Battle Honours
Whilst most of my writings here are more focused on individual stories than wider matters, I thought it remiss of me not to make available something much larger concerning the battle honours won by the regiment during WW2.
Inevitably I am approaching this from the perspective of the Third Battalion who, in their extremely short regimental life from late 1941 to early 1946, won five of the ten WW2 battle honours emblazoned ‘on the colours’, namely:
Fondouk | Hammam Lif | Monte Ornito | Monte Piccolo | Battaglia
They also achieved nine of the sixteen (over half) of those ‘off the colours’ honours, namely:
Djebel el Rhorab | Tunis | North Africa 1943 | Liri Valley | Capture of Perugia | Arezzo | Advance to Florence | Gothic Line | Italy 1944-45
A mammoth achievement for a battalion that had (as said by D/Sjt ‘08’ Davies) “no silver and no colours”.
I have often wondered about the process of how battle honours are claimed and awarded, how decisions are reached regarding those that physically appear on the ‘colours’, and finally, why some pivotal engagements are apparently ‘missing’. Some of my internalised questions have included:
- why is Fondouk a colour honour in lieu of Djebel el Rhorab given the latter is a unique honour?
- why was Ornito awarded in lieu of Cerasola? Ornito was held by 2Bn Coldstream Guards at that time. 3WG were ‘on the other side of the gulley’ on Monte Cerasola.
- why isn’t Cassino represented? The battalion spent several weeks over three distinct periods there. During their last ‘stint’ they played a vital holding role in both the Castle (Rocca Janula) and the town as a part of Operation Honker, a smaller element of the wider Diadem Offensive.
- why isn’t Monte Rotondo represented? The battalion suffered several casualties here in early June 1944 in the immediate aftermath of their engagement at Monte Piccolo.
- why isn’t the Argenta Offensive represented? Particularly given that 3WG were the second Allied unit to cross the Po which was the key objective of the battle and a huge achievement in itself (3Bn Grenadier Guards were the first, also a part of 1st Guards Brigade).
The purpose of this article is to explain the story behind the 3Bn battle honours. This has been made possible owing to the fastidiousness of Lt.Col. Jocelyn Gurney and the overwhelming support of my venture from his daughter Sarah. Thanks to them, I have now been able to answer all of those above internalised questions.
Before I get into the story, I thought it prudent to explain some elements first …
What Are Battle Honours?
These are a deep rooted, and primarily, a British tradition of a monarch/government awarding an ‘honour’ upon a military unit in recognition of its combat achievements in a particular operation, battle, campaign or theatre. Battle honours date back centuries where units emblazoned the name (and sometimes the date) of the action on their ‘colours’ (flags) that were carried into battle. These ‘flags’ served as rallying points to enable solders to find their unit (and thus maintain unit cohesion) amidst the noise, fog and confusion of battle.
Nowadays, the ‘colours’ are used for ceremonial purposes only, but still reflect an extremely important, and sacrosanct, role in regimental history, tradition and honour.
What Are Battle Honours ‘On and Off’ The Colours
The phrases ‘on the colours’ and ‘off the colours’ refer to whether the names of the battle honours won were physically emblazoned on the regiments ceremonial flags or not.
Those that are ‘on the colours’ represent the elite and highest-status honours that a unit has achieved. Only a select number of major conflicts or pivotal battles can be emblazoned on the flag itself. This is inevitably due to the fact that a flag has limited space and thus only a select number of the highest-status honours are included upon it.
Those that are ‘off the colours’ are no less important, albeit as above, a unit is often unable to fit dozens, or sometimes hundreds, of engagements onto a sole piece of silk.
Instead, those ‘off the colours’ honours are recognised in the regiments written history and in other ways such as being displayed on regimental property and so on.
How Battle Honours Were Claimed
After the war, the Welsh Guards formed a Regimental Battle Honours Committee. This had to comprise of at least five regimental officers, including past and present commanding officers, and the honorary Colonel and Lt.Col. (see documents to follow which disclose the membership).
