Peter Welsh, late RGJ, died on 17 April 2011.

               Peter Welsh was commanding 2 RGJ in Londonderry when
               he was confronted by John Hume at Magilligan during a
               Civil Rights March in 1972. This later appeared as part of
               a BBC programme in 2001

Thanksgiving Service: Maj Gen Peter Welshs Thanksgiving Service will take place on Friday 16 September 2011 at 2:15pm in the Winchester College Chapel, Winchester College SO23 9LX. Please be aware that parking can be a problem near the College. There are plenty of Multi Story Car Parks in the town centre which is a short walk through the Cathedral grounds from the College.

See Times obituary HERE

The Daily Telegraph

Major-General Peter Welsh

Major-General Peter Welsh, who died on April 17 aged 80, commanded one of the resident battalions in Derry during the events of "Bloody Sunday".

Maj-Gen Peter Welsh 

Welsh took command of 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets (2 RGJ) in 1971. By the following January the battalion was only halfway through its 18-month tour in Northern Ireland.

The problems that had begun with young men chucking stones had intensified. Nail bombs and petrol bombs were being thrown; houses were set on fire to draw the soldiers into streets where snipers were hiding; and gunmen used the cover of rioters to set up ambushes.

It was a constant struggle to keep one step ahead of these rapidly changing tactics, but Welsh made it clear to his men that the policy remained one of containment, not domination.

On January 30 1972, when the civil rights march at the centre of the ensuing controversy took place, he deployed only one company in Derry. Its task was to man a checkpoint known as Barrier 14 and prevent the protesters getting into the city centre. His other companies were held in reserve.

That afternoon, Welsh was in a helicopter flying over the Bogside. His role was to observe what was happening on the ground, to inform Brigade HQ of the exact route of the march and to ascertain whether separation between the peaceful marchers and the rioters had occurred.

The Inquiry into the events of that day, chaired by Lord Saville, was told that Welsh had expressed his misgivings to a senior officer that units of 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment were to be deployed during the march, given their reputation for toughness.

In his report into the tragedy in which 13 civilians lost their lives, Saville singled out for commendation 2 RGJ for the restraint and proportionality with which they had responded to the rioting. Welsh was appointed OBE at the end of his tour.

Peter Miles Welsh, the son of Brigadier WM Welsh, DSO, MC, was born in London on December 23 1930. At Winchester he was in the cricket and soccer XIs. He also gained his colours at athletics and was in the racquets pair that won the public school doubles in 1949.

After Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps and served in BAOR with the 2nd Battalion. In 1958 he joined the Kenya Regiment on attachment and, after Staff College, was posted to 129 Brigade (TA) as brigade major.

Welsh then commanded a company of 2 GJ in the Far East. In the course of a five-month operational tour in Sarawak in 1965 during the "Confrontation" with Indonesia, he led a large number of successful fighting patrols.

These involved crossing wide, deep, fast-flowing rivers in full equipment. The riflemen were frequently out of their depth and the threat of an enemy attack by machine guns or mortar fire was ever present, but he inflicted significant losses on the enemy without losing a single man or weapon. He was awarded an MC, his citation stating that his courage, calmness and determination to close with the enemy were an inspiration to the whole battalion.

In 1967 Welsh moved to the MoD as military assistant to the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff. He was a member of the directing staff at Staff College, Camberley, before commanding 2 RGJ in Northern Ireland, Catterick and Belize.

In 1974 he commanded 5 Airportable Brigade and then moved to HQ BAOR as Brigadier General Staff. Two years with the Light Division in Winchester followed and, from 1983 to 1985, he was president of the Regular Commissions Board in the rank of major-general. He retired from the Army in 1986.

Welsh was an accomplished boxer and also a first-rate shot. He twice won the Henry Whitehead Cup at Bisley and represented the Army six times in the United Services' Cup. At racquets, he won the Army Doubles in 1952 and 1953 and the Combined Services Doubles in 1953. He also played squash for the Army.

