Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Royal East Kent Regiment ("The Buffs"); 3rd Regiment of Foot
Sir George Howard
(1749–1763).
Modern stained-glass window in the Buffs' Chapel (Warriors' Chapel) of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, showing the coats of arms of Queen Elizabeth I and various subsequent Colonels-in-Chief and Colonels, up to the 20th century

The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and was one of the oldest regiments in the British Army, being third in order of precedence (ranked as the 3rd Regiment of the line). The regiment provided distinguished service over a period of almost four hundred years accumulating one hundred and sixteen battle honours. In 1881, under the Childers Reforms, it was known as the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and later, on 3 June 1935, was renamed the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).

In 1961, it was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, which was later merged, on 31 December 1966, with the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) to form the Queen's Regiment. This regiment was, in turn, amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, in September 1992, to create the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires).

History

Formation to end 17th century

Buckingham, Colonel of the regiment 1673–1682 & 1684–1685

The Dutch fight for independence from

Trained Bands formed in 1572.[2] In 1586, these English and Scottish volunteer units were brought together in the Anglo-Scots Brigade, which in various formats served in the Dutch military until 1782.[3]

When the Second Anglo-Dutch War started in 1665, the Brigade's units were ordered to swear loyalty to the Stadtholder and those who disobeyed were cashiered. Using his own funds, Sir George Downing, the English ambassador to the Netherlands, raised the Holland Regiment from the starving remnants of those who refused to sign.[4] In 1665, it was known as the 4th (The Holland Maritime) Regiment and by 1668 as the 4th (The Holland) Regiment.[4]

Prince George of Denmark, the regiment's patron from 1689–1708

When the

Treaty of Ryswick.[6]

18th century

During the

facings.[8] It was also sometimes called "The Old Buffs", to distinguish it from "The Young Buffs", the 31st Foot.[4]

Apart from the 1719

Vigo expedition, the next 25 years were spent on garrison duty in England and Scotland. It returned to Flanders in 1742 during the War of the Austrian Succession, as Thomas Howard's regiment; to distinguish it from that led by Sir Charles Howard, one became the "Buffs", and the other the Green Howards.[4] It fought at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743[9] and at the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745.[10] With the outbreak of the 1745 Rising, it was sent to Scotland, taking part in the Battle of Falkirk Muir in January 1746[11] and Battle of Culloden in April 1746.[12] It returned to the Netherlands in April 1747 and saw action at the Battle of Lauffeld in July.[13]

Following the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it spent the next ten years on garrison duty in England; in 1751, it was retitled the 3rd Regiment of Foot, "The Buffs".[4] The Seven Years' War began in 1756; in autumn 1758, the regiment was posted to the West Indies, taking part in the January 1759 attacks on Martinique and Guadeloupe.[14] After returning home, it took part in the capture of Belle Île in June 1761.[15] It then moved to Portugal and fought at the Battle of Valencia de Alcántara in August 1762[16] before returning to England in spring 1771.[17]

French Revolutionary Wars

Buffs at the Battle of Albuhera in May 1811 by William Barnes Wollen

The regiment was sent to the West Indies in December 1795 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars.[18] It took part in the capture of Grenada in March 1796[19] and of Saint Vincent in June 1796[20] and the capture of Trinidad in February 1797[21] and of various other islands in March 1801[22] before returning home in autumn 1802.[23]

Napoleonic Wars

The regiment embarked for Portugal in August 1808 for service in the Peninsular War.[24] The grenadier company of the regiment served under Sir John Moore at the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 before being evacuated to England later that month.[25] The rest of the regiment remained on the Peninsula and fought at the Battle of Talavera in July 1809[26] and the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810 before falling back to the Lines of Torres Vedras.[27] It then saw action at Battle of Albuera in May 1811[28] and the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813.[29] It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813,[30] the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813[31] and the Battle of the Nive in December 1813[32] as well as the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814.[33] It became part of the Army of Occupation of France in 1816 before returning home in autumn 1818.[34]

The Victorian era

The regiment had a tour of service from 1821 until 1827 in the British

siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during the Crimean War.[4]

In 1858, the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Malta. Lieutenant John Cotter, Adjutant of the 2nd Buffs,[36] would shout "Steady, The Buffs!", a phrase which has entered common parlance.[4] The 1st Battalion saw action in the Taku Forts action during the Second Opium War as well as in the Perak War[37] while the 2nd Battalion saw action in the Anglo-Zulu War.[38]

The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the

rifle volunteer corps were redesignated as the 1st Volunteer Battalion and 2nd (The Weald of Kent) Volunteer Battalion of the Buffs.[4]

Memorial to Captain Naunton Henry Vertue of the 2nd Battalion who died at Spion Kop in January 1900