This committee was responsible for determining which battle honours were claimable based on the theatres, battles, actions and engagements of all three of the Welsh Guards service battalions. The committee determined those which were claimable in abidance with strict operational definitions including (but not limited to):
- time and location boundaries
- demonstration of active and ‘creditable’ engagement
- unit size participation
These claims were then evidenced by the Regimental Committee and sent to the War Office Battle Honours Committee who then provided advice to Army Headquarters as to whether or not those honours claimed by the regiment should be granted.
Lt.Col. Jocelyn Gurney & His Daughter Sarah
Lt. Col. Gurney commanded 3WG between June 1944 – April 1945 and he was the longest serving operational C.O. of the battalion. His conduct at Perugia, Arezzo, the Arno Valley, Prato Magno, Gothic Line, Monte(s) Battaglia, Penzola, Verro and Acqua Salata earned him the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) having already won two Military Crosses (MC’s) in France in 1940.
His DSO citation remarks that “his refusal to accept anything but the best, and his own considerable personal bravery” coupled with “his great military skill and high standard of leadership” that “this officer stands as an example of all that is the best in an officer of the Brigade of Guards”. Andrew Gibson-Watt writes in his book ‘An Undistinguished Life’ that Lt.Col. Gurney “was a first class soldier” and “a figure to revere and admire”.
As alluded to above, and in previous articles here on this website, Lt.Col. Gurney retained an incredibly rich archive of his service with the Welsh Guards. This included diaries, documents, maps, photographs, curios – and endless treasure trove that his family have kindly enabled me to access. This has provided a wealth of unique information and clarifications that will permeate every element of the post June 1944 period of my forthcoming book The Forgotten Fighting Third: The Welsh Guards in Italy and Tunisia 1943-45.
Also located within his archive were seven important letters over eleven sheets concerning regimental battle honours.
The Battle Honour Letters
The contents of these letters concern honours for all three service battalions, and as such will be of interest to a much wider group beyond diehard 3Bn admirers such as myself.
Presented in chronological order, the first document was a letter dated 4 January 1957 which provided a progress update on all battle honours. This was addressed to all members of the Regimental Honours Committee and also sought their views. It was sent by the (then) 1Bn Commanding Officer Lt.Col. David Davies-Scourfield MC (both 2Bn and 3Bn were disbanded following the war).
It should be noted that some eleven and a half years following the end of the war, the battle honours had still not yet been fully agreed:
Readers will likely be aware that Lt.Col. Davies-Scourfield commanded 3Bn during the earlier part of the Italian Campaign and won his MC at Monte Cerasola.
Following his wounding at Monte Rotondo on 10 June 1944 he was succeeded by Lt.Col. Gurney.
Lt.Col. David ‘Doris’ Davies-Scourfield, his MC won at Cerasola, and a photograph of the author with his daughter and grand-daughter Precelly and Sophie respectively. © Copyright Gareth Scanlon 2026.
The next letter in the series was sent by the War Office to Lt.Col. Davies-Scourfield on 6 March 1957 informing him that the battle honour for Cerasola had been declined, this being due to the strict imposition of date constraints, that is, that the honour could only be claimed by those units present on Cerasola between 7-9 February 1944 (i.e. the Hampshire Regiment).
This must have been a bitter blow to Davies-Scourfield and those officers and men who served at Cerasola.
On 15 March, Davies-Scourfield circulated the above letter with the below four sheets to the Regimental Honours Committee stating “we have lost the battle for ‘Cerasola’” (they didn’t lose the first – up the Welsh!). He also includes his recommendations for submittal to the War Office Committee for theatre and on/off the colour honours. Again, he requests views illustrating the collaborative approach to claiming honours.
In addition to the distribution list stipulated on his covering letter, the fourth page also includes further distribution to other 3Bn officers including Lt.Col. Sir ‘Willie’ Makins Bt, Lt.Col. Luke Dimsdale and Major David Gibson-Watt for their views also.
