Line Infantry and Tactics

 Articles  Comments Off on Line Infantry and Tactics
Feb 172014
 

Line infantry is a type of infantry which composed the basis of European land armies from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century.

This picture is of the Prussian line infantry attack at the 1745 Battle of Hohenfriedberg.

Line infantry appeared in the 17th century. At the beginning of 17th century the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus decided to equip his army with firearms with wheellocks, but only his cavalry received them in his lifetime. Shortly after his death, the Swedish infantry was equipped with new muskets with wheellocks which were comparatively light when compared to older muskets, making it easier to fire the weapon without the aid of a support. Moreover, the new musket required less iron and it turned out to be cheaper to mass-produce. This firearm made it possible to create line infantry.

Linear tactics and function

Line infantry used mostly three types of formations in its battles: the line, the square and the column.
With the massive proliferation of hand guns (firearms that could be carried by hand, as opposed to cannon; not to be confused with handguns) in the infantry units from the middle of 17th century the battlefield was dominated by linear tactics, according to which the infantry was aligned into long thin lines and fired volleys. A line consisted of 2, 3 or 4 ranks of soldiers.
The relatively short range at which smooth bore muskets could accurately hit a target, added to the slow reload (2 to 3 rounds per minute), meant that massed formation firing was essential for maximising enemy casualties. The line was considered as the fundamental battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to take cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry and could not hold ground against advancing infantry columns. Line infantry provided an ‘anchor’ for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat to if threatened.

Against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow (consisting of four lines), unlike the pikiners’ and old-style musketeers’ square.
Movement in line formation was very slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was virtually assured, especially in any kind of uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, line was mostly used as a stationary formation, with troops moving in column formations and then deploying to line at their destination. Usually for movement and melee attacks, columns would be adopted.

Training and recruitment

Line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions, the main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting and manoeuvre.

Line tactics required a strict discipline and simple movements, practised to the point where they became second-nature. During training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used.

Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries. Musketeers and grenadiers, formerly elite troops, gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics.

Arms and equipment

In the middle of the 17th century, the muskets of line infantry had bayonets added. Bayonets were attached to the muzzles of muskets and were used when line troops entered melee combat. They also helped to defend against cavalry.
At the end of the 17th century, muskets were replaced by lighter and cheaper infantry fusils with flintlocks, weighing 5 kg with a caliber of 17.5 mm, first in France and then in other states. In many countries, the new fusils retained the name “musket”. Both muskets and fusils were smoothbore, which lessened their accuracy and range.
The bulk of the line infantry had no protective equipment. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, the copper mitre caps of grenadiers.

Line infantry and other contemporary types of infantry

Besides line infantry, there were elite troops (royal guards and other designated elite regiments) and the light infantry. Light infantry operated in extended order (also known as skirmish formation) as opposed to the close orders (tight formations) used by line infantry. Since the late 18th century light infantry in most European countries mostly consisted of riflemen (such as the German Jäger), armed with rifled carbines and trained in aimed shooting and use of defilades. Line infantry, whose muskets with bayonets were heavier than carbines, became known as heavy infantry and were used as the main deciding force.

In France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the division into the Guard, line infantry and light infantry formally continued to exist, but line regiments and “light” regiments had identical weaponry (smooth-bore fusils) and tactics. Napoleon distrusted rifled firearms. However, both line and “light” regiments each included a battalion of tirailleurs or voltigeurs expected to act as skirmishers as well being able to deploy into line.
The Russian infantry of 1853 comprised 110 regiments. 52 of which were line infantry, 10 regiments were Guard, and 46 regiments were light infantry (42 Jäger regiments and 4 infantry carabinier regiments). However, only a part of the Russian light infantry were equipped with rifles.
In the 19th century the percentage of riflemen in European armies increased, and the percentage of line infantry equipped with muskets fell. In the American Civil War both Northern and Confederate armies had only a few line regiments. However, France, due to Napoleon III, who admired Napoleon I, had 300 line battalions (comprising an overwhelming majority) even in 1870. Although the French line infantry received Chassepot rifles in 1866, it still was being trained in the use of closed formations: line, column and square, which was changed only after the dethronement of Napoleon III.

Battlefield obsolescence

In the years after the Napoleonic Wars, line infantry continued to be deployed as the main battle force while light infantry provided fire support and covered the movement of units. In Russia, Great Britain, France, Prussia and some other states, linear tactics and formation discipline were maintained into the late 19th century (examples: Crimean War, Franco-Prussian War).
With the invention of new weaponry, the concept of line infantry began to wane. The Minié ball (an improved rifle ammunition), allowed individual infantrymen to shoot more accurately and over greatly increased range. Men walking in formation line-abreast became far too easy a target, as evidenced in the American Civil War. By the end of this conflict breech-loading rifles were adopted, which gave the individual shooter even greater increased rate of fire as well. In the 1860s, most German states and Russia converted their line infantry and riflemen into the united infantry, which used rifles and skirmish tactics. After the Franco-Prussian War both the German Empire and the French Third Republic did the same. However, Great Britain retained the name “line infantry”, although it used rifled muskets from 1853, breech loading rifles from 1867, and switched from closed lines to extended order during Boer wars.
The growing accuracy and rate of fire of rifles and the invention of the Gatling gun in 1862 and the Maxim machine gun in 1883 meant that close orders of line infantry would suffer huge losses before being able to close with their foe, while the defensive advantages given to line infantry against cavalry became irrelevant with the effective removal of offensive cavalry from the battlefield in the face of the improved weaponry. With the turn of the 20th Century this slowly led to infantry increasingly adopting skirmish style light infantry tactics in battle, while retaining line infantry drill for training.

Retention of “line infantry” title

While, as detailed above, linear battle tactics had become obsolete by the second half of the nineteenth century, regiments in a number of European armies continued to be classified as “line infantry” (or cavalry). This designation had come to mean the regular or numbered regiments of an army, as opposed to specialist or elite formations. Accordingly the distinction had become one of traditional title or classification without significance in respect of armament or tactics. As an example the Belgian Army of 1914 comprised 14 regiments of Infanterie de Ligne (line infantry), three of Chasseurs a pied (light infantry), one of Grenadiers and one of Carabiniers. Similar differentiations were made in the majority of European armies of the period, although English-speaking authors sometimes use the designation “line infantry” when referring to the ordinary infantry of some other countries where the exact term was not in use. The modern UK army retains the traditional distinction between “line infantry” and “the Rifles” on ceremonial occasions for historical reasons, although all are armed with rifles and none use linear tactics. Equally, infantry of most 21st-century armies are still trained in formation manoeuvre and drill, as a way of instilling discipline and unit cohesion.

infantry square

Historically an infantry square is a combat formation an infantry unit forms in close order usually when threatened with cavalry attack. With the development of modern firearms and the demise of cavalry this formation is now considered obsolete.

Very early history

The formation was described by Plutarch and used by the Romans, and was developed from an earlier circular formation.[citation needed] In particular, a large infantry square was utilized by the Roman legions at the Battle of Carrhae against Parthia, whose armies contained a large proportion of cavalry. This is not to be confused with the testudo formation, which also resembled a square, but was used for protection against ranged weapons such as arrows.
The Han Empire’s mounted infantry forces effectively utilized tactics involving highly mobile infantry square formations in conjunction with light cavalry in their many engagements against the primarily cavalry Xiongnu nomad armies in the 1st century CE. Infantry squares were used in the siege of the nomads’ mountain settlements near the Gobi region, where Han forces repelled nomad lancer attacks
The square was revived in the 14th century as the schiltron, and later appeared as the pike square or tercio, and was widely used in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Forming square

As used in the Napoleonic wars, the formation was constituted as a hollow square, or sometimes a rectangle, with each side composed of two or more ranks of soldiers armed with single-shot muskets or rifles with fixed bayonets. Generally, a battalion (approx. 500 to 1,000 men) was the smallest force used to form a square. The unit’s colours and commander were positioned in the centre, along with a reserve force to reinforce any side of the square weakened by attacks. A square of 500 men in four ranks, such as those formed by Wellington’s army at Waterloo, was a tight formation less than twenty metres in length upon any side.
Once formed in square, the infantry would volley fire at approaching cavalry, either by file or by rank. In successful actions, the infantry would often withhold fire until the charging horses and men were some 30 metres from the square; the resulting casualties to the attackers would eventually form piles of dead and wounded horses and their riders which would obstruct further attacks.

Undisciplined or early fire by the infantry would be ineffective against the attacking cavalry and leave the foot soldiers with empty muskets. The cavalrymen could then approach to very short range while the infantry was reloading, where they could fire at the infantry with their pistols, slash at them with sabres or stab them with lances (if they were so equipped.)
Firing too late (with cavalry within 20 metres), although more effective in hitting the targets, could result in a fatally wounded horse tumbling into the infantry ranks and creating a gap, permitting the surviving horsemen to enter the square and break it up from within.

While it was vital for squares to stand firm in the face of a charge, they were not static formations. Astute commanders could, in suitable terrain, manoeuvre squares to mass fire and even trap cavalry, as the French managed against the Ottomans at Mount Tabor (1799). Squares would be arranged in a checkerboard formation to minimize the chances of soldiers from one square accidentally shooting the other.
At Waterloo (1815) the four-rank squares of the Allied forces withstood eleven cavalry charges (unsupported by either horse artillery or infantry). At Lützen (1813), despite infantry and light artillery support, Allied cavalry charges failed to break green French troops. Similarly, impressive infantry efforts were seen at Jena-Auerstedt (1806), Pultusk (1806), Fuentes de Oñoro (1811) and first Battle of Krasnoi (August 14, 1812). If a square was broken, as happened at Rio Seco (1808), the infantry could suffer many casualties, although brave and well-disciplined infantry could recover even from this disaster.

Breaking a square
Attacking cavalry would attempt to “break a square” by causing it to lose its cohesion, either by charging to induce poorly disciplined infantry to flee before making contact, or by causing casualties through close-range combat (see above).
Cavalry charges were made in closely packed formations, and were often aimed at the corners of the square (the weakest points of the formation.) Feints and false attacks would also be used to make the infantry “throw away their fire” by causing them to fire too early. However, if the infantrymen were well-disciplined and held their ground, the cavalryman’s dream to “ride a square into red ruin” would not be realized, and such an event was the exception rather than the rule in the history of warfare.

However, the most effective way to break a square was not by direct cavalry attack, but by the use of artillery. To be truly effective, such artillery fire had to be delivered at close range. A 20-metre wide infantry square was a small and difficult target for field artillery firing from within or just in front of its own army’s lines, typically 600 or more metres away, at which range most rounds could be expected to miss. Instead, the attackers would usually try to deploy horse artillery accompanying the cavalry. The presence of the cavalry would cause the infantry to form square, but the closely packed infantrymen would then become targets for the artillery – the cohesion of the square would break under their fire, making it much easier for the cavalry to press home the attack.

Combined attacks by infantry and cavalry would also have the same effect – the defending infantry unit would be placed in the difficult position of either forming square and being shot to pieces by the attacking infantry (which would usually be in line formation), or being ridden down by the cavalry if it decided to remain in line while trading volleys with the attacking infantry.
In addition, if the cavalry could catch an infantry unit before it formed square properly, the horsemen could usually inflict severe casualties, if not destroy the unit completely. Quatre Bras (1815) saw several examples of this, with several British units being surprised at close range by French cavalry hidden by the terrain. Other circumstances that could lead to a successful cavalry attack included sudden rainstorms soaking the infantry’s gunpowder and effectively reducing their weapons to very short pikes, or a mortally wounded horse in full gallop crashing into the square, opening a gap that could be exploited, as happened at the battle of Garcia Hernandez, shortly after Salamanca (1812).

Later use

The square continued in use into the late 19th century by European armies against irregular warriors in colonial actions. However, this was different in form from the Napoleonic formation:
“The new square was not simply infantry in static defence but a large, close-packed formation of some 1,000 to 1,500 men, capable of slow movement with ranks of infantry or cavalry forming the four sides and artillery, wheeled machine guns, transport carts, baggage animals and their handlers in the centre. Such a square could only survive where the enemy were without modern firearms.”
At the Battle of Custoza during the Third Italian War of Independence Italian bersaglieri formed squares at Villafranca to defend themselves from charging Austrian uhlans.

European colonial use

n a large battle of the colonial wars, a British square held out for two days in a remote area near Lake Victoria, fighting off assaults by French-armed native troops until reinforcements arrived.
On the 7th of February 1857, during the Anglo-Persian War, Indian cavalry successfully attacked and broke a Persian square in the Battle of Khushab. Only twenty of the five hundred soldiers in the square escaped.
During the Anglo-Zulu War, after the Battle of Isandlwana where the Zulu nation’s warriors overwhelmed the British colonial force’s poorly fortified linear formation positioning, infantry squares were used in most major battles such as Gingindlovu and the climatic Battle of Ulundi to counter their enemy’s massed charges.

Rudyard Kipling’s poem “Fuzzy-Wuzzy” refers to two battles in the Mahdist War, Tamai in 1884 and Abu Klea in 1885, where infantry squares were used by the victorious British. While in both battles the squares were partially broken, British losses remained very low in comparison with the losses of the attacking Mahdists.
In 1936, during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the advancing Italians formed an infantry square to defend against a possible Ethiopian counter-attack in the Battle of Shire. No counter-attack was launched.

Use outside of Europe

During the American Civil War the infantry square was only used on a few occasions, the most notable of these being the Thirty-Second Indiana Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Rowlett’s Station, December 17, 1861 against Terry’s Texas Rangers; a Colorado Volunteer company formed square when charged by lancers of the 5th Texas Mounted Rifles at the Battle of Valverde on February 21, 1862.
On other occasions such as at the Battles of Gettysburg and Chickamauga cavalry units feinted as if preparing to charge to force advancing infantry to halt their advance and form square.
In 1867, one of the first battles of the U.S. 10th Cavalry was the Battle of the Saline River. This battle occurred 25 miles northwest of Fort Hays in Kansas near the end of August 1867.

Captain George Armes, Company F, 10th Cavalry, while following an active trail along the Saline River were surrounded by about 400 horse-mounted Cheyenne warriors. Armes formed a defensive “hollow square” with the cavalry mounts in the middle. Seeking better defensive ground, Armes walked his command while maintaining the defensive square.
After 8 hours of combat, 2,000 rounds of defensive fire and 15 miles of movement, the Cheyenne disengaged and withdrew. Company F, without reinforcements, concluded 113 miles of movement during the 30 hour patrol, riding the final 10 miles back to Fort Hays with only one trooper killed in action. Captain Armes commented later, “It is the greatest wonder in the world that my command escaped being massacred.” Armes credited his officers for a “… devotion to duty and coolness under fire.”
In 1869, during the Paraguayan War in South America, the Paraguayan defenders formed a square towards the end of the Battle of Acosta Ñu. This square was formed too late and was broken by the Brazilian cavalry.
The square fell out of use in the late 19th century with the advent of modern repeating firearms (which made concentrated formations risky in the face of increased firepower), along with the parallel decline of horse cavalry.

Sauced from Wikipedia

Pictures of the Barracks

 Articles  Comments Off on Pictures of the Barracks
Feb 172014
 

In the December of 1894 at the Rifle Depot Winchester, a fire broke out in the pay office in the King’s House and the buildings designed and built by Christopher Wren in the 1680`s as a Royal Palace for King Charles II were destroyed. The Rifle Depot, as it was called, moved to Gosport while the barracks were rebuilt.

It took ten years to replace the original King’s House with two new buildings built in a similar style to Wren’s original design, which came to be known as the Long and Short Blocks, and once more became the Rifle Depot in 1904.

Peninsula Mood DVD

DVD by Memorial at Peninsula Ltd©

_______

Looking from the Sergeant’s Mess

_______

IMG_6494

 The Clock above the NAAFI facing long Block in the Square

______

 Looking up at Long Block

 Looking between the columns under Long Block onto the Square

Many a Rifleman would have marched through the columns onto the Square

Two pictures over looking the Square from the HQ Block______

                        

Waterloo Fountain Looking from the HQ Block towards the former Sergeant’s Mess

______

A view between the columns looking central onto the Square

______

            This picture is looking at the Long Block area where

Sir Winston Churchill and Eisenhower

Inspected Allied Troops before the D Day Landings______

Looking out towards the old Guard Room now Cafe Peninsula at the Romsey Road entrance to the Barracks

Many a boy would have walking into Peninsula,

but marched out a Man.

______

The Kings House area of the Square

______

 The Waterloo Fountain looking onto the old NAAFI

______

 

Inspection at a passing out parade on the Square

9 Plt doing the double past in 1973 on their passing out parade

Platoon Photo shoot

Inspection at Bushfield Camp where a number of Green Jackets trained whilst

The Rifle Depot Peninsula Barracks was being modernised

The Regimental HQ was always in The Rifle Depot Peninsula Barracks

______

______

For the lads that never made it Home

 

______

A Tribute to All who Served 

_______

______

 ______

 ENDEX

IMG_0263

Pictures By Steve Barrett, Ken Cox and The Royal Green Jackets Museum FB

Regiments of Foot

 Articles  Comments Off on Regiments of Foot
Feb 162014
 

This is a list of numbered Regiments of Foot of the British Army from the mid-18th century until 1881, when numbering was abandoned.

Establishment of precedence

The rank of regiments of the British Army was first fixed during the Nine Years’ War. Doubts as to the respective rank of regiments fighting in the Spanish Netherlands led William III to command a Board of General Officers meeting on the 10th of June in 1694 to establish the order of precedence of the various units. Further boards were convened by Queen Anne and George I in 1713 and 1715 to decide the rank of regiments raised after 1694.

The rank or precedence of regiments was fixed by the following criteria:
English regiments, raised in England, should rank from their date of raising.
English, Scots and Irish regiments, raised for service of a foreign power, should rank from the date that they came onto the English establishment.

This led to anomalies, such as the Royal Irish Regiment, raised in 1684, being ranked as the 18th of the line, junior to eleven regiments raised between 1685 and 1688.

Numbering

While regiments were known by the name of their colonel, or by their royal title, the number of their rank was increasingly used. Thus, in the Clothing Book of 1742, which illustrated the patterns of uniforms worn by the King’s forces, the regiments of foot are designated simply by numbers.
The substitution of numbers for names was completed by a clothing regulation of 1747 and a royal warrant of 1751. The 1747 document, which used numbers for the regiments throughout, decreed that no colonel was “to put his Arms, Crest, Device or Livery on any part of the Appointments of the Regiment under his command.” Furthermore, in the centre of the regiment’s colours was to be “painted or embroidered in gold Roman characters the number of the Rank of the Regiment”. The warrant, dated the 1st of July in 1751, repeated the instructions of the 1747 regulation and provided that regiments should in future be known by their numbers only.
As the size of the army expanded and contracted during the various conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries, junior regiments were raised and disbanded. Accordingly, there were often a number of different regiments that bore the same number of different periods. Additionally, there were occasional partial re-numberings. For instance, in 1816 the 95th (Rifle) Regiment of Foot was renamed the Rifle Brigade, without a number. The existing 96th–103rd regiments were re-designated as the 95th–102nd.

Childers reforms

With modifications the numbers existed until 1881, when the Childers Reforms introduced “territorialisation”. From the 1st of July in 1881 the United Kingdom was divided into regimental districts, each allocated a two-battalion regiment, usually bearing a “county” title. Regimental numbers were abandoned: the 1st to 25th Foot, which already had two battalions adopted new titles. The remaining regiments were paired to become the 1st or 2nd battalions of the new regiments. Two rifle regiments: the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (ex 60th Foot) and the Rifle Brigade, who had four battalions each, recruited nationally.
Although the numbers were officially abolished in 1881, in some cases they continued to be used informally within the regiments. The regimental system introduced in 1881 was to last for more than seventy years. When new regiments were formed by amalgamation from 1958 onwards, the old regimental numbers were sometimes reintroduced into their titles. Examples are the 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot), Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot).

Royal and subsidiary titles

The 1751 warrant confirmed the royal titles or other special designations of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 27th and 41st Regiments. In later years, other regiments were allowed to bear the names of the monarch or other members of the Royal family. Only one regiment, the 33rd Foot, was allowed to bear the name of a person other than Royalty when it became the “Duke of Wellington’s” in 1853, the year after the death of the First Duke, who  had served as a subaltern in the regiment.

