CAPTAIN MARK HAGGARD
WELSH REGIMENT
15TH SEPTEMBER 1914 AGE 38
BURIED: VENDRESSE BRITISH CEMETERY, VENDRESSE-BEAULNE, FRANCE
'Stick it the Welsh' comes from the words Mark Haggard said to his men after he had been mortally wounded during the Battle of the Aisne attempting to take out a German machine gun post - "Stick it Welsh Regiment, stick it, Welsh!" Haggard had reconnoitred the position himself and then he led the attack, which after initial success failed. Knowing he was badly wounded, he told his men to leave him but one of them, Sergeant William Fuller, carried him back and was awarded a Victoria Cross for his action. Haggard died the next day.
His words however became famous, the story of their orgin repeated in newspaper accounts all over the world as the epitome of Welsh grit and endurance.
Haggard, a professional soldier, was the nephew of the novelist G. Rider Haggard. His wife chose his inscription.