| 2nd Tangier Regiment The Duchess of York and Albany's Regiment of Foot The Queen's Regiment of Foot The Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Foot The 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot The King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) | |
|---|---|
_Cap_Badge.jpg){kind=icon} Cap badge of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). | |
| Active | 1680–1959 |
| Country |  Kingdom of England (1680–1707) Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1959) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Line infantry |
| Garrison/HQ | Bowerham Barracks,Lancaster |
| Nicknames | Barrell's Blues,The Lions |
| Colours | Blue Facings, Gold Braided Lace |
| March | Quick:Corn Riggs are Bonnie Slow:And Shall Trelawny Die? |
| Engagements | Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession Jacobite rising of 1745 Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Peninsular War War of 1812 Napoleonic Wars Crimean War Indian Rebellion of 1857 British Expedition to Abyssinia Anglo-Zulu War Second Boer War First World War Second World War |
TheKing's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was aline infantryregiment of theBritish Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both theFirst and theSecond World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with theBorder Regiment to form theKing's Own Royal Border Regiment.
Previous names include the2nd Tangier Regiment,Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York and Albany's Regiment of Foot,The Queen's Regiment of Foot, andThe King's Own Regiment.
Authorisation to recruit the regiment was given on 13 July 1680 to theEarl of Plymouth, an illegitimate son ofCharles II; its nominal strength was 1,000 men, half recruited in London by Lieutenant-ColonelCharles Trelawny and half from the West Country.[1] Raised for service in theTangier Garrison, it was known as the2nd Tangier Regiment; Plymouth died shortly after arriving in Tangier andEdward Sackville assumed command, with Trelawney formally appointed as colonel in 1682.[2] Tangier was abandoned in 1684 and on returning to England, the regiment was given the titleHer Royal Highness the Duchess of York and Albany's Regiment of Foot; afterJames II became monarch in 1685, this changed toThe Queen's Regiment of Foot.[1]
During theMonmouth Rebellion, it fought atSedgemoor in July 1685; at the November 1688Glorious Revolution, Trelawny and half the regiment deserted toWilliam III. He was briefly replaced by the loyalist Charles Orby, then reinstated when James went into exile.[3] From 1690 to 1691, it served in theWilliamite War in Ireland, including theBattle of the Boyne[4] and sieges ofCork andLimerick.[5] When the war ended with the October 1691Treaty of Limerick, it returned to England.[6]
Transferred toFlanders in March 1692, it took part in the latter stages of the 1689 to 1697Nine Years' War.[6] The regiment fought at the battles ofSteenkerque in August 1692,[6] andLanden in July 1693[7] and theSiege of Namur in summer 1695.[8] After theTreaty of Ryswick in 1697, it was reduced in strength and used to garrisonPlymouth andPenryn.[1]
When theWar of the Spanish Succession began in 1702, it was reformed as a regiment of marines and fought at theBattle of Vigo Bay in October 1702[9] and thecapture of Gibraltar in August 1704.[10] In 1711, it was redesignated line infantry and took part in theQuebec Expedition. In what remains one of theworst naval disasters in British history, the fleet ran aground in thick fog and over 890 men lost, including 200 members of the regiment.[11]
With the accession ofGeorge I in 1714, it was retitledThe Kings Own and spent the next 30 years in Scotland and England.[13] Sent to Flanders in 1744 during theWar of the Austrian Succession, it garrisonedGhent and when the1745 Jacobite Rising broke out in August, it was transferred to Scotland. The regiment took part of the pursuit of the Jacobite forces on their retreat back into Scotland in December 1745, including the ensuringClifton Moor Skirmish.[14] The regiment then fought at theBattle of Falkirk Muir in January 1746. At theBattle of Culloden in April, it was based in the front line and took the brunt of the Jacobite charge; it suffered the heaviest casualties on the government side, with 18 dead and 108 wounded.[15] The regiment's commander,Sir Robert Rich, was among the wounded, losing his left hand.[16]Lord Robert Kerr, captain of the regiment's grenadier company, was among the dead.[17] The twoRegulation Colours (flags) carried by the regiment during the battle both survive and are now part of the collection of theNational Museum of Scotland.[18][19] The Regiment introduced the Loyal and Friendly Society of Orange and Blew to commemorate the victories at the Battle of Culloden and Boyne in 1732 and a full list of members wearing the society medal has been compiled.[20]
