The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, formed in the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1968, the four regiments of the Light Infantry Brigade (the KSLI,

Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry (SCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in October 1959 by the merger of the Somerset Light Infantry and the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and was itself merged with ...

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

and

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and t ...

) amalgamated to form The Light Infantry, with the 1st KSLI being redesignated as the 3rd Battalion of the new regiment.

History

Formation

The King's Light Infantry (Shropshire Regiment) was formed on 1 July 1881 as the county regiment of

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

as part of the

. It was renamed as The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) on 10 March 1882. The regiment was an amalgamation of the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot and the 85th (King's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot, which became the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions. The 1881 reforms also redesignated the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

and

rifle volunteers The Rifle Volunteers was a regiment of the British Territorial Army. In 2007, it was re-designated as 6th Battalion, The Rifles. History The ''Rifle Volunteers'' were formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of the 6th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Ligh ...

units within the regimental district as battalions of the regiment. Accordingly, the Shropshire Militia and Royal Herefordshire Militia became the 3rd and 4th (Militia) Battalions respectively, and the 1st and 2nd Shropshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions. The 1st Herefordshire (Herefordshire and Radnorshire) Rifle Volunteer Corps was also affiliated as a volunteer battalion, without change of title. The 1st battalion of the KSLI was stationed in Egypt from 1882, and served with distinction in the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

. The battalion transferred to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

where it was from 1883 to 1891, but was back in the Eastern Sudan serving in the

Soudan Expedition The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

1886–87. From 1891 the battalion was in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and three years later it was moved to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, serving there until early 1903. The last posting in India was at

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. The 2nd battalion was stationed in Ireland from 1886 to 1894, and in late 1899 embarked for South Africa as part of the reinforcements for the

. Following the end of the war in South Africa in 1902, the battalion went to India, where it was stationed at

Ranikhet Ranikhet (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ) is a hill station and cantonment town, nearby Almora, Almora Town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the home for the Military Hospital, Kumaon Regiment (KRC) and Naga Regiment and ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. In 1908, as part of the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

, the two militia battalions were merged to form the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and the 1st and 2nd VBs were merged to form the 4th Battalion

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

at Longden Coleham in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

. At the same time, the Herefordshire RVC became independent as the

Herefordshire Regiment The Herefordshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1861 to 1967. The regiment had no lineal connection with the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. History Formation The 1st Administrative Battali ...

(TF).

First World War

Amphipolis skulls 1916 British Shropshire Light Infantry

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion landed at

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

as part of the 16th Brigade in 6th Division in September 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 2nd Battalion landed at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

as part of the 80th Brigade in the 27th Division in December 1914 also for service on the Western Front.

Territorial Force

The 1/4th Battalion served in India before landing at Le Havre as part of the 159th Brigade in the 53rd (Welsh) Division in July 1917 for service on the Western Front. It made an important counter-attack against the Germans at Bligny in June 1918 during the Spring Offensive for which it was awarded the French

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. The 10th (Shropshire & Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion landed at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

as part of the 231st Brigade in the

74th (Yeomanry) Division The 74th (Yeomanry) Division was a Territorial Force infantry division formed in Palestine in early 1917 from three dismounted yeomanry brigades. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, mostly as part of XX Corps. ...

in May 1918 also for service on the Western Front.

New Armies

The 5th (Service) Battalion landed at

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

as part of the 42nd Brigade in the 14th (Light) Division in May 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-Sur-Mer as part of the 60th Brigade in the 20th (Light) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 76th Brigade in the 25th Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 8th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the 66th Brigade in the 22nd Division in September 1915 but sailed to

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

in November 1915. It was disbanded there on 1 December 1918 and its personnel transferred to the 2nd Battalion.

Between the wars

On 7 September 1919, during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

following the war in Europe, the KSLI suffered the British Army's first casualties at the hands of the IRA when a detachment from a unit stationed at

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dái ...

was ambushed on a church parade by an IRA unit under the command of Liam Lynch; one soldier was killed, four wounded and the rest disarmed by the motor-borne raiders. After the failure of a local coroner's inquest to return a murder verdict on the dead man, the next day 200 soldiers attacked businesses belonging to members of the inquest jury in an unofficial reprisal. In 1921, the regiment was renamed as The King's Shropshire Light Infantry. After its Irish posting, the Second Battalion was moved away in December 1922 to

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, south o ...

