British guardsmen train for Victory Parade on Red Square

British troops will be in the May 9 military parade on Red Square this year for the first time ever. Britain will be represented by the Central Band of the Royal Air Force and a parade company from the Welsh Guards 1st battalion. Many consider the Welsh Guardsmen to be a symbol of the United Kingdom. They guard both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. They can be recognized by their famous bearskins and are as popular as Big Ben among tourists.

The Welsh Guards regiment was established by the order of King George V in 1915. The guardsmen fought in the First and Second World Wars, and more recently many of them returned from a mission in Afghanistan in 2009.

The guardsmen have been in training every day on the parade grounds since they were selected for the Victory Parade on Red Square. However, for those who arrive in Russia later, there are still exercises on the unusual bricks on Red Square.

The guardsmen will march across Red Square wearing the same parade uniform that millions of people from all over the world are familiar with – red jackets and the famous bearskins.

To prepare a bearskin for a parade takes as much effort as making a woman’s hairdo, guardsmen say.

To keep the bearskin in good condition, you need some shampoo and a good hairbrush. The bearskin weighs about three kilograms.

You can distinguish the Welsh Guards from the Irish ones, for example, by the number of buttons on their uniforms. Only the Welsh Guardsmen have their buttons arranged in groups of five.

It takes the very experienced guardsmen of the regiment only 10 minutes to put on the full uniform.

Only natural bearskin is used since it is very durable and is not damaged in rain.