County affiliations

On the 21st  August in 1782, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Henry Seymour Conway, issued a regulation giving an English county designation to each regiment of foot other than those with a royal title or highland regiments. The intention was to improve recruitment during the unpopular American War of Independence, and the Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend issued a circular letter to the lieutenants of each county in England in the following terms:
My Lord,
The very great deficiency of men in the regiments of infantry being so very detrimental to the public service, the king has thought proper to give the names of the different counties to the old corps, in hopes that, by the zeal and activity of the principal nobility and gentry in the several counties, some considerable assistance may be given towards recruiting these regiments”.
The names of the counties were added to the regimental titles in parentheses, ranging from the 3rd (Buffs – East Kent) Regiment of Foot to the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot. In some cases more than one regiment was allocated to a county, for example, the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot and 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot. The attempt to link regimental areas to specific counties was found to be impractical, with regiments preferring to recruit from major centres of population. By June 1783 each regiment was again recruiting throughout the country, although the county names were to remain. In a few cases, affiliations were altered: for example the 14th and 16th Foot “exchanged” counties in 1809.

Fusiliers, light infantry and rifles

Fusiliers: The 7th, 21st and 23rd Foot had borne the title of fusiliers for some time before 1751. These regiments had originally been armed with flintlocks (or fusils, from the French), rather than matchlocks. Later, the “fusilier” title was granted as a purely honorary distinction to the 87th Foot in 1827 and to the 5th Foot in 1836The 101st to 104th Fusiliers joined the British Army from the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) in 1861.
Light Infantry: During the Napoleonic Wars it was decided to convert a number of line regiments to light infantry, and in 1803 the 43rd and 52nd Foot were accordingly redesignated as the 43rd (Monmouthshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot and 52nd (Oxfordshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot.
In the next few years the 13th, 51st, 68th, 85th and 90th Foot were converted to Light Infantry. By the middle of the 19th century the title of “light infantry” was largely an honorary title, reflected by the “elevation” of the 32nd Foot to light infantry in 1858 to recognise their gallantry in the Siege of Lucknow. Two more light infantry regiments subsequently joined the British Army as the 105th and 106th Regiments, transferred from the HEIC in 1861
Rifle Regiments: An Experimental Corps of Riflemen, equipped with Baker rifles and clothed in rifle green uniforms, was formed in 1800, and numbered as the 95th foot in 1802. The 60th Foot, which had some rifle battalions, was converted to rifles in 1824

List of Regiments of Foot

1st Regiment of Foot
Titles
1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot 1751–1812
1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) 1812–1821
1st or The Royal Regiment of Foot 1821–1871
1st or The Royal Scots Regiment 1871–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1661
Raised 28 March 1633 in Scotland for French service.
Was on English Establishment in 1661 and in 1666 – 67; permanently from 1678.
Fate
1881: Lothian Regiment (Royal Scots)
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

2nd Regiment of Foot
Titles
2nd (Queen’s Royal) Regiment of Foot
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1661
Raised 1 October 1661 as the Tangier Regiment.
Fate
1881: The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

3rd Regiment of Foot
Titles
3rd (or The Buffs) Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
3rd (East Kent – The Buffs) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1665
Raised 1572 for service in Holland.
Came onto the English establishment in 1665 as The Holland Regiment.
Fate
1881: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

4th Regiment of Foot
Titles
4th (The King’s Own) Regiment of Foot 1751–1867
4th (The King’s Own Royal) Regiment of Foot 1867–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1680
Raised 13 July 1680 as the 2nd Tangier Regiment.
Fate
1881: The King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

5th Regiment of Foot
Titles
5th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
5th (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot 1782–1836
5th (Northumberland) (Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1836–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 8 August 1674 as the Irish Regiment for Dutch service.
Came onto the English establishment in 1685
Fate
1881: The Northumberland Fusiliers
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

6th Regiment of Foot
Titles
6th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
6th (1st Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1832
6th (Royal 1st Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot 1832–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 12 December 1673 in Ireland for Dutch service.
Came onto the English establishment temporarily in 1685 and permanently in 1688.
Fate
1881: The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

7th Regiment of Foot
Titles
7th (Royal Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1751–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 11 June 1685 as the Ordnance Regiment, an escort to the Artillery Train.
Became the Royal Regiment of Fusileers in 1689.
Fate
1881: The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

8th Regiment of Foot
Titles
8th (The King’s) Regiment of Foot 1751–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 19 June 1685 as Princess Anne of Denmark’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The King’s (Liverpool Regiment)
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

9th Regiment of Foot
Titles
9th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 19 June 1685 as Henry Cornewall’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Norfolk Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

10th Regiment of Foot
Titles
10th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
10th (North Lincoln) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Lincolnshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

11th Regiment of Foot
Titles
11th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
11th (North Devonshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 20 June 1685 as the Duke of Beaufort’s Musketeers.
Fate
1881: The Devonshire Regiment
Successor 2012
The Rifles

12th Regiment of Foot
Titles
12th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 20 June 1685 as the Duke of Norfolk’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Suffolk Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

13th Regiment of Foot
Titles
13th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1822
13th (1st Somersetshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1822–1842
13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert’s Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1842–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Huntingdon’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: Prince Albert’s Light Infantry (Somersetshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
The Rifles

14th Regiment of Foot
Titles
14th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
14th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1809
14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1809–1876
14th (Buckinghamshire – The Prince of Wales’s Own) Regiment of Foot 1876–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 22 June 1685 as Sir Edward Hales’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
Yorkshire Regiment

15th Regiment of Foot
Titles
15th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
15th (York, East Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1685
Raised 22 June 1685 as Sir William Clifton’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The East Yorkshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Yorkshire Regiment

16th Regiment of Foot
Titles
16th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
16th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1809
16th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot 1809–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1688
Raised 10 September 1688 as Archibald Douglas’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Bedfordshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

17th Regiment of Foot
Titles
17th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1688
Raised 27 September 1688 as Solomon Richard’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Leicestershire Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

18th Regiment of Foot
Titles
18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot 1751–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1688
Raised in Ireland on 1 April 1684 as the Earl of Granard’s Regiment of Foot.
Placed on the English establishment in 1688.
Fate
1881: The Royal Irish Regiment (disbanded 1922).

19th Regiment of Foot
Titles
19th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
19th (1st Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1875
19th (1st Yorkshire, North Riding – Princess of Wales’s Own) Regiment of Foot 1875–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1688
Raised 20 November 1688 as Francis Lutterell’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
Yorkshire Regiment

20th Regiment of Foot
Titles
20th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1688
Raised 20 November 1688 as Sir Richard Peyton’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Lancashire Fusiliers
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

21st Regiment of Foot
Titles
21st (Royal North British Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1751–1877
21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1877–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1688
Raised 23 September 1678 as the Earl of Mar’s Regiment.
Placed on English establishment in 1688.
Fate
1881: The Royal Scots Fusiliers
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

22nd Regiment of Foot
Titles
22nd Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 8 March 1689 as the Duke of Norfolk’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The Cheshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Mercian Regiment

23rd Regiment of Foot
Titles
23rd (Royal Welch Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1751–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 16 March 1689 as Lord Herbert’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Successor 2012
Royal Welsh

24th Regiment of Foot
Titles
24th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 8 March 1689 as Sir Edward Dering’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The South Wales Borderers
Successor 2012
Royal Welsh

25th Regiment of Foot
Titles
25th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
25th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot 1782–1805]
25th (King’s Own Borderers) Regiment of Foot 1805–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 19 March 1689 as The Earl of Leven’s or Edinburgh, Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: The King’s Own Borderers
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

26th Regiment of Foot
Titles
26th Regiment of Foot 1751–1786
26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot 1809–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 14 May 1689 as The Earl of Angus’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Cameronians (Scotch Rifles)
(disbanded 1968)

27th Regiment of Foot
Titles
27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 26 June 1689 as Zacharaiah Tiffin’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Successor 2012
Royal Irish Regiment

28th Regiment of Foot
Titles
28th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1694
Raised as Sir John Gibson’s Regiment of Foot 16 February 1694, disbanded 1697.
Re-raised 12 February 1702
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Gloucestershire Regiment
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

29th Regiment of Foot
Titles
29th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1694
Raised as Thomas Farrington’s Regiment of Foot 16 February 1694, disbanded 1698.
Re-raised 12 February 1702
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Worcestershire Regiment
Successor 2012
Mercian Regiment

30th Regiment of Foot
Titles
30th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1689
Raised 8 March 1689 as Viscount Castleton’s Regiment of Foot, later (1694) Thomas Saunderson’s Regiment of Foot. Disbanded 1698.
Re-raised 12 February 1702 as Thomas Saunderson’s Regiment of Marines
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The East Lancashire Regiment
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

31st Regiment of Foot
Titles
31st Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1696
Re-raised 14 April 1702 as George Villiers’s Regiment of Marines.
Converted to line infantry in 1714.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The East Surrey Regiment
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

32nd Regiment of Foot
Titles
32nd Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot 1782–1858
32nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry 1858–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 12 February 1702 as Edward Fox’s Regiment of Marines.
Converted to line infantry in 1715.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
Successor 2012
The Rifles

33rd Regiment of Foot
Titles
33rd Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
33rd (1st York, West Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1853
33rd (The Duke of Wellington’s) Regiment of Foot 1853–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 12 February 1702 as The Earl of Huntingdon’s of Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)
Successor 2012
Yorkshire Regiment

34th Regiment of Foot
Titles
34th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 12 February 1702 as Lord Lucas’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Border Regiment
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

35th Regiment of Foot
Titles
35th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
35th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1805
35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot 1805–1832
35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot 1832–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 28 June 1701 on the Irish Establishment as The Earl of Donegall’s Regiment of Foot, on English Establishment in following year.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Royal Sussex Regiment
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

36th Regiment of Foot
Titles
36th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 10 May 1701 on the Irish Establishment as Viscount Charlemont’s Regiment of Foot, on English Establishment in following year.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Worcestershire Regiment
Successor 2012
Mercian Regiment

37th Regiment of Foot
Titles
37th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 13 February 1702 as Thomas Meredyth’s Regiment of Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Hampshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

38th Regiment of Foot
Titles
38th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 13 February 1702 as Luke Lillingston’s Regiment of Foot
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The South Staffordshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Mercian Regiment

39th Regiment of Foot
Titles
39th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot 1782–1807
39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–180
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1702
Raised 29 February 1702 as Richard Coote’s Regiment of Foot
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Dorsetshire Regiment
Successor 2012
The Rifles

40th Regiment of Foot
Titles
40th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1717
Raised 25 August 1717 as Richard Philipps’s Regiment of Foot
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

41st Regiment of Foot
Titles
41st Regiment of Foot or Invalids 1751–1787
41st Regiment of Foot 1787–1831
41st (The Welsh) Regiment of Foot 1831–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1719
Formed 11 March 1719 as Edmund Fielding’s Regiment of Foot from companies of outpatients or “invalids” from Chelsea Hospital. Also known as the “1st Invalids” or “Regiment of Invalids”.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Welsh Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Welsh

42nd Regiment of Foot
Titles
Oglethorpe’s Regiment (42nd)
James Oglethorpe’s Regiment of Foot was formed on the 25th August in 1737 in Gibraltar. Ranked as 42nd Foot in 1747, Disbanded 29 May 1749 in Georgia.
42nd Regiment of Foot 1751–1758
42nd (The Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot 1758–1861
42nd (The Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot (The Black Watch) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1739
Six Independent Highland Companies raised 24 April 1725.
The Earl of Craufurd’s Regiment was formed 25 October 1739 by the regimentation of the independent companies. Ranked as 43rd Foot in 1747, renumbered to 42nd in 1749 on disbanding of existing 42nd Regiment. Known as the “Highland Regiment”.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

43rd Regiment of Foot
Titles
Alexander Spotswood’s Regiment (43rd), later Gooch’s Marines 1739
Raised by Alexander Spotswood in North America: on Spotswood’s death in April 1740 William Gooch became colonel. Disbanded 1742.
The Highland Regiment (43rd): renumbered to 42nd in 1749 see 42nd of foot previous listing above
43rd Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1803
43rd (Monmouthshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1741
Raised 1 March 1741 as Thomas Fowke’s Regiment of Foot, ranked as 54th foot in 1747. Renumbered as 43rd in 1748/49 on disbandment of a number of regiments.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Oxfordshire Light Infantry
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

44th Regiment of Foot
Titles
44th Regiment of Foot (1st Marines)1739–1748
1739
Raised 17 November 1739 as Edward Wolfe’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 44th Foot or 1st Marines by 1741. Disbanded 11 November 1748.
44th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1741
Raised 7 January 1741 as James Long’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 55th, renumbered 44th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Essex Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

45th Regiment of Foot
Titles
45th Regiment of Foot (2nd Marines)1739–1748
1739
Raised 18 November 1739 as William Robinson’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 45th Foot or 2nd Marines by 1741. Disbanded 9 November 1748.
45th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1866
45th (Nottinghamshire Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot 1866–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1741
Raised 11 January 1741 as Daniel Houghton’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 56th, renumbered 45th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
Mercian Regiment

46th Regiment of Foot 

Titles
46th Regiment of Foot (3rd Marines)1739–1748
1739
Raised 19 November 1739 as Anthony Lowther’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 46th Foot or 3rd Marines by 1741. Disbanded 7 November 1748.
46th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1741
Raised 13 January 1741 as John Price’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 57th, renumbered 46th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

47th Regiment of Foot
Titles
47th Regiment of Foot (4th Marines)1739–1748
1739
Raised 20 November 1739 as John Wynyard’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 47th Foot or 4th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 8 November 1748.
47th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1741
Raised 15 January 1741 as Sir John Mordaunt’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 58th, renumbered 47th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Loyal North Lancashire Regimen
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

48th Regiment of Foot
Titles
48th Regiment of Foot (5th Marines)1739–1748
1739
Raised 20 November 1739 as Charles Douglass’s Regiment of Marines, from 1740 Jame’s Cochrane’s Regiment: ranked as 48th Foot or 5th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 4 November 1748.
48th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1741
Raised 31 January 1741 as James Cholmondeley’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 59th, renumbered 48th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Northamptonshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

49th Regiment of Foot
Titles
49th Regiment of Foot (6th Marines)1739–1748
1739
Raised 20 November 1739 as Lewis Moreton’s Regiment of Marines, later known as Cotterell’s Regiment: ranked as 49th Foot or 6th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 4 November 1748.
49th Regiment of Foot 1751–1782
49th (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1816
49th (Hertfordshire – Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) Regiment of Foot 1816–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1743
Raised 1743 as Edward Trelawney’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 63rd, renumbered 49th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

50th Regiment of Foot
Titles
50th Regiment of Foot (7th Marines)1739–1748
1740
Raised 1740 as Henry Cornewall’s Regiment of Marines: ranked as 50th Foot or 7th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 3 November 1748.
50th Regiment of Foot (American Provincials)1754–1756
1754
Raised 1754 in New England, as a reforming of William Shirley’s Regiment of 1745–1749. Disbanded 1756.
50th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
50th (West Kent) Regiment of Foot 1782–1827
50th (The Duke of Clarence’s) Regiment of Foot 1827–1831
50th (The Queen’s Own) Regiment of Foot
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as the 52nd Regiment of Foot.
Renumbered as 50th Foot in 1757 following disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

51st Regiment of Foot
Titles
51st Regiment of Foot (8th Marines)1739–1748
1740
Raised 1740 as William Hanmer’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 51st Foot or 8th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 8 November 1748.
51st Regiment of Foot (Cape Breton Regiment)1754–1756
1754
Raised 1754 in New England as a reforming of William Pepperell’s Regiment of 1745–1749. Disbanded 1756.
51st Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
51st (2nd York, West Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1809
51st (2nd York, West Riding, Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1809–1821
51st (2nd York, West Riding, The King’s Own Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1821–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised as 53rd Regiment of Foot 1755, renumbered 51st in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The King’s Own Light Infantry (South Yorkshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
The IFLES

52nd Regiment of Foot
Titles
52nd Regiment of Foot (9th Marines)1740–1748
1740
Raised 1740 as Sir Charles Powlett’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 52nd Foot or 9th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 7 November 1748.
52nd Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755, Renumbered as 50th Foot (see above) 1757.
52nd Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1803
52nd (Oxfordshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1803–1821
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised as 54th Regiment of Foot 1755, renumbered 52nd in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Oxfordshire Light Infantry
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

53rd Regiment of Foot
Titles
53rd Regiment of Foot (10th Marines)1740–1748
1740
Raised 31 November 1740 as Jefferie’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 53rd Foot or 10th Marines by 1741. Disbanded 11 November 1748.
53rd Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755, Renumbered as 51st Foot (see above) 1757.
53rd Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised as 55th Regiment of Foot 1755, renumbered 53rd in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The King’s Light Infantry (Shropshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

54th Regiment of Foot
Titles
54th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 1 March 1741 as Thomas Fowke’s Regiment of Foot, ranked as 54th foot in 1747. Renumbered as 43rd in 1748/49 (see above) on disbandment of a number of regiments.
54th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755, renumbered 52nd in 1757 (see above) on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
54th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as 56th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 54th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Dorsetshire Regiment
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

55th Regiment of Foot
Titles
55th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 7 January 1741 as James Long’s Regiment of Foot, Renumbered as 44th in 1748 (see above) on disbandment of a number of regiments
55th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised as 55th Regiment of Foot 1755, renumbered 53rd (see above) in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
55th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as 57th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 55th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Border Regiment
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

56th Regiment of Foot
Titles
56th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 11 January 1741 as Daniel Houghton’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 56th, renumbered 45th (see above) in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
56th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755 as 56th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 54th (see above) in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
56th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as 58th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 56th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Essex Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

57th Regiment of Foot
Titles
57th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 13 January 1741 as John Price’s Regiment of Foot, ranked as 57th, renumbered 46th (see above)in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
57th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755 as 57th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 55th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
57th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as 59th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 57th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

58th Regiment of Foot
Titles
58th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 15 January 1741 as Sir John Mordaunt’s Regiment of Foot, ranked as 58th, renumbered 47th (see above)in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
58th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755 as 58th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 56th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
58th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as 60th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 58th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Northamptonshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Royal Anglian Regiment

59th Regiment of Foot
Titles
59th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 31 January 1741 as James Cholmondeley’s Regiment of Foot, ranked as 59th, renumbered 48th (see above)in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
59th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755 as 59th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 57th (see above) in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
59th Regiment of Foot 1757–1782
59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1755
Raised 1755 as 61st Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 59th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The East Lancashire Regiment
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

60th Regiment of Foot
Titles
60th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748
1741
Raised 1741, disbanded 1748.
60th Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755 as the 60th Regiment of Foot.
Renumbered as 58th (see above) Foot in 1757 following disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot 1757–1824
60th (The Duke of York’s Own Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot 1824–1830
60th (The King’s Royal Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot 1830–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
Raised as 62nd (Royal American) Regiment of Foot in 1755, renumbered as 60th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.
Fate
1881: The King’s Royal Rifle Corps
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

61st Regiment of Foot
Titles
61st Regiment of Foot 1742–1748
1742
Formed from disbanded Gooch’s Marines (see 43rd foot above), disbanded 1748.
61st Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755, Renumbered as 59th Foot (see above) 1757.
61st Regiment of Foot 1757–1758
1756
Raised late 1756, Renumbered as 76th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot. The second battalion of the 61st Foot was redesignated as the 86th Regiment of Foot at the same time.
61st Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 61st Regiment of Foot 1758
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Gloucestershire Regiment
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

62nd Regiment of Foot
Titles
62nd Regiment of Foot 1742–1748
1742
Raised 1742 as John Batereau’s Regiment of Marines, ranked as 62nd Foot. Disbanded 1748.
62nd (Royal American) Regiment of Foot 1755–1757
1755
Raised 1755, Renumbered as 60th Foot (see above) 1757.
62nd Regiment of Foot (1st Highland Battalion)1757–1758 (Montgomerie’s Highlanders).
1756
Raised late 1756, Renumbered as 77th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot.
62nd Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1756
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 62nd Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

63rd Regiment of Foot
Titles
63rd (American) Regiment of Foot 1744–1748
1743
Raised 1743 as Edward Trelawney’s Regiment of Foot.
Ranked 63rd, renumbered 49th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.
63rd Regiment of Foot (2nd Highland Battalion)1757–1758 (Fraser’s Highlanders)
1756
Raised late 1756, Renumbered as 78th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot.
63rd Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1757
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 63rd Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Manchester Regiment
Successor 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

64th Regiment of Foot
Titles
64th Regiment of Foot1745–1748
1745
Raised 28 August 1745 as Earl of Loudoun’s Regiment, ranked as 64th, disbanded 1748.
64th Regiment of Foot 1757–1758
1757
Raised 1757, Renumbered as 79th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot.
64th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1756
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 64th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Prince of Wales’s (North Staffordshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
Mercian Regiment

65th Regiment of Foot
Titles
65th Regiment of Foot (Shirley’s) 1745–1749
1741
Raised September 1745 in New England. Disbanded 1749.
65th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 12th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 65th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The York and Lancaster Regiment
Successor 2012
Disbanded 1968.

