| 6th Regiment of Foot 6th (1st Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot 6th (Royal First Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot Royal Warwickshire Regiment Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers | |
|---|---|
 Royal Warwickshire Regiment Cap Badge | |
| Active | 1685–1968 |
| Country |  Kingdom of England (1685–1707) Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1968) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Line infantry |
| Size | 1–4Regular battalions Up to 2Militia battalions |
| Garrison/HQ | Budbrooke Barracks,Warwickshire |
| Nickname | Saucy Sixth[1] |
| March | Quick:The British Grenadiers,Warwickshire Lads Slow:MacBean's Slow March |
| Mascots | Indian black buck antelope, 'Bobby'[2] |
| Insignia | |
| Hackle (When a Fusilier Regiment) | Royal Blue over old gold with a touch of Dutch pink |
TheRoyal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the6th Regiment of Foot, was aline infantryregiment of theBritish Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including theSecond Boer War and both theFirst andSecond World Wars. On 1 May 1963, the regiment was re-titled, for the final time, as theRoyal Warwickshire Fusiliers and became part of theFusilier Brigade.
In 1968, by now reduced to a singleRegular battalion, the regiment was amalgamated with the other regiments in the Fusilier Brigade – theRoyal Northumberland Fusiliers, theRoyal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and theLancashire Fusiliers – into a newlarge infantry regiment, to be known as theRoyal Regiment of Fusiliers, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.
The regiment was raised in December 1673 by Sir Walter Vane, one of three 'English' units in theDutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, a mercenary formation whose origins went back to 1586. During the 1672–1678Franco-Dutch War, it took part in theSiege of Maastricht and the battles ofCassel andSaint-Denis.[3] In June 1685, the brigade was sent to England in 1685 to helpJames II suppress theMonmouth Rebellion and returned without seeing action; while there, the unit was designated the 6th Regiment of Foot.[4]
During the November 1688Glorious Revolution, it accompaniedWilliam III to England in 1688; en route, a ship carrying four of its companies was captured byHMS Swallow, but the soldiers were released after James went into exile.[5] It was transferred onto the English establishment in May 1689, although its seniority dated from 1685.[6]
Until 1751, most regiments were considered the personal property of theirColonel and changed names when transferred.[7] In April 1690, 'Babington's Regiment' joined the army commanded bySchomberg fighting theJacobites in the 1689–1691Williamite War in Ireland. Three companies were detached to garrisonCharlemont Fort after its capture in May, while the rest fought at theBattle of the Boyne in July, suffering heavy casualties.[8]
Following the battle, it was part of a detachment under Lieutenant-GeneralJames Douglas that unsuccessfully attempted to capture the Jacobite-held town ofAthlone.[9] After Babington died of disease,Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt became the new Colonel in January 1691; he commanded the regiment atAughrim, and theSecond Siege of Limerick in August 1691 that ended the war in Ireland.[10]
Sent toFlanders in 1692, it was one of five British regiments almost wiped out at theBattle of Steenkerque in July and was out of action for over a year.[11] In 1694, Prince George was replaced as Colonel by the FrenchHuguenot exile Henri Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Rade, who died of wounds received in a duel withBevil Granville in June 1695.[12] Under its new Colonel Ventris Columbine, the regiment won its first battle honour for the 1695Siege of Namur.[13]
TheTreaty of Ryswick ended theNine Years War in 1697;Parliament was determined to reduce costs and by 1699, the English military was less than 7,000 men.[14] Since England, Ireland and Scotland each had their own Parliaments and funding, one way around this was to transfer regiments and the regiment appears on the Irish military establishment for December 1698.[15]
When theWar of the Spanish Succession began, the regiment took part in the 1702Cádiz Landing; in 1703, it was sent to the West Indies, a notoriously unhealthy posting in an expedition that achieved very little.[16] Colonel Columbine died in June 1703, shortly before reachingJamaica and was replaced by James Rivers.[17]
The rest of the war was spent campaigning in Spain and Portugal, includingAlmansa in 1707 and the1708 capture of Minorca.[18] In 1710, it fought atAlmenar andSaragossa before being surrounded and captured atBrihuega.[19] After the 1713Treaty of Utrecht, it was posted to Ireland and with the exception of the1719 Vigo expedition, remained there until 1740.[20]
In 1739, commercial tensions with Spain led to theWar of Jenkins' Ear; in January 1741, the unit returned to theWest Indies and took part in the expedition toCartagena de Indias, modernColombia. The expeditionary force suffered losses of between 80 and 90% fromdysentery andyellow fever.[21] The survivors returned to England in December 1742; the unit was brought up to strength as a result of the 1740–1748War of the Austrian Succession, then sent to Scotland.[22]
