Cheshire Regiment

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

22nd Regiment of Foot
22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot
Cheshire Regiment
Cap badge of the Cheshire Regiment
Active1689–2007
Allegiance Kingdom of England (to 1707)

 Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800)

 
Charles, Prince of Wales
Colonel of
the Regiment		Brigadier A.R.D. Sharpe
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash

The Cheshire Regiment was a

rifle volunteers of Cheshire
. The title 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment continued to be used within the regiment.

On 1 September 2007, the Cheshire Regiment was merged with the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot) and the Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) to form a new large regiment, the Mercian Regiment, becoming the 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment.

History

Early wars

Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, founder of the regiment
Soldier of 22nd regiment, 1742

Following the 1688 Glorious Revolution and the exile of James II, Henry Howard, Duke of Norfolk, raised a regiment at Chester on behalf of the new regime.[1]

The experience of the 1638-1652 Wars of the Three Kingdoms meant many considered standing armies a danger to individual liberties and a threat to society itself.[2] Until the mid-18th century, regiments were considered the property of their Colonel, changed names when transferred and were disbanded as soon as possible.[3]

In September 1689, Sir Henry Belasyse became Colonel and as Belasyse's Regiment of Foot, the unit went to Ireland as part of an Anglo-Dutch force commanded by Frederick Schomberg. When inspected at Dundalk in October 1689, it was reported as having '...hardly any good officers and an entire absence of good order...but Belasyse expected to work reforms.'[4]

During the 1689-1691

Nine Years War, fighting at the Battle of Landen in 1693 and during the 1695 Allied siege of Namur.[6]

After the 1697

Treaty of Ryswick, the Tory majority in Parliament was determined to reduce costs and by 1699, the English military was less than 7,000 men.[7] However, England, Ireland and Scotland were then separate entities with their own Parliaments and funding; Belasyse's Regiment of Foot avoided disbandment by being transferred onto the Irish military establishment.[8]

On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, the regiment was posted to Jamaica; this was a notoriously unhealthy location and Sir Henry Belasyse transferred his Colonelcy to William Selwyn. The regiment spent the next twelve years in the West Indies; soon after arrival in April 1702, Selwyn died and was replaced by Thomas Handasyd, both as Colonel and Governor of Jamaica.[9] Thomas returned to England and was succeeded as Colonel by his son Roger Handasyd in 1712, a position he retained until 1730.[10]

In 1726, the regiment was posted to Menorca, where it remained for the next 22 years,[11] although a detachment was present at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743, during the War of the Austrian Succession.[12]

By 1751, the regiment had become the 22nd Regiment of Foot.

three pronged attack against Montréal which capitulated in September 1760.[15]

The regiment received two battle honours for taking part in the capture of

British expedition against Cuba during 1762.[16]

American Revolutionary War

The regiment was sent to

Boston just before the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he was killed in action.[17] The regiment later evacuated from Boston to Halifax and then took part in the New York and New Jersey campaign of 1776. The Battalion Companies participated in the Battle of Rhode Island in August 1778[18] and then returned to New York City in 1779; the bulk of the regiment remained there until the end of the War.[19]

Although the County designation existed unofficially as early as 1772, the regiment was retitled the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot in 1782.[19]

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

The regiment deployed to the West Indies in September 1793, where it took part in expeditions against Martinique, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe, and Saint-Domingue.[20] In January 1800 the regiment was posted to South Africa,[21] before moving to India. There it suffered heavy losses during the assault on Bhurtpore in 1805.[22] In 1810, the regiment took part in the occupation of Mauritius.[23]

The Victorian era

The regiment took part in the

Battle of Meeanee in February 1843, the Battle of Hyderabad in March 1843 and the conquest of Sindh in summer 1843 during further Indian service.[24]

The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the

Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.[25] Under the reforms the regiment became The Cheshire Regiment on 1 July 1881.[26] The reforms added the following units: 1st Royal Cheshire Light Infantry Militia, 2nd Royal Cheshire Militia, 1st Cheshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, 2nd (Earl of Chester's) Cheshire RVC, 3rd Cheshire RVC, 4th Cheshire (Cheshire and Derbyshire) RVC, and the 5th Cheshire RVC. Its recruiting area was confirmed as being the County of Cheshire.[27]

Memorial in Chester Cathedral to the men of the Cheshire Regiment who died in South Africa

Both battalions of the regiment served in Burma between 1887 and 1891, while the 2nd Battalion saw active service in

Aldershot.[28] The 3rd (Militia) battalion was also embodied for active duty in South Africa, with 450 men reported as returning home after the end of the war in September 1902.[29]

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

Special Reserve;[30] the regiment now had one Reserve and four Territorial battalions.[31][10]

First World War

See also:
List of Battalions of the Cheshire Regiment § First World War
A British trench near the Albert-Bapaume road at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The men are from A Company, 11th (Service) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment.
Cheshire Regiment postcard from the First World War.

Regular Army

The 1st battalion landed at

Battle of Hill 60 also in April 1915. In 1917 they fought at the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele in July 1917. It then took part in the Battle of the Lys in April 1918 and the Battles of the Hindenburg Line and the Final Advance in Picardy later in the year.[33]

The 2nd battalion, which was recalled from India in December 1914, landed at Le Havre as part of the 84th Brigade in the 28th Division in January 1915 for service on the Western Front; it moved to Egypt in October 1915 and then on to Salonika.[32]

Territorial Force

The 1/4th Battalion landed in

159th Brigade in the 53rd (Welsh) Division in August 1915; after being evacuated to Egypt in December 1915 the battalion landed in France in May 1918 for service on the Western Front.[32] The 1/5th (Earl of Chester's) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 14th Brigade in the 5th Division in February 1915 for service on the Western Front.[32] The 1/6th Battalion landed in France as GHQ Troops and saw considerable action on the Western Front under a number of different formations.[32] The 1/7th Battalion landed in France as part of the 15th Brigade in the 5th Division in November 1914 for service on the Western Front.[32] The Second Line (2/4th, 2/5th, 2/6th and 2/7th) and Third Line (Reserve) (3/4th, 3/5th, 3/6th and 3/7th) TF battalions did not go overseas, but remained as home defence and training units.[32]

New Armies

The 8th (Service) Battalion landed in Gallipoli as part of the 40th Brigade in the 13th (Western) Division in June 1915; after evacuation to Egypt in January 1916 it moved to Mesopotamia in February 1916.[32] The 9th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 58th Brigade in the 19th (Western) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front.[32] The 10th (Service) Battalion and the 11th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the 75th Brigade in the 25th Division in September 1915 for service on the Western Front.[32] The 12th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 66th Brigade in the 22nd Division in September 1915 for service on the Western Front but moved to Salonika in November 1915.[32] The 13th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the 74th Brigade in the 25th Division in September 1915 for service on the Western Front.[32] The 15th (Service) Battalion (1st Birkenhead) and the 16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Birkenhead) (both 'Bantam battalions') landed at Le Havre as part of the 105th Brigade in the 35th Division in January 1916 for service on the Western Front.[32]

Second World War

See also:
List of Battalions of the Cheshire Regiment § Second World War
Men of the 7th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, 5th Infantry Division's machine gun battalion, in a captured German communications trench during the offensive at Anzio, Italy, 22 May 1944.
Vickers machine gun of 'B' Company of the 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, near Audrieu, France, 13 June 1944.

During the

North Africa before transferring to the 56th (London) Infantry Division. The 5th Battalion remained within the United Kingdom for the duration of the war, providing machine gun support for the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division, the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, and the 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division.[34]

Post-war

The First and Second World War memorial to the Cheshire Regiment, Chester Cathedral

After the War, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were amalgamated and became a depot battalion in 1948.[35] The regiment was deployed to Cyprus and to Egypt in 1951 and to Malaya in 1957.[35] It was posted to Abercorn Barracks in Ballykinler in 1960 and to Buller Barracks in Münster in 1962.[35] While in Munster the regiment was deployed to Cyprus under UN command for six months from October 1964 to April 1965.[35] The regiment moved to Netheravon in Wiltshire for six months in 1966 and then went to Warminster as Demonstration Battalion.[35] The regiment moved to Weeton Barracks in 1968; during the latter part of 1968 the regiment was deployed to Bahrain for nine months, and was then sent to Derry in Northern Ireland at the start of the Troubles in 1970.[35] In December 1970, the regiment was posted to Berlin for two years. The regiment returned to Weeton barracks in 1972 but undertook further tours in the Province throughout the 1970s.[35]

The regiment moved to Elizabeth Barracks in

Colonel Commandant[36] and in 1979 the regiment moved to Tidworth.[35] The regiment became the resident regiment at Shackleton Barracks in Ballykelly in 1980 and in 1982; eight soldiers from the Cheshires were killed in the Droppin Well bombing.[37] The regiment then spent two years, from 1984 to 1986, in Hong Kong.[35] Between 1986 and 1988, the regiment was posted to Caterham Barracks as a public duties battalion and in 1988 it moved to Dale Barracks in Chester.[35]

The regiment was posted to St Barbara's Barracks at

Operation Telic 4) in 2004 before being sent back to Abercorn Barracks in 2005.[35]

Amalgamation

The Cheshire Regiment was one of five line infantry regiments never to have been amalgamated in its history. It shared this claim with The Royal Scots, The Green Howards, The Royal Welch Fusiliers and The King's Own Scottish Borderers. In 2004, as a part of the reorganisation of the infantry, it was announced that the Cheshire Regiment would be amalgamated with the Staffordshire Regiment and the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment to form the new Mercian Regiment. In August 2007, the regiment became the 1st Battalion, the Mercian Regiment.[38]

Regimental museum

The Cheshire Military Museum is based at Chester Castle.[39]

Alliances

Alliances include:[10]

Battle honours

The regiment was awarded the following battle honours.[40]

  • Louisburg, Martinique 1762, Havannah, Meeanee, Hyderabad, Scinde, South Africa 1900–02
  • The Great War (38 battalions): Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, 18, Aisne 1914, 18, La Bassee 1914, Armentieres 1914, Ypres 1914 '15 '17 '18, Nonne Bosschen, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozieres, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917 '18, Oppy, Messines 1917 '18, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosieres, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Soissonais-Ourcq, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Courtrai, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Italy 1917–18, Struma, Doiran 1917 '18, Macedonia 1915–18, Suvla, Sari Bair, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1915–17, Gaza, El Mughar, Jerusalem, Jericho, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917–18, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Bagdad, Mesopotamia 1916–18
  • The Second World War: Dyle, Withdrawal to Escaut,
    St Omer-La Bassée
    , Wormhoudt, Cassel, Dunkirk 1940, Normandy Landing, Mont Pincon, St. Pierre La Vielle, Gheel, Nederrijn, Aam, Aller, North-West Europe 1940, '44–45, Sidi Barrani, Capture of Tobruk, Gazala, Mersa Matruh, Defence of Alamein Line, Deir el Shein, El Alamein, Mareth, Wadi Zeuss East, Wadi Zigzaou, Akarit, Wadi Akarit East, Enfidaville, North Africa 1940–43, Landing in Sicily, Primosole Bridge, Simeto Bridgehead, Sicily 1943, Sangro, Salerno, Santa Lucia, Battipaglia, Volturno Crossing, Monte Maro, Teano, Monte Camino, Garigliano Crossing, Minturno, Damiano, Anzio, Rome, Gothic Line, Coriano, Gemmano Ridge, Savignano, Senio Floodbank, Rimini Line, Ceriano Ridge, Valli di Comacchio, Italy 1943–45, Malta 1941–42
  • 4th Battalion: South Africa 1901–02
  • 5th, 6th Battalions: South Africa 1900–02

Victoria Crosses

Victoria Crosses awarded to men of the regiment were:

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the regiment were:[10]

The 22nd Regiment of Foot

The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment

The Cheshire Regiment

  • 1886–1888: Gen. Frederick Darley George, CB
  • 1888–1894: Gen. Sir William Montagu Scott McMurdo, GCB
  • 1894–1909: Gen. David Anderson
  • 1909–1911: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles Tucker, GCB, GCVO
  • 1911–1914: Maj-Gen. William Henry Ralston, CB
  • 1914–1928: Maj-Gen. Sir Edward Ritchie Coryton Graham, KCB, KCMG
  • 1928–1930: Lt-Gen. Sir Warren Hastings Anderson, KCB
  • 1930–1947: Col. Arthur Crookenden, CBE, DSO
  • 1947–1950: Brig. Geoffrey Parker Harding, CBE, DSO, MC
  • 1950–1955: Lt-Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival, CB, DSO, OBE, MC, DL
  • 1955–1962: Maj-Gen. Thomas Brodie, CB, CBE, DS0
  • 1962–1968: Gen. Sir
    Charles Henry Pepys Harington
    , GCB, CBE, DSO, MC
  • 1968–1971: Lt-Gen. Sir Napier Crookenden, KCB, DSO, OBE
  • 1971–1978: Maj-Gen. Peter Lawrence de Carteret Martin, CBE
  • 1978–1985: Brig. Michael Donald Keen Dauncey, DSO, DL
  • 1985–1992: Brig. William Keith Lloyd Prosser, CBE, MC
  • 1992–1999: Brig. Alfred James MacGregor Percival, OBE
  • 1999–2006: Maj-Gen. Keith Skempton, CBE
  • 2006–2007: Col. Andrew Richard Darwen Sharpe, OBE

