The Kensington Regiment (Princess Louise's) is a unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, which originated in the Volunteer Rifle Corps' movement of the 1850s. In 1908 it became a battalion of the

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). Th ...

in the

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 in ...

. It was an infantry regiment from 1908 to 1940, a heavy fire support unit from 1940 to 1945, and has been a unit of the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

since 1945.

History

Origins

The origins of the Kensington Regiment dated from 1859 with the formation of the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a Social movement, popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increa ...

, part of a 'volunteer revival' as a result of a perceived French military threat, which had grown under the leadership of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

. A number of Volunteer Rifle Corps were formed in West London. These included the 2nd (South) Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps (VRC) formed under the patronage of the

Viscount Ranelagh Viscount Ranelagh was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 25 August 1628 for Sir Roger Jones, son of Thomas Jones, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was made Baron Jones of Navan, in the County of Meath, ...

and the 4th Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps (VRC),Bailey & Hollier formed under the patronage of the 2nd Baron Truro. By 1892 both units had been linked as Volunteer Battalions to the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

, and continued this link until the formation of the

in 1908. At this time the headquarters of the 2nd (South Middlesex) was at Beaufort House, Walham Green and the 4th (West Middlesex) were at Iverna Gardens, High Street, Kensington.

Second Boer War

Men from both units voluntarily went out to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

with the

City Imperial Volunteers The City of London Imperial Volunteers (CIV) was a British corps of volunteers during the Second Boer War. History After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, volunteer corps were established in most counties of the United Kingdom ...

, thereby earning their Corps the right to the Battle Honour of 'South Africa 1900-1902'.

Territorial Force

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 e ...

of the Kingdom's volunteer forces, the "Kensingtons" Regiment was formed in an amalgamation of the 4th Middlesex V.R.C. and the 2nd (South) Middlesex, V.R.C., the newly minted unit being titled the ''13th

(Kensingtons), T.F.''. It based itself at the old 4th Middlesex V.R.C.'s Headquarters at Iverna Gardens in the Borough of Kensington, which adopted it as its local Regiment and consented for the new Regiment to use its name in its formation's title. The Regiment took its

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

unit motto ''Quid Nobis Ardui'' (English: ''Nothing is too arduous for us'') from the Borough's Coat of Arms. Her Royal Highness the

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (Louisa Caroline Alberta; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert. In her public life, she was a s ...

consented to the use of her name by the Regiment and it became officially designated as the ''Princess Louise's Kensingtons''.

First World War

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the regiment was increased to war fighting capacity, with three separate battalions being formed.

1/13th London Regiment (1st Kensingtons Battalion)

This Battalion was mobilized on the declaration of war on 4 August 1914. In November 1914 it departed England for France, and saw action on the Western Front, including the battles of Neuve Chapelle (1915),

Aubers Ridge The Battle of Aubers (Battle of Aubers Ridge) was a British offensive on the Western Front on 9 May 1915 during the First World War. The battle was part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois, a Franco-British offensive int ...

(the Regiment's defining action in the War) (1915),

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

(1916),

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

(1917), Passchendaele (1917),

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

(1917),

(1918), & the

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Imperial Germa ...

(1918). It returned to the Corps' Headquarters in Kensington from France for demobilization in May 1919.

2/13th London Regiment (2nd Kensingtons Battalion)

The Battalion was formed in August 1914 with the intention of acting as the Regiment's home training unit, furnishing reinforcements to the 1st Battalion in the field to replace losses sustained in action. However, by November 1914 it was decided by the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

that with the war's scale of operations rapidly escalating the new 2nd battalions of the London

's infantry regiments were also to be mobilized for active service in the field. The 2nd Kensingtons did send drafts of reinforcements to join the 1st Battalion in France throughout 1915 whilst it was training in England, but this was ended by the close of that year and the responsibility for the Regiment's reinforcement supply was transferred to the 3rd Battalion, in preparation for the 2nd Battalion's departure on active service. The 2nd Kensingtons was dispatched to Ireland in April 1916 to deal with the Fenian Revolution. Afterwards it saw action on the Western Front in France (1916); Salonika (1917), taking part the Battle of Doiran; and Palestine (1917–1918), taking part in the

Third Battle of Gaza The Third Battle of Gaza was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1917 between British and Ottoman forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I and came after the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory at the Ba ...