At the beginning of theJacobite Rising in July 1745, detachments from the regiment garrisoned the line of forts betweenInverness andFort William.[23] Two companies were captured at theBattle of Prestonpans; some changed sides and were executed as deserters in 1746.[24] Several companies defendedFort William in March 1746 and afterCulloden, took part in the pacification of theHighlands.[25]
The regiment remained in Scotland until 1753; it was transferred toGibraltar, where it spent the next 19 years before moving to the West Indies in 1772.[26] On the outbreak of theAmerican War of Independence, detachments from the 6th arrived in New York in 1776 and saw action, but were of insufficient strength and were sent home.[27] To aid recruiting, each infantry unit was linked with acounty in 1782 and the 6th became the6th (1st Warwickshire) Regiment.[28] During theFrench Revolutionary Wars in 1794 in the West Indies, the 6th took part in the invasions ofMartinique,Guadeloupe andSaint Lucia from the French and in Casdebar, in August 1798, it gained abattle honour.[29]
The 1st Battalion went from Gibraltar to theIberian Peninsula and was atRoliça andVimeiro in 1808.[30] The battalion took part in theCorunna, losing 400 men during the march.[31] The men were then shipped to UK before taking part in theWalcheren Campaign before returning to thePeninsula in 1812.[32] The regiment was present atVitoria in 1813 and heavily engaged at the later action atRoncesvalles.[33] At the Heights of Echalar, in August 1813, Wellington watched the regiment's attack against 6,000 French in rugged positions in the mountains and described it as "The most gallant and the finest thing he had ever witnessed".[34] The regiment was held in reserve at theNive and was again heavily engaged atOrthez in 1814.[35]
In 1832, the 6th became a Royal Regiment and its title was changed to the Royal (1st) Warwickshire Regiment. The 6th took part in the 7th and 8thXhosa Wars inSouth Africa and helped suppress theIndian Rebellion in 1857.[36]
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by theCardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot atBudbrooke Barracks inWarwickshire from 1873, or by theChilders reforms of 1881; since it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.[37] Under the reforms, the regiment became theRoyal Warwickshire Regiment on 1 July 1881 and became the county regiment forWarwickshire (at the time includingBirmingham) and encompassed its Militia and Volunteer Infantry.[38][39] Under these reforms, the regiment now consisted of the following battalions:[39][40]
Regulars
Militia
Volunteer Infantry
In 1898, the regiment fought at Atbara andOmdurman duringLord Kitchener's reconquest of theSudan and saw service atDiamond Hill andBergendal during theSecond Boer War.[41]
The 2nd battalion started the century in South Africa, where they were engaged in heavy fighting in the early phases of theSecond Boer War. After a large portion of the men were struck down with malarial fever, they were in August 1901 transferred toBermuda to guard Boer prisoners. The battalion returned home in November 1902, after the end of the war earlier that year, to be stationed at Raglan barracks,Devonport, Plymouth.[42]
The 5th (Militia) battalion, formed from the 1st Warwick Militia in 1881, was a reserve battalion. It was embodied in January 1900, disembodied in October that year, and later re-embodied for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. Almost 700 officers and men returned to Southampton on the SSBriton in September 1902, following the end of the war.[43]
In 1908,Secretary of State for WarRichard Haldane implemented a series of reforms, which merged theVolunteer Force andYeomanry into the largerTerritorial Force. After these reforms, the regiment was now organised as follows:[39][40][44]
Regulars
Special Reserve
Territorial Force
Cadet Affiliations
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming theTerritorial Force and the latter theSpecial Reserve;[45] the regiment now had two Reserve and four Territorial battalions.[46][47]
The 1st Battalion landed in France as part of the10th Brigade in the4th Division in August 1914 for service on theWestern Front.[48]Bernard Montgomery served with the battalion seeing action at theBattle of Le Cateau and during the retreat fromMons in August 1914 and was awarded theDistinguished Service Order at that time.[49] The 2nd Battalion landed atZeebrugge as part of the22nd Brigade in the7th Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front and then moved toItaly in November 1917.[48]
Second LieutenantEuan Lucie-Smith, who was commissioned into the 1st Battalion, was one of the first mixed-heritage infantry officers in a regular British Army regiment and, on 25 April 1915, the first killed in World War I.[50]
The1/5th,1/6th, 1/7th and 1/8th Battalions landed atLe Havre as part ofWarwickshire Brigade in theSouth Midland Division in March 1915 for service on the Western Front and then moved to Italy in November 1917.[48] The2/5th,2/6th, 2/7th and 2/8th Battalions landed in France as part of the182nd (2nd Warwickshire) Brigade in the61st (2nd South Midland) Division in May 1916 for service on the Western Front.[48]
