| Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) | |
|---|---|
_Cap_Badge.jpg){kind=icon} Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) Cap Badge | |
| Active | 1661–1959 |
| Country |  Kingdom of England (1661–1707) Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1959) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Line infantry |
| Role | Infantry |
| Size | 1–2Regular battalions 1Militia battalion (2nd Royal Surrey Regiment of Militia) 2Volunteer and up to 9Territorial battalions Up to 13New Army and war service battalions |
| Part of | Home Counties Brigade |
| Garrison/HQ | Stoughton Barracks,Guildford |
| Nicknames | Kirke's Lambs,The Mutton Lancers |
| Mottos | Pristinae Virtutis Memor (Mindful of Former Valour) Vel Exuviae Triumphans (Even in Defeat Triumphant) |
| March | Quick:We'll Gang Nai Mair to Yon Toon Slow:Scipio |
| Anniversaries | Glorious First of June (1 June) Salerno (9 September) |
TheQueen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was aline infantryregiment of the English and later theBritish Army from 1661 to 1959.[1] It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only theRoyal Scots in the British Army line infantryorder of precedence.[2]
In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with theEast Surrey Regiment, to form a single county regiment called theQueen's Royal Surrey Regiment which was, on 31 December 1966, amalgamated with theQueen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, theRoyal Sussex Regiment and theMiddlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) to form theQueen's Regiment. Following a further amalgamation in 1992 with theRoyal Hampshire Regiment, the lineage of the regiment is continued today by thePrincess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires).[3]
The regiment was raised in 1661 byHenry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough asThe Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Foot onPutney Heath (then inSurrey) specifically to garrison the new English acquisition ofTangier, part ofCatherine of Braganza's dowry when she marriedKing Charles II.[4] From this service, it was also known as theTangier Regiment. As was usual at the time, it was also named after its currentcolonel, from one of whom,Percy Kirke, it acquired its nicknameKirke's Lambs.[5] It was withdrawn along with the rest of theTangier Garrison when Charles II abandoned the colony.[4]
In 1685, it was given the Royal title theQueen Dowager's Regiment of Foot (after Queen Catherine, widow of Charles II) and in 1703 becameThe Queen's Royal Regiment of Foot.[6] In 1715, it was renamedThe Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Foot afterCaroline of Ansbach, then Princess of Wales, and was re-designatedThe Queen's Own Regiment of Foot in 1727 when the Princess became Queen. It was ranked as 2nd Foot in theclothing regulations of 1747, and was renamed2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot byRoyal warrant in 1751.[7]
In theChilders reforms of 1881 it became the county regiment of WestSurrey, namedThe Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. In 1921, its title was slightly altered toThe Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey). By 1950 it was known asThe Queen's Royal Regiment. In 1959, it was amalgamated with theEast Surrey Regiment, to form theQueen's Royal Surrey Regiment.[8]
The regiment shipped toTangier where it remained until the port was evacuated in 1684, when it returned to England. It took part in the suppression of theMonmouth Rebellion, fighting at theBattle of Sedgemoor, where it earned a widespread (but probably exaggerated[9]) reputation for brutality.[10] After theGlorious Revolution, it fought in Ireland for the new king,William III, defending thebesieged Derry in 1689 and at theBattle of the Boyne in 1690.[11] From 1692 to 1696 it fought inFlanders in theNine Years' War, at theBattle of Landen and therecapture of Namur in 1695.[12]
During theWar of Spanish Succession it served in the Iberian campaign, atCadiz,Vigo, the sieges ofValencia de Alcantara,Alburquerque, Badajoz,Alcantara andCiudad Rodrigo, and was virtually destroyed in the disastrousBattle of Almansa.[13] In the campaign in theLow Countries in 1703, it defendedTongres against overwhelming odds, givingLord Overkirk time to re-group his forces, until it was eventually captured.[14] It was for this action that it was awarded its Royal title and its mottoes. It spent most of the remainder of the 18th century on garrison duty, being one of the regiments involved in putting down theGordon Riots.[15]
