0:00:01 > 0:00:03The British Army.
0:00:04 > 0:00:09To an outsider, it looks like one single fighting force.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13In reality, it's divided into more than 40 independent regiments...
0:00:13 > 0:00:17each with its own culture and traditions.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20And if you want to understand the British Army,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23these regiments are the best place to start.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27In this programme,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31we meet a regiment whose reputation was forged when an isolated band
0:00:31 > 0:00:38of 122 British soldiers survived an assault by 4,000 Zulu warriors.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45Things going through their head must have been absolutely incredible, crazy.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50The heroic last stand won more bravery awards
0:00:50 > 0:00:53than any other battle in British military history.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57We are the guys that carry on that legacy today, especially out here in Afghanistan.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04This is a regiment where eating leeks is a rite of passage,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and goats become lance corporals.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Just make sure you don't get a gravy potato in the back of the head.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20It's a regiment whose fighting spirit is deeply rooted in its national identity.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23The Royal Welsh.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42January 2011.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Highway 1 near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53The Royal Welsh are operating in an area under threat from
0:01:53 > 0:02:00Taliban roadside bombs known as IEDs - improvised explosive devices.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Is there any reason why you're going to Kandahar?
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Is it Bazaar or a family occasion?
0:02:04 > 0:02:08'Our main mission is to protect the main highway that runs
0:02:08 > 0:02:10'around Afghanistan itself.'
0:02:10 > 0:02:13It's had a lot of IED problems in the past, insurgents coming
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and laying IEDs which have blown up civilians, American soldiers
0:02:16 > 0:02:20and our own forces in the last couple of years.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Look to your south on the high ground.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Just as the high ground slopes down, there's a little knoll next to it.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37That's where we've had a large IED explosion destroy one of our vehicles.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41It's a 36-tonne vehicle, so a very large explosion.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43They're patrolling outside the area of the highway.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48Their eyes are on us, not the highway, which protects the highway, so we can reassure these locals.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59The Royal Welsh is made up of approximately 1,500 soldiers
0:02:59 > 0:03:01and 200 Officers.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04It's divided into three infantry battalions
0:03:04 > 0:03:07based in Wiltshire, Cheshire and Glamorgan.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15The First Battalion are light infantry.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The 2nd are armoured infantry
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and the 3rd are made up of Territorial Army reservists.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31The roots of the Royal Welsh reach back over 300 years
0:03:31 > 0:03:35but its defining moment came in 1879 in one of the most heroic
0:03:35 > 0:03:38last stands in British military history.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50On the 11th of January 1879,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53the British Army invaded a tribal nation in southern Africa -
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Zululand.
0:03:59 > 0:04:038,000 soldiers crossed the Buffalo River.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Most of them marched on.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08But they left 122 soldiers to set up a supply base
0:04:08 > 0:04:14near a small mission station whose name has become military legend -
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Rorke's Drift.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20The men who stayed behind were from B Company,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23part of the 24th Regiment of Foot,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26which would later become the Royal Welsh.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Many were inexperienced and in poor physical condition.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne recorded events in his diary.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39"This was my first experience of active service.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43"I stood only five foot six inches and I was painfully thin.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48"I was only 23, sensitive and afraid of my new responsibilities."
0:04:50 > 0:04:53The British army set up its main camp 12 miles away
0:04:53 > 0:04:55at the base of Isandlwana Mountain.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03On the 22nd of January, 800 soldiers armed with rifles were slaughtered
0:05:03 > 0:05:09by 20,000 Zulu warriors carrying spears and cow-hide shields.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Back at the supply base,
0:05:21 > 0:05:26soldiers like Private Henry Hook continued with their routine duties.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28"Everything was perfectly quiet at Rorke's Drift.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32"Not a soul suspected that only a dozen miles away, the very men
0:05:32 > 0:05:36"we had said goodbye and good luck to were in their last throes of life."
0:05:38 > 0:05:41In the early afternoon, B Company's Commander
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead
0:05:43 > 0:05:47was informed about the slaughter at Isandlwana.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52He ordered Private Fred Hitch to climb on top of a building
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and look out for the enemy.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56"I could see the Zulus had got as near to us
0:05:56 > 0:05:59"as they could without us seeing them.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01"I told Bromhead they were at the other side of the rise
0:06:01 > 0:06:03"and were extending for attack.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09"They numbered 4,000 - 6,000. Advice from below. 'Is that all?