The 9th (Service) Battalion landed inGallipoli as part of the39th Brigade in the13th (Western) Division in July 1915; the battalion was evacuated to Egypt in January 1916 and then moved toMesopotamia in February 1916.[48] Elements of the 39th brigade formedDunsterforce which fought against theOttoman Empire at theBattle of Baku in August 1918.[51]William Slim served with the battalion and was awarded theMilitary Cross in February 1918 for actions in Mesopotamia.[52]
The 10th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the57th Brigade in the19th (Western) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front.[48] The 11th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the112th Brigade in the37th Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front.[48]
The 14th, 15th and 16th (Service) battalions, were raised in September 1914 from men volunteering in Birmingham. These units were additionally entitled 1st, 2nd and 3rd City of Birmingham battalions and were known as theBirmingham Pals. They landed atBoulogne-sur-Mer as part of the95th Brigade in the32nd Division in November 1915 for service on the Western Front; they then moved to Italy in November 1917 and back to France in April 1918.[48]
The 1st Battalion of the regiment had served from 1937 to 1939 on theNorth West Frontier inBritish India.[53] Throughout the war, the 1st Battalion remained mainly on garrison duties and internal security operations, despite many times being promised a chance to fight in the war. In late 1944, it began training forjungle warfare. The battalion only very briefly fought in the final stages of theBurma Campaign underLieutenant-GeneralBill Slim, an officer who served with the regiment during theGreat War and who led theBritish Fourteenth Army and took part inOperation Dracula, the capture ofRangoon, with the4th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the26th Indian Infantry Division, in April 1945 but saw little contact with the enemy and, on 20 May, the battalion received orders to prepare to, again, return to India. On the 23rd,Major J.A. Collins,Officer Commanding 'A' Company, led hiscompany against a group of between to 50 and 100 of the enemy, in Tinzeik, and inflicted heavy casualties on them before withdrawing into the jungle. For this action, Major Collins was awarded theMilitary Cross for his leadership, along withLance Corporal Brooks theMilitary Medal, andPrivate McCullum amention in despatches and the 1st Battalion"earned the commendation of the Division Commander,Major-GeneralChambers."[54] 'A' Company then rejoined the rest of the battalion in Rangoon, which departed on the 20th, and then moved toBangalore.[55]
The 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, aRegular Army unit, had been serving in England since 1931[56] and, upon the outbreak of theSecond World War, was serving alongside the 2nd Battalion,Dorset Regiment and the 1st Battalion,Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in the5th Infantry Brigade, part of the2nd Infantry Division. In late September 1939, the battalion was sent overseas to France to join theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Franco-Belgian border, where it remained for many months, not involved in any major engagements. On 5 February 1940, due to official BEF policy, the battalion was exchanged in the brigade for the 7th Battalion,Worcestershire Regiment[36] and transferred to the144th Infantry Brigade, which was attached to the48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, aTerritorial division. Serving in the brigade alongside the 2nd Battalion were the 8th Battalion, Worcestershires and the 5th Battalion,Gloucestershire Regiment. The battalion, now under command ofLieutenant ColonelPhilip Hicks (an officer of the regiment who would serve with distinction in the war), fought in theBattle of France in May 1940, fighting at the defence of the Escaut and Wormhoudt, where they became embroiled in theWormhoudt massacre andfought on the Ypres-Comines Canal during theretreat to Dunkirk, from where they wereevacuated to England, most of the remaining men arriving on 1 June 1940. After Dunkirk, the battalion moved, with the rest of the brigade[57] and division, toSomerset to counter aGerman invasion. In early December, however, the battalion was transferred to the24th Independent Guards Brigade Group, alongside two battalions ofFoot Guards, the 1stScots Guards and the 1stWelsh Guards, and was not, unlike most of the rest of the Army, committed to beach defence duties.[58] At the time, the brigade was stationed inLondon under command ofLondon District. In September 1942, the battalion was transferred to the185th Infantry Brigade, which was originally assigned as themotorised infantry brigade of the79th Armoured Division. However, the brigade was then transferred to the3rd Infantry Division, and landed onD-Day on 6 June 1944 with the first assault on the Normandy beaches and fought from theBattle for Caen and the break out from Normandy to theRhine crossing. The brigade also took part in the capture ofBremen, the last major action of theNorth West Europe Campaign. From D-Day until the end of the war, the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment lost 286 officers and men killed in action, with nearly another 1,000 all ranks wounded, missing or suffering from exhaustion.[59]
