Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment

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Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
Royal West Kent Regiment (Queen's Own)
Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Officer's helmet Plate of the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 1902–1914.
Active1881–1961
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
RoleLine infantry
Size1-2 Regular battalions

1-2 Militia battalions
2-4

Volunteer
battalions

Up to 12 Hostilities-only battalions
Garrison/HQInvicta Park Barracks, Maidstone, Kent
Nickname(s)The Blind Half Hundred, The Celestials, The Devils Royals, The Dirty Half Hundred
Motto(s) Invicta (Invincible), Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt (Whither Duty and Glory Lead)

The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), by the amalgamation of the 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot and the 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot. In January 1921, the regiment was renamed the Royal West Kent Regiment (Queen's Own) and, in April of the same year, was again renamed, this time as the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

After distinguished service in the Second Boer War, along with both the First and the Second World Wars, on 1 March 1961, the regiment was amalgamated with the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, which was destined to be short-lived. On 31 December 1966, the Queen's Own Buffs was merged with the other regiments of the Home Counties Brigade—the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment—to form the Queen's Regiment, which was in turn amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, on 9 September 1992, to form the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires). Throughout its existence, the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was popularly and operationally known as the Royal West Kents.

History

Early years

When the regiment was formed,

Buffs (East Kent Regiment). The dividing line that separated the two regimental areas was east of the River Medway. The regiment's recruitment area covered both the towns and rural areas of West Kent and a number of south-east London suburbs that were later included in the County of London.[1]

The Childers reforms also affiliated Militia and Volunteer battalions with their local county regiments, giving the Royal West Kents the following organisation:[2][3]

Regulars

  • 1st Battalion – former 50th Foot
  • 2nd Battalion – former 97th Foot

Militia

Volunteers

1881–1914

The 1st Battalion fought at the second battle at

Ceylon (together with the 2nd battalion)[4] and Malta.[5]

In 1899, at least twenty members of the regiment raped an elderly Burmese woman in Rangoon, who subsequently died. The matter was initially covered up by military authorities, but when the viceroy, Lord Curzon, upon learning of the affair, dismissed many of the men involved and punished the regiment by sending it to Aden for two years without any leave.[6]

The 2nd Battalion was deployed to

Ceylon,[9] then served in Hong Kong, Singapore, Peshawar and Multan before the outbreak of the First World War.[5]

Between 1881 and 1913, the regiment lost 219 men: 22 killed in action or died from wounding, 12 by accident, and 185 from disease. A memorial for those who died in service exists in All Saints Church, Maidstone, which is located next to the regiment's barracks.[10]

By the time the

Home Counties Division.[2][3][11][12] The regiment now had one Reserve and three Territorial battalions.[13][2]

First World War

Ze'ev Jabotinsky who served in Platoon 16 of the 20th Battalion of the London Regiment Between 1916 and 1917
Headstone of a private, 4 November 1917.

During the First World War, over 60,000 men served with the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Three VCs were awarded. However, 6,866 officers and other ranks lost their lives, with many thousands more wounded.[14]

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion, which was a

Italian Front, the 1st Battalion was stationed on the Western Front for the duration of the war.[15][18]

The 2nd Battalion was shipped from Multan to

15th Indian Division), and were transferred to 17th Indian Division in August 1917. The 2nd Battalion remained in Mesopotamia for the duration of the war.[15][18]

Special Reserve

On mobilisation the

Thames and Medway Garrison.[15][19][18]

Territorial Force

The 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions were both part of the

Gallipoli Campaign in Autumn 1915 and then, having been evacuated, fought in the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917.[17] The 3/4th Battalion landed at Le Havre in June 1917 and served as a Pioneer battalion on the Western Front.[15][18]

New Armies

Troops of the 10th (Service) Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment manning a Lewis machine gun in a front line trench running through a cemetery in the Ypres Salient, Belgium, 29 April 1918.

Several of the Service (Hostilities-only) battalions of the

Italian Front. At the Battle of Loos in September 1915, the 8th (Service) Battalion, raised the previous September, lost all but one of its officers, and 550 men.[20]

War memorial

The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Cenotaph in Brenchley Gardens, Maidstone.

A war memorial (the

Major General Sir Edmund Leach, colonel of the regiment, and dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury.[21]

Inter-war period

At the end of the war, the 1st Battalion was transferred back to India, where it fought (along with the Territorial 1/4th Battalion) in the

Northwest Frontier in 1920. It spent the next decade in India and returned home to the United Kingdom in 1937. The 2nd Battalion returned to India from Mesopotamia in 1919, and to the United Kingdom in 1921, briefly becoming part of the British Army of the Rhine. It was stationed at various garrisons in the United Kingdom until 1937, when it moved to Palestine to help with the suppression of the Arab revolt. In 1939, it was moved to Malta.[22]

The

Territorial Army as the 20th London Regiment (The Queen's Own). In 1935, the 20th Londons was selected for conversion to the searchlight role as 34th (The Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Anti-Aircraft Battalion of the Royal Engineers, later 34th (The Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Searchlight Regiment of the Royal Artillery.[23][24][25] Despite transfer to the RE, the battalion continued to wear its Kentish White Horse cap badge and 20th Londons buttons.[23][26]

Second World War

Regular Army

Men of the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment wade ashore from landing craft during combined operations training in Scotland, 17 November 1942.

The 1st Battalion was part of the

German Army, where they helped breach the Trasimene Line, took part in the battles for the Gothic Line.[27] In December 1944, the battalion was transferred to Greece to help maintain order after the German withdrawal and the subsequent break out of the Greek Civil War.[27]

The 2nd Battalion was part of the garrison of

Harz Mountains, where they were forced to work in support of the German war effort. Others were transported by cattle train from Greece through the Balkans, to Stalag IV-B in Mühlburg, the largest prisoner of war camp in Germany. They were liberated by the advancing Russian Army on 23 April 1945.[28]

The battalion was reconstituted in 1944 by amalgamating the few remaining survivors (less than 100 officers and men) with the 7th Battalion and redesignating it as the new 2nd Battalion.[27] The 7th Battalion had been a training and draft finding formation assigned to the 211th Infantry Brigade, which was part of the 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division. In July 1944, the new 2nd Battalion was assigned to the 184th Infantry Brigade attached to the 61st Division, with which it remained for the rest of the war on home defence duties. In August 1945, the battalion – as well as the division – was preparing to be sent to the Far East, but the move was cancelled when Imperial Japan surrendered ending the war.[29]

Territorial Army

The 4th Battalion was a

John Harman of the 4th Battalion was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the first and only to be awarded to the regiment during the Second World War.[31]

The 5th Battalion of the regiment, recruiting from

Moro River Campaign and later the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Gothic Line and the final offensive.[30]

Men of the 5th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in an olive grove, Italy, 16 December 1943.

The 6th and 7th Battalions were both part of the

capture Longstop Hill in April 1943, and later fought in the Allied invasion of Sicily from July to August 1943. The 6th Battalion was serving with the 78th Division throughout the war.[30] Shortly Afterwards, the 6th Battalion, commanded by a future politician for the Conservative Party, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Bryan, landed in Italy on 24 September 1943.[27] Like the 5th Battalion, the 6th Royal West Kents was engaged in combat throughout most of the Italian Campaign, seeing action in the Moro River Campaign, the Battle of Monte Cassino, the fighting around the Gothic Line, and the final offensive in Italy in April 1945, followed shortly after by Germany's surrender and the European war over.[27]

3-inch mortar
on Monastery Hill, Monte Cassino, Italy, 26 March 1944.

After leaving the 36th Brigade, the 7th Battalion was reassigned to the

Dodecanese Campaign.[32] From 23 July until the end of the war the new 2nd Battalion was assigned to the 184th Brigade of the 61st Division.[27]

By the end of 1944, the 21st Army Group fighting on the Western Front was suffering from a severe shortage of manpower, particularly among the infantry who had all suffered heavy casualties by this time.[33] At the same time, the Luftwaffe was so short of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted. In January 1945, the War Office began to reorganise surplus Anti-aircraft regiments in the United Kingdom into infantry battalions, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties in North West Europe, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service.[34][35] The 34th was one of the units selected for conversion to the infantry role, becoming 633rd (Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery and joined the 308th Infantry Brigade.[23][36][37]

Hostilities-only

The 8th (Home Defence) Battalion was raised in 1939, presumably from the National Defence Companies and would have consisted of men with previous military experience, but who were too old or unfit for active duties, along with younger soldiers. In 1940, the younger soldiers of the battalion were split to help form the 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion. In 1941, the battalion was redesignated the 30th Battalion and was disbanded in 1943.[2]

The 9th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was created in June 1940, consisting mainly of large numbers of

162nd Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, but retained its Royal West Kent Regiment cap badge on the black beret of the Royal Armoured Corps as did all infantry units converted in this way.[38] However, the regiment was disbanded in 1942,[2] without seeing active service and having only seen home service.[30]

The

10th Battalion and, on 8 November, became assigned to the 221st Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), alongside the 11th Gloucestershire Regiment and 7th King's Shropshire Light Infantry, both of which were also former holding battalions. The battalion was transferred to the Royal Artillery and converted, in February 1942, into the 119th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, and served in Home Forces until September 1942, when it joined the 79th Armoured Division. However, it was transferred to the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division in May 1943 and remained with the division for the rest of the war, serving in the Battle of Normandy in the Battle for Caen, Operation Market Garden and Operation Plunder.[39]

The 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion was raised in 1940 from the younger soldiers of the 8th (Home Defence) Battalion and also from volunteers around the age of 18 or 19 who had volunteered for service in the British Army and, therefore, were not yet old enough to be conscripted, with the age being 20 at that time. The battalion remained in the United Kingdom for its existence, mainly on home defence and anti-invasion duties, or guarding airfields for the Royal Air Force. However, the battalion was disbanded in 1943 as the British government lowered the age of conscription for the British Armed Forces from 20 to 18.[40]

Post-war

After the end of the Second World War and with Indian independence in 1948, all infantry regiments in the British Army were reduced to only a single regular battalion. and, as a result, the 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1948 (nominally being amalgamated with the 1st Battalion).[27]

When the Territorial Army was reconstituted in 1947, 633 Infantry Regiment reformed at Blackheath as 569 (The Queen's Own) Searchlight Regiment. In March 1949 it was redesignated 569 (The Queen's Own) (Mixed) Light Anti-Aircraft/Searchlight Regiment, reflecting a partially changed role and the inclusion of members of the Women's Royal Army Corps (hence the designation 'Mixed').[11][23][41] The regiment still wore its 20th Londons cap badge, together with RA collar badges. About 1951 its personnel adopted a supplementary shoulder title of 'THE QUEEN'S OWN' in grey on black beneath the RA shoulder title and above the AA Command arm badge.[23] AA Command was disbanded in March 1955, and as part of the reduction the regiment was merged into 265 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, becoming 'Q Battery (The Queens Own)', based at Lewisham. Further reductions in 1961 saw the whole regiment become 'Q (London) Battery' at Grove Park, perpetuating the history of four separate London battalions and regiments, and the Queen's Own lineage was discontinued.[11][23][41][42]

Corpses and severed head of MNLA guerrillas killed by soldiers of the West Kent regiment during the Malayan Emergency. Decapitating corpses was a common practice by British troops in Malaya

Counterinsurgencies

From 1951 to 1954, the sole remaining Regular Battalion fought against pro-independence guerrillas belonging to the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) during the Malayan Emergency.[27] During their time in Malaya, the West Kents fought and killed numerous MNLA guerrillas, many of which they decapitated. Later in 2001, former soldiers of the regiment admitted that this was a common practice among British units in Malaya, and that it caused a public outcry after public knowledge.[43]

Later they took part in the

National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) during the Cyprus Emergency.[27]

In 1959, it returned to Britain for the last time, being amalgamated in 1961 with the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment.[44]

Regimental museum

Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery in Maidstone.[45]

In popular culture

The

Home Guard platoon in the BBC series Dad's Army wore the cap badge of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.[46]

Battle honours

The battle honours were as follows:[2]

  • Egypt 1882, Nile 1884–85, South Africa 1900–02
  • The Great War (18 battalions): Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée, Messines 1914 '17, Ypres 1914 '15 '17 '18, Hill 60, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917, Oppy, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Avre, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Hazebrouck, Kemmel, Amiens, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Italy 1917–18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Egypt 1915–16, Gaza, El Mughar, Jerusalem, Jericho, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917–18, Defence of Kut al Amara, Sharqat, Mesopotamia 1915–18
  • Afghanistan 1919
  • The Second World War: Defence of Escaut, Forêt de Nieppe, North-West Europe 1940, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Djebel Abiod, Djebel Azzag 1942, Oued Zarga, Djebel Ang, Medjez Plain, Longstop Hill 1943, Si Abdallah, North Africa 1942–43, Centuripe, Monte Rivoglia, Sicily 1943, Termoli, San Salvo, Sangro, Romagnoli, Impossible Bridge, Villa Grande, Cassino, Castle Hill, Liri Valley, Piedimonte Hill, Trasimene Line, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Monte Scalari, Casa fortis, Rimini Line, Savio Bridgehead, Monte Pianoereno, Monte Spaduro, Senio, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943–45, Greece 1944–45, Leros, Malta 1940–42, North Arakan, Razabil, Mayu Tunnels, Defence of Kohima, Taungtha, Sittang 1945, Burma 1943–45

Uniforms

As the 97th Foot the regiment wore sky-blue

Order of Saint Patrick decoration and led to the "Celestials" nickname. The 50th Foot (the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment) had black facings until 1831 and subsequently dark blue. Officers wore silver braid and other distinctions until gold was introduced in 1830. The khaki service dress adopted in 1902, and battle dress from 1938, were both of the universal pattern.[47]

Colonels-in-Chief

Colonels-in-Chief of the regiment were:[48]

  • 1935–1947: Col. HRH Prince George, Duke of Kent, KG, KT, GCMG, GCVO
  • 1947–?1961: HRH
    Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
    , CI, GCVO, GBE

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were:[48]

The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) (1881)
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (1921)

Alliances

 New Zealand – 1st (Canterbury) Regiment (1913–1921)[49]

Notes

  1. ^ Chaplin 1959, p. ix
  2. ^ a b c d e f "The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment [UK]". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b Westlake, pp. 114–122.
  4. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36936. London. 27 November 1902. p. 7.
  5. ^ a b Pateman, p. 4
  6. ^ Gilmour, David (1994). Curzon: Imperial Statesman.
  7. ^ "The War – the eight division". The Times. No. 36081. London. 5 March 1900. p. 10.
  8. ^ "The War – Embarcation of Troops". The Times. No. 36092. London. 17 March 1900. p. 9.
  9. ^ "The Army in South Africa – The War office and reservist". The Times. No. 36920. London. 8 November 1902. p. 10.
  10. ^ Chaplin 1959, p. vii
  11. ^ a b c "20th London Regiment (The Queen's Own) [UK]". Archived from the original on 26 December 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  12. ^ Becke, pp. 49–54.
  13. ^ These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve) at Maidtone, with the 4th Battalion at Bank Street in Tonbridge, the 5th Battalion at East Street in Bromley and the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion also at Bank Street in Tonbridge (all Territorial Force)
  14. ^ "Regimental History". Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  16. C.T. Atkinson
    , The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment – 1914–1919 (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1924).
  17. ^ a b "Battalions of The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)". Maidstone Museum. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  18. ^ a b c d e James, p. 90.
  19. ^ Frederick, pp. 206–209.
  20. ^ The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (50th and 97th) Living History Group: A Brief History of the Regiment in the Great War Archived July 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Historic England. "The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Cenotaph (1086395)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  22. ^ Pateman, p. 9
  23. ^ a b c d e f Litchfield, p. 171.
  24. ^ 1 AA Division 1936–38 at British Military History
  25. ^ "RA 1939–45 34 SL Rgt". Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  26. ^ Regimental Badges.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment". The Queen's Own Buffs. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  28. ^ "George Elsden" (PDF). Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  29. ^ "61st Infantry Division" (PDF). British Military History. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  30. ^ a b c d "Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) – Regiment History, War & Military Records & Archives". Forces War Records. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  31. ^ "Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment". Victoria Cross. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  32. ^ "2nd Bn, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment: Service". Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  33. ^ Ellis, pp. 141–142.
  34. ^ Ellis, pp. 369, 380.
  35. ^ "RA 1939-45 Infantry Regts Index". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  36. ^ "RA 1939–45 633 Infantry Rgt". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  37. ^ Joslen, p. 404.
  38. ^ George Forty, "British Army Handbook 1939–1945", Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1998, p. 51.
  39. ^ "RA 1939–45 119 LAA". Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  40. ^ "The Officers of the 70th Young Soldiers Battalion, DLI, October 1941". Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  41. ^ a b "British Army units from 1945 on". Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  42. ^ "106 Regiment, RA (V) [UK]". Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  43. ^ Walker, Adrian; Harper, Ron; Riches, Paul (2001). A County Regiment: 1st Battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Malaya 1951–1954. Brockley Press. p. 176.
  44. ^ Army Order 91/1960
  45. ^ "Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum". Maidstine Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  46. ^ Pateman, p. 12
  47. ^ "Blouse, battledress, 1937 pattern". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  48. ^ a b "The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  49. ^ "Defence Forces of New Zealand". Appendix to the Journal of the House of Representatives. 1913. p. 13.

References

External links

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