| 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot | |
|---|---|
 Cap Badge of the 50th Regiment of Foot | |
| Active | 1755 to 1881 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Great Britain (1755–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1881) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Size | Onebattalion (two battalions 1804–1814) |
| Garrison/HQ | Maidstone Barracks,Kent |
| Nicknames | "The Dirty Half-Hundred" "The Blind Half-Hundred"[1] |
| Engagements | Seven Years' War Napoleonic Wars Gwalior campaign First Anglo-Sikh War Crimean War New Zealand Wars |
The50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot was aninfantryregiment of theBritish Army, raised in 1755. Under theChilders Reforms it amalgamated with the97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot to form theQueen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in 1881.
The regiment was originally raised by ColonelJames Abercrombie as the 52nd Regiment of Foot in 1755 for service in theSeven Years' War.[2] It was re-numbered as the50th Regiment of Foot, following the disbandment of the existing50th and51st regiments, in 1756.[2] The regiment's first action was when it embarked on ships and took part in theRaid on Rochefort in September 1757 during theSeven Years' War.[3] In its early years the regiment wore a uniform of black facings and white lace; when they wiped sweat away with their cuffs the dye stained their faces, giving rise to the nickname the "Dirty Half-Hundred" ("half-hundred" equals fifty).[4]"
The regiment embarked forGermany in June 1760[5] and saw action at theBattle of Corbach in July 1760,[6] theBattle of Warburg later that month[7] and theBattle of Villinghausen in July 1761[8] as well as theBattle of Wilhelmsthal in June 1762.[9] It returned home in March 1763.[10]
The regiment was posted toJamaica in 1772, and then toNew York in 1776.[11] At this point, troops were transferred to other regiments and the officers returned to England to raise a new force; as such, the regiment did not see action in theAmerican Revolutionary War. The men of the regiment served on various ships of theRoyal Navy asmarines and saw action at theFirst Battle of Ushant in July 1778.[11] The regiment adopted a county designation and became the50th (West Kent) Regiment of Foot in 1782.[2]
The regiment embarked forGibraltar in August 1784 and then moved toCorsica in January 1793 for service in theFrench Revolutionary Wars[12] and took part in theSiege of Calvi in July 1794.[13] It returned to Gibraltar in 1797 and moved toMenorca in 1799 before embarking forEgypt in 1800.[14] The regiment fought at theBattle of Mandora in March 1801,[15] theBattle of Alexandria later that month[16] and theSiege of Cairo in May 1801.[17] The regiment then proceeded toMalta in October 1801 and toIreland in May 1802.[18]
A second battalion was raised in 1804 to increase the strength of the regiment.[2] The 1st battalion embarked forCopenhagen in July 1807 and saw action at theBattle of Copenhagen in August 1807 during theGunboat War[19] before returning home in November 1807.[20] It then embarked forPortugal in May 1808 for service under GeneralSir Arthur Wellesley in thePeninsular War and saw action at theBattle of Roliça in August 1808[21] and theBattle of Vimeiro later that month.[22] In January 1809 the battalion took part in theBattle of Corunna, commanded byCharles James Napier, carrying out successivebayonet charges to keep the French at bay, at which GeneralSir John Moore shouted "Well done, 50th! Well done, my Majors!".[23] The battalion was subsequently evacuated from the Peninsula.[24] Both battalions then embarked fromthe Downs in July 1809 and saw action in the disastrousWalcheren Campaign.[25] It was the last regiment to leaveHolland in December 1809.[26]
The 1st battalion returned to Portugal in September 1810 and took part in theBattle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811,[27] theBattle of Arroyo dos Molinos in October 1811[28] and theBattle of Almaraz in May 1812[29] as well as theBattle of Vitoria in June 1813.[30] It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at theBattle of the Pyrenees in July 1813,[31] theBattle of Nivelle in November 1813[32] and theBattle of the Nive in December 1813[33] as well as theBattle of Orthez in February 1814[34] and theBattle of Toulouse in April 1814.[35] The regiment returned to Ireland in July 1814.[36]
The regiment was deployed to theWest Indies in January 1819 and landed inJamaica in March 1819.[37] It was renamed the50th (or Duke of Clarence's) Regiment of Foot, in honour of the futureKing William IV in 1827.[2] It then became the50th (the Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot in honour of the King's wife,Queen Adelaide in 1831.[2] The regiment travelled toAustralia in detachments as escorts to prisoners in 1834,[38] with detachments then stationed at Sydney, Norfolk Island, and Tasmania, before being relieved and transported toIndia in 1841.[38][39] It fought in theGwalior campaign in December 1843[40] and were prominent at theBattle of Mudki in December 1845,[41] theBattle of Ferozeshah later that month[42] and theBattle of Aliwal in January 1846[43] as well as theBattle of Sobraon in February 1846 during theFirst Anglo-Sikh War.[44] Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ryan, who had commanded the regiment in the early battles of the campaign and then commanded the 2nd Brigade at Sobraon, died two months later from the wounds he had received in that battle.[45] The regiment arrived back in England in July 1848.[46]
The regiment embarked forMalta in February 1854 from where it sailed toVarna in June 1854 for service in theCrimean War.[47] The regiment fought at theBattle of Alma in September 1854,[48] theBattle of Inkerman in November 1854[49] and in theSiege of Sevastopol in winter 1854.[50] The regiment left the Crimean Peninsula in May 1856.[51]
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The regiment landed inAuckland in November 1863 for service in theNew Zealand Wars.[52] It joined a field force which marched into the interior of the country as part of Lieutenant GeneralDuncan Cameron's West Coast campaign and while encamped at Nukumaru nearWhanganui came under sustained attack fromMāori in January 1865 during theSecond Taranaki War:[53] a total of 11 private soldiers from the regiment and 23 Māori died in the engagement.[54] The regiment moved toSydney in June 1867 and then left for England in March 1869.[55]
As part of theCardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 50th was linked with the97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 46 atMaidstone Barracks inKent.[56] On 1 July 1881 theChilders Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot to form theQueen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.[2]
The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[2]
The regiment's colonels were as follows:[2]
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