On the outbreak of theFrench Revolutionary Wars, detachments were in the West Indies and acting as marines in the Channel Fleet, notably at the battle of theGlorious First of June in 1794, where they served on Howe's flagship,Queen Charlotte and also on boardRussell,Defence,Royal George andMajestic.[16] In recognition of the regiment's service, it was granted the distinction of wearing aNaval Crown superscribed1 June 1794 on its colours.[17]
The regiment was then reunited and sent to the West Indies where it took part in thecapture of Guadeloupe in 1794, although the occupation was short-lived owing to outbreaks of disease, particularlyyellow fever, among the troops, and thecapture of Trinidad in 1797. A second battalion was formed in 1795 and stationed inGuernsey before being shipped toMartinique, where it was disbanded in 1797, its personnel being absorbed by 1st Battalion.[18]
The regiment was transferred toIreland in 1798 where it helped put down theIrish rebellion and then took part in the unsuccessful 1799Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.[19] In 1800, it was part of the abortiveexpedition to Belle Isle,[20] from which it sailed toEgypt where it fought at theBattle of Alexandria, theSiege of Fort Julien and theSiege of Alexandria.[21]
During theNapoleonic Wars, the regiment first fought in thePeninsular War at the battles ofVimeiro andCorunna.[22] It then took part in the disastrousWalcheren Campaign before returning to the Peninsula to fight at theBattle of Fuentes de Oñoro, thesecond Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, theBattle of Salamanca and the unsuccessfulSiege of Burgos.[23] By the winter of 1812, the regiment was so depleted by casualties and disease that four companies were amalgamated with the equally weakened 2nd Battalion,53rd Foot, to form the 2nd Provisional Battalion. Six cadre companies returned home to re-form. As part of the4th Division, the Provisional Battalion took part in theWellington's triumph at theBattle of Vittoria on 21 June 1813, followed by theSiege of San Sebastián and, 1814, the battles ofOrthes andToulouse.[24]
The regiment was on garrison duty inBaluchistan when theFirst Afghan War broke out in 1839. It formed part of the force that attacked the previously impregnable city ofGhazni, taking the city by storm because the army lacked siege equipment, and opening the way toKabul. It returned to India in November 1839, storming the city ofKhelaten route, and avoiding destruction along with therest of Elphinstone's army.[25]
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The regiment was shipped to theCape Colony during theEighth Xhosa War in 1851. On 25 February 1852 a detachment of 51 men under the command of Ensign Boyland were aboardHMSBirkenhead travelling fromSimon's Town toPort Elizabeth when the ship struck rocks. The troops were assembled on deck and remained at attention to afford the embarked women and children time to take their place in the lifeboats. Shortly after this the ship broke up and the vast majority of the troops on board were either drowned or fell victim to sharks. The bravery of the troops, made up of cadres from ten different regiments, led to the naming of theBirkenhead Drill.[26] It once again became the 1st Battalion when the 2nd Battalion was reformed in 1857, and went to China in 1860 at the time of theSecond Opium War, fighting at theThird Battle of Taku Forts and the capture ofBeijing.[27] It was stationed in theImperial fortress colony ofBermuda from 1864 to 1866. Although too far North foryellow fever to establish itself in perpetuity, the disease was introduced to Bermuda several times during the 19th century by mail boats from the West Indies, causing endemics that resulted in many deaths, most particularly among members of the armed forces. Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel F. L. O. Attye, the battalion arrived at theRoyal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda (aboardHMSOrontes from Gibraltar, via Madeira) on 15 July 1864, in the midst of one of these epidemics and its losses in Bermuda included Assistant Surgeon James Murray Chalk atSt. George's Garrison on 8 February 1865 and Douglas James Mounteny Rose, the five-year-old son of Lieutenant-Colonel Rose, who died the following day.[28] The battalion lost fifty-two officers and men in the epidemic.[29] The battalion departed Bermuda for Cork, Ireland, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Werge, aboard HMSOrontes on 3 November 1866.[30]
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by theCardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot atStoughton Barracks inGuildford from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.[31] Under the reforms it becameThe Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment on 1 July 1881.[32] In 1897–98, a battalion took part in theTirah Expedition on theNorth-West Frontier.[33]