66th Regiment of Foot
Titles
66th Regiment of Foot (Pepperell’s) 1745–1749
1741
Raised September 1745 in New England. Disbanded 1749.
66th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 19th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 66th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire Regiment)
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

67th Regiment of Foot
Titles
67th Regiment of Foot 1745–1746
1745
Raised 1745 as the Duke of Bolton’s Regiment, ranked as 67th Foot. Disbanded 1746.
67th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782[104]
67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 20th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 67th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Hampshire Regiment
Successor 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

68th Regiment of Foot
Titles
68th Regiment of Foot 1745–1746
1745
Raised 1745 as the Duke of Bedford’s Regiment, ranked as 68th Foot. Disbanded 1746.
68th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782[105]
68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot 1782–1812
68th (Durham – Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1812–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 23rd Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 68th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Durham Light Infantry
Successor 2012
The RIFLES

69th Regiment of Foot
Titles
69th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1756
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 69th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Welsh Regiment
Successor 2012
The Royal Welsh

70th Regiment of Foot
Titles
70th Regiment of Foot 1758–1782
70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot 1782–1812
70th (Glasgow Lowland) Regiment of Foot 1812–1825
70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot 1825–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1756
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 31st Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 70th Regiment of Foot 1758.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The East Surrey Regiment
Successor 2012
The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

71st Regiment of Foot
Titles
71st Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 32nd Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 71st Regiment of Foot 1758. Disbanded 1763.
71st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769
1757
Raised 1757 as 81st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 71st in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments. Dispersed to independent garrison companies in 1768/69.
71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1775–1786 (Fraser’s Highlanders)
1775
Raised October 1775 in Scottish Highlands for service in North America. Disbanded 1786.
71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1786–1808
71st (Glasgow Highland) Regiment of Foot 1808–1809
71st (Glasgow Highland Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1809–1810
71st (Highland Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1810–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1777
Formed as 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1777 by regimentation of independent companies raised in 1771, renumbered as 71st in 1786 on disbandment of existing 71st and 72nd Foot.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Highland Light Infantry
Successor 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

72nd Regiments of Foot
Titles
72nd Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 33rd Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 72nd Regiment of Foot 1758. Disbanded 1763.
72nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769
1757
Raised 1757 as 82nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 72nd in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments. Dispersed to independent garrison companies in 1768/69.
72nd (Royal Manchester Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1777–1784
1777
Raised December 1777. Disbanded 1784.
72nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1786–1809
72nd Regiment of Foot 1809–1823
72nd (Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1823–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1778
Formed as 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1778 (or Seaforth’s Highlanders), renumbered as 72nd 12 September 1786 on disbandment of a number of senior regiments.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany’s)
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

73rd Regiments of Foot
Titles
73rd Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 34th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 73rd Regiment of Foot 1758. Disbanded 1763.
73rd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769
1762
Raised 1762 as 116th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 73rd in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments. Dispersed to independent garrison companies in 1769.
73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1777–1786
1777
Formed 1777 by regimentation of independent companies raised in 1771, renumbered as 71st (see above) in 1786 on disbandment of existing 71st and 72nd Foot.
73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1786–1809
73rd Regiment of Foot 1809–1862
73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot 1862–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1780
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 42nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1780, reconstituted as 73rd Regiment of Foot 1786.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Black Watch
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

74th Regiments of Foot
Titles
74th Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 36th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 74th Regiment of Foot 1758. Disbanded 1763.
74th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769
1762
Raised 1762 as 117th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 74th in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments. Dispersed to independent garrison companies in 1769.
74th Regiment of Foot 1777–1784 (Argyleshire Highlanders)
1777
Raised 1777, disbanded 1784.
74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1787–1816
74th Regiment of Foot 1816–1845
74th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1845–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1787 Raised by Honourable East India Company for service in India
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Highland Light Infantry
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

75th Regiments of Foot
Titles
75th Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1758
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 37th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 75th Regiment of Foot 1758. Disbanded 1763.
75th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769
1762
Raised 1760 as 118th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 75th in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments. Dispersed to independent garrison companies in 1769.
75th Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales’s Regiment)1778–1783
1778
Raised in Wales 1778, disbanded 1783.
75th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1787–1809
75th Regiment of Foot 1809–1862
75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot 1862–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1787
Raised by Honourable East India Company for service in India
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Gordon Highlanders
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

77th Regiments of Foot
Titles
77th Regiment of Foot 1758–1763 (Montgomery’s Highlanders)
1756
Raised late 1756 as 62nd Foot, renumbered as 77th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot.
77th Regiment of Foot 1777–1783 (Atholl Highlanders)
1777
Raised 1777, disbanded 1783.
77th (Hindoostan) Regiment of Foot 1787–1807[117]
77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot 1807–1876[117]
77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) 1876–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1787
Raised by Honourable East India Company for service in India.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
Successors 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

78th Regiments of Foot
Titles
78th Regiment of Foot 1758–1763 (Fraser’s Highlanders)
1756
Raised late 1756 as 63rd Foot, renumbered as 78th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot.
78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1777–1783
1778
Raised 1778, renumbered 72nd in 1786.
78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot (The Ross-shire Buffs) 1793–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 17 August 1793.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Seaforth Highlanders
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

79th Regiments of Foot
Titles
79th Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1757
Raised 1757 as 64th Foot, Renumbered as 79th Foot in 1758 when second battalions of several regiments raised in 1756 were constituted as 61st to 75th Regiments of Foot. Disbanded 1763.
79th (Royal Liverpool Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1784
1757
Raised 1778, disbanded 1784.
79th (Cameronian Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1793–1804
79th (Cameronian Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1804–1866
79th (Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1866–1873
79th (Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1873–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 16 August 1793.
Fate
1881: Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

80th Regiments of Foot
Titles
80th (Light Armed) Regiment of Foot 1758–1764
1758
Raised 1758, disbanded 1764.
80th (Royal Edinburgh Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1784
1758
Raised 1778, disbanded 1784.
80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1784
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 1793 from the Staffordshire Militia.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The South Staffordshire Regiment
Successors 2012
Mercian Regiment

81st Regiments of Foot
Titles
81st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1757–1764
1757
Raised 1757 as 81st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 71st (see above) in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments.
81st Regiment of Foot 1778–1783 (Aberdeenshire Highland Regiment)
1778
Raised 1777 as Aberdeenshire Highland Regiment, numbered 81st in 1778. Disbanded 1783.
81st Regiment of Foot 1793
1793
Raised and disbanded in 1793
81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1793–1794
81st Regiment of Foot 1794–1832
81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1832–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised as 83rd Foot in 1793, renumbered in 1794 on disbandment of existing 81st and 82nd Regiments.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
Successors 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

82nd Regiments of Foot
Titles
82nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1757–1764
1757
Raised 1757 as 82nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 72nd (see above) in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments.
82nd Regiment of Foot 1778–1783
1777
Raised 1777 for service in North America. Numbered 1778. Disbanded 1783.
82nd Regiment of Foot 1793
1793
Raised and disbanded in 1793
82nd Regiment of Foot 1793–1802
82nd (The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1802–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised as 84th Foot in 27 September 1793, renumbered in same year of disbandment of existing 81st and 82nd Regiments.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)
Successors 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

83rd Regiments of Foot
Titles
83rd Regiment of Foot 1758–1763
1758
Raised 1758. Disbanded 1763
83rd (Royal Glasgow Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1783
1778
Raised 1778, disbanded 1783
83rd (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1793–1794
1793
Raised as 83rd Foot in 1793, renumbered 81st (see above) in same year of disbandment of existing 81st and 82nd Regiments.
83rd Regiment of Foot 1794–1859
83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot 1859–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised as Colonel Commandant William Fitch’s Corps in Dublin, September 1793.[131] Numbered 83rd in 1794.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Royal Irish Rifles
Successors 2012
Royal Irish Regiment

84th Regiments of Foot
Titles
84th Regiment of Foot 1758–1764
1758
Raised 1758 by Eyre Coote for service in India. Disbanded 1764.
84th (Royal Highland Emigrants) Regiment of Foot 1778–1783
1775
Raised 1775 in North America from veterans of Highland regiments, placed on British establishment in 1778 as 84th Foot, disbanded 1783.
84th Regiment of Foot 1793–1809
84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot 1809–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 1793.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
York and Lancaster Regiment
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1968

85th Regiments of Foot
Titles
85th (Royal Volunteers Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1759–1763
1759
Raised 1759. Disbanded 1763.
85th (Westminster Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1783
1778
Raised 1778, disbanded 1783.
85th (Bucks Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1794–1808
85th (Bucks Volunteers) (Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1808–1815
85th (Bucks Volunteers) (Duke of York’s Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1815–1821[138]
85th (Bucks Volunteers) (The King’s Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1821–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1794
Raised 1794.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The King’s (Shropshire Light Infantry)
Successors 2012
The Rifles

86th Regiments of Foot
Titles
86th Regiment of Foot 1759–1763
1759
Formed 1759 by redesignation of the 2nd Battallion, 76th Foot. Disbanded 1763.
86th Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1783
86th (Shropshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1794–1809
86th (The Leinster) Regiment of Foot 1809–1812
86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot 1815–1821
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1794
Raised 1793 as Sir Cornelius Cuyler’s Shropshire Volunteers, placed on regular establishment as 86th Foot in 1794.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Royal Irish Rifles
Successors 2012
Royal Irish Regiment

87th Regiments of Foot
Titles
87th Regiment of Foot 1759–1763 (Keith’s Highlanders)
1759
Raised late 1759 from companies of 2nd Battalion, 42nd Highlanders. Disbanded 1763.
87th Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.
87th (The Prince of Wales’s Irish) Regiment of Foot 1787–1811
87th (The Prince of Wales’s Own Irish) Regiment of Foot 1811–1827
87th (The Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1827
87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot 1827–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 1793.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers)
Successors 2012
Royal Irish Regiment

88th Regiments of Foot
Titles
88th (Highland Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760, also known as Campbell’s Highlanders. Disbanded 1763
88th Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.
88th (Connaught Rangers) Regiment of Foot 1793–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 1793.
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Connaught Rangers
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

89th Regiments of Foot
Titles
89th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1759–1763
1759
Raised 1759, also known as Morris’s Highlanders. Disbanded 1765.
89th Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.
89th Regiment of Foot 1793–1866
89th (Princess Victoria’s) Regiment of Foot 1866–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised 1793.
Fate
1881: ist Battalion,
The Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers)
Successors 2012
Royal Irish Regiment

90th Regiments of Foot
Titles
90th (Irish Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1759–1763
1759
Raised 1759, disbanded 1763.
90th (Yorkshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.
90th (Perthshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1794–1815
90th (Perthshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1794
Raised 1794.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Cameronians (Scotch Rifles)
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1968

91st Regiments of Foot
Titles
91st Regiment of Foot 1759–1763
1759
Raised 1759, disbanded 1763.
91st (Shropshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779. Disbanded 1783.
91st Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1793
Raised as John Fletcher Campbell’s Regiment of Foot in 1793, numbered 91st in 1794. Disbanded 1795.
91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1796–1809
91st Regiment of Foot 1809–1821
91st (Argyllshire) Regiment of Foot 1821–1864
91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1864–1872
91st (Princess Louise’s Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1872–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1794
Raised as 98th Foot in 1794, renumbered in 1796 on disbandment of a number of regiments.
Fate
1881:1st Battalion,
The Princess Louise’s (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders)
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

92nd Regiments of Foot
Titles
92nd (Donegal Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760, disbanded 1763.
92nd Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779. Disbanded 1783.
92nd Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1793
Raised as George Hewett’s Regiment of Foot 1793, numbered as 92nd in 1794, disbanded 1795.
92nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1798–1861
92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1793
Raised as 100th Foot in 1794, renumbered in 1798 on disbandment of a number of regiments.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Gordon Highlanders
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

93rd Regiments of Foot
Titles
93rd Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760. Disbanded 1763.
93rd Regiment of Foot 1779–1783
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.
93rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1793
Raised 1793 as Nesbitt Balfour’s Regiment of Foot, numbered 93rd in 1794. Served in West Indies, drafted into 39th Foot on return to England 1796
93rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1799–1861
93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1799
Raised 1799.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Princess Louise’s (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders)
Successors 2012
Royal Regiment of Scotland

94th Regiments of Foot
Titles
94th Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Volunteers)1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760 for service in North America. Disbanded 1763.
94th Regiment of Foot1780–1783
1780
Raised 1780, disbanded 1783.
94th (Irish) Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1793
Raised 1794, disbanded 1796.
94th (Scots Brigade) Regiment of Foot 1802–1818
1794
Scotch Brigade, raised for Dutch service in 1568, placed on the British Establishment in 1794. Numbered in 1802. Disbanded in 1818.
94th Regiment of Foot 1823–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1823
Raised 1823. In 1875 was deemed to be the successor of the 94th Foot of 1802–1818.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Connaught Rangers
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

95th Regiments of Foot
Titles
95th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised in North Carolina in 1760. Disbanded 1763
95th Regiment of Foot 1780–1783
1780
Raised 1780, disbanded 1784.
95th Regiment of Foot 1794–1896
1793
William Edmeston’s Regiment of Foot raised 1793, numbered 1794. Disbanded 1796.
95th Regiment of Foot 1802–1812
95th Regiment of Foot (Riflemen) 1812–1816
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1800
Corps of Riflemen raised 1800, numbered 95th Foot in 1802. Redesignated as the Rifle Brigade without a number in 1816.
Successors 2012
The Rifles.
95th Regiment of Foot 1816–1818
1803
Raised as 96th Regiment of Foot in 1803. Renumbered as 95th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number. Disbanded 1818.
95th Regiment of Foot 1823–1825
95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot 1825–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1823
Raised 1823
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment)
Successors 2012
Mercian Regiment

96th Regiments of Foot
Titles
96th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Formed 1760 for service in India. Disbanded 1763.
96th Regiment of Foot (British Musketeers) 1780–1784
1779
Raised 1780, disbanded 1784.
96th (Queen’s Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised as John Murray’s Regiment of Foot 1793, numbered 96th in 1794, disbanded 1796.
96th Regiment of Foot 1803–1816
1803
Raised as 2nd Battalion, 52nd Foot in 1799, constituted as 96th Foot in 1794, renumbered as 95th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number.
96th (Queen’s Own Germans) Regiment of Foot 1816–1818
1816
97th Foot (see below 1824-1881), renumbered as 96th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number. Disbanded 1818.
96th Regiment of Foot 1824–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1824
Raised 1824. Deemed in 1874 to be the successor to the 96th Foot of 1816–1818.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Manchester Regiment
Successors 2012
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

97th Regiments of Foot
Titles
97th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760. Disbanded 1763.
97th Regiment of Foot 1780–1784
1780
Raised 1780, disbanded 1784.
97th Regiment of Foot (Inverness-shire Highlanders) 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794 as Strathspey Highland Regiment, numbered in same year. Disbanded 1795.
97th (Queen’s Own Germans) Regiment of Foot 1805–1816
1798
Raised 1798 as The Minorca Regiment, redesignated the Queen’s own German Regiment in 1802, numbered in 1805. renumbered as 96th (see above) in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number.
97th Regiment of Foot 1816–1818
1804
Raised 1760 as 98th Foot, renumbered as 97th (see above) in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number. Disbanded 1818.
97th (The Earl of Ulster’s) Regiment of Foot 1824–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1824
Raised 1824.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
Successors 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

98th Regiments of Foot
Titles
98th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760. Disbanded 1763.
98th Regiment of Foot 1779–1784
1779
Raised 1779, disbanded 1784.
98th Regiment of Foot (Argyllshire Highlanders) 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794, renumbered 91st (see above) in 1796 on disbandment of a number of regiments.
98th Regiment of Foot 1805–1816
1805
Raised 1805, renumbered as 97th (see above) in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number
98th (Prince of Wales’s Tipperary) Regiment of Foot 1816–1818
1804
Raised 1804 as 99th Foot, renumbered as 98th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number. Disbanded 1818
98th Regiment of Foot 1824–1876
98th (The Prince of Wales’s) Regiment of Foot 1876–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1824
Raised 1824.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Prince of Wales’s (North Staffordshire Regiment)
Successors 2012
Mercian Regiment

99th Regiments of Foot
Titles
99th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760. Disbanded 1763.
99th Regiment of Foot (Jamaica Regiment)1780–1783
1779
Raised 1780, disbanded 1783.
99th Regiment of Foot 1794–1798
1794
Raised 1794, disbanded 1798.
99th (Prince of Wales’s Tipperary) Regiment of Foot 1804–1816
1804
Raised 1804 as 99th Foot, renumbered as 98th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number.
99th (Prince Regent’s County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot 1816–1818
1805
Raised 1804 as 100th Foot, renumbered as 99th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number. Disbanded 1818.
99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot 1824–1874
99th (Duke of Edinburgh’s) Regiment of Foot 1874–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1824
Raised 1824.
Fate
1881: 2nd Battalion,
The Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment)
Successors 2012
The Rifles

100th Regiments of Foot
Titles
100th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
100th Regiment of Foot 1780–1784
1780
Raised 1780, disbanded 1784. Also known as “Loyal Lincolnshire Regiment”.
100th (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1794–1798
1794
Raised 1794, renumbered as 92nd (see above) in 1798.
100th (Prince Regent’s County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot 1805–1816
1804
Raised 1804 as 100th Foot, renumbered as 99th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number.
100th Regiment of Foot 1816–1818
1789
Raised 1798 as New South Wales Corps.
Numbered 1809 as 102nd Foot, renumbered as 100th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number. Disbanded 1818.
100th (Prince of Wales’s Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot 1858–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1824
Raised 1858 in Canada. In 1875 was deemed successor to the 100th Foot of 1805–1816
Fate
1881: 1st Battalion,
The Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922.