0:06:09 > 0:06:11"'We can manage that lot very well for a few seconds.'"
0:06:23 > 0:06:29The 1964 film Zulu helped turn the men of B Company into legends.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31They're on the move, sir.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36North Wall, keep those riflemen on the hillside pinned down.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40But Zulu's epic portrayal of the battle is not entirely accurate.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45In the film, 4,000 Zulus attack Rorke's Drift,
0:06:45 > 0:06:46over a vast, flat plain.
0:06:51 > 0:06:57In fact, the mission station was built on a six-foot ridge.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00And B Company turned it into an improvised fortress
0:07:00 > 0:07:04with barricades of sandbags and biscuit boxes.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07The Zulus found it difficult to scale the British defences
0:07:07 > 0:07:09during their early attacks.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15The British soldiers also had another advantage -
0:07:15 > 0:07:19they were armed with one of the most technically advanced weapons in the world -
0:07:19 > 0:07:22The Martini-Henry rifle.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Welcome to Queen Victoria's weapon of mass destruction.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31This is a Martini-Henry rifle -
0:07:31 > 0:07:34the standard service firearm of the British Army
0:07:34 > 0:07:36between 1874 and 1889.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39It's a single-shot breach-loading weapon capable of
0:07:39 > 0:07:43putting bullet through a railway sleeper at 500 yards.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46To load it was simplicity in itself. It was soldier-proof.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49You simply open the lever, which drops the breach.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53The round is slid into the breach, bring up the lever
0:07:53 > 0:07:55and it's now cocked and ready to fire.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59A good rifleman could expect to get around 14 rounds a minute away with it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02It's a quantum leap in firearm technology.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05If you've got a man running towards you this would put a bullet
0:08:05 > 0:08:09clean through him and maybe through the guy behind him.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21The kick and physical effort from this weapon
0:08:21 > 0:08:25is quite physically challenging.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28It's completely different to the rifles we've got now. Hell of a kickback on it.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34Loading after every round - I wouldn't feel very good at all.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37I'd flap with the loading and unloading all the time
0:08:37 > 0:08:40so I'd probably drop it and run like a baby.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43The secondary weapon to be issued with the Martini-Henry
0:08:43 > 0:08:46was the 1876 patent bayonet.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Triangular shaped because you cannot stitch up a triangular wound.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51If this went into a person's body,
0:08:51 > 0:08:56mainly the only way to get it out is to kick them off or fire a round.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58The front rank would kneel,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02push the bayonet up into the chest of the adversary or horse coming towards you.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07Behind the man that's kneeling is a second rank firing over his shoulder.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09The muzzle is very close to his ear.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13You can understand why most Victorian soldiers were deaf.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18It must have been an immense physical effort to fight the Zulus that day.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Fair dos to em, I couldn't do what they done.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Hat's off to 'em.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Every year, on the anniversary of Rorke's Drift,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32the regiment gathers to watch the film Zulu.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36And in the Officer's Mess,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39new recruits are told the events of the battle.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41This is your history.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Those guys who stood in your shoes beforehand,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46this is what happened to them, this is what they did.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Imagine, on the night, they fired 20,000 rounds of this
0:09:50 > 0:09:54to the point where the kick was so significant -
0:09:54 > 0:09:59they'd fired so many rounds - that some of them had dislocated their shoulders. A nightmare.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05You try putting yourself in that situation and stood there.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10Obviously, all the high ground around you and just imagine everyone around.
0:10:13 > 0:10:20The things going through their head must have been absolutely incredible, crazy.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25With 40 Zulus for every British soldier,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28B Company was fighting against all the odds.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34If you can imagine, this is the sandbag barrier here
0:10:34 > 0:10:37with a few of the biscuit boxes scattered around.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40These chaps down here, private soldiers,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44trying to fend back the Zulus who are coming at them with their spears,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46fighting hand-to-hand to save each other.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54By late afternoon,
0:10:54 > 0:10:59the Zulus were now breaking through the sandbag barricades.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Most of B Company retreated behind a hastily erected wall
0:11:02 > 0:11:06of biscuit boxes around the store house.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10But six soldiers, including Private Hook, together with a dozen
0:11:10 > 0:11:14sick and injured, were trapped inside the hospital building.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19"We were pinned like rats in a hole.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21"Already the Zulus were fiercely fighting,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23"trying to burst through the doorway.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26"The only way of escape was the wall itself,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29"by making a hole big enough for a man to crawl though."