It appears that there was no disagreement with his suggestions (those honours that we know today, that were granted that is, replicate his on/off colour suggestions) and this claim was sent to the War Office on 1 April 1957:
On the 8 May 1957 the War Offence reponded, further contesting the eligibility of the claim for ‘Dunkirk, 1940’ and suggested the claim of ‘St Omer – La Bassee’ instead.
It also stated that the War Office Committee did not support the claim for ‘Cassino II’, ‘Monte Rotondo’ and their thoughts that the evidence for the claim of “‘Argenta Gap’ was on the weak side”!
As can be seen the War Office also adjusted the dates for Theatre Honours of North Africa and Italy to 1943 and 1945 respectively.
This must have been a further deep disappointment for Davies-Scourfield as with the exception of Monte Piccolo, two other major actions and one minor one (in which he himself was wounded) under his period of command had either been discounted (Cassino II and Monte Rotondo) or didn’t squarely fit the name of the action (Cerasola to Ornito).
The above letter was again cascaded as a copy to the Regimental Honours Committee along with his response to the War Office below.
His frustration is palpable, particualrly around the Cassino II honour. He also calls upon Lt.Col. Robin Rose-Price’s evidence for the Argenta Gap honour as C.O. of 3WG at that time:
The Argenta Gap honour would not be awarded, nor would the Cassino II honour either.
It is also noteworthy that Cassino II would not be awarded to the other two Guards battalions of 1st Guards Brigade (3Bn Grenadier and 2Bn Coldstream Guards) as per Davies-Scourfield’s request. They were also both commited alongside 3WG in Cassino Town.
The final letters in the series, dated 6 and 1 August 1957 respectively. The first is a covering letter addressed to Gurney from, the new, Col. Luke Dimsdale. This thanked him for his help and advice whilst forwarding the letter sent by the Under-Secretary of State requesting the Duke of Edinburgh, as Welsh Guards Regimental Colonel, to approve the final battle honours which he duly did.
These are listed in the introductory paragraphs of this article.
A Final Word
I have had the absolute privilege to review, handle and copy thousands of documents relating to the Welsh Guards, and specifically 3Bn over several years. These have come from a variety of sources including archives, families and those that I have been able to acquire on the open market.
As I had stated above, the archive of documents retained by Lt.Col. Gurney have been fundamental in being able to vastly improve my knowledge and understanding of the period of time 3Bn was under his command in Italy.
This inevitably includes this set of post-war documents that are crucially important historical documents; I have not seen another set having had full access to family archives of three of the Regimental Honours Committee in addition to the Regimental Archives at Wellington Barracks.
These documents explain the process around the claiming of honours and the collegiate approach taken in both evidencing and challenging those that were not supported.
It also provides a documented account of why certain honours were included ‘on the colours’, why some do not reflect the exact place of hard-won battles (Ornito in lieu of Cerasola), and why other well known and costly Welsh Guards battles do not feature at all.
Whilst there appears to be reluctant acceptance regarding the Dunkirk 1940 honour and no push-back regarding the date stipulations for theatre awards, personally, I think it was a very bad show that 3Bn were denied Cassino II, Monte Rotondo and Argenta Gap. A real kick for those who suffered in the dust and squalor of Cassino town or to those who were wounded or killed during the closing days of the Italian Campaign as the German Army folded under pressure.
I also think that the rationale for not extending the Cerasola date restrictions is equally frustrating. Perhaps in the eleven or so years of time that elapsed between the honour being claimed and the war’s end brought a different (and more bureaucratic) attitude or a change in perspective – who knows?
As a final point, I am somewhat surprised regarding the lack of a claim for the Bn’s time at Monte(s) Penzola, Verro and Acqua Salata north of Fontanelice during the Winter of 1944/45. I’m not even aware if an honour exists for this area and period, albeit I know one does exist for Tossignano a short distance away – here comes my next research rabbit-hole!
Nonetheless, a full and clear account of the battle honours won by the Welsh Guards brought to the surface.
If you think you may have anything that could support me in my venture please do get in touch.
Thank you for reading, I hope you found it interesting.
Diolch o’r galon,
Gareth