101st Regiments of Foot
Titles
101st (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760, disbanded 1763. Also known as “Johnstone’s Highlanders”.
101st Regiment of Foot 1780–1783
1780
Raised 1780. Disbanded 1783.
101st (Irish) Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
101st (Duke of York’s Irish) Regiment of Foot 1806–1816
1806
Raised 1806, disbanded 1816.
101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1756
Raised 1756 by the Honorable East India Company as the Bengal European Regiment. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 1st Bengal Fusiliers. Made a “royal” regiment and integrated into the British Army as the 101st Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:1st Battalion,
The Royal Munster Fusiliers
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

102nd Regiments of Foot
Titles
102nd (Queen’s Royal Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760, disbanded 1763.
102nd Regiment of Foot 1780–1783
1780
Raised 1780. Disbanded 1783.
102nd (Irish) Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1793
Raised 1793 as Trench’s Regiment. Numbered 1794, disbanded 1795. Also known as “Irish Rangers”.
102nd Regiment of Foot 1809–1816
1789
Raised 1789 as New South Wales Corps.
Numbered 1809 as 102nd Foot, renumbered as 100th (see above) in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number.
102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1756
Raised 1742 by the Honorable East India Company as the Madras European Regiment. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 1st Madras Fusiliers. Made a “royal” regiment and integrated into the British Army as the 102nd Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:1st Battalion,
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

103rd Regiments of Foot
Titles
103rd (Volunteer Hunters) Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761, disbanded 1763.
103rd (King’s Irish Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1781–1783
1781
Raised 1780. Disbanded 1783.
103rd (Loyal Bristol Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794 as Loyal Bristol Regiment. Numbered 1794, disbanded 1795.
103rd Regiment of Foot 1809–1816
1809
Formed from the 9th Garrison Battalion (raised 1806). Disbanded 1816.
103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1661
Raised 1661 as the Bombay Regiment. Under the control of the Honorable East India Company from 1668. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 1st Bombay Fusiliers. Made a “royal” regiment and integrated into the British Army as the 103rd Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

104th Regiments of Foot
Titles
104th (King’s Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761, disbanded 1763.
104th Regiment of Foot 1780–1783
1780
Raised 1780. Disbanded 1783.
104th (Royal Manchester Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794, disbanded 1795.
104th Regiment of Foot (New Brunswick Regiment) 1809–1816
1811
Created from New Brunswick Fencible Infantry (raised 1803). Disbanded 1817.
104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1839
Raised 1839 as the 2nd Bengal (European) Light Infantry. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 2nd Bengal Fusiliers. Integrated into the British Army as the 104th Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Royal Munster Fusiliers
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

105th Regiments of Foot
Titles
105th (Queen’s Own Royal Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761, disbanded 1763.
105th (Volunteers of Ireland) Regiment of Foot 1781–1783
1781
Raised 1777 in North America. Brought onto British Establishment as 105th Foot in 1781/2. Disbanded 1783.
105th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794, disbanded 1796.
105th Regiment of Foot (Madras Light Infantry) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1839
Raised 1839 as the 2nd Madras (European) Light Infantry. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 2nd Madras Light Infantry. Integrated into the British Army as the 105th Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry)
Successors 2012
The Rifles

106th Regiments of Foot
Titles
106th Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761, disbanded 1763. Known as “Black Musketeers”.
106th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794, disbanded 1795.
106th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Light Infantry) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1839
Raised 1839 as the 2nd Bombay (European) Regiment. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 2nd Bombay Light Infantry. Integrated into the British Army as the 106th Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Durham Light Infantry
Successors 2012
The Rifles

107th Regiments of Foot
Titles
107th Regiment of Foot (Queen’s Own Royal Regiment of British Volunteers) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
107th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
107th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Light Infantry) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1854
Raised 1854 as the 3rd Bengal (European) Light Infantry. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 3rd Bengal Light Infantry. Integrated into the British Army as the 107th Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Royal Sussex Regiment
Successors 2012
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

108th Regiments of Foot
Titles
108th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763
1760
Raised 1760. Disbanded 1763.
108th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1854
Raised 1854 as the 3rd Madras (European) Infantry. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 3rd Madras Infantry. Integrated into the British Army as the 108th Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Successors 2012
Royal Irish Regiment

109th Regiments of Foot
Titles
109th Regiment of Foot (1761) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
109th (Aberdeenshire) Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
109th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Infantry) 1861–1881
Date of raising or coming onto establishment
1853
Raised 1853 as the 3rd Bombay (European) Regiment. Came under Crown control in 1858 as 3rd Bombay Regiment. Integrated into the British Army as the 108th Foot in 1861.
Fate
1881:2nd Battalion,
The Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
Successors 2012
Disbanded 1922

110th Regiments of Foot
Titles
110th Regiment of Foot (Queen’s Own Musketeers) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
110th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794, disbanded 1795.

111th Regiments of Foot
Titles
111th Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763
111th Regiment of Foot (Loyal Birmingham Volunteers) 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
112th Regiments of Foot
Titles
112th Regiment of Foot (King’s Royal Musketeers) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
112th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
113th Regiments of Foot
Titles
113th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highlanders) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
113th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
114th Regiments of Foot
Titles
114th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Volunteers) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
114th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
115th Regiments of Foot
Titles
115th Regiment of Foot (Royal Scotch Lowlanders) 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.
115th Regiment of Foot (Prince William’s) 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
116th Regiments of Foot
Titles
116th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1762–1763
1762
Raised 1762. Renumbered as 73rd foot (see above) 1763
116th (Perthshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1793–1795
1793
Raised 1793. Disbanded 1795.
117th Regiments of Foot
Titles
117th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1762–1763
1762
Raised 1762. Renumbered as 74th foot (see above) 1763
117th Regiment of Foot 1793–1795
1793
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
118th Regiments of Foot
Titles
118th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1762–1763
1762
Raised 1762. Renumbered as 75th foot (see above) 1763
118th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
119th Regiments of Foot
Titles
119th (The Prince’s Own) Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1762. Disbanded 1763.
119th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794 as John Rochfort’s Regiment of Foot. Disbanded 1795.
120th Regiments of Foot
Titles
120th Regiment of Foot 1762–1763
1762
Raised 1762. Disbanded 1763.
120th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.

121st Regiments of Foot
Titles
121st Regiment of Foot 1761–1763
1761
Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763
121st Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795
122nd Regiments of Foot
Titles
122nd Regiment of Foot 1762–1764
1762
Raised 1762. Disbanded 1764
122nd Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
123rd Regiments of Foot
Titles
123rd Regiment of Foot 1762–1764
1762
Raised 1762. Disbanded 1764.
123rd Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
124th Regiments of Foot
Titles
124th Regiment of Foot 1762–1763
1762
Raised 1762. Disbanded 1763.
124th (Waterford) Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
125th Regiments of Foot
Titles
125th Regiment of Foot 1794–1795
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1795.
126th Regiments of Foot
Titles
126th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796
127th Regiments of Foot
Titles
127th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
128th Regiments of Foot
Titles
128th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
129th Regiments of Foot
Titles
129th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794 as the Gentlemen of Coventry’s Regiment of Foot. Disbanded 1796.
130th Regiments of Foot
Titles
130th Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
131st Regiments of Foot
Titles
131st Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
132nd Regiments of Foot
Titles
132nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
133rd Regiments of Foot
Titles
133rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot (Inverness Volunteers) 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794. Disbanded 1796.
134th Regiments of Foot
Titles
134th (Loyal Limerick) Regiment of Foot 1794–1796
1794
Raised 1794 as the 2nd Battalion of the 83rd Regiment of Foot. Disbanded 1796.
135th Regiments of Foot
Titles
135th (Limerick) Regiment of Foot 1796
1794
Raised and disbanded 1796.

Sourced from Wikipedia

Special Air Service

 Articles  Comments Off on Special Air Service
Feb 052014
 

A number of Riflemen past and present have joined the Special Air Service (SAS) during their army career

The Special Air Service or SAS is a regiment of the British Army constituted on the 31st of May in 1950. It is part of the United Kingdom Forces (UKSF) and has served as a model for the special forces of many countries all over the World. The SAS together with the Special Boat Service (SBS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing form the UKSF under the command of the Director Special Forces

The SAS traces its origins to 1941 and the Second World War and was reformed as part of the Territorial Army in 1947 and named the 21st Battalion, SAS Regiment, (Artists Rifles). The Regular Army 22 SAS, later gained fame and recognition worldwide after successfully assaulting the Iranian Embassy in London and rescuing hostages during the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980, thus lifting the regiment from obscurity outside the military establishment.

The Special Air Service presently comprises 22 Special Air Service Regiment of the Regular Army, 21 Special Air Service Regiment and 23 Special Air Service Regiment from the Territorial Army. It is tasked primarily with counter-terrorism in peacetime and special operations in wartime.

The SAS was a unit of the British Army during the Second World War. it was formed in the July of 1941 by David Stirling and originally called “L” Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade – the “L” designation and Air Service name being a tie-in to a British disinformation campaign, trying to deceive the Axis into thinking there was a paratrooper regiment with numerous units operating in the area (the real SAS would `prove` to the Axis that the fake one existed).

It was conceived as a commando force to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign and initially consisted of five officer and 60 other ranks. Its first mission, in the November of 1941, was a parachute drop in support of the Operation Crusader offensive. Due to German resistance and adverse weather conditions, the mission was a disaster: 22 men, a third of the unit, were killed or captured.its second mission was a success: transported by the Long Range Desert Group, it attacked three airfields in Libya, destroying 60 aircraft without loss. In the September of 1942 it was renamed 1st SAS, consisting at that time of four British squadrons, one free french, one greek and the folboat section.

In the January of 1943, Stirling wad captured in Tunisia and Paddy Mayne replaced him as commander. In the April of 1943, the 1st SAS was re-organised into the Special Raiding Squadron under Mayne`s command and the Special Boat Squadron was placed under the command of George Jellicoe. The Special Raiding Squadron fought in Sicily and Italy along with the 2nd SAS, which had been formed in North Africa in 1943 in part by the renaming of the Small Scale Raiding Force.

The Special Boat Squadron fought in the Aegean Island and Dodecanese until the end of the war. In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd, 4th, SAS and the Belgain 5th SAS. It was tasked with parachute operation behined the German lines in France and carried out operations supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands (Operation Pegasus) and eventually into Germany (Operation Archway)

At the end of the war the British Government saw no further need for the force and they disbanded it on the 8th of October in 1945. The following year it was decided there was a need for a long-term deep-penetration commando unit and a new SAS regiment was to be raised as part of the Territorial Army. Ultimately, the Artists Rifles, raised in 1860 and headquartered at Dikes Road, Euston, took on the SAS mantle as 21st SAS Regiment (V) on the 1st of January in 1947.

In In 1950, a 21 SAS squadron was raised to fight in the Korean War. After three months of training in England, it was informed that the squadron would no longer be required in Korea and so it instead volunteered to fight in the Malayan Emergency. Upon arrival in Malaya, it came under the command of Mike Calvert who was forming a new unit called the Malayan Scouts (SAS). Calvert had already formed one squadron from 100 volunteers in the Far East, which became A Squadron—the 21 SAS squadron then became B Squadron; and after a recruitment visit to Rhodesia by Calvert, C Squadron was formed from 1,000 Rhodesian volunteers. The Rhodesians returned home after three years service and were replaced by a New Zealand squadron. By this time, the need for a regular army SAS regiment had been recognised; 22 SAS Regiment was formally added to the army list in 1952 and has been based at Hereford since 1960. In 1959 the third regiment, 23 SAS Regiment, was formed by renaming the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, which had succeeded MI9 and whose members were experts in escape and evasion

Since serving in Malaya, men from the regular army 22 SAS Regiment have taken part in covert reconnaissance and surveillance by patrols and some larger scale raiding missions in Borneo. An operation against communist guerillas included the Battle of Mirbat in the Oman. They have also taken part in operations in the Aden Emergency, Northern Ireland, and Gambia. Their Special projects team assisted the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9 at Mogadishu. The SAS counter terrorist wing famously took part in a hostage rescue operation during the Iranian Embassy Siege in London. During the Falklands War B squadron were prepared for Operation Mikado before it was subsequently cancelled whilst D and G squadrons were deployed and participated in the raid on Pebble Island. Operation Flavius was a controversial operation in Gibraltar against the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). 22 SAS also directed NATO aircraft onto Serb positions and hunted war criminals in Bosnia.

The Gulf War, in which A, B and D squadrons deployed, was the largest SAS mobilisation since the Second World War, also notable for the failure of the Bravo Two Zero mission. In Sierra Leone it took part in Operation Barras, a hostage rescue operation, to extract members of the Royal Irish Regiment. In the Iraq War, it formed part of Task Force Black and Task Force Knight, with A Squadron 22 SAS being singled out for exceptional service by General Stanley McChrystal, the American commander of NATO forces: during a six-month tour it carried out 175 combat missions. In 2006 members of the SAS were involved in the rescue of peace activists Norman Kember, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden. The three men had been held hostage in Iraq for 118 days during the Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis. Operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan involved soldiers from 21 and 23 SAS Regiments.

Various British newspapers have speculated on the SAS involvement in Operation Ellamy and the 2011 Libyan civil war, the Daily Telegraph reports that “defence sources have confirmed that the SAS has been in Libya for several weeks, and played a key role in coordinating the fall of Tripoli.” While The Guardian reports “They have been acting as forward air controllers – directing pilots to targets – and communicating with Nato operational commanders. They have also been advising rebels on tactics.”

In recent years SAS officers have risen to the highest ranks in the British Army. General Peter de la Billière was the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the 1990 Gulf War. General Michael Rose became commander of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia in 1994. In 1997 General Charles Guthrie became Chief of the Defence Staff the head of the British Armed Forces. Lieutenant-General Cedric Delves was appointed Commander of the Field Army and Deputy Commander in Chief NATO Regional Headquarters Allied Forces North in 2002–2003.

Following the post-war reconstitution of the Special Air Service, other countries in the Commonwealth recognised their need for similar units. The New Zealand Special Air Service squadron was formed in 1954 to serve with the British SAS in Malaya. Australia formed the 1st SAS Company in the July of 1957, which became a full regiment of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) in the August of 1964. On its return from Malaya, the C (Rhodesian) Squadron formed the basis for creation of the Rhodesian Special Air Service in 1961. It retained the name “C Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service” within the Rhodesian Security Forces until 1978, when it became 1 (Rhodesian) Special Air Service Regiment.
Non-commonwealth countries have also formed units based on the SAS. The French 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (1er RPIMa) can trace its origins to the Second World War 3rd and 4th SAS, adopting its “who dares wins” motto. The American unit, Delta Force, was formed by Colonel Charles Alvin Beckwith, who served with 22 SAS as an exchange officer, and recognised the need for a similar type of unit in the United States Army.

Little publicly verifiable information exists on the SAS, as the United Kingdom Government does not usually comment on special forces matters due to the nature of their work. The Special Air Service comprises three units: one Regular and two reserve Territorial Army (TA) units. The regular army unit is 22 SAS Regiment and territorial army units are 21 SAS Regiment (Artists) and 23 SAS Regiment.

22 SAS Regiment has four operational squadrons: A, B, D and G. Each squadron consists of approximately 60 men commanded by a major, divided into four troops (each troop being commanded by a captain) and a small headquarters section. Troops usually consist of 15 men, and each patrol within a troop consists of four men, with each man possessing a particular skill: signals, demolition, medic or linguist in addition to basic skills learned during the course of his training. The four troops specialise in four different areas:

Boat troop — are specialists in maritime skills using scuba diving, kayaks and Rigid-hulled inflatable boats and often train with the Special Boat Service.]
Air troop — are experts in free fall parachuting, High Altitude-Low Opening (HALO) and High Altitude-High Opening (HAHO) techniques.
Mobility troop — are specialists in using vehicles and are experts in desert warfare; they are also trained in an advanced level of motor mechanics to field-repair any vehicular breakdown.
Mountain troop — are specialists in Arctic combat and survival, using specialist equipment such as skis, snowshoes and mountain climbing techniques.
In 1980 R Squadron (which has since been renamed L Detachment) was formed; its members are all ex-regular SAS regiment soldiers who have a commitment to reserve service.

The special projects team is the official name for the Special Air Service anti–hijacking counter–terrorism team. It is trained in Close Quarter Battle (CQB) and sniper techniques and specialises in hostage rescue in buildings or on public transport. The team was formed in 1975 after Prime Minister Edward Heath asked the Ministry of Defence to prepare for any possible terrorist attack similar to the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics and ordered that the SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) wing be raised.
Once the wing had been established, each squadron rotated on a continual basis through counter–terrorist training including hostage rescue, siege breaking, and live firing exercises—it has been reported that during CRW training each soldier expends as many as 100,000 pistol rounds. Squadrons refresh their training every 16 months, on average. The CRW wing’s first deployment was during the Balcombe Street Siege. The Metropolitan Police had trapped a PIRA unit; it surrendered when it heard on the BBC that the SAS were being sent in.
The first documented action abroad by the CRW wing was assisting the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9 at Mogadishu. In 1980 the SAS were involved in a hostage rescue during the Iranian Embassy Siege.

The Special Air Service is under the operational command of the Director Special Forces (DSF), a major-general grade post. Previously ranked as a brigadier, the DSF was promoted from brigadier to major-general in recognition of the significant expansion of the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). The UKSF originally consisted of the regular and the reserve units of the SAS and the Special Boat Service, then joined by two new units: the Special Forces Support Group and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment. They are supported by the 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, part of which (8 Flight Army Air Corps) is based in Hereford with the SAS.

All members of the United Kingdom armed forces can be considered for special forces selection, but historically the majority of candidates have an airborne forces background. All instructors are full members of the Special Air Service. Selections are held twice yearly, in summer and winter, in Sennybridge in the Brecon Beacons. Selection lasts for five weeks and normally starts with about 200 potential candidates. On arrival candidates first complete a Personal Fitness Test (PFT) and an Annual Fitness Test (AFT). They then march cross country against the clock, increasing the distances covered each day, culminating in what is known as Endurance: a 40 miles (64 km) march with full equipment scaling and descending Pen y Fan in 20 hours. By the end of the hill phase candidates must be able to run 4 miles in 30 minutes and swim two miles in 90 minutes.
Following the hill phase is the jungle phase, taking place in Belize, Brunei, or Malaysia. Candidates are taught navigation, patrol formation and movement, and jungle survival skills. Candidates returning to Hereford finish training in battle plans and foreign weapons and take part in combat survival exercises, the final one being the week-long escape and evasion. Candidates are formed into patrols and, carrying nothing more than a tin can filled with survival equipment, are dressed in old Second World War uniforms and told to head for a point by first light. The final selection test is arguably the most gruelling: resistance to interrogation (RTI), lasting for 36 hours.
Typically, 15–20% of candidates make it through the hill phase selection process. From the approximately 200 candidates, most will drop out within the first few days, and by the end about 30 will remain. Those who complete all phases of selection are rewarded with a transfer to an operational squadron.

The Territorial Army Special Air Service (reserve) Regiments undergo a different selection process, as a part-time programme over a longer period, designed to select volunteers with the right qualities. It is emphasised that to stand any chance of success volunteers must be physically fit at the start of the course. The qualities required are:
Physically and mentally robust
Self-confident
Self-disciplined
Able to work alone
Able to assimilate information and new skills
This is followed by Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) Training on Special Forces tactics, techniques and procedures. This is progressive with the emphasis on individuals assimilating new skills while under physical and mental pressure.
On successful completion of this training, ranks are badged as SAS(R) and deemed operationally deployable. They enter a probationary period during which they complete final training including a Basic Parachute Course and a Communications Course to be fit for mobilisation.

Normal barracks headdress is the sand-coloured beret, its cap badge is a downward pointing Excalibur, wreathed in flames (often incorrectly referred to as a winged dagger) worked into the cloth of a Crusader shield with the motto Who Dares Wins. SAS pattern parachute wings, designed by Lieutenant Jock Lewes and based on the stylised sacred Ibis wings of Isis of Egyptian iconography depicted in the décor of Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo, are worn on the right shoulder. Its ceremonial No 1 dress uniform is distinguished by a light blue stripe on the trousers; the commanding officer and officer of the day wear a black leather pouch belt mounted with a silver whistle chain and the Mars and Minerva badge of the Artists Rifles. Its stable belt is a shade of blue similar to the blue stripe on the No 1 dress uniform.

In the British Army, battle honours are awarded to regiments that have seen active service in a significant engagement or campaign, generally with a victorious outcome. The Special Air Service Regiment has been awarded the following battle honours:
North-West Europe 1944-45
Tobruk 1941
Benghazi Raid
North Africa 1940–43
Landing in Sicily
Sicily 1943
Termoli
Valli di Comacchio
Italy 1943–45
Greece 1944–45
Adriatic
Middle East 1943–44
Falkland Islands 1982
Western Iraq
Gulf 1991

The names of those members of the SAS who have died on duty are inscribed on the regimental clock tower at Stirling lines, those whose names are inscribed are said by surviving members to have “failed to beat the clock”. Inscribed on the base of the clock is a verse from The Golden Road to Samarkand by James Elroy Flecker:
We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go Always a little further: it may be Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow Across that angry or that glimmering sea …
The other main memorial is the SAS and Airborne Forces memorial in the cloisters at Westminster Abbey. The SAS Brigade Memorial at Sennecey-le-Grand in France commemorates the wartime dead of the Belgian, British, and French SAS and recently a memorial plaque was added to the David Stirling Memorial in Scotland. There are other smaller memorials “scattered throughout Europe and in the Far East”.

Some SAS Members go on to become

Minders to Businessmen

Sourced from Wikipedia

You Tube (The Rap Sheet)

History of the Name Goddard

 Articles  Comments Off on History of the Name Goddard
Feb 042014
 

History of the name Goddard

The Goddard Family were a prominent landed family chiefly living in the northern region of the English counties of Wiltshire, Hampshire and the western part of Berkshire, between the Tudor period and the late modern era.