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Private Hook and the other healthy soldiers managed to rescue
0:11:34 > 0:11:37nearly all the sick and injured men.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41But the supply base was now overwhelmed by Zulus.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44The British soldiers stood little chance of escape.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55To honour their forebears, this company,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57now fighting in Afghanistan,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59is called B (Rorke's Drift) Company.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04The comparisons, I think, are quite strong.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07We're living in very basic conditions, as the men did back then
0:12:07 > 0:12:11and we've got an enemy force around us that does intend to do us great harm.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15I think that sense of isolation is quite strong these days
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and that binds us all together- the sense that we are living in
0:12:18 > 0:12:24a base that's no bigger, I'm sure, than what they defended back in 1879.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30This is our eating area, you can see some of the foods we've got.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35The last six months, this is what we've been living off, army rations.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39We do get some fresh, like eggs and when we go on patrols
0:12:39 > 0:12:45we get fresh meals like bread, cheese slices, the sauces and condiments.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48This our library, quite a few books.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51We have a bit of fun at night, so playing darts -
0:12:51 > 0:12:53there's only two darts - the other one got damaged.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56This is our home-made gym which we've made ourselves
0:12:56 > 0:12:59to keep us fighting fit before we go home.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03This is where our toilet is, slightly hidden away so a bit of privacy.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Obviously poohing in bags at the moment.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12All the black bags are burnt. The rooms themselves, 18-man tents,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15we've only got 13 guys here at the moment.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21The rooms, very basic, all luxuries sent in by family members
0:13:21 > 0:13:26or bought from PX, like protein shakes - a lot of the guys are on protein shakes.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29As you see, living very basically, but the guys are comfortable,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33That's everything a soldier needs these days.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41In the early hours of the 23rd of January, B Company made
0:13:41 > 0:13:46their last stand from behind a biscuit-box barricade.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Private Hitch was expecting the worst.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53"Deacon, a comrade, said to me as I was leaning back against
0:13:53 > 0:13:54"the biscuit boxes,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58"'Fred, when it comes to the last, shall I shoot you?'
0:13:58 > 0:14:01"I replied, 'No, they have very nearly done for me
0:14:01 > 0:14:04"'and they can finish me right out when it comes to the last.'"
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The men of B Company resisted wave after wave of attack.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22In the film, the end of the fighting is marked with
0:14:22 > 0:14:25a show of respect from the Zulu warriors.
0:14:29 > 0:14:36They're saluting you! They're saluting fellow braves!
0:14:39 > 0:14:42But, according to contemporary accounts of the battle,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45this Zulu salute to B Company is fiction.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52In reality, it was the arrival of British Army reinforcements
0:14:52 > 0:14:55that brought about the Zulu retreat.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58"We saw the Zulus had once more swept round the mountain to attack us,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00"but it was too late.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03"On seeing that we were reinforced, they turned silently away
0:15:03 > 0:15:07"and only their dead and a few wounded were left with us."
0:15:14 > 0:15:1917 men died at Rorke's Drift. Nine were injured.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22And around 450 Zulus were killed.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29Seven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the 24th Regiment of Foot.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32At Rorke's Drift, more bravery awards were given
0:15:32 > 0:15:35to a regiment than any other battle in British military history.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
0:15:40 > 0:15:46described its defence as "One of the proudest moments of the British Empire".