Before the war, in 1936, the5th Battalion had been converted into the45th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers[60] and had become part of32nd (South Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group,2nd Anti-Aircraft Division. It transferred to theRoyal Artillery in 1940 and later became a Light Anti-Aircraft unit and then an Anti-Tank regiment that saw action in theBurma Campaign, as part of36th Indian Infantry Division.[61]
Like the 5th Battalion, the6th Battalion was also converted before the war, becoming the69th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery, transferring to the 32nd (South Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group, 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division, alongside the former 5th Battalion.[62]
The 1/7th Battalion was serving with the 8th Battalion in the143rd Infantry Brigade, both as part of the48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. The battalion departed for France in early 1940 to join the rest of the BEF. The 1/7th took part in heavy fighting along the Ypres–Comines Canal holding the sector south of Houthem Belgium between 26 May 1940 and 28 May 1940: the heavy fighting between these dates allowed British forces to retreat towards Dunkirk. Like the 2nd Battalion, the 1/7th was also driven back to Dunkirk, with the 1/7th having been reduced to 15officers and 200other ranks.[63] In October 1942, the battalion was transferred from the 48th Division to the197th Infantry Brigade, serving now alongside the 2/5thLancashire Fusiliers and 5thEast Lancashire Regiment, part of the59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, at the time serving inNorthern Ireland.[64] The battalion served with the 59th in France duringOperation Overlord, the Battle of Normandy, arriving in late June 1944 as part of theBritish Second Army. The 59th Division was considered byGeneralBernard Montgomery, an officer who served in the regiment throughout theGreat War and after, to be one of the best and most reliable divisions in his21st Army Group. However, the division was disbanded in late August 1944 due to an acute shortage of infantrymen in the British Army during that period and the units were broken up and used as replacements for other British divisions in 21st Army Group, as many had suffered heavy casualties. The reason Montgomery chose the 59th for disbandment was merely because it was the most junior division of the British Army in France, being a 2nd Line duplicate of the55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division formed just before the war began. Despite being overseas for only around five weeks, the battalion had suffered losses of 38 officers and 538 other ranks.[65]
The 8th Battalion was also a 1st Line Territorial battalion and served with both the 2nd and 1/7th battalions in France in 1940. After beingevacuated at Dunkirk, during which it was reduced to 8 officers and 134 other ranks,[63] the battalion spent many years on home defence anticipating aGerman invasion and remained in the United Kingdom for the rest of the war.[66] In 1944, the battalion became a training formation and a draft finding unit for forces deployed overseas.[67] In this capacity, it served initially with the80th Infantry (Reserve) Division and later the38th Infantry (Reserve) Division.[68]
The 2/7th and 9th Battalions, both formed in mid-1939 during the doubling of the Territorial Army, were raised as duplicates of the 1/7th and 8th battalions, respectively. Both battalions were assigned to the182nd Infantry Brigade,61st Infantry Division. However, both remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war, both briefly serving in Northern Ireland until being reduced to reserve training battalions, with the 9th being disbanded in late 1944.[66]
The12th (Garrison) Battalion was created in November 1939 and formally came into existence on 18 January 1940 atNewton Abbot inDevonshire. Formed mainly from ex-servicemen around the age of 35–50, its role was overseas garrison duties in the rear areas guarding important areas andline of communications.[40][69] In March 1940, the battalion was sent to France, fulfilling its job of guarding the rear echelons, until ordered to evacuate, with the rest of theBEF, and was evacuated from Brest and St. Malo on 16/17 June 1940, without a single casualty.[70][71] When the battalion returned to the United Kingdom, it followed the usual pattern that consumed the British Army after Dunkirk, mainly guarding against an invasion, which it continued to do so until 19 February 1942, when its other ranks personnel formed182nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery; the 12th Battalion was formally disbanded on 19 March 1942.[40][72][73] 1n 1943 182nd Field Rgt was assigned to38th (Welsh) Infantry Division; it was disbanded in December 1944.[73][74][75][76]