Following the army reforms of 1751, the regiment was retitled4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot.[21] At the start of theSeven Years' War in 1756, it was part of theMenorca garrison; forced tosurrender in June it was transported toGibraltar.[22] It spent the rest of the war in theWest Indies, taking part in the capture ofGuadeloupe,Martinique andSaint Lucia before returning home in July 1764.[23]When theAmerican Revolutionary War began in 1775, it was sent toNorth America; over the next three years, it took part in numerous actions, includingLexington and Concord,Bunker Hill,Long Island and theBattle of White Marsh in December 1777.[24] The first British soldiers to die in the American Revolution were arguably three members of the light company of the 4th Foot, who died at Concord Bridge in 1775.[25] In early 1778, it returned toSaint Lucia where it was part of the garrison during the December 1778 naval battle ofSt. Lucia, part of theAnglo-French War.[26]
The regiment was sent toNova Scotia in May 1787 and took part in the capture ofSaint Pierre and Miquelon in May 1793.[27] After returning to England, it embarked for theNetherlands in September 1799 and fought at theBattle of Alkmaar in October 1799 during theAnglo-Russian invasion of Holland.[28]
The regiment was sent toPortugal in August 1808[29] for service in theNapoleonic Wars and fought under GeneralSir John Moore at theBattle of Corunna in January 1809, before being evacuated to England later that month.[30] It returned to the Peninsula in October 1810[31] where it fought at theSiege of Badajoz in March 1812,[32] theBattle of Salamanca in July 1812[33] and theBattle of Vitoria in June 1813[34] as well as theSiege of San Sebastián in September 1813.[35] It then pursued the French Army into France and saw action at theBattle of the Nivelle in November 1813 and at theBattle of the Nive in December 1813.[36] It embarked forNorth America in June 1814[37] for service in theWar of 1812 and saw action at theBattle of Bladensburg in August 1814, theBurning of Washington later in August 1814[38] theBattle of Baltimore in September 1814,[39] and theBattle of New Orleans in January 1815, as well as the capture ofFort Bowyer in February 1815.[40] It briefly returned to England in May 1815, before embarking forFlanders a few weeks later to fight at theBattle of Waterloo in June.[41]
Detachments of the regiment were used as guards upon convict ships travelling to Australia, with the detachments arriving from 1832. Detachments were stationed in Sydney, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and Swan River.[42] The regiment was relieved in 1837 and headed to India.[42]
During theCrimean War, the regiment fought at theBattle of Alma in September 1854 andBattle of Inkerman in November 1854 and took part in theSiege of Sevastopol in winter 1854. It also saw action in Abyssinia in 1868, and in South Africa in 1879.[21]
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by theCardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot atBowerham Barracks inLancaster from 1873, or by theChilders reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.[43] Under the reforms the regiment became theKing's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) on 1 July 1881.[44] After the Childers reforms took effect, the regiment contained the following battalions:[45]
The 2nd Battalion embarked forSouth Africa in December 1899, to serve in theSecond Boer War, and saw action at theBattle of Spion Kop in January 1900. The 3rd and 4th Militia battalions were embodied and embarked for South Africa in February and January 1900 respectively.[46][47]
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming theTerritorial Force and the latter theSpecial Reserve;[48] the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions.[a]
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_508362.jpg)
The regiment raised 14 Territorial and New Army battalions during theFirst World War.[50][51]
The 1st Battalion landed atBoulogne in August 1914 as part of the12th Brigade in the4th Division of theBritish Expeditionary Force. It was nearly destroyed as a fighting unit at theBattle of Le Cateau on 26 August 1914, when it suffered some 400 casualties in a single two minute burst of machine gun fire.[52] It served on theWestern Front for the rest of the war.[50]
The 2nd Battalion returned from India in December 1914 and landed at Le Havre in January 1915 as part of the83rd Brigade in the28th Division. It took heavy casualties at theBattle of Frezenberg in May 1915[53] before moving to Egypt in October 1915 and then toSalonika.[50]
The3rd (Reserve) Battalion remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war and supplied drafts of trained infantrymen as replacements to the regular battalions that were serving overseas.[50]
The 1/4th Battalion was mobilised in the164th (North Lancashire) Brigade of the55th (West Lancashire) Division; it was temporarily attached to154th (3rd Highland) Brigade in51st (Highland) Division and landed in France in May 1915; it returned to 164 Brigade in January 1916.[50]
The 1/5th Battalion was mobilised in the 164th (North Lancashire) Brigade of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division; it landed in France in February 1915 and was temporarily attached to28th Division and1st Division; it returned to166th (South Lancashire) Brigade in the 55th Division in January 1916.[50]
The 2/4th Battalion was formed September 1914 as a 2nd Line duplicate of 1/4th Battalion; it became the 4th (Reserve) Battalion and absorbed 5th (Reserve) Battalion 1916; it was stationed inDublin from June 1918.[50]