, the

Battle of Jerusalem The Battle of Jerusalem also known as the Fall of Jerusalem occurred during the British Empire's "Jerusalem Operations" against the Ottoman Empire, in World War I, when fighting for the city developed from 17 November, continuing after the s ...

, Capture of Jericho, the

First Transjordan attack on Amman First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt The Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt, officially known by the British as the Second action of Es SaltBattles Nomenclature Committee 1922 p. 33 and by others as the Second Battle of the Jordan,Erickson 2001 p. 195 was fou ...

and the

Battle of Sharon The Battle of Sharon fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, began the set piece Battle of Megiddo (1918), Battle of Megiddo half a day before the Battle of Nablus (1918), Battle of Nablus, in which large formations engaged and responded to mov ...

. The Battalion was broken up and demobilized in camps at Sidi Bashir in Egypt, and

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in February to March 1919.

3/13th London Regiment (3rd Kensingtons Battalion)

The 3rd Battalion was formed in November 1914 as the home training battalion of the Regiment with responsibility for supplying reinforcement drafts to the Regiment's two fighting battalions in the field, a role that it fulfilled until the end of the conflict in late 1918.

Interwar

1/13th Battalion reverted to its title of 13th Battalion post-war. The three battalions' war memorial was unveiled outside

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a Church (building), church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined ne ...

Kensington High Street Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...

on 1 July 1922 and was later adapted to also commemorate its World War Two dead. In 1937, on the break-up of the London Regiment, its 13th Battalion was re-designated the Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment,

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 Re ...

. In 1938 the Kensingtons became a two-battalion regiment.

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the regiment changed its role from infantry to a heavy fire support unit armed with mortars, medium machine-guns and Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. The 1st Kensingtons served with the British Expeditionary Force in France, and later deployed to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

to be part of

British First Army The First Army was a formation of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. The First Army included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French units during the Second World Wa ...

to prepare for the

Sicilian campaign The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place from 415–413 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens on one side and Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth on the other. The expedition ended in a devastat ...

, and later the Italian front, with the 78th ''Battleaxe'' Infantry Division. The 2nd Kensingtons served first in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and were to see action from Normandy to

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

, with the

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army. The division fought in the World War I, First World War in the Trench warfare, trenches of the Western Front (World War I), Western Front ...

The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B10448

Postwar

In 1947, the Regiment became part of the

with the Army Phantom Signal Regiment (Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment). The regiment was re-formed as 41 (Princess Louise's Kensington) Signal Regiment in 1961 and became a trunk communications Signal Regiment with squadrons in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. Coulsdon was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey that included the settlements of Purley and Kenley. It was merged with Sand ...

and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. In 1967, with the reorganisation of the Territorial Army, the unit became a squadron of 31 (City of London) Signal Regiment. The Squadron was reassigned from 31 (City of London) Signal Regiment to

38 (City of Sheffield) Signal Regiment The 38 Signal Regiment (Volunteers) was a regiment of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals, part of the Army Reserve. The regiment's task was to "provide contingency communications throughout the whole of Northern England, from the Scottish B ...

in 2010. In 2014, 41 (Princess Louise's Kensington) Signal Squadron amalgamated with 47 (

Middlesex Yeomanry The Middlesex Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry regiment of the British Army originally raised in 1797. It saw mounted and dismounted action in the Second Boer War and in the First World War at Gallipoli, Salonika and in Palestine, where one of i ...

) Squadron to form

31 (Middlesex Yeomanry and Princess Louise's Kensington) Signal Squadron The Middlesex Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry regiment of the British Army originally raised in 1797. It saw mounted and dismounted action in the Second Boer War and in the First World War at Gallipoli, Salonika and in Palestine, where one of i ...

, part of

71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 7th Signal Group, providing military communications for national operations. History The r ...

References

Publications

* Bailey, Sergeant O. F. and Hollier, H. M., (1935) ''The Kensingtons 13th London Regiment'', London, Regimental Old Comrades Association * Beckett, Ian F. W., (1982) ''Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot, The Ogilby Trusts, . * {{LondonRegiment Battalions of the London Regiment (1908–1938) Military units and formations in Kensington Military units and formations in London Regiments of the British Army in World War II