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Every year, on the Sunday before Rorke's Drift Day,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08the Royal Welsh hold a remembrance service at Brecon Cathedral
0:16:08 > 0:16:12to honour those who fought at Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16After Veterans parade into the Cathedral
0:16:16 > 0:16:19with the standards of the Royal Welsh's ancestral regiments,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22the Colonel of the Regiment, Major General Roddy Porter,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26celebrates the regimental spirit of the Royal Welsh.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32B (Rorke's Drift) Company is again on operations.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35The leadership, teamwork and camaraderie
0:16:35 > 0:16:40that regimental spirit engenders are as real today for B Company,
0:16:40 > 0:16:47in the fight against the Taliban, as they were for their direct forebears at Rorke's Drift.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Rorke's Drift has a huge significance to the men of B Company.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56A huge fact of pride for us that
0:16:56 > 0:16:59we are the guys who carry on that legacy today
0:16:59 > 0:17:01and especially out here in Afghanistan now today.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05We have such a strong team spirit here and I think that comes
0:17:05 > 0:17:08from being a Welsh regiment, coming from very close-knit
0:17:08 > 0:17:11small communities, where people have grown up
0:17:11 > 0:17:15playing rugby together, grown up working in the same mines and steel works.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17You walk around the compound, going for a shave,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and all you can see is Welsh tattoos.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23I myself got three Welsh tattoos. Cymbry on my forearm.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Made in Wales around my wrist, three feathers on my arm.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And the regimental motto on my chest.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Welsh ring on, support the Royal Welsh band.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Everybody's proud to be Welsh.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Billy, one of the regiment's goats,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46is being prepared for the most important day in his calendar -
0:17:46 > 0:17:49St David's Day.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55At the moment, I'm washing him down with lavender shampoo
0:17:55 > 0:17:59so it just helps calm him down and get any stains off him.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06He's quite relaxed at the minute.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Hopefully tomorrow he'll be the same,
0:18:09 > 0:18:14he'll be able to perform well, but obviously he'll have his off days.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19The regimental goat is a tradition that dates back to 1775.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24According to legend, a wild goat wandered onto the battlefield
0:18:24 > 0:18:26and led a victorious charge against the enemy.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Goats have had honorary ranks in the regiment ever since.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35Billy's had this role since he was three months old.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37He came here as a kid, really.
0:18:37 > 0:18:44He's now become a lance corporal so he's getting on in the world.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Further in his career, so let's see how far he can get.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58At 6am on St David's Day,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02the officers wake the soldiers in their beds with a gunfire breakfast.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07It's tea laced with rum - a tradition that goes back to World War One.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Wakey, wakey. Hands off snakey.
0:19:15 > 0:19:16Oh, God!
0:19:19 > 0:19:20BLEEP
0:19:20 > 0:19:23- Looking beautiful as ever. - Cheers, sir.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26'Gunfire is a tradition that we do every St David's Day.'
0:19:26 > 0:19:28It takes us back to the trenches
0:19:28 > 0:19:30when the soldiers had breakfast at gunfire,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33the rounds going over their heads every morning at first light.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37The officers would feed the soldiers and they'd feed them
0:19:37 > 0:19:39anything they could find, mainly rum and tea
0:19:39 > 0:19:42so we try and keep it a tradition and do it every St David's Day.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Nice.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49They don't like it at all.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53It's not nice to be woken up at 6am and have rum and tea shoved down your face.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57- What time did you get in last night? - About an hour ago.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Royal Welsh! Royal Welsh!
0:20:04 > 0:20:05Turn!
0:20:05 > 0:20:08MUSIC PLAYS
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Right, the hymn, Cwm Rhondda.
0:20:13 > 0:20:20# Open thou the crystal fountain... #
0:20:20 > 0:20:25This St David's is particularly important to the Royal Welsh.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27It's the regiment's 5th birthday.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30On this day in 2006,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34The Royal Welsh was created after two regiments were amalgamated.
0:20:44 > 0:20:50The regiment celebrate with a fiercely competitive rugby tournament.
0:20:50 > 0:20:56- Come on Pete, you all right? - I'm too- BLEEP- old, I'm falling apart, aren't I?
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Every year when you have things like this, it keeps the spirits up with the boys.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05It keeps any solidarity and moral within the regiment up.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Three cheers! Hip, hip!
0:21:08 > 0:21:11- Hooray!- Hip, hip!- Hooray! - Hip, hip!- Hooray!
0:21:18 > 0:21:21In the film Zulu, B Company is bound together
0:21:21 > 0:21:23and sustained by its Welsh spirit.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30The soldiers try to drown out the Zulu war chants by singing
0:21:30 > 0:21:33the Welsh hymn Men of Harlech.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37# Men of Harlech Stand ye steady... #
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Today, this is one of the Royal Welsh's regimental marches.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45But it wouldn't have had the same significance for the men
0:21:45 > 0:21:50at Rorke's Drift, because only a third of them were Welsh.