The 2/5th Battalion was formed September 1914 as a 2nd Line duplicate of 1/5th Battalion; it was attached to the 164th (North Lancashire) Brigade of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division February 1915, then to170th (2/1st North Lancashire) Brigade of57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division; it landed in France February 1917.[50]
The 3/4th Battalion was formed June 1915 as a reserve battalion; it amalgamated with 2/4th Battalion in January 1916.[50]
The 3/5th Battalion was formed June 1915 as a reserve battalion; it remained in the United Kingdom and supplied drafts of trained infantrymen to the 1/5th and 2/5th battalions; it 5th (Reserve) Battalion.[50]
The 12th Battalion was formed on 1 January 1917 from the 41st Provisional Battalion (TF) in218th Brigade of the73rd Division, a Home Defence formation; it was disbanded in March 1918.[50]
The 6th (Service) Battalion was formed in August 1914; it was attached to38th Brigade in13th (Western) Division; it landed atGallipoli July 1915 and later served inMesopotamia.[50]
The 7th (Service) Battalion was formed in September 1914; it was attached to56th Brigade in19th (Western) Division; it landed in France in July 1915 and was disbanded February 1918 due to an Army-wide reorganisation.[50]
The 8th (Service) Battalion was formed in October 1914; it was attached to76th Brigade in25th Division; it landed in France in September 1915 and served on the Western Front for the war: it helped to slow the German Advance at theBattle of St. Quentin on 21 March 1918.[53]
The 9th (Service) Battalion was formed in October 1914; it was attached to65th Brigade in22nd Division and served in Salonika.[50]
The 10th (Reserve) Battalion was formed in October 1914; it remained in the United Kingdom and supplied drafts to the Service battalions overseas; it converted into 43rd Training Reserve Battalion in September 1916.[50]
The 11th (Service) Battalion was formed in August 1915 as aBantam battalion; it was attached to120th Brigade in40th Division; it landed in France in June 1916 and was disbanded in February 1918.[50]
The 12th (Reserve) Battalion was formed in January 1916; it remained in the United Kingdom and supplied drafts to the Service battalions overseas; it converted into 76th Training Reserve Battalion in September 1916.[50]
In 1921, the regiment was re-designated theKing's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster).[54]
The following battalions served during theSecond World War:
The 1st Battalion, King's Own was stationed inMalta on the outbreak of war, moving toKarachi inBritish India at the end of 1939. It later served with the17th Indian Infantry Brigade. It subsequently served inIraq andSyria with25th Indian Infantry Brigade, with which it served until October 1943, of10th Indian Infantry Division. In August 1942, the battalion embarked fromEgypt forCyprus, but the transport was torpedoed and the troops had to return and re-embark later. In May 1943, the battalion returned to Syria, and then it joined234th Infantry Brigade in the Aegean Islands in October 1943. Here, the bulk of the battalion was captured by the Germans on 16 November, after theBattle of Leros, with only 57 officers and men managing to escape the island. The 1st Battalion was reformed in 25th Indian Infantry Brigade, on 30 January 1944, by amalgamating with the 8th Battalion, King's Own. The reformed battalion, under the command ofLieutenant ColonelRichard Neville Anderson, later served in theItalian Campaign with 25th Indian Brigade for the rest of the war.[55]
The 2nd Battalion formed part of the British garrison ofJerusalem when war broke out.[56] It joined14th Infantry Brigade inPalestine in March 1940 and moved with it to Egypt in July.[57] The battalion served with16th Infantry Brigade of6th Infantry Division (later redesignated70th Infantry Division) in thedefence of Tobruk and later formed part of the garrison ofCeylon.[58] In September 1943, the battalion was stationed with 70th Division atBangalore in India when it was selected for attachment to the second Long Range Penetration orChindits brigade (111th Indian Infantry Brigade) for theBurma Campaign. It formed 41 and 46 Columns in theSecond Chindit Campaign, crossing into Burma in March 1944 and being flown out to India in July 1944.[59] From November 1944 to February 1945, the battalion was assigned to14th Airlanding Brigade in44th Indian Airborne Division.[60]
The 4th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment was transferred to theRoyal Artillery and converted to artillery in November 1938, forming the56th (King's Own) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. On the outbreak of war, the 56th Anti-Tank Regiment mobilised in the42nd (East Lancashire) Division, with which it served in theBattle of France in May 1940 and wasevacuated at Dunkirk. In 1942, it was sent to join 70th Infantry Division in India, where it was converted into a Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment in 1943. In this guise, it served in the Burma Campaign, mainly with5th Indian Infantry Division. It reconverted to the anti-tank role in late 1944 and in June 1945 it returned to India as a Royal Artillery training unit.[61][62]
In June 1939, the 56th Anti-Tank Regiment spun off a duplicate unit, the66th Anti-Tank Regiment, which served in Home Forces throughout the war, mainly with the55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division.[63][64] In September 1941, the 56th and 66th Anti-Tank Regiments each provided a battery to help form a new regiment for overseas service,83rd Anti-Tank Regiment. This regiment served in Iraq,Palestine and Egypt.[65]
