fire shot away the rubble of bricks on which he was standing. One bullet from this burst slightly wounded him in the leg. But Col. Dickson remained unperturbed and continued to direct his fire and encouraged his men in their assault. The crossing was made, but there can be no doubt that it succeeded because of Col. Dickson’s outstanding bravery and fine example. 

(D.S.O. citation, 1 March 1945)

Born on 3 August 1914 in London, George Frederick Thomas Benson Dickson was a Territorial Army officer, commissioned with Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1934. He became acting captain in June 1940 and after a period as battalion adjutant he attended staff college. He was promoted to temporary major in late 1941, and commanded a company 7th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, which deployed to Normandy in later June 1944.

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Lt-Col. A.H. Williams

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Lieutenant-Colonel Humprey Williams
1st Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers
7th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers

Colonel Humphrey Williams was … actually, he resigned, for somewhile we’d be trying to work out why he resigned. We know from his own personal diary that when he was put in command, he had certain doubts about whether he would be acceptable to the battalion. He was acceptable. He was a superb leader of men.

(Michael Anthony Demetriadi, IWM interview, Dec 2007)

Born on 2 June 1908 in Resolven, Glamorgan, Wales, Albert Humphrey Williams was a schoolteacher and Territorial Army officer, commissioned with the 7th (Montgomeryshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers since 1932. He mobilized with the 1st Battalion and was wounded during the Battle of France in May 1940. He became to second-in-command when the 1st RWF was sent to the Far East to fight the Japanese in the Burma campaign.

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Lt-Col. I.L. Reeves

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Lieutenant-Colonel I.L. Reeves
4th Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry

We found ourselves in the most ghastly factory area, one mass of small streets, passages, walls, walls within walls, piles of iron and waste of every description. We soon discovered some machine-gun posts and started to clear them. That started two days and a night’s street fighting, the most tiring and trying type of fighting even under the best conditions.

(Quoted in Patrick Delaforce, Marching to the Sound of Gunfire: North West Europe, 1944-5, 138)

Born on 22 September 1909 in Hanover Square, Glamorgan, Wales, Ivor Leith Reeves was commissioned into the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in 1930. He earned the Military Cross as a company commander in the 1st Battalion during the Battle of France in May 1940. During the Normandy campaign, he took command of the 4th Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in the 11th Armoured Division in July 1944.

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Lt-Col. J.G. Dawson

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Lieutenant-Colonel J.G. Dawson
7th/9th Battalion, Royal Scots

Everyone, apart from the natural dislike of battle itself, thoroughly enjoyed their time with the Armour and we were awfully glad to have stayed with them so long. They were stirring times and length of advances were sometimes amazing. It was an odd feeling at times to find oneself sitting in a car motoring perhaps 60 miles through Germany, knowing full well that only the road itself, and perhaps a quarter of a mile on either side of it, had been cleared the day before.

(Quoted in Trevor Royle, The Royal Scots, 169)

Born on 14 January 1911 in Edinburgh, John Gillon Dawson was a Territorial Army officer and stockbroker. He was commissioned in the Royal Scots and promoted to captain in 1937. He served as second-in-command of the 7th/9th Battalion, Royal Scots, which deployed to Belgium with the 52nd Division in October 1944.

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