The Goddard family were established at Upper Upham House, near Aldbourne, from at least the late 15th century. From 1563 until 1927, the family were Lords of the manor of Swindon, living on the Goddard Estate in The Lawns. Other important manors included Clyffe Pypard and Ogbourne St george in Wiltshire, Standen at Hungerford in Berkshire and Stargroves at East Woodhay in Hampshire.

The Wiltshire Goddards

Thomas Goddard’s purchase were said to include profits of the fairs and the weekly market, 60 messuages, 40 cottages, 2 water mills, 100 gardens, 100 orchards, 600 acres (2.4 km2) of land, 200 acres (0.81 km2) of meadows, 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of heath, 30 acres (120,000 m2) of woods, 120 acres (0.49 km2) of pasture and one dovecote.

The estate included the area known today as the Lawns, and was bounded by the High Street and the site of Christchurch. The Manor House was rebuilt around 1770; it is probable that this was on the site of a medieval building. The Manor building was known as Swindon House until 1850, and is now known as the Lawn.

The family home was a double-cube fronted building of brick with stone dressings and a baluster parapet. To the east of this was a five bedroom dining block that looked out onto the gardens.

When last occupied by the family, the Lawn had an outer and inner hall on the ground floor (giving access to a lobby and drawing room, a dining room with adjoining study, billiard room, library and gun room.

There were two staircases leading to the various bedrooms, some with adjoining dressing rooms and also the nursery and servants quarters.

The grounds included an arboretum, lawns, artificial lakes and ornamental gardens and was used for entertaining, garden parties and fetes. During cold periods the frozen lakes were used by the family and local residents for ice skating.

The last of the male line, Major Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard, a diplomat, died in 1927. His widow, Eugenia Kathleen, left Swindon in 1931. Subsequent to this, the house remained empty until it was occupied by British and American forces during World War II. Damaged by the military, it was bought from The Crown by Swindon Corporation in 1947 for £16,000. The sale included 53 acres (210,000 m2) of land, the Manor house and the adjacent Holy Rood Church.

The house itself was derelict by 1952 and demolished. The Manor grounds were opened as parkland and remain so. Today; the wood, lake, sunken garden, elements of the walls and the gateposts at the entrance to Lawns are all open to the public. The site of the former stables are now the Planks auction house.

Lords of the Manor Swindon

Thomas Goddard of  Upham acquired the Manor of Swindon in 1563 and his descendant family were Lords of the Manor up until the 20th century.

Descent is from Father to Son unless noted.

1563–1567  Thomas Goddard

Originally from Upham, a small village south of Swindon, Thomas Goddard acquired the Manor of Swindon in 1563 from the Crown. He also purchased the Crown Inn later re-named the Goddard Arms and to become Swindon’s de facto Towen Hall, Courthouse and Council rooms until the mid-19th century.

1568–1614 Richard Goddard

1614–1641 Thomas Goddard

Granted the right to hold Markets and Fairs in the town in 1626 from the King.

1644–1650 Richard Goddard

1651–1683 Thomas Goddard (minor until 1669 with his mother as guardian until 1656 and Thomas Bowman until 1669)

1683-???? Thomas Goddard

Converted one of the Estate’s alms house into the town’s first Market House in 1703.

????-1732 Richard Goddard

1732–1742 Pleydell Goddard (Brother of Richard Goddard)

1745–1754 Ambrose Goddard (Cousin of Pleydell Goddard)

1757–1770 Thomas Goddard (Eldest son of Ambrose Goddard)

1771–1815 Ambrose Goddard (Youngest son of Ambrose Goddard)

Director of the  Wilts and Berks Canal, donated site for Christ Church

1852–1895 Ambrose Lethbridge Goddard

Born 9 December 1819, died 15 November 1898. Deputy-Chairman of the M and SWJR.

1895–1927 Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard

Was a Major in the British Army, diplomat and also served a period as the High Sheriff of Wiltshire during the period 1904–1907

MP`s for Cricklade

Thomas Goddard (born on the 9th of  August 1777 died in January 1814) is recorded as being the Member of Parliament for Cricklade from 1806–12.

Ambrose Goddard (born on the 9th of October 1779 died on the 29th November 1854) 1837–41

Ambrose Lethbridge Goddard (Lord of the Manor) 1847–68 and 1874–80 (serving alongside Sir Daniel Gooch).

Hampshire Goddards

The Goddard family owned the Stargroves estate at East Woodhay from 1565 until about 1830.

Berkshire Goddards

In the 1550s, Standen Manor in Hungerford was bought by John Goddard of Upper Upham House and it became one of the family’s favourite homes.The family purchased Clyffe Pypard Manor in Wiltshire around the same time and divided their time between the two. They were associated with the place for about 150 years.

Rayner Goddard, Baron Goddard

Rayner Goddard, Baron Goddard (10th April-29th May 1971) was the Lord Chief Justice of England from 1946 to 1958 and known for his strict and conservative views, despite being the first Lord Chief Justice to be appointed by a Labour Government, as well as the first to possess a law degree. He was nicknamed the `Tiger` and ” Justice in a Jiffy” for his no-nonsense manner. He once dismissed six appeals in one hour in 1957.

Raynor Goddard was born on the 10th of April in 1877  at Bassett Road, Notting Hill, London, the second of three sons and the third of five children.

Goddard attended Marlborough College, where he decided on a career in law, later in life he vigorously denied the frequent claims of Lord Jowitt that he had amused his school contemporaries by reciting, word for word, the form of the death sentence upon those whom he disliked. He later attended Trinity College, Oxford and graduated with an upper second-class degree in jurisprudence in 1898, and gained a full blue in athletics. He was called to the Bar by both the inner Temple and Gray`s Inn in 1899.

On the 31st of May 1906 Goddard married Marie Schuster, the daughter of the banker Sir Felix Otto Schuster, with whom he was to have three daughters. Marie, she died on the 16th of May during an operation at the age of 44, Goddard never remarried.

He built a strong reputation in commercial cases on the Western Circuit and was appointed as Recorder of Poole (a part time judgeship).

Goddard was appointed a King`s Council in 1923, transferred to be the Recorder of Bath in 1925, and eventually Recorder of Plymouth in 1928. He was also elected a Bencher of his inns in 1929 and overtook work for the Barristers Benevolent Association.

In the general of 1929, Goddard agreed, against his better judgement, to contest the Kensington South constituency as an unofficial Conservative candidate. The sitting Conservative MP, Sir William Davison, had been a defendant in a divorce case, and a local committee thought the newly enfranchised young women voters would refuse to support him.  In the end, Goddard, running under the slogan “Purity Goddard”, came last in the poll, winning only 15% of the vote and as a sitting member was returned.

On the 5th of April 1932 Goddard was appointed a full-time Judge of the King`s Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales, he received a knighthood later that year. After only six years he was promoted again to be a Lord Justice of Appeal.

Goddard was known for turning out well-argued and legally convincing judgements. He would deliver stern diatribes to criminals, but his sentences were usually moderate, even when he was personally offended by the crime. After another six year stint, he was appointed  as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary upon the death of Lord Atkin in 1944 and received as a Law Lord a Life Peerage. He chose the title Baron Goddard of Aldbourne in the County of Wiltshire.

Viscount Caldecote, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, suffered a stroke in 1945 and suddenly resigned, creating a vacancy at an inopportune moment. The tradition was for the appointment to be a political one, with the Attorney-General stepping up to take it. However, Hartley Shawcross was unwilling and considered too young. The appointment of a stop-gap candidate was expected. As Goddard explained in an August interview with David Yallop in 1970. “they had to give the job to somebody and there wasn`t anybody else available, so Attlee appointed me.” The appointment, in January 1946, came at a time when the crime rate and public concern over crime, were both increasing. Through his judgements, Goddard made it clear that he felt that stronger sentences were the way to tackle both. However, though a severe judge, Goddard was known to give young offenders probation rather than custodial sentences, if he believed that they would respond. Goddard was the first Lord Chief Justice to hold a law degree.

Despite his appointment as a stop-gap, Goddard served twelve and a half years as Lord Chief Justice before stepping down in the August of 1958.

In the June 1951, Goddard ruled in Willcock v Muckle that giving police the power to demand an ID card “from all and sundry, for instance, from a lady who may leave her car outside a shop longer than she should”, made people resentful of the police and “inclines them to obstruct the police instead of to assist them.” Therefore, for the police to demand that individuals show their ID cards was unlawful because it was not relevant to the purposes for which the card was adopted. ID cards, in force since the start of World War II, were abolished in the February of 1952.

In the December of 1952 Goddard presided over the trial of Christopher Craig and Derek Bentley, accused of the murder of PC Sidney Miles at a Croydon warehouse on the 2nd of November in 1952. Sixteen year old Craig had shot and killed PC Miles whilst resisting arrest on the roof of a factory he intended to break into. Bentley, who was Nineteen but of limited intelligence, had gone with him and was accused of urging Craig to shoot, having called out to him “let him have it, Chris”, when a policeman, Sergeant Frederick Fairfax, asked Craig for the gun. Fairfax was wounded by Craig.

Lord Goddard directed the jury at the trail that, in law, Bentley was as guilty of firing the shot as Craig, even though there was contradictory evidence as to whether Bentley was aware that Craig was carrying a gun. During the trial, Goddard made no reference to Bentley’s mental state. apart from when Travers Christmas Humphreys asked Bentley to read a statement he had allegedly made to Police Officers after his arrest. Goddard told Humphreys that Bentley couldn’t read.

After 75 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict in respect of both defendants. Craig was to young for a death sentence, but Bentley was not. Nevertheless, the jury had exceptionally returned a plea of mercy in favour of Bentley along with the guilty verdict. The decision passed to the Home Secretary, David Maxwell Fyfe, to decide whether clemency should be granted. After reading The Home Office psychiatric reports and a petition signed by 200 MPs, he rejected the request and Bentley was hanged by Albert Pierrepont on the 28th of January in 1953. Craig was sent to prison and released in 1963 after serving ten and a half years. Derek Bentley had his conviction quashed in 1998 with the appeal trial judge, Lord Bingham noting that Lord Goddard had denied the defendant “the fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen.”

Goddard chose to continue his involvement with trials on the frontline and opted to judge ordinary High Court cases as he was entitled to do. He presided over the 1946 libel trial at which Harold Laski, Chairman of the Labour Party, attempted unsuccessfully to sue the Daily Express for damages when it quoted him as saying that the party must take power “even if it means violence”.

On the 13th of June in 1965, Goddard told Harold Laski’s brother, Neville Laski, that he was opposed to the jury’s findings at his brother’s libel action case and that he believed his brother, but that Harold Laski did not make a good witness in court. Goddard also said that he regretted the way in which he had conducted the trial.

In 1948 backbench pressure in the House of Commons forced through an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to the effect that capital punishment should be suspended for five years and all death sentences automatically commuted to life imprisonment. The Bill also sought to abolish judicial corporal punishment in both its then forms. the cat-o-nine-tails and the birch. Goddard attacked the Bill in the House of Lords, making his maiden speech, saying he agreed with the abolition of the “cat”, but not birching, which he regarded as an effective punishment for young offenders. He also disagreed with the automatic commutation of death sentences, believing that it was contrary to the Bill of Rights.

In a debate, he once referred to a case he had tried of an agricultural labourer who had assaulted a jeweller: Goddard gave him a short 2 month`s imprisonment and twelve strokes of the birch because ” I was not then depriving the  country of the services of a good agricultural labourer over the harvest”. The  suspension of capital punishment was reversed by 181 to 28 and a further amendment to retain the birch was also passed ( though the Lords were later forced to give way on this issue). As the crime rate continued to rise, Goddard became convinced that the Criminal Justice Act of 1948 was responsible as it was a`Gangster`s Charter`. He held a strong belief that punishment had to be punitive in order to be effective, a view also shared at the time by Lord Denning.

During the committal hearing for the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams in the January of 1957, Goddard was seen dining with the defendant`s probable gay lover, Sir Roland Gwynne (Mayor of Eastbourne from 1929 to 1931) and ex Attorney-General Hartley Shawcross at an hotel in Lewes. Goddard had already appointed Patrick Devlin to try Adams`s case. Three months later, on the 15th of April, while the jury was out discussing the verdict on Adams`s first charge of murder, Goddard telephoned to Devlin to urge him, if Adams were to be found not guilty, to grant bail before he was tried on a second count of murder. Devlin was surprised since a person accused of murder had never been granted bail before in British legal history.

Adams was acquitted on the first count of murder and the second charge was controversially dropped via a nolle proseqi- an act by the prosecution that was later called by Devlin an “abuse of process”. Adams was thought by patoloist Francis Camps to have murdered up to 163 patients. Historian Pamela Cullen and the assistant investigating Officer, Charles Hewett suspected political interference to ensure his acquittal.

A month after Adams trial on the 10th of May 1957, Goddard heard a contempt of court case against Rolls House Publishing, publishers of Newsweek and chain of newsagents W.H.Smith, who on the 1st of April during Adams`s trial had respectively published and distributed an issue of the magazine containing two paragraphs of material “highly prejudicial to the accused”, saying Adams`s victim count could be “as high as four hundred”. Each company was fined £50.00. Goddard made no mention of his friendship with Roland Gwynne and the potential conflict of interest.

In January 1959, five months after retiring as Lord Chief Justice, Goddard resumed regular judicial sittings in the House of Lords, continuing until 1963 when he fully retired. During this period he was a member of the judicial committee of the House of Lords in several controversial appeal cases, including Director of Public Prosecutions v Smith (1961), Sykes v Director of Public Prosecutions (1962), and Attorney-General for Northern Ireland v Gallagher (1963). In the April of 1959 Goddard took the unprecedented step of returning to sit in the Court of Appeal for almost a year to help clear a backlog of appeal cases.

After retiring as Lord Chief Justice, Goddard continued to intervene occasionally in Lords debates and public speeches to put forward his views in favour of judicial corporal punishment. On 12 December 1960 he said in the House of Lords that the law was too much biased in favour of the criminal, as he was to assert to David Yallop nearly ten years later. Goddard also expressed his opposition to the legalisation of homosexual acts on the 24th of May 1965. His final speech in the House of Lords was in the April of 1968 at the age of 91, praising the City of London’s law courts.

In the final interview he ever gave, in the August of 1970, Goddard told David Yallop that being Lord Chief Justice was not an easy job. When Yallop, who believed that Craig should have been imprisoned for manslaughter and Bentley thus cleared, asked Goddard about Derek Bentley’s execution, he received the following reply, “Yes, I thought that Bentley was going to be reprieved. He certainly should have been. There’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Bentley should have been reprieved”.
Goddard remarked that what troubled him was not Bentley being hanged when he was close to the minimum age, but the hard facts of the case, such as Bentley being innocent of the murder of PC Miles.

Goddard went on to slam David Maxwell Fyfe in the two-hour interview, saying that he made the recommendation to mercy to Maxwell-Fyfe and that “Bentley’s execution was an act of supreme illogicality. I was never consulted over it (the decision and execution). In fact he (Maxwell Fyfe) never consulted anyone. The blame for Bentley’s execution rests solely with Fyfe”. It is true that Maxwell Fyfe, who died in the January of 1967, was as much a supporter of the death penalty as Goddard. However, despite stating his opposition to Bentley’s execution, Goddard still expressed his strong support for the death penalty and asserted that the law was biased in favour of the criminal, as he did almost ten years before.

Whether Goddard felt this at the time of Bentley’s execution, or was saying it only in hindsight, remains controversial. Goddard’s claims in the 1970 interview were disputed by John Parris in his book “Scapegoat” (Duckworth), published in 1991. Parris, who died in 1996, was Craig’s barrister at the 1952 trial, and wrote that Goddard told Maxwell Fyfe to ignore the jury’s recommendation for mercy, and that Bentley must be hanged.

  Julie Ann Rosser – née Goddard

Sourced from Wikipedia

Picture by Steve Barrett

Corden-Lloyd

 Articles  Comments Off on Corden-Lloyd
Feb 012014
 

Lt Colonel Corden-Lloyd OBE MC

Graveside Memorial Service held 17th February 2018

At Winchester by Fellow Riflemen

Corden-Lloyd was commissioned into the 10th Princess Mary`s Own Gurkha Rifle, he later transferred to the Royal Green Jackets. He was subsequently seconded to the SAS. In 1971, corden-Lloyd look part in Operation Demetrius. He was awarded the Military Cross for distinguished service in Northern Ireland in 1972, although at the time the details of his action were not published for security reasons. He became the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Green Jackets in 1976, that very same year he was invested as an Officer of the British Empire (military)

Corden-Lloyd`s  2nd battalion the Royal Green Jackets battalion were deployed to Northern Ireland in December in 1977, at a time when hostilities in the province were at their peak. A few days after their arrival, Corden-Lloyd`s troops suffered their first casualties and regular engagements with the Provisional IRA  continued over the following weeks. On the 17th of February, a Green Jacket`s observation post deployed around the village of Jonesborough began to take heavy fire from the “March Wall”, which drew parallel to the border with the Republic of Ireland to the east, along the Dromad woods. The soldiers returned fire, but the short distance to the border and the open ground prevented them form advancing.

Corden-Lloyd, as commanding officer, along with Captain Philip Schofield and Sergeant Ives flew in a Gazelle helicopter from the base at Bessbrook Mill to assess the situation and provide information to the troops. while hovering over the scene of the engagement, the aircraft came under fire from the IRA. The pilot lost control of the aircraft during a turn at high speed to avoid ground fire, the helicopter hit a wall and crashed into a field. some 2,000 meters from Jonesborough. Corden-Lloyd was killed instantly, while the other 2 passengers were wounded.

The shooting down of a British Army helicopter and the death  of such a high-ranking officer was used as propaganda by the  Provisional IRA, which published a report of the action in an Phoblacht. Corden-Lloyd had been accused by republican sources of brutality against the Catholic civilians during the Green Jackets tour of 1971. However, Corden-Lloyed was awarded a posthumous mention in  dispatches by the British Government, ` in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Northern Ireland.

He was married with 3 sons at the time of his death,

Lt Colonel Corden-Lloyd OBE MC

Is buried in Winchester.

Pictures by Ken Cox

Sourced from Wikipedia

General Sir Nick Carter

 Articles  Comments Off on General Sir Nick Carter
Jan 302014
 

Educated at Winchester college academically and experienced within the royal green jackets the school of green.

The former commander of British forces in Afghanistan has been appointed as the new head of the Army.

General Sir Nicholas Patrick Carter KCB CBE DSO

Carter was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets as a second Lieutenant on the 8th April 1978, initially holding a short service commission. He was promoted lieutenant on the 8th April 1980,switched to a full career commission in 1982,promoted captain on  the 8th October 1984,and to major on the 30th September 1991.He was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 New Years Honours.

Carter was promoted lieutenant-colonel on the 30th  June 1996.In 1998 he was appointed Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets in which role he was deployed to Bosnia in 1998 and Kosovo in 1999.For his service in Bosnia, he was awarded the Queen`s Commendation for Valuable Service on the 7th May 1999.In Kosovo, Carter commanded a group of peacekeepers on a bridge over the River ibarat at Kosovska Mitrocvica where he was tasked with keeping apart thousands of Serbs and Albanians gathered either side of the bridge. Carter later described the role as being the “meat in the sandwich”. He was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire on the 3rd November 2000.

Carter was promoted to Colonel on the 31st December 2000 (with seniority from the 30th June),and to Commander of the Order of the British Empire on the 29th April 2003, following service in the War in Afghanistan.He was promoted to Brigadier on the 31st December 2003 (with seniority from 30 June),and in 2004 he was given command of  20th Armoured Brigade, commanding British forces in Basra,at one point stating that British forces could be in Iraq for “as long as a decade”. On the 7th  September 2004 he was awarded a further Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service for his service in Iraq.

In 2006 he became Director of Army Resources and Plans at the Ministry of Defence. In 2007 he was given the honorary appointment of Deputy Colonel of The Rifles,(the successor regiment to the Royal Green Jackets) and held this post until the 1st of November 2009.On the 23rd January 2009 he was promoted major general and became General Officer Commanding 6th Division which has been deployed to Afghanistan with Carter appointed as Commander ISAF Regional Command South.In September 2009, referring to the efforts of UK and NATO forces, Carter said that “time was not on our side”. Carter returned to the UK in November 2010 after a year deployed. Upon his return, he gave an interview in which he warned that “the insurgency is resilient, and alive and well”. In 2011 he became Director-General Land Warfare in the rank of Lieutenant General.In March 2011 he was awarded the DSO.He became Deputy Commander Land Forces in January 2012.Carter is the current main architect of the Army 2020concept, who reported on his recommendations in April 2012.

