"...And St. David!"

[macwilkin]

For the US Marines on the board, today, St. David's Day, has some meaning.

During the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, the US Marines and the Royal Welch Fusiliers served together in a number of actions. The traditional toast of the RWF, "...and St. David!" (The full toast is "Toby Purcell, his spurs and St. David!") was used as a password between the Marines and the Fusiliers.

Since then, on St. David's Day and the Marine Corps birthday, the Commandant of the USMC and Colonel of the RWF have exchanged the greeting "...and St. David!" in honour of their join service. Marine Corps band leader John Phillip Sousa also wrote a march entitled "The Royal Welch Fusiliers".

http://marinecorpsbrotherhood.usmchq.com/custom2.html

Sadly, as of today, the RWF is no more. They are being amalgamated with the Royal Welch Regiment to form the new "Royal Welsh":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4760102.stm

For more on the St. David's Day customs of the RWF, see here:

http://www.rwfnet.co.uk/news/tradition.htm
http://www.colwyn-bayrwf.org.uk/tradditions.htm

The Red Dragon Forever!

Todd