The 1st battalion was stationed at Malta from 1891, then inIndia where it was posted atRawalpindi until late 1902 when it moved toPeshawar near the historicKhyber Pass on the border to Afghanistan.[34] The 2nd Battalion fought in theThird Anglo-Burmese War from 1886 to 1888 and in South Africa from 1899 to 1904 including during theSecond Boer War (1899–1902).[35] From October 1910 until October 1912, it was stationed in theImperial fortresscolony ofGibraltar.[36] From October 1912 through 1914 it was stationed in the Imperial fortress colony ofBermuda, as the regular infantry battalion of theBermuda Garrison. While in Bermuda, theEdison Studios filmedThe Relief of Lucknow andFor Valour there, and was provided extensive support from the garrison, with parts ofProspect Camp providing sets, and personnel from the 2nd Battalion appearing as extras.[37][38]
A 3rd (Militia) Battalion was formed from the former 2nd Royal Surrey Militia, with headquarters at Guildford. The Battalion was embodied in December 1899 to provide troops for theSecond Boer War, 550 men embarked forSouth Africa in February 1900;[39] and returned to the United Kingdom in May 1902, when it received a public welcome and reception at Guildford.[40]
Under the Childers Reforms, two battalions of theVolunteer Force were attached to the regiment in 1883. These had originally been raised in 1859–60 in response to an invasion scare.[41][42] The 1st Volunteer Battalion (VB) was formed from the2nd Surrey Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVC), at theOld Barracks, Mitcham Road,Croydon, while the 2nd VB was formed from the 4th Surrey RVC atReigate[43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Both Volunteer Battalions contributed to service companies of volunteers who served alongside the regulars during theSecond Boer War, and received the battle honour for the campaign.[50][51]
Under theHaldane Reforms of 1908 the Militia became theSpecial Reserve and the Volunteers became part of theTerritorial Force (TF).[52][53][54] The regiment now had the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the4th Battalion (TF) at theOld Barracks inCroydon and the 5th Battalion (TF) at Sandfield Terrace in Guildford (since demolished).[1][45][46]
The 1st Battalion landed atLe Havre as part of the3rd Brigade in the1st Division in August 1914, and spent the entire war on theWestern Front.[55] The battalion saw action at theBattle of Mons, theBattle of the Marne, theBattle of the Aisne, theBattle of Ypres, theBattle of Aubers Ridge, theBattle of Festubert,Battle of Loos, TheHindenburg Line, the Battle of Bellecourt, theBattle of Broodseinde, theBattle of Passchendaele and theBattle of Arras.[56]
The 2nd Battalion was inSouth Africa when war broke out and landed atZeebrugge as part of the22nd Brigade in the7th Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front.[55] It fought at the Battle of Ypres, Battle of Aubers Ridge, Battle of Festubert, Battle of Loos and theBattle of the Somme until November 1917, when it was sent to theItalian Front, taking part in the battles of thePiave andVittorio Veneto.[56]
The1/4th Battalion moved toIndia as part of theSurrey Brigade in theHome Counties Division in October 1914 and remained there throughout the war,[55] serving on theNorth West Frontier, and was afterwards involved in theThird Afghan War in 1919.[46][55][57][58] The 1/5th Battalion also went to India with the Home Counties Division, but then transferred toMesopotamia in December 1915.[55]
As soon as the 1st-Line Territorials had gone overseas, the Territorial Associations started raising 2nd- and 3rd-Line battalions, designated the 2/4th, 2/5thetc. The 4th Queen's was unusual in sending its 3rd-Line battalion overseas, so a4/4th Bn was raised to train recruits; eventually it absorbed the 3/5th Bn as the 4th Reserve Battalion.[46][55][59][60]
The2/4th Battalion saw more varied service than any of the other Queen's TF battalions, in theGallipoli Campaign, inEgypt, andPalestine, all as part of the53rd (Welsh) Division, before being sent back as reinforcements to theWestern Front where it served in34th Division under French command before taking part in the final advance to victory in November 1918.[46][55][61][62][63]
The3/4th Bn was sent to the Western Front as reinforcements in August 1917, where it joined21st Division and fought atBroodseinde andCambrai. It was broken up to provide drafts in February 1918.[46][55][64]
There were also 19th and 20th TF Battalions formed from the Home Service men of the regiment.[55]