Carter assumed the post of Deputy Commander, International Security Assistance Force(ISAF), under the command of American general, John R. Allen, in September 2012.He handed over his ISAF command to Lieutenant General John Lorimer in July 2013.He succeeded Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Bradshaw as Commander Land Forces in November 2013.

Carter was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2014 New Year Honours.

Sourced from Wikipedia

The history of the name Balfour

 Articles  Comments Off on The history of the name Balfour
Jan 272014
 

Balfour is a Scottish family name

Earls of Balfour

Arthur Balfour ( 25th July 1848- 19th March 1930), was a British Conservative politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from  July 1902 to December 1905. When he came into his inheritance at the age of 21,

Balfour became the wealthiest young man in Britain. He rose to prominence by suppressing agrarian unrest in Ireland through punitive action combined with measure against absentee landlords. After being influential in government, he succeeded his uncle, Lord Salisbury as Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader in the July of 1902.

Balfour was seen as an ambivalent personality and a weak Prime Minister, his embrace of the imperial preference championed by Joseph Chamberlain was nuanced, but brought resignations and the end of his spell as party leader. He opposed Irish Home Rule, saying there could be no half-way house between Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom or becoming independent.

He oversaw the Entente Cordiale, an agreement with France that influenced Britain`s decision to join the First Wold War, in 1915 he became Foreign Secretary in David Lloyd George`s wartime administration, but was frequently left out of the inner workings of government, although the declaration of 1917 promising Jews a ” National Home” in Palestine bore his name. He resigned as Foreign Secretary following the Versailles Conference in 1919, he died on the 19th of March aged 81, having spent an inherited fortune and never marrying.

Balfour trained as a philosopher – he originated an argument against believing that human reason could determine truth – and had a detached attitude to life, epitomised by a remark attributed to him: ” Nothing matters very much and few things matter at all”.

Arthur Balfour was born at Whittinghame House, East Lothian, Scotland, the eldest son of James Maitland Balfour(1820–1856) and Lady Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil(1825-1872). His father was a ScottishMP; his mother, a member of the Cecil family descended from Robert Cecil, the 1st Earl of Salisbury, was the daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Salisbury and a sister to the 3rd Marquess, the future Prime Minister. His godfather was the Duke of Wellington, after whom he was named. He was the eldest son, third of eight children, and had four brothers and three sisters. Arthur Balfour had was educated at Grange preparatory school in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (1859–1861), and Eaton (1861–1866), where he studied with the influential master, William Johnson Cory. He went to the University of Cambridge, where he read moral sciences at Trinity College (1866–1869), graduating with a second-class honours degree. His younger brother was the Cambridge embryologist, Francis Maitland Balfour (1851–1882).

Although he coined the saying, “Nothing matters very much and few things matter at all”, Balfour was distraught at the early death from typhus in 1875 of his cousin May Lyttelton, whom he hoped to marry: later, mediums claimed to pass on messages from her – the ” Palm Sunday Case”.Balfour remained a bachelor. Margot Tennant (later Margot Asquith) wished to marry him, but Balfour said: “No, that is not so. I rather think of having a career of my own.”His household was maintained by his unmarried sister, Alice. In middle age, Balfour had a 40-year friendship with Mary Charteris (née Wyndham), Lady Elcho, later Countess of Wemyss and March.Although one biographer writes that “it is difficult to say how far the relationship went”, her letters suggest they may have become lovers in 1887 and may have engaged in , sado-masochism a claim echoed by A.N. Wilson.Another biographer believes they had “no direct physical relationship”, although he dismisses as unlikely suggestions that Balfour was homosexual, or, in view of a time during the Boar War when he replied to a message while drying himself after his bath, Lord Beaverbrook’s claim that he was “a hermaphrodite” whom no-one saw naked.

In 1874 he was elected Conservative Member of Parliament(MP) for Hertford until 1885. In the spring of 1878, Balfour became Private Secretary to his uncle, Lord Salisbury. He accompanied Salisbury (then Foreign Secretary) to the Congress in Berlin and gained his first experience in international politics in connection with the settlement of the Russo-Turkish conflict. At the same time he became known in the world of letters; the academic subtlety and literary achievement of his Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879) suggested he might make a reputation as a philosopher.

Balfour divided his time between politics and academic pursuits. Released from his duties as private secretary by the general election of 1880, he began to take more part in parliamentary affairs. He was for a time politically associated with Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and John Gorst. This quartet became known as the “Forth Party” and gained notoriety for leader Lord Randolph Churchill’s free criticism of Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord Cross and other prominent members of the “old gang”.

In 1885, Lord Salisbury appointed Balfour President of the Local Government Board; the following year he became the Secretary for Scotland with a seat in the cabinet. These offices, while offering few opportunities for distinction, were an apprenticeship. In early 1887, Sir Micheal Hicks Beach, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, resigned because of illness and Salisbury appointed his nephew in his place. That surprised the political world and possibly led to the British phrase ” Bob`s your uncle!”. Balfour surprised critics by ruthless enforcement of the Crimes Act, earning the nickname “Bloody Balfour“. His steady administration did much to dispel his reputation as a political lightweight.

In Parliament he resisted overtures to the Irish Parliamentary Party on Home Rule, and, allied with Joseph Chamberlain’s Liberal Unionists, encouraged Unionist activism in Ireland. Balfour also helped the poor by creating the Congested Districts Board for Ireland in 1890. In 1886–1892 he became one of the most effective public speakers of the age. Impressive in matter rather than delivery, his speeches were logical and convincing, and delighted an ever wider audience.

On the death of W.H. Smith in 1891, Balfour became First Lord of the Treasury— the last in British history not to have been concurrently Prime Minister as well — and Leader of the House of Commons. After the fall of the government in 1892 he spent three years in opposition. When the Conservatives returned to power, in coalition with the Liberal Unionists, in 1895, Balfour again became Leader of the House and First Lord of the Treasury. His management of the abortive education proposals of 1896 showed a disinclination for the drudgery of parliamentary management, yet he saw the passage of a bill providing Ireland with improved local government and joined in debates on foreign and domestic questions between 1895 to 1900.

During the illness of Lord Salisbury in 1898, and again in Salisbury’s absence abroad, Balfour was in charge of the Foreign Office, and he conducted negotiations with Russia on the question of railways in North China. As a member of the cabinet responsible for the Transvaal negotiations in 1899, he bore his share of controversy and, when the war began disastrously, he was first to realise the need to use the country’s full military strength. His leadership of the House was marked by firmness in the suppression of obstruction, yet there was a slight revival of the criticisms of 1896.

On Lord Salisbury’s resignation on the of 11th July 1902, Balfour succeeded him as Prime Minister, with the approval of all the Unionist party. The new Prime Minister came into power practically at the same moment as the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and the end of the South African War. The Liberal party was still disorganised over the Boers. The two chief items of the ministerial parliamentary programme were the extension of the new Education Act to London and the Irish Land Purchase Act, by which the British exchequer would advance the money for tenants in Ireland to buy land. An achievement of Balfour’s government was establishment of the Committee on Imperial Defence.

In foreign affairs, Balfour and his Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, improved relations with France, culminating in the Entente cordiale of 1904. The period also saw the Russo-Japanese War, when Britain, an ally of the Japanese, came close to war with Russia after the Dogger Bank incident. On the whole, Balfour left the conduct of foreign policy to Lansdowne, being busy himself with domestic problems.

Balfour distrusted the American concept of equality. During negotiations over creation of the League of Nations, the topic of “all men being created equal” came up in the context of the American Declaration of Independence. Speaking to Col House, an aide to President Wilson and David Hunter Miller, the chief legal adviser to the US Commission, Balfour said “that was an 19th century proposition that he didn’t believe was true. He believed that it was true that in a sence all men in a particular nation were created equal, but not that a man in Central Africa was created equal to a European.”

The budget was certain to show a surplus and taxation could be remitted. Yet as events proved, it was the budget that would sow dissension, override other legislative concerns and signal a new political movement. Charles Thomson Ritchie’s remission of the shilling import-duty on corn led to Joseph Chamberlain’s crusade in favour of tariff reform. These were taxes on imported goods with trade preference given to the Empire, to protect British industry from competition, strengthen the Empire in the face of growing German and American economic power, and provide revenue, other than raising taxes, for the social welfare legislation. As the session proceeded, the rift grew in the Unionist ranks. Tariff reform was popular with Unionist supporters, but the threat of higher prices for food imports made the policy an electoral albatross. Hoping to split the difference between the free traders and tariff reformers in his cabinet and party, Balfour favoured retaliatory tariffs to punish others who had tariffs against the British, in the hope of encouraging global free trade.

This was not sufficient for either the free traders or the extreme tariff reformers in government. With Balfour’s agreement, Chamberlain resigned from the Cabinet in late 1903 to campaign for tariff reform. At the same time, Balfour tried to balance the two factions by accepting the resignation of three free-trading ministers, including Chancellor Ritchie, but the almost simultaneous resignation of the free-trader Duke of Devonshire (who as Lord Hartington had been the Liberal Unionist leader of the 1880s) left Balfour’s Cabinet weak. By 1905 few Unionist MPs were still free traders (Winston Churchill crossed to the Liberals in 1904 when threatened with deselection at Oldham), but Balfour’s act had drained his authority within the government.

Balfour resigned as Prime Minister in December 1905, hoping the Liberal leader Campbell-Bannerman would be unable to form a strong government. This was dashed when Campbell-Bannerman faced down an attempt (” The Relugas Compact”) to “kick him upstairs” to the House of Lords. The Conservatives were defeated by the Liberals at the general election the following January (in terms of MPs, a Liberal landslide), with Balfour losing his seat at Manchester East to Thomas Gardner Horride, a solicitor and king`s counsel. Only 157 Conservatives were returned to the Commons, at least two-thirds followers of Chamberlain, who chaired the Conservative MPs until Balfour won a safe seat in the City of London.

After the disaster of 1906 Balfour remained party leader, his position strengthened by Joseph Chamberlain’s leaving politics after his stroke in the July of 1906, but he was unable to make much headway against the huge Liberal majority in the Commons. An early attempt to score a debating triumph over the government, made in Balfour’s usual abstruse, the oretical style, saw Campbell-Bannerman respond with: “Enough of this foolery,” to the delight of his supporters. Balfour made the controversial decision, with Lord Lansdowne, to use the heavily Unionist House of Lords as a check on the political programem and legislation of the Liberal party in the Commons. Legislation was vetoed or altered by amendments between 1906 and 1909, leading David Lloyd George to remark that the Lords had become “not the watchdog of the Constitution, but Mr. Balfour’s poodle.” The issue was forced by the Lierals with Lloyd George’s People`s Budget, provoking the constitutional crisis that led to the Parliament Act 1911, which limited the Lords to delaying bills for up to two years. After the Unionists lost the general elections of 1910 (despite softening the tariff reform policy with Balfour’s promise of a referendum on food taxes), the Unionist peers split to allow the Parliament Act to pass the House of Lords, in order to prevent mass creation of Liberal peers by the new King, George V. The exhausted Balfour resigned as party leader after the crisis, and was succeeded in late 1911 by Andrew Bonar Law.

Balfour remained important in the party, however, and when the Unionists joined Asquith’s coalition government in the May 1915, Balfour succeeded Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty. When Asquith’s government collapsed in the December of 1916, Balfour, who seemed a potential successor to the premiership, he became Foreign Secretary in Lloyd George’s new administration, but not in the small War Cabinet, and was frequently left out of inner workings of government. Balfour’s service as Foreign Secretary was notable for the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a letter to Lord Rothschild promising the Jews a “national home” in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire.

Balfour resigned as Foreign Secretary following the Versailles Conference in 1919, but continued in the government (and the Cabinet after normal peacetime political arrangements resumed) as Lord President of the Council. In 1921–1922 he represented the British Empire at the Washington Naval Conference and during  the summer of 1922 stood in for the Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon, who was ill. He put proposed for an international settlement of war debts and reparations, called the Balfour Note, but met with an unfavourable response.

n 1922 he, with most of the Conservative leadership, resigned with Lloyd George’s government following the Conservative back-bench revolt against continuance of the coalition. Bonar Law became Prime Minister. In 1922 Balfour was created Earl of Balfour. Like many Coalition leaders, he did not hold office in the Conservative governments of 1922–4, although as an elder statesman he was consulted by the King in the choice of Baldwin as Bonar Law’s successor as Conservative leader in May 1923. When asked whether “dear George” (the much more experienced Lord Curzon) would be chosen he replied, referring to Curzon’s wealthy wife Grace, “No, dear, George will not but he will still have the means of Grace.”

Balfour was not initially included in Stanley Baldwin’s second government in 1924, but in 1925 he returned to the Cabinet, in place of the late Lord Curzon as Lord President of the Council until the government ended in 1929. In 1925 he visited the Holy Land.

Apart from a number of colds and occasional influenza, Balfour had good health until 1928, and remained until then a regular tennis player. Four years previously he had been the first president of the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain. At the end of 1928 most of his teeth were removed and he suffered the unremitting circulatory trouble which ended his life. Late in January 1929 Balfour was taken from Whittingehame to Fisher’s Hill, his brother Gerald’s home near Woking, Surrey. In the past he had suffered occasional phlebitis and by late 1929 he was immobilised by it. Finally, soon after receiving a visit from his friend Chaim Weizmann, Balfour died at Fisher’s Hill on 19th  March 1930. At his request a public funeral was declined and he was buried on the 22nd of  March beside members of his family at Whittingehame in a Church of Scotland service, though he also belonged to the Church of England. By special remainder, the title passed to his brother Gerald.

Balfour developed a manner known to friends as the Balfourian manner. Harold Begbie, a journalist, in a book called Mirrors of Downing Street, criticised Balfour for his manner, personality and self-obsession. Begbie disagreed with Balfour’s political views, but even his one-sided criticisms do not entirely conceal Balfour’s shyness and diffidence. The sections of the work dealing with Balfour’s personality were:

This Balfourian manner, as I understand it, has its roots in an attitude of mind—an attitude of convinced superiority which insists in the first place on complete detachment from the enthusiasms of the human race, and in the second place on keeping the vulgar world at arm’s length.

It is an attitude of mind which a critic or a cynic might be justified in assuming, for it is the attitude of one who desires rather to observe the world than to shoulder any of its burdens; but it is a posture of exceeding danger to anyone who lacks tenderness or sympathy, whatever his purpose or office may be, for it tends to breed the most dangerous of all intellectual vices, that spirit of self-satisfaction which Dostoievsky declares to be the infallible mark of an inferior mind.

To Mr. Arthur Balfour this studied attitude of aloofness has been fatal, both to his character and to his career. He has said nothing, written nothing, done nothing, which lives in the heart of his countrymen. To look back upon his record is to see a desert, and a desert with no altar and with no monument, without even one tomb at which a friend might weep. One does not say of him, “He nearly succeeded there”, or “What a tragedy that he turned from this to take up that”; one does not feel for him at any point in his career as one feels for Mr. George Wyndham or even for Lord Randolph Churchill; from its outset until now that career stretches before our eyes in a flat and uneventful plain of successful but inglorious and ineffective self-seeking.

There is one signal characteristic of the Balfourian manner which is worthy of remark. It is an assumption in general company of a most urbane, nay, even a most cordial spirit. I have heard many people declare at a public reception that he is the most gracious of men, and seen many more retire from shaking his hand with a flush of pride on their faces as though Royalty had stooped to inquire after the measles of their youngest child. Such is ever the effect upon vulgar minds of geniality in superiors: they love to be stooped to from the heights.

But this heartiness of manner is of the moment only, and for everybody; it manifests itself more personally in the circle of his intimates and is irresistible in week-end parties; but it disappears when Mr. Balfour retires into the shell of his private life and there deals with individuals, particularly with dependants. It has no more to do with his spirit than his tail-coat and his white tie. Its remarkable impression comes from its unexpectedness; its effect is the shock of surprise. In public he is ready to shake the whole world by the hand, almost to pat it on the shoulder; but in private he is careful to see that the world does not enter even the remotest of his lodge gates.

“The truth about Arthur Balfour,” said George Wyndham, “is this: he knows there’s been one ice-age, and he thinks there’s going to be another.”

Little as the general public may suspect it, the charming, gracious, and cultured Mr. Balfour is the most egotistical of men, and a man who would make almost any sacrifice to remain in office. It costs him nothing to serve under Mr. Lloyd George; it would have cost him almost his life to be out of office during a period so exciting as that of the Great War. He loves office more than anything this world can offer; neither in philosophy nor music, literature nor science, has he ever been able to find rest for his soul. It is profoundly instructive that a man with a real talent for the noblest of those pursuits which make solitude desirable and retirement an opportunity should be so restless and dissatisfied, even in old age, outside the doors of public life.

There is one signal characteristic of the Balfourian manner which is worthy of remark. It is an assumption in general company of a most urbane, nay, even a most cordial spirit. I have heard many people declare at a public reception that he is the most gracious of men, and seen many more retire from shaking his hand with a flush of pride on their faces as though Royalty had stooped to inquire after the measles of their youngest child. Such is ever the effect upon vulgar minds of geniality in superiors: they love to be stooped to from the heights.

But this heartiness of manner is of the moment only, and for everybody; it manifests itself more personally in the circle of his intimates and is irresistible in week-end parties; but it disappears when Mr. Balfour retires into the shell of his private life and there deals with individuals, particularly with dependants. It has no more to do with his spirit than his tail-coat and his white tie. Its remarkable impression comes from its unexpectedness; its effect is the shock of surprise. In public he is ready to shake the whole world by the hand, almost to pat it on the shoulder; but in private he is careful to see that the world does not enter even the remotest of his lodge gates.

“The truth about Arthur Balfour,” said George Wyndham, “is this: he knows there’s been one ice-age, and he thinks there’s going to be another.”

Little as the general public may suspect it, the charming, gracious, and cultured Mr. Balfour is the most egotistical of men, and a man who would make almost any sacrifice to remain in office. It costs him nothing to serve under Mr. Lloyd George; it would have cost him almost his life to be out of office during a period so exciting as that of the Great War. He loves office more than anything this world can offer; neither in philosophy nor music, literature nor science, has he ever been able to find rest for his soul. It is profoundly instructive that a man with a real talent for the noblest of those pursuits which make solitude desirable and retirement an opportunity should be so restless and dissatisfied, even in old age, outside the doors of public life.

Begbie, Harold (as ‘A Gentleman with a Duster’): Mirrors of Downing Street: Some political reflections, Mills and Boon (1920), p. 76–79

Churchill compared Balfour to Herbert Asquith: “The difference between Balfour and Asquith is that Arthur is wicked and moral, while Asquith is good and immoral.” Balfour said of himself, “I am more or less happy when being praised, not very comfortable when being abused, but I have moments of uneasiness when being explained.”

Balfour is thought to have formulated the basis for the evolutionary argument against naturalism, the idea that it is rational to think human cognitive facilities beliefs are not designed to perceive the truth. He was a member of the Society for Psychical Research, a society studying psychic and paranormal phenomena, and was its president from 1892–1894.

Balfour was the subject of two parody novels based on Alice in Wonderlander, Clara in Blunderland (1902) and Lost in Blunderland (1903), which appeared under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis; one of the co-authors was Harold Begbie.

The character Arthur Balfour plays a supporting, off-screen role in Upstairs, Downstairs, Promoting the family patriarch,Richard Bellamy, to the position of Civil Lord of the Admiralty.

A fictionalised version of Arthur Balfour (identified as “Mr. Balfour”) appears as British Prime Ministerin the science fiction romance The Angel of the Revolution by George Griffith, published in 1893 (when Balfour was still in opposition) but set in an imagined near future of 1903-1905.

The indecisive Balfour (identified as “Halfan Halfour”) appears in a satirical short story by Sakiin which he, and other leading politicians including Quinston, are changed into animals appropriate to their characters.

Gerald William Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour PC (9th April 1853 – 14th January 1945), known as Gerald Balfour or TR Hon G.W. Balfour until 1930, he was a senior British Conservative Politician who became a nobleman on the death of his brother in 1930, who had been the Prime Minister.