. A further journey followed to

Minden Barracks Minden Barracks was a military barracks located in the south-eastern town of Gelugor in Northeast Penang Island District, Penang, Malaysia. It was operational from 1939 to 1971 and the site now houses the main campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia. ...

in Cologne in 1924 as part of the garrison of the demilitarised Rhineland, and across the river in January 1926 to

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, where its band played the regular round of paid civilian engagements as well as appearing at both the 1924 and 1925 Empire Exhibitions at Wembley. Bandmaster Burnell was the last to conduct the National Anthem before the withdrawal of British troops from the area in November 1927. The Battalion returned to

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Second World War

The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B11295

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion would serve with the 3rd Infantry Brigade, part of 1st Infantry Division for the entire war. Corporal Thomas Priday was killed by a land mine near

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

on 9 December 1939 when the 1st Battalion was based near the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...

as part of the original British Expeditionary Force that was sent to France at the outbreak of war. The battalion fought in the

Battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk (french: Bataille de Dunkerque, link=no) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on ...

, the

Tunisia Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the World War II, Second World War, between Axis powers, Axis and Allies of World War II, Allied ...

and the Italian Campaign including the

Battle of Anzio The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The op ...

. The 2nd Battalion began the war in Jamaica, with a company detached to the

Bermuda Garrison The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison evolved fr ...

. The battalion would eventually join the 185th Infantry Brigade, which included the 2nd Battalion,

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

and the 1st Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

. The brigade was originally assigned to the

79th Armoured Division The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy ...

, but was then transferred to the 3rd British Infantry Division in April 1943, when the division was preparing to invade Sicily, until it was replaced by the

1st Canadian Infantry Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

. The battalion took part in the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

landings of

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, where they failed to capture the D-Day objective of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,21st Panzer Division. The 2nd Battalion fought in the

Normandy Campaign Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

and the rest of the

North West Europe Campaign The North West Europe campaign was a campaign by the British Commonwealth armed forces in North West Europe, including its skies and adjoining waters during World War II. The term Western Front has also sometimes been used informally. The United S ...

with the

British Second Army The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...

. In March 1945,

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

James Stokes James Stokes VC (6 February 1915 – 1 March 1945) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Details ...

, a Scotsman, of the 2nd Battalion was posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

Territorial Army

The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B11289

The 4th Battalion was a 1st Line Territorial Army (TA) unit assigned to the 159th Infantry Brigade, part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. However, on 17 May 1942, the 4th KSLI, along with the brigade, were transferred to become the

motorised infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which ...

element of the 11th "Black Bull" Armoured Division. They spent many months training in preparation for Operation Overlord and the 4th KSLI, like the 2nd Battalion, also served with distinction in the North West Europe Campaign. In October 1944, Sergeant George Harold Eardley of the 4th Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross for his part in knocking out multiple enemy machine guns. The 5th Battalion was a 2nd Line TA duplicate of the 4th Battalion formed in 1939 on the doubling of the Territorial Army as, by this time, another European conflict seemed inevitable. The battalion was assigned to the 114th Infantry Brigade of the

38th (Welsh) Infantry Division The 38th (Welsh) Division (initially the 43rd Division, later the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division and then the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division) of the British Army was active during both the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wa ...

, a 2nd Line duplicate of the 53rd (Welsh) Division which the 4th Battalion was originally assigned. The battalion remained within the United Kingdom on home defence duties. In 1944, the battalion was transferred to the 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division and later the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division. With these two formations, the battalion served as a training unit for both the KSLI and the

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalio ...

, eventually sending over 100 officers and 4,000 other ranks to the front-line as trained replacements.

Hostilities-only

A hostilities-only unit, the 6th Battalion was raised in June 1940 and assigned to the 204th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), later part of

Lincolnshire County Division The Lincolnshire County Division was a short-lived formation of the British Army, formed in the Second World War. The headquarters were formed on 24 February 1941, becoming operational on 27 March. It ceased to function on 25 November and was di ...

. The 6th Battalion was converted into 181st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in March 1942. At the time, there was a shortage of insignia, so the troops were ordered to cut off the 'KING'S' and 'L.I.' from the ends of their cloth shoulder titles, leaving 'SHROPSHIRE', which led to the regiment's nickname 'the Shropshire Gunners'. This regiment served with

15th (Scottish) Infantry Division The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised on 2 September 1939, the day before war was declared, as part of the Territorial Army (TA) and served in ...

, wearing Scottish Tam o' Shanter caps and

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

badges, but still with a regimental badge of a gold light infantry bugle horn embroidered on a green background. The Shropshire Gunners supported 15th (Scottish) throughout the

from Normandy to Germany, being the first field artillery regiment across both the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

. The 7th and 8th Battalions were, like the 6th Battalion, raised in 1940. The 7th Battalion was converted to the

99th Anti-Tank Regiment The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...

in November 1942, but was disbanded in December 1943. The 8th (

Home Defence A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

) Battalion was raised specifically for home defence duties until it became a training unit until 1943 when it was disbanded.

Postwar

In 1948, the KSLI was reduced to one regular battalion and became part of the Light Infantry Brigade. In 1968, the Brigade's four regiments (the KSLI,

and

) were amalgamated to form The Light Infantry, with the 1st KSLI being redesignated as the 3rd Battalion of the new regiment.

Regimental museum

The KSLI was based at Copthorne Barracks in Shrewsbury. Its regimental museum has been located in

Shrewsbury Castle Shrewsbury Castle is a red sandstone castle in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It stands on a hill in the neck of the meander of the River Severn on which the town originally developed. The castle, directly above Shrewsbury railway station, is a ...

since 1985 and combines the collections of the 53rd, the 85th, the KSLI to 1968, the local Militia, Rifle Volunteers and Territorials, as well as those of other county regiments - the

Shropshire Yeomanry The Shropshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1795, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an artillery regiment in the Second World War. It ...

and the Shropshire Artillery. The museum was attacked by the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

in 1992 and extensive damage to the collection and to some of the Castle resulted: it re-opened in 1995.

Battle honours

As well as inheriting the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s of the 53rd and 85th Foot, the KSLI bore the following honours on their

colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

: *''Early wars'' **Egypt 1882, Suakin 1885, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899-1902 *''Ten selected honours for the First World War:'' **Armentieres, 1914, Ypres 1915, '17, Frezenberg, Somme 1916, '18, Arras, 1917, '18, Cambrai, 1917, '18, Bligny, Epehy, Doiran, 1917, '18, Jerusalem *''Ten selected honours for the Second World War:'' **Dunkirk, 1940, Normandy Landing, Antwerp, Venraij, Hochwald, Bremen, North-West Europe 1940, '44-'45, Tunis, Anzio, Italy, 1943-5 *''Later wars'' **Korea, 1951-2

Colonels

The following served as Colonel of the regiment: * General Sir Charles Trollope, KCB (1st Bn 27 December 1868) * General

Sir Henry de Bathe, 4th Baronet General Sir Henry Percival de Bathe, 4th Baronet, KCB (19 June 1823 – 5 January 1907) was a British Army officer who achieved high office in the 1870s. Early life Bathe was born in Valletta, Malta in 1823, the son of Sir William Plunkett de Ba ...

KCB (2nd Bn 25 April 1880) * Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Edmond Knox KCB (6 January 1907) * Major-General Raymond Northland Revell Reade, CB (19 January 1921) * General Sir Charles John Cecil Grant, KCB, KCVO, DSO (16 February 1931) * Major-General John Malcolm Lawrence Grover, CB, MC (1 January 1947) * Lieutenant-General Sir Ernest Edward Down, KBE, CB (5 May 1955) * Major-General William Reginald Cox, CB, DSO (5 November 1957) * General Sir Geoffrey Randolph Dixon Musson, GCB, CBE, DSO (5 November 1963)

Notable soldiers

* Private Arthur "Nick" Carter served with the regiment from 1901 to 1951. He actively served in the

(1899-1902) and

(1914-1918). When he retired, he was the oldest serving member of the British Army. He earned ten Good Conduct stripes and the

Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is a service medal awarded to personnel in various branches of the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the territories that are or were at some point a part of the British Empire or Commonwealth of Nations. ...

with two clasps for 48 years of good service, the only soldier in British Army history to do so.

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

* Sergeant George Harold Eardley, 4th Battalion, Second World War * Private

Charles Irwin Charles Irwin, VC (1824 – 8 April 1873), was born in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, and was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British ...

, 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot,

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

* Sergeant

, 2nd Battalion, Second World War * Private Harold Edward Whitfield, 10th (

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

) Battalion, Great War

Notes

References

* * * N.B. Leslie, ''The Succession of Colonels of the British Army from 1660 to the Present Day'', Society for Army Historical Research Special Publication No 11, 1974. * Don Neal, ''Guns and Bugles: The Story of the 6th Bn KSLI – 181st Field Regiment RA 1940–1946'', Studley: Brewin, 2001, . * Arthur Swinson, ''A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army'', London, 1972. * Ray Westlake, ''Tracing the Rifle Volunteers'', Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, .

External links

King's Shropshire Light Infantry

KSLI at Shropshire Regimental Museum

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090322060614/http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html The Royal Artillery 1939–45 {{Authority control The Light Infantry Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations in Shropshire Military units and formations in Shrewsbury British light infantry Light Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Korean War Regiments of the British Army in World War II Regiments of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations in Bermuda in World War II