The 1st Battalion saw action in the

Poona.[41]

The 2nd Battalion, 3rd Battalion, 1st Volunteer (Militia) Battalion and 2nd Volunteer (Weald of Kent) Battalion all saw action during the

11th Infantry Brigade under Major General Edward Woodgate at the Battle of Spion Kop where he was mortally wounded in January 1900.[43]

Following the end of the war in South Africa in June 1902, 540 officers and men of the 2nd battalion returned to the United Kingdom on the SS St. Andrew leaving Cape Town in early October, and the battalion was subsequently stationed at Dover.[44]

In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the

Special Reserve;[45] the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions.[46][47]

First World War

See also: List of battalions of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) § First World War

For service in the First World War, ten additional battalions were raised.[48]

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion was based in

85th Brigade in the 28th Division; meanwhile the 3rd Battalion remained in Canterbury as a training unit.[48]

Territorial Force

The 1/4th Battalion sailed for India in October 1914 while the 1/5th (Weald of Kent) Battalion sailed for India in October 1914 and then transferred to Mesopotamia in November 1915.[48] The 2/4th Battalion, the 2/5th (Weald of Kent) Battalion, the 3/4th Battalion and the 3/5th (Weald of Kent) Battalion all remained in England throughout the war while the 10th (Royal East Kent and West Kent Yeomanry) Battalion was formed in Egypt in February 1917 and then transferred to France as part of the 230th Brigade in the 74th Division.[48]

New Armies

Monument to The Buffs in Canterbury
Memorial to Private A. Webb who died on 8 February 1919

The 6th (Service) Battalion, 7th (Service) Battalion, 8th (Service) Battalion and 9th (Reserve) Battalion were all formed for active service in France.[48] Corporal William Richard Cotter was awarded the VC whilst serving with the 6th (Service) Battalion.[50]

After the end of the First World War, a small number of men from several battalions saw action during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.[37]

Second World War

See also: List of battalions of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) § Second World War

The 1st Battalion served in many different brigades and divisions, mainly with

56th (London) Infantry Division. With the 56th Division, the battalion fought in Operation Grapeshot, the final offensive in Italy which effectively ended the campaign in Italy.[51]

The 2nd Battalion was sent to France in 1940 with the

Burma Campaign.[52]

The 4th Battalion Buffs was a 1st Line

Dodecanese Islands in late 1943. The brigade and other Allied forces, mainly Italian, attempted to hold the island from the Germans, but without success. This was due mainly to German air superiority as the Allies had very few planes to cover them. The 234th Brigade Commander, Robert Tilney, ordered the surrender after many days of resistance and hard fighting.[53]

The 5th Battalion was reformed in 1939 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 4th Battalion when the Territorial Army was doubled in size. Initially, the 5th Buffs was assigned to the

fighting in Italy and served there until the 1945 Offensive.[57]

The Buffs also raised many more battalions during the war, mainly for home defence or as training units. None, save the 7th and 11th Battalions, saw active service overseas. The 7th and 11th Battalions were raised in 1940 and were converted to the

141st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps and the 89th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1941 due to the shortage of armoured troops and artillery in the British Army.[58][59]

Post-War

Badge of the Buffs as shown on the grave of Private P.M. Godden, who died in 1947, at Stanley Military Cemetery, Hong Kong

When the Territorial Army was reformed in 1947 the 4th and 5th Buffs were merged into a single battalion. In 1956 410 (Kent) Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, was converted to the infantry role and became 5th Buffs.[60][61][62][63][64]

In 1961, the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, which was later merged, on 31 December 1966, with the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) to form the Queen's Regiment. This, in turn, was amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, in September 1992, to create the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires).[65]

Regimental museum

The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) still has some exhibits at

Beaney House, although most of the collection was subsumed into the National Army Museum in 2000.[66][67]

Colonels-in-Chief

The Colonels-in-Chief were as follows:[4]

Colonels

The Colonels were as follows:[4]

The Holland Regiment
Prince George of Denmark's Regiment (1689–1708)
Named after the current Colonel or The Buffs (1708–1751)
3rd Regiment of Foot, or The Buffs – (1751)
3rd (the East Kent) Regiment of Foot – (1782)
The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) – (1881)
The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) – (1935)

Notable soldiers

Freedom of the City of London

The regiment was awarded the

Freedom of the City of London, giving them the right to march through the city.[4]

Battle honours

The honours in bold were worn on the Colours.[47]