A large man and the most generous of hosts, he was a connoisseur of food and cooking. He married rather late, and when he was invited out to dinner by young married couples, there were a few anxious moments until he had taken his first mouthful. After a nod of approval from him, the party could relax and enjoy themselves.

Welsh had no children of his own. He married, in 1974, June McCausland (née Macadam), and made a great contribution to the family, which had been devastated by the murder by the IRA in 1972 of June's husband, Captain Marcus McCausland, an officer in the Ulster Defence Regiment.

In retirement, settled near Ballykelly, he helped to organise successful fund-raising events for many charitable organisations, including the British Heart Foundation.

Peter Welsh is survived by his wife and by two stepsons and a stepdaughter.

Born: 23 December 1930; only son of Brigadier W.M.Welsh, DSO, MC, RA and Mary Edith, daughter of Sir Walter Hearn KBE

Educated at Winchester College

Married June McCausland on 16 Feb 1974, at the Garrison Church of St Edwin (sic) in Belize.

Newspaper announcements will be in the national papers in the next few days.

The funeral is due to take place at Christ Church, Limavady, Co Londonderry at 3pm on Wednesday 27 April 2011.

A Thanksgiving Service is planned for later in the year on the mainland.

The address for letters of condolence is:                       

Mrs PM Welsh (June)

Streeve Hill House

25 Dowland Rd

Limavady

Co Londonderry BT49 0HP

Winchester College

Cricket XI 1947 1949; Soccer XI 1948 -1949; Racquets Pair 1948 - 1949 (Winner in 1949 the Public Schools doubles); Commoner  VI 1948; Athletics Colours (440x); Duberly Prize (CCF - Warrant Officer)

Army

Commissioned: 3 August 1951

1952 - Pl Comd 2 KRRC Münster, Germany

1954 - MTO 2 KRRC Münster, Germany

1956 - Rifle Depot Winchester

1957 - 2 KRRC - Tidworth

1958 - 1960 Adjt Kenya Regt

1961 - 1962 Staff College Camberley, Student

1962 - 1963 BM 129 Bde (TA)

1964 - 1965 Coy Comd 2 GJ (KRRC)

1966 - JSSC

1967 - 1968 MA to ACDS (G), MOD

1968 - 1970 DS at Staff College, Camberley

1971 - 1972 CO 2 RGJ Ballykelly, Catterick & Belize

1973 -  GSO1 RCDS

1974 - 1975 Comd 5 Airportable Bde, Tidworth Brigadier

1976 - RCDS

1977 - 1979 BGJ HQ BAOR

1980 - 1982 Lt Div Brigadier, Winchester

1983 - 1985 President RCB, Major General

17 Jan 1986 Retired from the Army

Decorations:

MC 1966 (As a Coy Comd in Borneo with 2GJ)

OBE 1973 (Fair Services in Northern Ireland as CO 2 RGJ)

Shooting:

Champion shot of: 1955 BAOR, 1956 Aldershot District where he won both first and second stage; 1960 East African Command.

At Bisley he won the Henry Whitehead Cup twice, The Army Hundred Cup, the Regular & TA and in three successive appearances between 1958 and 1963 he won the silver jewel twice (once with the .303) followed by the Bronze.

He also trained the only Rifle Depot team ever to win the KRRC Cup.

He represented the Army six times in the United Services Cup.

Games:

Cricket: Was a crafty leg-break & googly bowler and a hard-hitting lower order batsman. GJ  & Free Foresters

Golf: Never reached full potential, not being a long hitter, but had a good short game.

Racquets: Won with M.R. Coulman (60^th) the public schools doubles in1949 and the Army doubles in 1952-1953, and the Combined Services Doubles in 1953.

Squash: Represented the Army.

Boxing: Was the heavy-weight in the successful 2 KRRC boxing teams, winner of the BAOR Championship in 1954.

-- Edited by administrator on Tuesday 19th of April 2011 05:59:56 PM

-- Edited by administrator on Monday 23rd of May 2011 11:46:09 PM

-- Edited by administrator on Friday 27th of May 2011 11:33:06 AM