The Queen's also formed a number of battalions of the New Army, or 'Kitchener's Army'[55]
Returning prisoners of war were awarded a "Welcome Home Medal" at a reception in Guildford in January 1919. The medal has the regimental badge on one side and the inscription, "Prisoners of War The Queens Regiment Welcome Home" on the reverse and is dated MCMXVIII.[69]
The 1st Battalion spent the inter-war years on garrison duty, both in Britain and overseas. The 2nd Battalion took part in theWaziristan campaign of 1919–1920, attempting to pacify the tribal areas during the unrest following theThird Afghan War. It was inPalestine during theInsurgency of 1936–1939.[70]
The 4th and 5th Battalions were both reformed in theTerritorial Army, assigned to the131st (Surrey) Infantry Brigade, alongside the 5th and 6th battalions of the East Surrey Regiment. However, in the reorganisation of the Territorial Army's infantry in the late 1930s, the 4th Queen's was transferred to theRoyal Artillery and converted into the63rd (Queen's) Searchlight Regiment.[71]
The regiment was also reassigned the22nd and24th (County of London) battalions of theLondon Regiment, which disbanded in 1938. These battalions became the6th (Bermondsey) and7th (Southwark) battalions of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and joined the 5th Battalion in131st Brigade.[72]
The 1st Battalion was serving inBritish India on the outbreak of theSecond World War but did not see action until 1942 against theImperial Japanese Army. The 1st Queens fought in theBurma Campaign throughout the war as part of the33rd Indian Infantry Brigade,[73]7th Indian Infantry Division, of theBritish Fourteenth Army underLieutenant GeneralWilliam "Bill" Slim.[74]
The 2nd Battalion, initially commanded byLieutenant ColonelRobert Ross until April 1940, spent the early years of the war in the Middle East andSyria before also going out to theFar East. They were part of the16th Brigade,6th Infantry Division which was later redesignated as the70th Infantry Division and were involved inOperation Thursday, the secondChindits campaign.[74] The Chindits were the creation ofBrigadierOrde Wingate. After suffering heavy casualties in the Chindits campaign, 2nd Queen's reverted to being an ordinary infantry battalion, nicknamed PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry), and served with29th Infantry Brigade,[75] part of36th Infantry Division from May 1945 onwards.[76]
The 1/5th, 1/6th, and 1/7th were all 1st LineTerritorial Army battalions that were serving in the131st Infantry Brigade, which was a part of the44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division, a 1st Line Territorial Army division. The brigade was sent, along with the rest of the division, to France in 1940 to join theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) and were quickly involved in theBattle of France and subsequentDunkirk evacuation. They arrived in England and the division was led for a while by Major-GeneralBrian Horrocks. The division was later sent toNorth Africa in mid-1942 to join theBritish Eighth Army and fought in theBattle of Alam el Halfa and later in theSecond Battle of El Alamein where the 131st Brigade was assigned to the7th Armoured Division and would remain with them for the rest of the war.[74] The brigade participated in theTunisian andItalian Campaigns and theNorth West Europe Campaign. In December 1944, due to heavy casualties and a shortage of infantrymen in the British Army, the 1/6th and 1/7th Battalions were replaced by 2nd Battalion,Devonshire Regiment and 9th Battalion,Durham Light Infantry, both from the50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division. The 1/6th and 1/7th would spend the rest of the war as training units with the 50th Infantry Division.[77] Meanwhile the 1/5th were detached from 131 Brigade to 22nd Armoured Brigade mounted in Kangaroos in April 1945 for the final weeks of the war and the fighting towards Hamburg.[78]
The regiment also raised the 2/5th, 2/6th, and 2/7th which were all 2nd Line Territorial Army battalions serving in the35th Infantry Brigade of the12th (Eastern) Infantry Division, a 2nd Line Territorial Army duplicate of the 44th (Home Counties) Division. They were also sent to France in 1940 and were involved in theBattle of Dunkirk where they suffered heavy casualties due to the men having very little training. The division was disbanded shortly after returning to England and the 35th Brigade was later redesignated the169th Infantry Brigade. The 169th Brigade was to serve with the 56th Division for the rest of the war in the Italian Campaign in battles atSalerno,Anzio and in the final Allied offensive in Italy,Operation Grapeshot.[79]