  • Earlier Wars
    • Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Guadeloupe 1759, Douro, Talavera, Albuhera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula, Punniar, Sevastopol, Taku Forts, South Africa 1879, Chitral, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1900–02
  • First World War:
    • Aisne 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Hooge 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Avre, Amiens, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, St. Quentin Canal, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Struma, Doiran 1918, Macedonia 1915–18, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917–18, Aden, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1915–18
  • Second World War:
    • Defence of Escaut, St. Omer-La Bassée, Withdrawal to Seine, North-West Europe 1940, Sidi Suleiman, Alem Hamza, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, El Agheila, Advance on Tripoli, Tebaga Gap, El Hamma, Akarit, Djebel Azzag 1943, Robaa Valley, Djebel Bech Chekaoui, Heidous, Medjez Plain, Longstop Hill 1943, North Africa 1941–43, Centuripe, Monte Rivoglia, Sicily 1943, Termoli, Trigno, Sangro, Anzio, Cassino I, Liri Valley, Aquino, Rome, Trasimene Line, Coriano, Monte Spaduro, Senio, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943–45, Leros, Middle East 1943, Malta 1940–42, Shweli, Myitson, Burma 1945

Victoria Cross

The following members of the regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross:

Uniform and insignia

Soldier of the 3rd Foot in 1742

In 1667 the Holland Regiment is recorded as wearing "red jackets lined with yellow". Subsequently, Nathan Brook's Army List of 1684 referred to "Coated red, lined with a flesh colour". This marked the beginning of the historic association of the regiment with buff facings (a dull-yellow colour). A notice in the

London Gazette of 21 January 1685 describing the clothing of three deserters from what was still the Holland Regiment, referred for the first time to the colour buff:"a new Red Coat lin'd with a Buff colour'd lining, surtout Sleeves, cross Pockets with three scallops, large plain pewter Buttons, Breeches of the same colour as the Coat lining".[84]

An illustration of the Colonel's colour in 1707 shows a dragon on a buff background, following the award of this distinctive symbol to the regiment as "a reward for its gallant conduct on all occasions"; according to the Army historian

grenadiers, the colours and the drums.[85]

In 1881, the reorganisation of most infantry regiments on a territorial basis under the Childers Reforms led to the newly renamed "The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)" losing its buff facings in favour of the white collars and cuffs intended to distinguish all non-Royal English and Welsh regiments.[86] The dragon survived as part of the (now metal) headdress badge, although replaced on collars by the white horse of Kent.[87] The horse had been the insignia of the East Kent Militia, which formed the 3rd battalion of the new regiment. Both changes were unpopular within the regiment, and in 1887 the Buffs were authorised to convert the white facings on their scarlet tunics to buff – at the regiment's expense and using a pipeclay mixture developed by an officer of the 2nd Battalion.[88] In 1890 buff was officially restored as the regimental colour on flags, tunics and mess jackets.[89] On 23 May 1894 approval was given for the dragon to be resumed as the collar badge.[90]

For the remainder of its existence as a separate entity, both dragon badge and buff facings remained as primary distinctions of the regiment. This was the case even on the simplified dark blue "No. 1 Dress" worn by most of the British Army as full dress after World War II, although the buff colour was here reduced to piping edging the shoulder straps.[91]

Alliances

  •  
    The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
    (1914–1935), (1935–1961)