0:21:50 > 0:21:55It was only in 1881, two years after Rorke's Drift,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59that the regiment began to recruit all its soldiers from Wales.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03This was the result of Army reforms which are the foundation
0:22:03 > 0:22:05of the regimental system today.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09The reforms effectively tied regiments
0:22:09 > 0:22:12to specific recruiting areas.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17And they set up regimental depots in each of those recruiting areas.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20All the soldiers are fiercely proud of being Royal Welshmen.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25For us, it defines who we are and it's the most important character of the regiment.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29- Go on!- Push it through! - Go on!- Push it through!
0:22:29 > 0:22:32ORDERS SHOUTED
0:22:34 > 0:22:38By the right, quick march!
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Left, right, left, right, left right...
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Lance Corporal Billy is leading the Officers
0:22:48 > 0:22:51to one of their greatest challenges of the year.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04In another regimental tradition, the officers and senior NCOs
0:23:04 > 0:23:08must serve lunch to their men on St David's Day.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16This is the most celebrated day on the calendar for us, the Royal Welsh. It's a very good day.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20As you can see, the lads get a lot of stick all year round
0:23:20 > 0:23:24and the dinner is their opportunity to give us a bit of stick.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25It's a change.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29We work hard for them all year and now obviously they're serving us.
0:23:31 > 0:23:37When you hear them banging on the tables, it's a bit intimidating at first but it's good fun.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44After the meal, Lance Corporal Billy makes his entrance.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50MEN CHEER
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Billy's arrival heralds another great Royal Welsh tradition-
0:23:58 > 0:24:00the leek-eating ceremony.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11The newest recruits are challenged to eat a raw leek
0:24:11 > 0:24:14and drink from what's known as the battalion's "Loving Cup".
0:24:21 > 0:24:24MEN CHANT
0:24:45 > 0:24:49In the officers' mess, the Officers have their own leek-eating ceremony.
0:24:51 > 0:24:57Second Lieutenant Liam Maguire is taking part for the first time.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59'I've heard rumours that they'll lace it with chilli
0:24:59 > 0:25:02'and some other spicy things so it should be quite fun.'
0:25:09 > 0:25:12MEN LAUGH
0:25:14 > 0:25:18'It's good to keep your sense of identity and know that you are from Wales
0:25:18 > 0:25:21'and it's good to keep celebrating the things that make us different.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25'When you know that you're on the front line with people around you from the same place as you,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28'they cherish the same type of things you do,
0:25:28 > 0:25:33'it's just brings you together and it helps that type of brotherhood.'
0:25:37 > 0:25:39St David.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50THEY CHEER AND APPLAUD
0:26:00 > 0:26:06B (Rorke's Drift) Company are about to return home from Afghanistan.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Quiet journey so far...
0:26:09 > 0:26:12We've got eight or nine days left of a seven-month tour.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15We're all looking forward to getting back to Wales.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Since we've been here,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21there've been no instances of hi-jacking or IEDs on this route.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25So far so good. It's been a good tour.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36The fighting spirit of Rorke's Drift and the regimental bond
0:26:36 > 0:26:40with Wales has made the Royal Welsh who they are today.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45We do rely on each other here and I'm confident that
0:26:45 > 0:26:48if we were ever unfortunate to be put in a situation where
0:26:48 > 0:26:52we did have hoards of enemy forces running up the ramparts,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56then we could stick together and we could get through that.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06A week later, the families of the men in B (Rorke's Drift) Company
0:27:06 > 0:27:09are gathering at the Wiltshire barracks.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16This will be the first time they have seen the soldiers for six months.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19CHEERING
0:27:21 > 0:27:27Every one of the 150 men who went out to Afghanistan has come home.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51The Welsh are nuts. To be fair, they're all nuts.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54I couldn't see myself in another battalion having
0:27:54 > 0:28:00the same atmosphere with each other. It's a cracking bunch of lads.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03As a Welshman, to serve with the Royal Welsh in Afghanistan
0:28:03 > 0:28:06is a great thing and to bring all my men back
0:28:06 > 0:28:10is one of the greatest feelings a man could have.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Just marching up there, I had tears in my eyes.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Feelings, it's...
0:28:15 > 0:28:17I'm home, we're all home, we're all safe,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20that's all that matters really.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:40 > 0:28:42E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk