Editing Royal Welch Fusiliers (section)

====Second World War; Territorial and War Service====
[[File:Fusilier Tom Payne from 11 Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Normandy, 12 August 1944. B9005.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Fusilier Tom Payne of 11 Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, [[Normandy]], 12 August 1944]]

The 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions, all [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial]] units, served in [[158th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|158th (Royal Welch) Brigade]] assigned to the [[53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division]].<ref>Joslen, p. 346</ref> They took part in the [[Operation Overlord|Battle of Normandy]] at [[Operation Jupiter (1944)|Hill 112]], where the 53rd Division suffered heavy casualties. Due to heavy fighting and casualties in Normandy, some of the battalions were posted to different brigades within the division. The 53rd again suffered heavily during [[Operation Veritable]] (the Battle of the Reichswald) under command of the [[First Canadian Army]], in which action the British and Canadians, and the 53rd Division in particular, endured some of the fiercest fighting of the entire European Campaign against [[Fallschirmjäger (World War II)|German paratroops]].<ref>Barclay, p. 125</ref>

The 8th, 9th and 10th Battalions were 2nd Line Territorial battalions raised in 1939 as duplicates of the 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions respectively. The battalions initially served in the [[115th Brigade (United Kingdom)|115th (Royal Welch Fusiliers) Brigade]], [[38th (Welsh) Infantry Division|38th (Welsh) Division]], itself a 2nd Line duplicate of the 53rd (Welsh) Division.<ref>Joslen, pp. 87–88</ref>

The 8th and 9th battalions never saw action abroad, remaining in the UK throughout the war in a training role, supplying trained replacements to units overseas. In this capacity, the 9th battalion served with the [[80th Infantry (Reserve) Division (United Kingdom)|80th Infantry (Reserve) Division]] and the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division.<ref>Joslen, p. 374</ref>
[[File:The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B12617.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[3-inch mortar]] of the 7th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 8 December 1944]]
In the summer of 1942, the 10th battalion was converted into the [[6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion|6th (Royal Welch) Battalion]], [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]].<ref>Horn, p. 270</ref> The 6th Parachute Battalion was assigned to the [[2nd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)|2nd Parachute Brigade]], alongside the [[4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment|4th]] and [[5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion|5th]] Parachute battalions, originally part of the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|1st Airborne Division]]. The battalion played a small part in the [[Allied invasion of Italy]] during [[Operation Slapstick]], an amphibious landing aimed at capturing the port of Taranto. After that, the 2nd Para Brigade became an independent brigade group. The brigade took part in [[Operation Dragoon]], the Allied invasion of Southern France, being the only British troops to do so (see [[2nd Parachute Brigade in Southern France]]).<ref>Harclerode, pp. 425–426</ref> In late 1944, the brigade was sent to Greece to support pro-Western forces in the [[Greek Civil War]], a forgotten but brutal episode now seen as the first act of the post-1945 [[Cold War]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nachmani |first1=Amikam |title=Civil War and Foreign Intervention in Greece: 1946–49 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |date=1990 |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=490–494 |doi=10.1177/002200949002500406 |jstor=260759 |s2cid=159813355 }}</ref>

In 1938, the 5th Battalion transferred to the [[Royal Artillery]] as 60th Anti-Tank Regiment and in 1939, added a 2nd-Line duplicate, 70th Anti-Tank Regiment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nigelef.tripod.com/regtsumm.htm|title=Field Artillery Formations and Regiments of the Royal Artillery in World War 2|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> Unlike 1914–1918, there were relatively few service battalions, one being 11th (Home Defence) Battalion, raised in 1939 as part of the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]].<ref name = RegtsRWF/> Formed in 1940, the 12th battalion became [[116th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery]] in January 1942 and served with [[53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division|53rd (Welsh) Division]] until disbanded in December 1944.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ware |first1=Jonathan |title=116 (Royal Welch) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment |url=http://www.jonathanhware.com/116-rw-light-anti-aircraft-regiment.html |website=Jonathan Ware |access-date=1 April 2019 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401110054/http://www.jonathanhware.com/116-rw-light-anti-aircraft-regiment.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Barton|first1=Derek|title=116 Light AA Regiment RA(TA)|url=http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/laa/page110.html|website=The Royal Artillery 1939–1945|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref>