The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment was a
line infantry
Line infantry was the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the late 17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Turenne and Monte ...
regiment of the
British Army which existed from 1959 to 1966. In 1966, it was amalgamated with the
Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, the
Royal Sussex Regiment and the
Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Ref ...
to form the
Queen's Regiment, which later merged with the
Royal Hampshire Regiment
The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The reg ...
in September 1992 to form the
.
History
As a consequence of defence cuts in the late 1950s, the
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...
and the
East Surrey Regiment
The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...
were amalgamated on 14 October 1959 to form the 1st Battalion, Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment.
In 1961 the 1st Queen's Surreys was sent to
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
.
[ In 1962 the regiment joined the Hong Kong garrison, remaining there on a 2-year posting before heading for Münster, West Germany in 1964 as part of the British Army of the Rhine.][
In 1966 the regiment's short existence came to an end when it, along with the three other remaining regiments of the Home Counties Brigade, was amalgamated to form the Queen's Regiment, one of the new 'large' regiments that were formed in the 1960s.
]
Territorials
When the regiment was formed, the Territorial Army battalions of the merging regiments continued to use their former titles. However, in 1961, a reduction in the size of the TA lead to the formation of 3rd and 4th Queen's Surreys:
*3rd Battalion (TA) was formed of units affiliated to the Queen’s Royal Regiment: the 5th and 6th battalions and the 565th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (the successor to 4th Battalion). Its headquarters were in Guildford.[
The two territorial battalions were disbanded in 1967, with their successor units in the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) being "A" Company (Queen's Surreys) of the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, Queen's Regiment and the 6th (Territorial) Battalion, Queen's Regiment (Queen's Surreys).]
Regimental museum
The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment archives were put in storage when Regimental Headquarters and Museum in the Keep at Kingston upon Thames closed. Colonel JW Sewell reached agreement with the National Trust to re-establish the regiment's museum at Clandon Park House, West Clandon. The regiment's archives and library are located at the Surrey History Centre in Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
.
The ''Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum'' opened in 1981 with exhibits including uniforms, medals, weapons, regalia, photographs and memorabilia. The museum was upgraded in 2001. In 2011, with part funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund further redevelopment took place and, in July that year, the museum merged with those of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Queen’s Regiment to become ''The Surrey Infantry Museum''. In April 2015 Clandon Park House caught fire as a result of an electrical fault in the basement. The Surrey Infantry Museum was lost in the fire as it was located in the basement and remains closed as of 2020 with the remnants of the collection held primarily at Surrey History Centre.
Regimental Colonels
The Colonels of the Regiment were:[
*1959–1964: Maj-Gen. ]John Francis Metcalfe
Major General John Francis Metcalfe, (30 June 1908 – 11 June 1975) was a British Army officer who served in the Second World War and later became General Officer Commanding Aldershot District.
Military career
Educated at Radley College and ...
, CB, CBE
*1964–1966: Maj-Gen. Francis James Claude Piggott, CB, CBE, DSO ''(to Queen's Regiment as Deputy Colonel)''
Alliances
The regiment's alliances included:[
* The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC), The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) -- Canada (1959–1966)
* South Alberta Light Horse—Canada (1959–1966)
* 2nd Battalion (Australia), 2nd Infantry Battalion (The City of Newcastle Regiment) -- Australia (1959–60)
* Royal New South Wales Regiment—Australia (1960–1966)
* The Northern Rhodesia Regiment (1959–1964)
]
Freedoms
* 1964: Battersea.
References
External links
*
Surrey Infantry Museum
{{PWRR
Infantry regiments of the British Army
Military units and formations established in 1959
Military units and formations disestablished in 1966
Military units and formations in Surrey