Headstone of Private A.C. Thomas of the Royal Welch Fusiliers in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, France. Thomas died July 20, 1916, aged 23. © 2014 John M. Shea
12285 PrivateA.C. ThomasRoyal Welch Fusiliers20th July 1916 Age 23In Loving MemoryMother and Maude
"March 1st, [1918] St. David's Day.—Friday. All quiet, and relief promised. Sergeants Horton and Mills, and Parry worked hard. . . . Parry, as ever, sent in first-class fare in the most adverse conditions. The menu, in the French of Kitchen cum Orderly Room: 'Consumme of Gallos; merlan Duglers; Escallops de Veau Vilainairese; Gigot de Mouton Roti, pommes Rissoles, Choux Bruxelles; Pudding au Chocolat; Scotch Woodcock; Dessert; Cafe: Veuve Cliquot, Benedictine, Kümmel. At Gris Pot.' Only port was wanting, even the Portuguese canteen had none—or said so. Of 31 at table 23 ate the Leek in the odour of the Goat and to the roll of the Drum. The toasts were proposed by the C.O.—'St. David,' 'The King,' 'Other Battalions' . . ."
Excerpt from the entry for March 1, 1918 from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J. C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and fellow soldiers who served with him. St. David, who died March 1, 589, is the patron saint of Wales who, before a battle against the English, advised the Welsh to wear leeks for ready identification. The tradition of wearing and eating the leek in commemoration continues to the present. Parry was 'a Paris-trained chef from a first-class London restaurant' who joined the unit in June 1916. Dunn was responsible for the feast which began near midnight and continued into the dawn of March 2. He was then stationed near Estaires, France, about 80 km southeast of Calais, 30 km south-southwest of Ypres. Portuguese troops were in the Allied line nearby.
The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, pp. 449–450, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994
1918-03-01, 1918, March, St. David's Day, A.C. Thomas, Royal Welch Fusiliers