The 13th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment was formed in July 1940. Later in the year, the battalion became part of the213th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), later becoming part of theNorfolk County Division. The battalion was converted in late 1942 to become a battalion of the newly formedParachute Regiment, namely the8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion, and also included numerous volunteers from other battalions of the regiment, such as the 70th. It was assigned to the3rd Parachute Brigade, serving alongside the1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and the9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion, originally as part of the1st Airborne Division, but were later assigned to the newly raised6th Airborne Division. As well as being assigned to a new division, the battalion also received a newcommanding officer –Lieutenant ColonelAlastair Pearson – who would eventually rise to become one of the most highly respected and decorated soldiers in the history of the Parachute Regiment.[77] The 8th Parachute Battalion would participate inOperation Tonga, the British airborne drop on the night beforeD-Day, and throughout the Normandy Campaign, the Ardennes offensive (otherwise known as theBattle of the Bulge), andOperation Varsity, the largest airborne drop of the Second World War where the division, alongside theU.S. 17th Airborne Division, suffered heavy casualties. The battalion ended the war in Germany.[78]
The 50th (Holding) Battalion was formed in May 1940, during the time of theDunkirk evacuation, and had the job of holding and training new recruits as well as to defend the coastline against invasion. At the end of the year, it was converted into a standard infantry battalion and was redesignated as the 14th Battalion, and became part of the226th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), later becoming part of theDorset County Division.[79] Throughout 1941 and 1942, the battalion was stationed inDorset, laterDevonshire and eventually became part of the211th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), at the time part of the77th Infantry Division.[80]
The 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion was raised in late December 1940/early 1941 from volunteers who were mainly around the ages of 18 and 19 and, therefore, too young to beconscripted, the age of conscription being 20 at the time. Sometime after its birth, the battalion joined the47th (London) Infantry Division, where it"soon won an excellent reputation (it was said to be the best Young Soldiers' battalion in the country)".[79] The battalion remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war and was disbanded in August 1943, as were all such units.[81]
The 1st Battalion was deployed to India between 1945 and 1947, and then toKorea between 1953 and 1954 during theKorean War. It served inCyprus between 1955 and 1959, and then was based inAden from 1959 to 1960. In 1961 it was deployed in Hong Kong, and it was then in Germany from 1962 to 1965. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion was inPalestine from 1945 to 1948.[82]
In 1958, the depot in Warwick was closed and the regiment was reduced to a single regular battalion, sharing a depot inStrensall with the three other regiments of theMidland Brigade (renamed the Forester Brigade in 1958).[83][84] In November 1962, it was announced that the Forester Brigade was to be broken up and the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was promptly transferred to theFusilier Brigade.[85]
In February 1963, it was announced that the Queen had approved of the regiment becoming fusiliers and adopting the title of Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers from 1 May 1963.[86] As a fusilier regiment, the Royal Warwicks were entitled to wear a coloured feather hackle in the headdress. The colours chosen by the regiment wereroyal blue over orange (described as "old gold with a touch of Dutch pink").[87] The colours were those of the RoyalHouse of Nassau, recalling the regiment's Dutch origins.[88]
On 23 April 1968, the four regiments of the Fusilier Brigade were amalgamated to become alarge regiment as theRoyal Regiment of Fusiliers.[89]
A memorial at Lébisey in Normandy, on the site of the first battle for Lébisey in 1944, was officially unveiled on 7 June 2022.[90]
TheRoyal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum (Royal Warwickshire) is based at Pageant House in Jury Street, Warwick.[91]
The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[47]
The following members of the regiment were awarded theVictoria Cross:
The colonels of the regiment have been:[47]
In 1751, the 6th Regiment of Foot (1st Warwickshire) wore red coats faced in yellow. The latter colour may have originated with the period of Dutch service under theHouse of Orange or simply been an arbitrary decision underJames II. When retitled the Royal 1st Warwickshire Regiment in 1832 thefacings were changed to royal blue. Officers wore silver braid and buttons until gold/bronze was adopted in 1830. While its origins are obscure, the Antelope insignia (see illustration above) of the regiment was sufficiently long-established to be described as its "ancient badge".[95]
Until World War I, both the Antelope badge and dark blue facings remained as primary distinctions on the scarlet and blue full dress of the regiment.[96] On the simplified dark blue "No. 1 Dress" worn by most of the British Army as full dress after World War II, for reasons of contrast, the blue facings were changed to red piping edging the shoulder straps.[97]
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