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W M Welshc | ||||||||
| Peter Miles Welsh [CFT #6226] Born: 1930-Dec-23 Died: 2011-Apr-17 |
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| OBITUARY. Army commander whose men were commended for their restraint during the rioting on Bloody Sunday Major-General Peter Welsh, who died on April 17th 2011, aged 80, commanded one of the resident battalions in Derry during the events of "Bloody Sunday". 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 30th 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 W M Welsh, DSO, MC, was born in London on December 23rd 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 schools doubles in 1949. After Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps and served in BOAR with the 2nd Battalion. In 1985 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 5-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 (nee 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. Daily Telegraph 23rd May 2011 |
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