Before the war, the 5th Battalion, King's Own transferred from164th (North Lancashire) Infantry Brigade,55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division to126th (East Lancashire) Infantry Brigade,42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division. The battalion, under the command ofLieutenant ColonelHayman Hayman-Joyce, mobilised with the rest of the 42nd Division and served with theBritish Expeditionary Force in the battles of France andBelgium in 1940. When the division was converted to armour, becoming the42nd Armoured Division, in October 1941, 5th Battalion was transferred to theRoyal Armoured Corps and became the107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps.[66][67] The regiment continued to wear the King's Own cap badge on the black beret of theRoyal Armoured Corps, as did all infantry units converted in this way.[68] However, the regiment was disbanded in December 1943 and a few of its officers and men were sent to151st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps, which had been converted from the 10th Battalion, King's Own.[49]
The 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Battalions were all formed in 1940 aspioneer battalions and raised specifically for hostilities-only.[49] All four units served with the British Expeditionary Force as GHQ (General Headquarters) troops during the 1940 campaign in bothFrance andBelgium.[69]
After beingevacuated at Dunkirk, the 6th Battalion later served in a succession of Home Forces formations:218th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home),48th Division,54th Division,76th Division.[70] The battalion never again served overseas and was disbanded in July 1944.[49]
The 7th Battalion served with the71st Independent Infantry Brigade before being sent to form part of the Gibraltar garrison, with the2nd Gibraltar Brigade, in June 1942.[71] In March 1943, the battalion was sent toIndia where it joined150th Indian Training Brigade but it did not see action against theJapanese.[59] The battalion was disbanded after the war in 1947.[49]
The 8th Battalion joined the Malta garrison in August 1941 and served through theSiege.[72] It was assigned to the232nd Infantry Brigade and briefly joined the233rd Infantry Brigade. In November 1943, the battalion was moved toPalestine and then Italy with the 25th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the 10th Indian Infantry Division. In Italy, on 30 January 1944, the 8th Battalion was disbanded and its personnel merged with the few surviving remnants of the 1st Battalion, King's Own, which had been virtually lost during thefighting at Leros.[73]
The 9th Battalion served in the47th (Reserve) Infantry Division in the United Kingdom until December 1941.[49][74] The battalion was transferred to the Royal Artillery and was converted into the 90th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, serving with the45th Division from February 1942 until November 1943 when it was disbanded.[75]
The 50th (Holding) Battalion was formed in the United Kingdom on 28 May 1940. On 9 October 1940, it was renumbered as the 10th Battalion.[49][76] 10th Battalion was assigned to225th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), formed for service in the United Kingdom. When the brigade was converted into a tank brigade in December 1941, the battalion became the151st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps.[67][77] When107th RAC was disbanded in December 1943, a cadre transferred to 151st RAC, which adopted the number of 107th to perpetuate the 5th Battalion, King's Own, a 1st LineTerritorial Army battalion. The new 107th Regiment went on to serve in theNorth-west Europe from 1944-1945.[78]
After the war, all the units created during the war were disbanded; also, followingIndian independence, there was no longer a need to maintain such a large overseas garrison and thus the 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1948. The regiment received the freedom ofLancaster in 1953, before being amalgamated with theBorder Regiment into theKing's Own Royal Border Regiment on 31 October 1959. In 1953 and 1954, the 1st Battalion of the regiment was stationed inSouth Korea following theKorean War.[79]
The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[49]
The following members of the regiment were awarded theVictoria Cross:
The King's Own Royal Regiment Museum is part of theLancaster City Museum inLancaster, Lancashire. The museum, which opened in 1929, exhibits regimental uniforms, medals, regalia, silver, paintings, medals, weapons and other memorabilia reflecting the regiment's history.[80]
The colonels-in-chief were as follows:
The colonels of the regiment were as follows:[49]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Lord Robert Ker (second son of the Marquis of Lothian), Captain of grenadiers in Burrel's regiment.... when the Highlanders broke into Burrel's, he received (it is said) the foremost man upon his spontoon, and was killed instantly, with many wounds
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) The depot was the 11th Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 4th Regimental District depot thereafter{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)