See also

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-1-84832-562-3
    .
  2. ^ Beckett, p. 52
  3. ISBN 978-9004120860
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)" (PDF). Kent Fallen. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  5. S2CID 159934682
    .
  6. ^ Cannon, pp. 130–137
  7. ^ Cannon, p. 164
  8. ^ Cannon, p. 157
  9. ^ Cannon, p. 169
  10. ^ Cannon, p. 171
  11. ^ Cannon, p. 173
  12. ^ Cannon, p. 178
  13. ^ Cannon, p. 180
  14. ^ Cannon, p. 183
  15. ^ Cannon, p. 184
  16. ^ Cannon, p. 186
  17. ^ Cannon, p. 189
  18. ^ Cannon, p. 209
  19. ^ Cannon, p. 210
  20. ^ Cannon, p. 213
  21. ^ Cannon, p. 214
  22. ^ Cannon, p. 215
  23. ^ Cannon, p. 216
  24. ^ Cannon, p. 220
  25. ^ Cannon, p. 221
  26. ^ Cannon, p. 224
  27. ^ Cannon, p. 226
  28. ^ Cannon, p. 228
  29. ^ Cannon, p. 232
  30. ^ Cannon, p. 233
  31. ^ Cannon, p. 234
  32. ^ Cannon, p. 235
  33. ^ Cannon, p. 236
  34. ^ Cannon, p. 240
  35. ISSN 0048-8933
    .
  36. ^ Hart, Lieut.-Col. H.T. (1858) The New Army List and Militia List, No. LXXIX, 1st July 1858. London: John Murray. p. 76
  37. ^ a b "Medals of the Buffs". Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  38. ^ "The Battle of Gingindlovu". Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  39. ^ "Training Depots 1873–1881". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016. The depot was the 45th Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 3rd Regimental District depot thereafter
  40. ^ "No. 24992". The London Gazette. 1 July 1881. pp. 3300–3301.
  41. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence – The Army in India". The Times. No. 36896. London. 11 October 1902. p. 12.
  42. ^ "Canterbury Boer War Memorial Transcription" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  43. ^ "Roll of Honour". Clifton College. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  44. ^ "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning Home". The Times. No. 36893. London. 8 October 1902. p. 8.
  45. ^ "Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 31 March 1908. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  46. ^ These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th Battalion at Northampton Street in Dover (since demolished) and the 5th Battalion at Newtown Road in Ashford (since demolished) (both Territorial Force)
  47. ^ a b "Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  48. ^ a b c d e "Buffs (East Kent Regiment)". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  49. ^ Moody, p. 9-10
  50. ^ "No. 29527". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 March 1916. p. 3410.
  51. ^ "56th (London) Infantry Division" (PDF). British Military History. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  52. ^ "British 36th Division". Burma Star Association. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  53. ^ Gander, Leonard Marsland (1945). "Long Road to Leros" (PDF). Macdonald & Co. p. 174. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  54. ^ "Orders of battle". Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  55. ^ "Orders of battle". Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  56. ^ Perrett pp. 160–70
  57. ^ "The Road To Rome: Italian Campaign 1943–1944". Flames of War. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  58. ^ Frederick, pp. 203–5
  59. ^ Joslen, p. 372
  60. ^ Buffs at Regiments.org.
  61. ^ 1st KAVC at Regiments.org.
  62. ^ 372–413 RA Rgts at British Army 1945 on.
  63. ^ Buffs at British Army 1945 on.
  64. ISBN 0-9508205-2-0
    , p. 110.
  65. ^ "History of the Regiment". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  66. ^ "Canterbury City Council Online". Unique national museum link for Canterbury. CCC. 4 September 2000. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  67. ^ "Army Museum; Ogilby Trust". Buffs, Royal East Kent Regiment Museum Collection. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  68. ^ "No. 28307". The London Gazette. 12 November 1909. p. 8351.
  69. ^ United Service Gazette London, 25 April 1840, Issue No. 382, page 3, col. 1.
  70. ^ The Morning Post p.3, 15 June 1872
  71. ^ "The Latham Centrepiece". National Army Museum. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  72. ^ "Sir Francis Doyle: Moyse, the Private of the Buffs". The Heretical Press. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  73. ^ "Sergeant Frederick Milne (Rorkes Drift)". The British Empire. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  74. ^ a b c "Entry for MOODY, Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks, in Who Was Who (A & C Black, Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016)".
  75. ^ Churchill, Winston L. Spencer (1898). The Story of the Malakand Field Force: an episode of frontier war, CHAPTER XII: AT INAYAT KILA. London, UK: Longmans, Green.
  76. ^ "Obituary of Colonel Richard S. H. Moody, Windsor Paper, 13 March 1930".
  77. ^ "Bibliography for Introduction to Military History (Part1)". University of Kent. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  78. ^ "The Historical Records of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), 3rd Regiment of Foot, 1914–1919, Naval and Military Press".
  79. ^ "Royal Collection Trust: R. S. H. Moody, Historical Records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) […]".
  80. ISBN 978-0850527902
    (pp. 27–31)
  81. ^ "Private Percy James Fellows". Wartime Memories. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  82. ^ "Bernard George Ellis". The Comprehensive Guide to the Victoria & George Cross. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  83. ^ "Obituary: William Douglas-Home". The Independent. 29 September 1992. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  84. ^ "No. 2106". The London Gazette. 21 January 1685. p. 2.
  85. ^ a b c Edwards, T J (1953). Standards, Guidons and Colours of the Commonwealth Forces. Aldershot: Gale & Polden. pp. 192, 195, 204.
  86. ^ G.O. 41/1881 1 May 1881 amended by G.O.70/1881 1 July 1881. "X. The facings, and the Officers lace will be the same for all regiments belonging to the same Country (Royal and Rifle Regiments excepted), and will as follows: English Regiments: Facings – White, Pattern of Lace – Rose"
  87. ISBN 1-84342-512-2
    .
  88. ISBN 978-0-85045-064-4
    .
  89. Queen's Regulations
    and the Army List as buff.
  90. ISBN 978-1-897632-69-7
    .
  91. ^ W.Y. Carman, page 160 "British Military Uniforms from Contemporary Pictures", The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, 1957

Sources

External links

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