The Cheshires in literature

A night-encounter between new recruits to the Cheshires on their way to the Somme and a new Brigade of the

West Kents, going the same way, was the subject of a 1935 poem by F. L. Lucas, 'Morituri - August 1915, on the road from Morlancourt', which ends:[43]

A whisper came – "The Cheshires". Unseen on our leaf-hung track,
Their gay mirth mocked our caution, till the stillness flooded back
And deep in the sodden woodland we crept to our bivouack.
But still when grave heads are shaken and sombre seems the day,
Beyond the years I hear it – faint, phantom, far away –
That lilt of the Cheshires laughing, down through the dark to Bray.

See also

References

  1. ^ Cannon, p. 1
  2. ISBN 0719025524
    .
  3. ISBN 0-19-280311-5
    .
  4. ^ Dalton, Charles (1896). English army lists and commission registers, 1661-1714 Volume III. London: Eyre & Spottiswood. p. 110.
  5. ISBN 1296561828
    .
  6. ISBN 0719089964
    .
  7. ISBN 0300090242
    .
  8. ^ Hayton, D.; Cruickshanks, E.; Handly, S. "Belasyse, Sir Henry (c.1648-1717), of Potto, Yorks. and Brancepeth Castle, co. Durham". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  9. ISBN 1296561828
    .
  10. ^ a b c d "The Cheshire Regiment". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  11. ^ Cannon, p. 6
  12. ^ a b c "The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment". Cheshire Military Museum. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  13. ^ Cannon, p. 7
  14. ^ Cannon, p. 8
  15. ^ a b Cannon, p. 9
  16. ^ Cannon, p. 10
  17. ^ a b Cannon, p. 12
  18. ^ Cannon, p. 14
  19. ^ a b Cannon, p. 15
  20. ^ Cannon, p. 17
  21. ^ Cannon, p. 19
  22. ^ Cannon, p. 21
  23. ^ Cannon, p. 23
  24. ^ Cannon, p. 32
  25. ^ "Training Depots 1873–1881". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016. The depot was the 18th Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 22nd Regimental District depot thereafter
  26. ^ "No. 24992". The London Gazette. 1 July 1881. pp. 3300–3301.
  27. ^ "The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment". Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  28. ^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning Home". The Times. No. 36893. London. 8 October 1902. p. 8.
  29. ^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning Home". The Times. No. 36874. London. 16 September 1902. p. 6.
  30. ^ "Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 31 March 1908. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  31. ^ These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th Battalion at Grange Road West in Birkenhead, the 5th Battalion at Volunteer Street in Chester, the 6th Battalion at the Stockport Armoury and the 7th Battalion at Bridge Street in Macclesfield (all Territorial Force).
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Cheshire Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  33. ^ "1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment". Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  34. ^ Joslen, pp. 65, 87, 103
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "The Cheshire Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  36. ^ "Appointment of Mike Dauncey to Colonel Commandant". Paradata. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  37. ^ "INLA kill 11 soldiers, six civilians at Droppin' Well". BBC. 6 December 1982. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  38. ^ "In detail: army restructuring plans". BBC News. 16 December 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  39. ^ Cheshire Military Museum, Army Museums Ogilby Trust, archived from the original on 17 June 2011, retrieved 18 February 2011
  40. ^ "The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment". Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  41. ^ "No. 30372". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 November 1917. p. 11568.
  42. ^ "No. 29802". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 October 1916. p. 10395.
  43. ^ Lucas, F. L., Poems, 1935 (Cambridge, 1935), p.91

Sources

  • Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press.
    ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1
    .

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cheshire Regiment.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cheshire_Regiment&oldid=1218790496"