In January 1944LieutenantAlec George Horwood of the 1/6th Battalion was awarded theVictoria Cross whilst fighting in theBurma Campaign whilst attached to the 1st Battalion,Northamptonshire Regiment.[80]
63rd (Queen's) Searchlight Regiment served inAnti-Aircraft Command during theBattle of Britain andthe Blitz, then converted into127th (Queen's) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery and mannedBofors guns to protect theMulberry harbour afterD-Day, and then defendedAntwerp late in the war.[81][82]
The regiment raised many other battalions during the war, mainly for home defence or as training units. None of these units saw active service, they remained in the United Kingdom for the duration of war. They fulfilled a role of supplying the battalions overseas with trained infantrymen or were converted into other roles. For example, the 13th Battalion, raised in 1940, was assigned–in an infantry capacity–to the80th Infantry (Reserve) Division.[83] The 14th Battalion was raised inDorchester in early July 1940[84] commanded byLieutenant ColonelAlexander Wilkinson.[85] and in October the battalion was assigned to the201st Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) and commenced anti-invasion duties. On 1 December 1941 the battalion was converted into the99th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, and it subsequently served in Italy.[86]
The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1948 and its personnel transferred to 1st Battalion (which had previously been reduced to nil strength in 1947). The 1st Battalion served in Berlin during the blockade to 1949 then Iserlohn in BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) part of5th Infantry Brigade,2nd Infantry Division (Crossed Keys) until 1953. The 1st Battalion fought theMalayan National Liberation Army during theMalayan Emergency from 1954 to 1957. In 1957, it returned to Germany, where, in 1959, it was amalgamated with 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, to form the 1st Battalion,Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment (less Territorials).[8] When the QRSs merged into the new largerQueen's Regiment, the battalion became the1st (Queen's Royal Surreys) Battalion, but this subtitle was omitted on 1 July 1968. Today the regiment's successors can be traced to the 1st Battalion,Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.[87]
The Surrey Infantry Museum was based atClandon Park House, near Guildford until it was destroyed in a fire in April 2015.[88]
The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[1]
The following members of the Regiment were awarded theVictoria Cross:
On 28th Oct 1864 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon 2nd (Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot on the death of Assistant Surgeon Henry Stewart Lodge at Bermuda on 31st August 1864. The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda by the regular British Army, and its local militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 onwards. The Garrison existed primarily to defend the Royal Naval Dockyard (HM Dockyard Bermuda) and other facilities in Bermuda that were important to security in the region. St. George's Garrison was the first permanent military camp of the Bermuda Garrison. On 9 Feb 1865 he died in St George's Bermuda, the Colonial Capital of Bermuda, presumably due to illness or disease. He was only 29 years old.
The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment). 1st Batt., Warley. 2nd Batt., Gibraltar (for Bermuda.)
CONTEXT: The Relief of Lucknow was produced by the Edison Company for the British market. Around 1911, Edison began to make films on specifically European themes to increase sales in Britain. The company also started sending actors and personnel to shoot films in outdoor locations, away from its New Jersey studio (Musser 1995, 49). Serle J. Dawley, director of The Relief, led several of these trips. In the year that he directed The Relief, Dawley shot The Charge of the Light Brigade in Cheyenne, Wyoming, adapting Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem to depict the Battle of Balaclava as a tale of British loyalty and sacrifice. The Relief was shot in Bermuda, which offered the advantages of tropical scenery and the presence of the 2nd Battalion of the "Queen's Own" Regiment, stationed on site
To Bermudians this picture has peculiar interest; for it was at flatts while Mr. Dawley and his company were there that they produced this most remarkable picture.
The Highlanders, Sepoys, Artillery-men &c. who appear in the scene are men of The Queen's Regiment whose services were secured for the occasion.