Balfour was the fourth son of James Maitland Balfour, of Whittinghame, Haddingtonshire and Lady Blanche Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury. Two Prime Ministers were immediate relations: Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, his elder brother and Lord Salisbury, his uncle. He was educated at Eton and at Trinity Collage, Cambridge, where he gained a 1st Class Honours in the Classical Tripos.

Balfour sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Leeds Central from 1885 to 1906. During this time he was a member of Commission on Labour and was private secetary to his brother, Arthur Balfour, when he was president of the local Government Board from 1885 to 1886.

He also served as Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1895 to 1900 as president of the Board of Trade from 1900 to 1905 and as president of the local Government Board in 1905. He was admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland in 1895 and to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1905.

On retiring from the House of Commons, he was chairman of the Commission on Lighthouse  Administration in 1908 and chairman of the Cambridge Committee of the Commission on Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He succeeded his brother Arthur as second Earl of Balfour in 1930, according to a special remainder in the letters patent and took a seat in the House of Lords

During his first spell at the Houses of Parliament, Balfour received an honorary LLD from Cambridge University and was a fellow of Trinity. From 1901 Balfour lived at Fisher`s Hill House, a large home which he had built by Lutyens in Hook Hearth, Woking, Surry, also living in rural hamlet by 1911 were Alfred Lyttelton (Lib.U.) Seretary of State for the Colonies (1903-1905) who married into his wider family and the Duke of Sutherland.

Lord Balfour married Lady Elizabeth “Betty” Balfour, daughter of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton in 1887. They had six children:

Lady Eleanor Balfour

Lady Ruth Balfour (d. August 1967)

Mary Edith Balfour (d 21st January 1894)

Lady Evelyn Barbara “Eve” Balfour (16th July 1898- 1990)

Robert Arthur Lytton Balfour, 3rd Earl of Balfour (31st December 1902 -28th November 1968)

Lady Kathleen Constance Blanche Balfour (1912-20th August 1996)

The Countess of Balfour died in 1942, aged 74. Lord Balfour survived her by 3 years and died in January 1945, aged 91, which time he was the last surviving member of any long-serving Prime Minister Salisbury`s cabinets. He was succeeded in the earldom by his only son Robert.

Barons of Kinross

John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron of Kinross, PC, QC, (11th July 1837 – 22nd January 1905) was a scottish lawyer and a Liberal Politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1899.

John Patrick Douglas Balfour, 3rd Baron of Kinross (1904-1976) was a Scottish historian and writer, noted for his biography of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and other works on Islamic history. He was educated at Winchester Collage and Balliol Collage, Oxford. He then became a journalist and writer, during the Second World War he served with the Royal Air Force and from 1944 to 1947 he was the First Secretary at the British Embassy at Cairo.

Balfours of Balbirnie

Robert Balfour of Balbirnie (1698-1766) was a Scottish gentleman from Fife. He was later styled later as, Robert Balfour-Ramsay after his marriage to Ann Ramsay in 1736. Robert was a son of George Balfour of Balbirnie and Angus Lumsdaine. Balfour Ramsay was also a member of Parliament for Edinburgshire, 1751 to 1754. His wife Ann was the daughter of Sir Andrew Ramsay, 4th Baronet of Whitehill, Their surviving children were;

John Balfour, 5th of Balbirnie (1739-1813) married Mary Gordon.

George Balfour, later Ramsay (1740-1806) of Whitehill.

Andrew Balfour, later Ramsey (1741-1814) of Whitehill.

Robert Balfour (1742-1807) of Balcurvie.

General James Balfour (1743-1823) of Whitehill.

Elizabeth Balfour, married Captain William Wardlaw.

William Balfour (1755-1793) of the Honourable East India Company.

Ann Balfour (ca 1757-1826).

John Balfour, 5th of Balbirnie (1739-1813) he was a Scottish gentleman from Fife, he was the son of Robert Balfour, 4th of Balbirnie, and Ann Ramsey. John married Mary Gordon, daughter of James Gordon of Ellon.

Balfour lived at Balbirnie House Fif, John Balfours children where;

General Robert Balfour (1772-1837), married to Eglantine Fordyce.

Elizabeth Balfour (d 1844), married Sir Archibald Campbell, 2nd Baronet.

Anne Balfour (ca 1775-1839) of Kingsdale.

James Balfour (ca 1776-1845) of Whittingehame, married Eleanor Maitland ( grandparents of the British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour)

Lieutenant-General Robert Balfour of Balbirnie (3rd May 1772-31st October 1837) was a son of John Balfour of Balbirnie and Mary Gordon, daughter of James Goedon of Ellon.

He was an officer in the 2nd Dragoons and the Fife Light Horse.

He married, on the 8th August 1808 to Eglantyne Katherine Fordyce d 9th Jan 1851), who was the daughter of John Fordyce of Ayton.

His Military Career;

Captain on the 9th July 1793 in the 2nd Dragoons.

Major in the Army on the 1st January 1798 and Major in the 2nd Dragoons on the 3rd April 1801.

Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army on the 25th September 1803; Lieutenant- Colonel in the 2nd Dragoons 22nd of August 1805.

Colonel in the Army on the 1st January 1812.

Major-General on the 4th June 1814.

Honorary Colonel of the Fife Light Horse in 1831 until his death in 1837.

Whilst Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Dragoons he was, for misconstruction of regulation, subjected to a Court Martial, and sentenced to be cashiered; the Prince Regent confirmed the sentence, but immediately after restored him to the functions of his commission, neither dishonorable or unworthy motives appearing in the charges preferred and established against him.

When not living at his London residence of 14 Carlton House Terrace, General Balfour spent much of his time in Fife, Scotland.

He inherited Balbirnie House in Glenrothes from his father John Balfour and it has been in the family since the 1640`s. General Balfour was heavily involved in the adaption of Balbirnie House in Glenrothes into a grand country mansion and expansion of its lands including the acquisition of the Forthar estate from Dr David Pitcairn in 1830.

The present mansion is largely unchanged from General Balfour`s works in 1815 which incorporated much of the earlier house at its north end. The architect was Richard Crichton who added the new apartments to the south of the old house and designed the two new grand neo-classical facades.

General Balfour extended the landscaped garden and moved the roads on the estate. These improvements were funded partly by increased rentals and income from coal mining but slso from the General`s share of a large inheritance from his aunt which is reputed to have funded his two brother`s new houses and landscaping at Whittinghame and Newton Don.

The General was succeeded by his son john in 1837 who continued to enlarge the estate.

General Balfour had four sons and three daughters:

Colonel John Balfour, 7th of Balbirnie (1811-1895).

Katherine Jane Balfour (1812-1864) who married in 1834 to Edward Ellice ( Scottish politician).

Captain Charles James Balfour (1814-3rd Feb 1878)

Major Robert William Balfour (1817-1854)

Eglantine Charlotte Louisa Balfour (1819-18th April 1907) who married in March 1853 to Robert Ellice, son of Eliza Courtney.

Elizabeth Anne Balfour (1820-10th August 1889) who married on the 1st November 1842 to Edward Pleydel-Bouverie.

George Gordon Balfour (1821-1901)

George Balfour (1872 – 26th September 1941) was a British Conservative Party politician and engineer. He was of Scottish parentage where he also spent part of his upbringing but was born in Portsmouth, England. He served his long parliamentary career representing a constituency in the County of London and lived much of his life in England.

George Balfour joined the Blackness Foundry in Dundee as an apprentice in 1888. He subsequently qualified as a mechanical and electrical engineer.In 1909, together with Andrew Beatty, an English accountant, he founded Balfour Beatty which was to become an international construction business.Under his leadership the company installed a new tramway system in Dunfermline in Fife.The two partners also founded Power Securities, a business established to pursue opportunities in hydro-electric power, in 1922.

From 1918 to 1941, Balfour sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hampstead, He contributed to many debates on employment issues.

Balfour died on the 26th September 1941 at which time he was still a serving MP

Balfour Beatty plc is a multinational infrastructure group with capabilities in professional services, construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index Balfour Beatty operates in over 80 countries, working for customers principally in the UK, the US, South-East Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

BB is the largest construction contractor in the UK.

Balfour Beatty was formed in 1909 with a capital of £50,000 (2012:£4,410,000) – an exceptionally large sum for the time. The two principals were George Balfour, a qualified mechanical and electrical engineer, and Andrew Beatty, an accountant, who had met while working for the London branch of the New York engineers JG White & Company. Initially the Company concentrated on tramways, the first contract being for the Fife Tramway Light and Power Company at Dunfermline; its general construction expertise was extended during World War I with, for example, army camps.

George Balfour was elected to the House of Commons in 1918 and played a large part in the debates which established the National Grid. To service this new market, George Balfour, Andrew Beatty and others formed Power Securities to finance projects and the two companies, with their common directors, worked closely together. Balfour Beatty was heavily involved in the development of Scotland’s hydro-electric power, building dams, transmission lines and power stations. Other work between the wars included the standardisation of the electricity supply in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the construction of tunnels and escalators for the London Underground. Extensive overseas work started in 1924 when Balfour Beatty took over the management of the East African Power & Lighting company; construction work included hydro-electric schemes in the Dolomites, Malaya and India; power stations in Argentina and Uruguay and the Kut Barrage on the Tigris in Iraq.

By World War II, control of the firm had passed on: Andrew Beatty had died in 1934 and George Balfour died in 1941. Construction work was now dominated by the war effort and notable projects included blocking the approaches to Scupa Flow and the building of six of the units for the Mulberry Harbour. Peace saw a resumption of Balfour Beatty’s traditional work, power stations and railway work dominating at home. Overseas, a construction company was bought in Canada in 1953 and other work included the Mto Mtwara harbour in Tanganyika and the Wadi Tharthar irrigation scheme in Iraq.

In 1969 Power Securities, which by then owned Balfour Beatty, was taken over by cable manufacturer BICC.Then in 2000 BICC, having sold its cable operations, renamed itself Balfour Beatty.

Balfour Beatty moved away from its traditional area of expertise in 1986 when it formed Balfour Beatty Homes, building on a modest scale from its office in Nottingham. It also opened offices in Paisley and Leatherhead and in 1987 bought the Derbyshire firm of David M Adams to give it an annualised production rate of 700 houses. Little more than a year before the housing market collapsed, through its parent BICC, Clarke Homes was bought for £51m, giving housing sales of over 1600 in 1988. By the mid-1990s, sales were down to only 500 a year and although no financial figures were ever published, the housing operation was believed to have suffered heavy losses. Balfour Beatty Homes was renamed Clarke Homes and then sold to Westbury in 1995.

More recently Balfour Beatty has embarked on a series of acquisitions including Mansell plc, another construction services business, for £42m in 2003, Birse plc, a UK construction & Civils contractor, for £32 m in 2006, Centex Construction, the commercial construction division of the US builder Centex, for £180m in 2007 and Cowlin Construction, a UK construction company based in Bristol also in 2007.

In 2008 the Company bought GMH Military Housing, a US-based military accommodation business, for £180mand Dean & Dyball, a leading UK regional contractor, for £45 million.

n March 2009 the company was found to be a subscriber to the Consulting Association, a firm which has now been prosecuted in the UK by the Information Commissioner for breaching the Data Protection Act by holding a secret database of construction workers details, including union membership and political affiliations.As of January 2010, individual workers started suing the company for being on the blacklist.The first of these cases however was ruled in favour of the Company.

In  the September of 2009 the Company agreed to buy Parsons Brinckerhoff, a US-based project management firm, for $626 million.In October 2010 the company bought Halsall Group, a Canadian professional services firm, for £33 million and then in November 2010 the company bought the remnant of collapsed UK construction company ROK plc for £7 million.In June 2011 it went on to buy Howard S. Wright, one of the oldest contractors on the West Coast of the United States, for £58 million as well as Fru-Con Construction, a US water and waste-water contractor, for £12 million and in January 2013 it bought Subsurface Group, a US consulting and engineering firm.

 Some of the Balfour Family moved over to Ireland

Castle Balfour is situated just off the Main Street of  Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh

Northern Ireland

George Balfour (Liberal MP)

General Sir George Balfour KCB (1809 – 12th of March 1894) was British Army officer and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1872 to 1892.

Balfour was the son of the George Balfour, of Montrose. He was educated at the Addiscombe Military Seminary and became a lieutenant in the Madras Artillery in 1825. From 1832, he served with Malacca Field Force and was Staff Officer of Artillery with the Malacca Field Force from 1832 to 1833 when it was active in the capture of Chusan, Canton, and Amoy. He was adjutant of Artillery from 1833 to 1842, and A.A.G. from 1834 to 1835, He was with the Field Force in the ceded districts, and in action of Zorapore in 1839 when he became Brigade Major in India. From 1840 to 1842 he was in China with the China Force from 1840 to 1842, He was agent for captured property in China from 1841 to 1842 and receiver of public money paid by China under the Treaty of Nanking.

He was consul at Shanghai from 1843 to 1846. He arrived in Shanghai on November the 8th, 1843, and immediately began discussions with the ranking local Chinese official, the Taotai, on the opening of foreign trade and the site of a foreign settlement. Shanghai was declared open to foreign trade on November 14th, 1843, and agreement was reached on the terms under which the foreign settlement would be established. The Chinese official position was that  land could not be sold outright to foreigners, but a compromise was reached whereby it  was allowed for land to be rented in perpetuity. Balfour first rented a house within the Shanghai town walls for use as the official British consular residence. He left the post of Shanghai consul in 1846, and was replaced by Rutherford Alcock.

In 1844, Balfour became captain and major. From 1849 to 1857 he was a member of Madras Military Board and from 1852 to 1854 he was Commissioner of Public Works in Madras.

In 1854, Balfour was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and awarded the CB. He became  colonel in 1856 and was Inspector-General of Ordnance, in Madras from 1857 to 1859, member of Military Finance Commission of India from 1859 to 1860 and president of the Finance Committee and chairman of the Military. Finance Department of India from 1860 to 1862. In 1865 he was promoted to major-general and was a member of Royal Commission on Recruiting for the Army from 1866 to 1867, and assistant to the Controller-in-Chief at the War Office from 1868 to 1871. He was awarded KCB in 1870

Balfour was elected Member of Parliament for Kincardineshire at a by-election in 1872. He held the seat until 1892.

Balfour was promoted to lieutenant general in 1874, and to general in 1877 when he was colonel-commandant of the Royal Artillery. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and J.P. for Kincardineshire.

Balfour died at the age of 84.

Balfour married in 1848, Charlotte Isabella Hume, daughter of Joseph Hume M.P

_________

250_45567140252_3726_n

Jamie Balfour Leading his men

Also President for many years of

The Royal Green Jacket Association 

Sourced from Wikipedia and You-Tube

Serjeant Patric Carroll

 Articles  Comments Off on Serjeant Patric Carroll
Jan 262014
 

This is a photograph of

Serjeant Patric Carroll (Reg Number 2079)

1st Battallion Rifle Brigade wearing his Crimea War medal.

On returning from the Crimea, Queen Victoria reviewed the 1st Battalion.

The Regiment was awarded 8 VC`s during the war, more than any other regiment.

By Ian Greenway

The history of the name von Merveldt

 Articles  Comments Off on The history of the name von Merveldt
Jan 262014
 

Maximilian, Count von Merveldt

Maximilian, Count von Merveldt (29th June 1764 – 5th July 1815), among the most famous of an illustrious old Westphalian family, entered Austrian military service, rose to the rank of General of Cavalry, served as Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor`s ambassador to Russia, and became special envoy extraordinaire to the Court of St Jame`s (Great Britain). He fought with distinction in the wars between the Habsburg and the Ottoman empires, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars.

Maximilian entered the military as a young man, and acquired his first combat experiences the Habsburg wars with the Ottoman Empire. Following his experience in the Balkans, he retreated to the cloister at Bonn, where he spent a year as a novice in the Teutonic Order. At the outbreak of war between Austria and France in 1792, he returned to military service, and proved an intrepid and enterprising cavalry field officer. His role in the Austrian victory at Neerwinden in 1793 earned him the honor of conveying the news to the Emperor in Vienna.

In the War of the Second Coalition, Maximilian served in Swadia and northern Italy and Switzerland. In subsequent wars between France and Austria, his role on the battlefield often meant the difference between defeat and victory. He was wounded and captured at the Battle of Leipzig and, as a condition of release, he agreed not to bear arms against France again. He was subsequently appointed as an envoy to Britain, where he died in 1815.

Maximilian was born on the 29th June 1764 in the ecclesiastical territory of Münster, in Westphalia. His was an old Westphalian family, raised to comital status in 1726. He joined the military service in 1782, in a dragoon regiment, and was promoted to lieutenant and first lieutenant by 1787. In the wars between Austria and the Ottorman Empire, (1787–1791), he was a Rittmeister, or captain of cavalry and wing adjutant to Field Marshal Franz Moritz, Count von Lacy. In 1790, Merveldt commanded the Volunteers Grün-Loudon and later that year, after his promotion to major, he served on the staff of Field Marsha Ernst Gideon, Baron von Laudon in Moravia.

Following the defeat of the insurrection in the Austrian Netherlands, he received permission from Field Marshal Laudon, shortly before the latter’s death, to take a one year novitiate in the Teutonic Order, at Bonn where he remained until April 1792. The outbreak of the War of the First Coalition against France required his military talents and Mervelt rejoined the Habsburg army at as adjutant to Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He led two infantry battalions in the Austrian victory at Neerwinden (on the 18th March 1793), during which his battalions repulsed a strong French column. For his role at the head of his battalions of grenadiers, which his commander considered greater than duty required, in this victory, Merveldt received the honor of carrying the message to the Emperor Francis in Vienna. There, he was promoted to lieutenant Colonel and awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on the 7th July 1794. Subsequently, he was appointed as an attaché to the staff of Frederick, Duke of York.

In the 1794 campaign, Merveldt fought at the Battle of Farmars and again at the Battleof Villers-enCauchies, 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Landrecies on the 22nd April, during which he commanded the right wing. After the Battle of Tournai ( on the 22nd May 1794), he was promoted on the field to Oberst (colonel). His failing health prevented him from continued field service and he took sick leave until early 1796. In 1796 he transferred to the 18th Chevau-legers Regiment Karaczay and fought at the Battle of Kircheib, in the Westerwald, where, despite the French superiority of numbers, the Austrians eked out a victory. At Kircheib, with two squadrons of Chevaux-legers, Merveldt saved the Austrian artillery from French capture, thus contributing to the Austrian victory. TheTagebericht (daily dispatch) of the Army of the Rhine referred to his keen sense of duty, and his ability to seize the moment, which, in this case, proved a vital element in the extraordinary success of the small Austrian force against the considerably larger French one. Afterward he was promoted to Major General. He was assigned as proprietor of the First Lancer’s Regiment, and given command of a cavalry brigade in Franz von Werneck`s Reserve of the Army of the Lower Rhine.

Merveldt was known to his contemporaries for his strength of will, presence of mind, and his self-control. Those same qualities made him attractive to his military superiors as part of the negotiation party in the cease-fire preliminaries at Leoben in 1797. He opposed Napoleon’s desire to move a general peace congress closer to Vienna, and later was a co-signator of the Peace of Campo Formio on the 17th November 1797. He brought the document to Rastatt, where the Rastatt Peace Congress convened. He stayed in Rastatt in the capacity of ambassador.

At the outbreak of the  war of the Second Coalition in March 1799, and the dissolution of Congress on  the 7th April 1799, Merveldt returned to his regiment, which by this time had crossed the Lech and Iller rivers, and was advancing into Swabia. During the campaigns of 1800, he commanded the left wing by Eckartsweiler at the Battle of Alt-Breisach on the 25th April, and on the 10th May conducted a rear-guard action to protect the Imperial army’s withdrawal. He remained with his brigade on the right bank of the Danube, where he directed a series of bold actions against the French, and then along the Iller and Lech rivers, he organized a series of well-timed thrusts designed to keep the French from pushing the retreating army. After the battle at Offenburg, he was promoted to lieutenant Field Marshal on the 4th September 1800. At the Austrian defeat in the Battle of Hohenlinden on the 3rd December, Merveldt commanded a division in the left wing. He signed the 24-hour cease-fire at Kremsmünster with Jean Victor Moreau on the 22nd December. During the cease-fire, he retreated to Pressburg.

In 1805 he was in Berlin when the hostilities between France and Austria resumed, and he returned to the Danube valley, where he fought a series of rearguard actions. He avoided being caught in the capitulation of Ulm and fell back toward Mikhail Kutuzov`s Russian army. With 6,000 soldiers in six line and ten Grez infantry battalions plus 14 squadrons of cavalry, Merveldt made for Styria, hoping to join the army of Archduke Charles. Napoleon detached  Louis Davout`s III Corps in pursuit. Slowed by heavy snow in the mountains, his “poorly-handled corps” was overtaken by the French at Gross-Ramig, also called Mariazell, in the Austrian Steirmark, on 8 November. His exhausted troops were routed by General of Brigade Etienne Heudelet de Bierre`s advanced guard of  Davout`s III Corps; half, about 2,000, were taken prisoner, and they lost four colors and 16 guns.

After the War of the Third Coalition, he acted as ambassador to St. Petersburg for over two years, with the assignment of improving military relations between the armies of the respective countries. He attempted to do this, including trying an offer to mediate between Britain and France, and was appointed Privy Councilor. During this time, he married Maria Theresia Gräfin von Dietrichstein.In 1808 he was given command of a cavalry division in Lemberg. In early 1809, Merveldt became a prominent member of the group pushing for war against France, together with such notables as Archduke Ferdinand, Archduke John, Empress Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, and  Count Heinrich von Bellegarde. In the 1809 campaign, Merveldt`s force was stationed in the Bukowina and part of Galicia, and from 1809 to mid-1813, he spent three years in  Moravia.

On 22 July 1813 he was appointed governor of the fortress of Theresienstadt and shortly after that Commanding General in Moravia and Silesia. He then became commander of II Corps; the First Division held the village of Nollendorf, in the French defeat at the battle of Kulm (now Chlumec) on the 29th and 30th August 1813.

On the 16th October, during the Battle of Leipzig, Merveldt’s forces were arrayed on the right flank of the French center, commanded by Napoleon. On his own right stood Wittgenstein’s Corps, and beyond that, johann von Klenau`s. His troops were interspersed among several wooded sections and surrounding several small villages: Dolitz, Mark-Kleeburg and Gautsch. Opposite him were the forces of Jozef Antoni Poniatowski and Pierre Augereau. He rode out to view the battlefield and to direct the disposition of his force. Near Dolitz, which lay close to the French line, he wandered into a troop of Hungarians, or so he thought, but they were actually a mixed group of Saxons and Poles, whom he mistook for Hungarians, and was captured. Most of the action, on the first day, occurred to the north, where Blucher`s Prussians repelled Michel Ney`s cavalry, but when Napoleon heard that Ney and Marmont had been forced back, he sought a cease-fire from the Allied monarchs. He called for Merveldt, and, after a meeting, Merveldt carried Napoleon’s proposal to the allied monarchs, which they refused.

As a condition of his release at Leipzig, he agreed not to participate in combat against France. Subsequent to his release, Merveldt was appointed commanding general of Moravia, and lived in Brno, where he received in January 1814 the instructions to proceed to London as an envoy extraordinaire to the Court of St. James`s, replacing Baron Wessembourg. He arrived in London in early March, and met the Prince Regent at Carlton House on the 7th March 1814, where he ceremoniously presented his ambassadorial credentials. He was well-received in Britain, and became a notable personage, invited to many social events; he told good stories about the wars and the various people he had encountered, which made him popular in social circles. His comings and goings were widely reported in the society columns: For example, on the 4th July 1814, he attended a lecture by the Abbé Secard, and was listed among the distinguished persons present. When he died in 1815, the British government proposed to bury him at Westminster Abbey. However, his widow took into account his last wishes and had the remains sent to Germany. He was buried in the crypt of the Michaelis chappel in Lembeck Castle where his grave still exists.

In 1903, in the Lößnig neighborhood of the city of Leipzig a square and a street were named after Maximilian von Merveldt, in honor of his contribution to the Battle of Leipzig. In 1950, the communist authorities of East Germany renamed Merveldt square to Rembrandt square and Merveldt street to Rembrand street.

The family coat of arms shows in blue a golden lattice, consisting of six raised and toppled rafters. On the helmet is a smaller shield with the same design, between two blue ostrich feathers, each bound with three oblique bands of gold. The helmet’s mantle is blue and gold. (The von und zu Merfeld Line bears a red grid on the golden background.)

Merveldt (also Meerveldt or Merfeld) is the name of a Westphalian noble family, which belongs to the nobility of the Middle Ages. The Herrn [Lords] von Merveldt were among the oldest families in the Munsterlans. Merfeld, the eponymous seat of the family, is now a neighborhood of the city of Dulmen in the District of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.

The first documented member of the family was in 1169, when the Ministerialis Henricus de Merevelde appeared in documents. The reliable line of descent began with 1227, the date mentioned in documents with “ministerialis beati Pauli” [Latin, “Ministrialis of St. Paul’s”], the office of Hermannus de Mervelde, Ministerial of the Prince-Bishops of Munster. Bernd and Hermann von Merveldt mentioned in documents from 1251, were Burgmannen [castle defenders] of Dulmen for the Prince-Bishops of Münster.

The grandson of the progenitor Hermann founded three lines. The first of them was derived from Johannes, the Ritter [knight] and Schenk [butler] of the Bishop of Münster and who later called himself only Schenk, and was established until 1400 in Dülmen. Hermann, the Burgmann of Stromberg, the second line, which became extinct in 1691 (based on the eponymous family seat, Merfeld). The third and still flourishing line began with Heinrich, the knight and, like his brother, Burgmann of Stromberg (later a resident at Schloss Westerwinkel). A branch of this line was later also established in Courland (now western Latvia).

Numerous members of the family remained in the service of the Prince-Bishops of Münster and were canons in the  Munster Cathedral. Later, they also appeared in the cathedral chapters of Hildesheim, Osnabruck and Paderborn. In St,Mauritz (now in the east side of Münster) and Xanten they were canons. Female members of the family performed as canonesses in Kanonissenstift (secular nunnery) Überwasser in Munster, Borghorst and the St. Boniface Frauenstift (secular nunnery) in Freckenhorst.

Bishop Heidenreich of Münster granted Marshal Heinrich von Merveldt in 1389 the manor of  Wolbeck (now in the southeastern part of Münster). There, the Herrn von Merveldt held the office of  Drosten (bailiffs) until the Secularization. The goal of an independent Imperial estate was not achieved because of the disputes within the family and of the encroachments of the epsicopal lords. With his efforts as the moderator, Hermann von Merveldt Hermann participated in the completion of the Treaty of Kranenburg ( on the 23rd October 1457) to end the “Münster Bishops Feud” (1450-1457). During the Anabaptist Rebellion (1534–1535) in Münster, the Herrn von Merveldt went to the side of the Prince-Bishop of Münster. Dietrich von Merveldt (died 1564), Drost of Wolbeck, undertook in 1532 an unsuccessful attempt to restore the order of a levy on the farmers in the city.

While the Westerwinkel Line therefore always stayed in contact with the sovereign of the Prince-Bishopric, the Merfeld Line looked in late 16th and early 17th Centuries to defend its domains against all sovereign influences. Claiming its own jurisdiction, including the place of execution and the development of a Reformed church system in Merfeld was for Adolf III von Merveldt (1546–1604) and Johann Adolf von Merveldt (1580–1619) the appropriate tools for the defense of their local domination. The religious opposition against the Prince-Bishop – typical of many families of the Westphalian nobility at this time – after the Thirty Years’ War and the inheritance of the House of Merfeld by the Herrn von Merode (1693) cost the family its importance, but the jurisdiction claimed by the House of Merfeld was kept for it until the end of the Prince-Bishopric (1803).

From the Westerwinkel Line was Dietrich Hermann von Merveldt (1598–1658) the Lord Chamberlain of the Electorate of Colagne and minister at the Imperial Diets of  Regensburg. Beginning with his son Dietrich Hermann II von Merveldt (1624–1688), all the hereditary heads of the family were (Obrist-)Hofmarschälle [(Colonel-) Court Marshals], members of the (Secret) Councils and Drosten of Wolbeck, all for the Prince-Bishops of Münster. Maximilian Friedrich von Merveldt (1764–1815), Austrian Feldmarschall-Leutnant [Lieutenant Field Marshal] and regimental commander, participated in the 1813 Battle of Leipzig and later became an  ambassador in  London.

During the 19th Century the family owned the manors of  Lembeck, Ostendorf and Hagenbeck in the District of Recklinghausen, Steinhaus in Werne, the Burg Geinegge (a castle in Bockum-Hovel) and the Schloss Westerwinkel (in Aschberg-Herbern) in the District of Ludinghausen (after 1975, District of Coesfeld), Wolbeck bei Muenster, Huxdiek and Seppenhagen in the District of Beckum (after 1975, District of Warendorf), Feckenhorst in the District of Warendorf, Empte in the District of Coesfeld and – because of the marriage into the family of the Barons Droste zu Hülshoff (most famous family member was Annette von Droste-Hulshoff) – the manor of Fuchtel in  Vechta (Lower Saxony). From 1717 to 1923 the family also had a Familienfideikommiss (a legal way to keep its lands and finances together in its single head for generations)

Dietrich Hermann von Merveldt (1624–1688), Privy Chamberlain of the Prince-Bishop of Münster and the Drost of Wolbeck, was raised on 17 February 1668 by Emperor Leopold I to the rank of Reichsfreiherr [Imperial Baron]. Goswin Hermann Otto von Merveldt (1661–1727) was, between 1721 and 1727, the Grand Proir of the  Order of St. John “in the German lands” and, in this position, also the Reichsfürst [Imperial Prince] of  Heitersheim. On the 20th December 1726 was Dietrich Burchard Reichsfreiherr von Merveldt, Councilor and Lord Chamberlain for the Elector of Cologne and the Prince-Bishop of Münster, and all his descendants were raised by Emperor Charles VI to the rank of Reichsgraf [Imperial Count] with the title of Hoch-und Wohlgeboren [“High and Well-Born”] and an upgrade for his coat-of-arms.

Furthermore, the Lords von Merveldt were awarded the diploma of the Hereditary Marshals of the District of Merveldt in the Principality of Münster by  Prussian ceremony in  Berlin on the 28th December 1846 in primogeniture (for the first-born of the either gender). The Bohemian Inkolat [the rights and privileges of the nobility] in the peerage was received by Maximilian von Merveldt, Imperial and Royal Chamberlain and Privy Councillor as well as Major General and Lord Chamberlain of Archduke Franz Karl, on 26 February 1848 to Vienna.

 

J. D. von Merveldt served within The Royal Green Jackets.

Sourced from Wikipedia

Hugh Willing

 Articles  Comments Off on Hugh Willing
Jan 252014
 

Hugh Willing

Hugh Willing was a former Brigadier in the British Army, he was born and raised in Mombasa, spending most of his childhood in East Africa, The Seychelles and West Africa. He joined the Hugh_Willing05British Army in 1971 and during his time in the Army he had postings that included Gibralter, Hong kong, Cyprus and Oman, he was defence attache in Oman for 4 years. Willing was also a instructor at The Military Academy, Sandhurst and also the Army Staff College in Camberley

Willing commanded the 1st Battalion of The Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

He is also a Swahili,  Arabic and Gurkhali speaker, he has traveled widely in the Mediterranean, Africa, Arabia and the Far East in Military and private capacities. In doing so, he as been able to cultivate his particular interests in Britain`s colonial and nautical legacies.

With extensive leadership experience on an International scale, Willing is a popular speaker on a range of issues that can be directly applicable to the civilian environment.

He now lives in East Sussex looking after his sheep and Chickens.

Sourced from Military Speakers

1236282_536795829741443_878863947_nBy Mr Hugh Willing

He likes to see things correctly displayed, and has a keen eye for detail, and is very much up on Regimental History

Why was the Memorial Changed ?

Work started during 2015 on the area in front of the RGJ memorial to stop the area from flooding.

But;

During the month of January 2016 under a shroud of secrecy, The Royal Green Jackets memorial was replaced.

The Royal Green Jackets Regimental Memorial Dedication was held on Sunday 11th May 2008

The link below is from The RGJRA link of the event

http://www.greenjackets-net.org.uk/assoc_new/regtl_history/short_report.htm

The Men where so proud on this day, photographs where taken by all after the unveiling, and spirits where high.

1917623_1019456258142062_313247005855561481_n

The Royal Green Jackets Memorial

The Memorial area was prone to flooding, as no risk assessment had been carried out it seems, but was this the real reason it was changed ?

14009953_10154429930244187_955947332_n

The 2008 Badge

As the memorial was on a slant the defect went un- noticed for years by many it seems.

When the rag was a flag, and the staff was a Pole, As a youth I would think of when they were whole.
But now I’m a man and old I might be. But my BADGE is still here for all to see.———

By Phil Pickford.

The Stone Mason who built the original Memorial was

Young Johnson

of Wiltshire

West Wiltshire Craft Centre, Storridge Rd, Westbury BA13 4HU

IMG_1562

http://www.youngjohnson.com/

The Original memorial cost 15,000 as stated by The RGJRA in The RGJRA Journal

13942612_10154429952544187_948557326_n

The 2016 Badge

When the memorial was replaced, the Lord Bramall plaque is now virtually covered by the memorial.

It looks like its been tucked under the memorial

As you can also see the base has been redone and made shorter.

Members of the public where discouraged from taking any photos as the work was being carried out we are told.

13483103_1089762827778071_4519124347024897707_o

Also the plaque of the Ox and Bucks 43rd & 52nd as has now been replaced.

IMG_6099

This was the 2008 version

This was pointed out by a fellow Rifleman to members within the RGJ over a 2 year period

IMG_1529

This is the 2015 /16 version

Lord Bramalls Speech

Given at 

The Royal Green Jackets Regimental Memorial Dedication held on Sunday 11th May 2008

What a beautiful day; even if a bit exacting for those of more advancing years and with weather more like Malaysia, Kenya or Cyprus but well done for turning up in such marvellous numbers and some of you from very long ways away. God knows what time Reveille must have gone for some of you this morning!

As one of the first Commanding Officers of the Royal Green Jackets at its inception – and still I am glad to say around today – after the end of the 41 years of the Regiment’s proud service as an active regiment of the British Army, I am so very delighted, and so I know is Avril my wife, to be here with you today, particularly to remember and to pay tribute to the 133 of our comrades – in – arms who were killed on duty or as a result of terrorist activity since World War II and whose names are inscribed individually on that very impressive Armed Forces Memorial at the foot of which we had that lovely and moving service taken by the Rev. Colin Fox and also of course to unveil a special single regiment granite memorial in proud memory of all Riflemen who served in the Royal Green Jackets between January 1966 to January 2007 – and which I will do right now.

Never can a single Regiment have acquired and sustained such a distinguished reputation in such a short time. It’s true that it started with a very fine pedigree, being itself the union in January 1966 of three very famous Regiments: The Oxfordshire and Buckingham Light Infantry (the 43rd & 52nd), the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (the 60th Rifles) and the Rifle Brigade (the 95th) – perhaps today we might say “Sharps Own” – all of whom had won great renown, in bygone days, as light troops and skirmishers, heroes in the first Battle of Ypres which probably saved the Empire and in more recent times as airborne troops, motorised and mechanised infantry, and as doughty and skilful fighters in both the desert and the jungle. We could not have had a better start.

Since that union, the Regiment has served all over the world, in every continent and theatre of operations. It has won high praise and recognition for its fighting spirit, its initiative, its ability to innovate and improvise, so essential in modern conflict and its propensity for forward thinking, both tactically and in the leadership of men.

Moreover, The Royal Green Jackets, at every level and rank, including very much our Territorial’s, have played a notable, distinctive and highly respected part in all the worldwide activities and operations in which the British Army has been so constantly engaged during the Regiment’s lifespan; and have left their mark on how the British Army has developed and carried out its duty. Throughout, the Regiment itself has been engaged in an immensely varied range of tasks, from fighting in the jungles of Borneo in South-East Asia during Indonesia’s confrontation with Malaysia; – and you will notice that I am carrying a stick called a “Penang Lawyer” – many of you will remember Penang – through West Germany and Berlin at the height of the Cold War, on the streets of Northern Ireland in those lengthy constrained yet sometimes highly dangerous and successful operations, to aid the civil power, to peacekeeping and peace enforcement in Cyprus, the Balkans and Sierra Leone and finally in the on-going hard battling in the Middle East over the last five years; to say nothing of garrison duties in Hong Kong, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. Talk about covering the waterfront!

So our gathering today, brother Riflemen, closes a historic chapter in the history of the British Army, as the proud and highly effective Royal Green Jackets merge still further, in the ever-widening grouping of Infantry to form yet another single, but this time much larger Regiment, with five Regular and two Territorial Battalions and not forgetting our Cadets, thus offering even wider opportunities and experience to all Riflemen, as they face the new challenges of the twenty-first century.

As you all know, the new Regiment, ‘The Rifles’, will, by its uniform and accoutrements, drill and military music and above all, its ethos of ‘Swift and Bold’, with strong self discipline yet a light touch be in every sense a Rifle regiment in which the legacy of the Royal Green Jackets has certainly not been lost. Indeed, at this very moment, in Chepstow, in Ballykinler (Northern Ireland), in Germany, in Bulford, in Edinburgh, Reading, Exeter and in London there is being created a new very modern regiment in which we can all have every confidence and which in future will be fully worthy of both our loyalty and our pride.

But, of course, our own Royal Green Jackets Association and some earlier associations will, most importantly, continue and with the same enthusiasm, giving plenty of opportunity for those of us growing older to keep in touch with their old friends and comrades-in-arms and go on remembering with pride and affection the old Regiments in which we served and in which we had such memorable times and experiences.

So then brother Riflemen as you march past, and I am so proud to be taking the salute. The last time there was a big do like this at Winchester, I was the ‘Right Marker’, but this time I’ve been given a more static role in deference to my age. But as you march past on this very special parade of the Royal Green Jackets Veterans, you can do so with immense pride in the past which can never be extinguished or taken away from you and at the same time with every confidence in the future and in to those to whom you will have now passed on the torch and as you can appreciate from the superb way that the two battalions of The Rifles are taking our legacy forward, when they served recently in Iraq.

So finally before asking Maj Gen Jamie Balfour to read to us those immortal lines from Laurence Binyon’s famous poem to the fallen and then after suitable Bugle Calls and the Anthem and ordering my old comrade – in – arms Maj Roy Stanger to “carry on” may I for old time sake give one final order? – Field Marshals don’t give many orders these days – to you Rifleman – not your wives of course – and say “Look to your Front” – “Royal Green Jackets”.

Thank you.

By Kind Permission of Field Marshal The Lord Bramall of Bushfield

Sourced from Google, Face Book and Other

Mike Dewar

 Articles  Comments Off on Mike Dewar
Jan 252014
 

Mike Dewar

Colonel Mike Dewar locking the gates at Peninsula Barracks, Winchester, 1986 and the last post being played by bugler Dave Seagar.

Mike Dewar was commissioned into The Rifle Brigade in 1962, He was a platoon commander in Cyprus and in the successful jungle campaign in Borneo. He was an instructor at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, He served in Berlin and Germany during the Cold War and was a Company Commander in Northern Ireland.

He served as General Nigel Bagnall`s principal operations Staff Officer in the British Corps HQ at the height of the Cold War, commanding The light Division and the 2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets and was the first Colonel Defence Studies.

He left the military in 1990 to take up an appointment as Deputy Director of the prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, where he became a familiar face on the nation`s TV screens as the leading UK commentator on The Gulf Wars, Iraq, Northern Ireland, The Bosnian Conflict and also more recently Afghanistan.

Not only was he able to draw on his military experience but also he had travelled to many of these conflict zones as part of his duties at the IISS.

Mike Dewar is an established author on Military History and contemporary military issues. His best known works include The British Army in Northern Ireland which has been required at several Staff Colleges for many years; A History of Deception in Warfare; A History of Urban Warfare; Brush Fire Wars and An Anthology of Military Quotations. Dewar also writes regularly for the national press on current defence issues. He also speaks twice a year in Dublin on the Anglo Irish peace process.

Sourced from Military Speakers

Picture from the RGJ Museum or Cafe Peninsula (Formally Falling Plates)

 Older Entries  Newer Entries