The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) 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 ...
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 ...
James II James II may refer to:
* James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade
* James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier
* James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily
* James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...
when he expanded the size of the army in response to the
Monmouth Rebellion
The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...
. On 20 June 1685, Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon was issued with a warrant authorising him to raise a regiment, and accordingly the Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot was formed, mainly recruiting in the county of
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
.
Jacobite wars
The regiment remained in existence when
William III William III or William the Third may refer to:
Kings
* William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198)
* William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702)
* William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
came to the throne in the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
of 1688. Ferdinando Hastings took over the colonelcy of the regiment, which accordingly became Hastings's Regiment of Foot. Hastings's Regiment first saw action at the Battle of Killiecrankie, where they failed to halt the advance of
Jacobite
Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to:
Religion
* Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include:
** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...
rebels, although they were later defeated at the Battle of Dunkeld. The regiment accompanied William to Ireland in the following year, fighting in the decisive Williamite victories at the Boyne and
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
.
Nine Years' War
The Jacobite struggles in Scotland and Ireland were part of a wider European conflict that became known as the
Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
. In 1692, Hastings' Regiment sailed to Flanders and, in 1694, took part in the disastrous amphibious assault at Camaret on the French coast. In 1695, Colonel Fernando Hastings was found guilty of extortion, and dismissed. Sir John Jacob became the colonel, and it was as Jacob's Regiment of Foot that they returned to England at the end of the war in 1697.
War of the Spanish Succession
After a period of garrison duty in Ireland, Jacob's Regiment returned to Flanders in 1701. In the following year, the colonelcy again changed, with Sir John Jacob choosing to retire. He sold the colonelcy to his brother-in-law, Lieutenant-General James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore, for 1,400
guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
.
In 1704, Barrymore's Regiment moved to the Iberian Peninsula taking part in the defence of the recently-captured
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
(1704–05) and the Siege of Barcelona (1705). In 1706, the bulk of the regiment was converted into a regiment of
dragoons
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat ...
due to a shortage of cavalry. Barrymore returned to England with a small
cadre
Cadre may refer to:
*Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff
*Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...
; the regiment was re-raised and returned to Spain. The unit fought at the
Battle of Almanza
The Battle of Almansa took place on 25 April 1707, during the War of the Spanish Succession. It was fought between an army loyal to Philip V of Spain, Bourbon claimant to the Spanish throne, and one supporting his Habsburg rival, Archduke Charle ...
(1707), the Battle of La Caya (1709), the Battle of Tortosa (1711) and the Battle of St Mateo (1711). In 1711, the regiment started a long period of garrison duty at Gibraltar. In 1715, they became Cotton's Regiment of Foot when Stanhope Cotton succeeded Barrymore.
Anglo-Spanish War
When war broke out with Spain in 1727, Cotton's were part of the force that resisted the Spanish Siege of Gibraltar. The regiment returned to England in the following year. It remained there until 1742, with the name changing with the colonelcy: Kerr's Regiment of Foot ( Lord Mark Kerr) in 1725, Middleton's Regiment of Foot (Brigadier-General John Middleton) in 1732 and Pulteney's Regiment of Foot (General
Harry Pulteney
General Harry Pulteney (14 February 1686 – 26 October 1767) was an English soldier and Member of Parliament.
He was the younger son of Colonel William Pulteney, of Misterton in Leicestershire, and Mary Floyd. His elder brother, William was on ...
) in 1739.
War of the Austrian Succession
In 1742, Pulteney's Regiment sailed to Flanders, and in the following year was part of the joint British,
Hanoverian
The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe:
* British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901
* things relating to;
** Electorate of Hanover
** Kingdom of Hanover
** Province o ...
and Austrian force that secured a victory over the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743. In May 1745, the situation was reversed when they were part of the allied army decisively defeated at the
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by th ...
.
The "Forty Five"
In 1745, Pulteney's Regiment returned to Britain, moving to Scotland to suppress the Jacobite rising of 1745. They formed part of the defeated forces at the
Battle of Falkirk
The Battle of Falkirk (''Blàr na h-Eaglaise Brice'' in Gaelic), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, led by William Wal ...
in January 1746. Three months later, they took part in the final defeat of the Jacobites in Culloden.
Return to Europe
Following the ending of the Jacobite rising, Pulteney's Regiment returned to Flanders, where they fought at the
Battle of Rocoux
The Battle of Rocoux took place on 11 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession, at Rocourt (or Rocoux), near Liège in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, now modern Belgium. It was fought between a French army under Marshal Saxe an ...
(October 1746) and the Battle of Lauffeld or Val (July 1747). In both cases, the allied forces were defeated by the French. The regiment returned to England in 1747, and the war was formally ended by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.
13th Regiment of Foot
By the late seventeenth century, each regiment of the standing army had been allotted a "rank" in the order of precedence. These numbers came to be increasingly used until a royal warrant of 1751 decreed that regiments should in future be known by their numbers only. Accordingly, Pulteney's Regiment became the 13th Regiment of Foot.Royal Warrant 1 July 1751 (PRO/WO/26/21) reprinted
The redesignated 13th Foot entered a thirty-year period of garrison service in England, Ireland, Gibraltar and Minorca.
American Revolutionary War
In 1775, the American Revolutionary War broke out, widening into war with France from 1778 and Spain in 1779. The 13th Foot sailed for the West Indies, arriving in Barbados. They saw little active service, returning to England in 1782, moving on to Ireland in 1783.
My Lord, The very great deficiency of men in the regiments of infantry being so very detrimental to the public service, the king has thought proper to give the names of the different counties to the old corps, in hopes that, by the zeal and activity of the principal nobility and gentry in the several counties, some considerable assistance may be given towards recruiting these regiments".
The regiment duly became the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot (the 40th Foot becoming the "2nd Somersetshire"). The attempt to link regimental areas to specific counties was found to be impractical, with regiments preferring to recruit from major centres of population. By June 1783, each regiment was again recruiting throughout the country, although the county names were to remain.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
In 1790, the regiment sailed to Jamaica. In 1793, Britain was again at war with France, this time with the revolutionary régime. The 13th Foot landed in the French colony of
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
, where the
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
was in progress.
Returning to Ireland in 1797 and England in 1799, the 13th were next engaged in a series of minor coastal assaults on the Spanish coast in 1800.
In 1801, the regiment sailed to Egypt to help repel the French invasion force. The 13th took part in the
Siege of Alexandria
Battle of Alexandria, Raid on Alexandria, or Siege of Alexandria may refer to one of these military operations fought in or near the city of Alexandria, Egypt:
* Siege of Alexandria (169 BC), during the Syrian Wars
* Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), d ...
. In 1802, the regiment was awarded the badge of a sphinx superscribed "Egypt" for display on the regimental colours in commemoration of the campaign.
A temporary end to hostilities with France came in March 1802, with the signing of the Treaty of Amiens. The 13th Foot left Egypt in that month, sailing to Malta, where they were stationed for a year, before moving to Gibraltar. In 1805, the regiment returned to England. After occupying various stations in the south of the country, the 13th sailed for Ireland in May 1807. The regiment was brought up to full strength by an intake of volunteers from the Irish militia and sailed to Bermuda, arriving in March 1808. The regiment lost large numbers of men to disease while on the island. War had again broken out with France, and the 13th Foot formed part of the force that invaded and occupied the French colony of Martinique in January and February 1809.
Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...
and Lake Champlain. The war concluded in 1815, and the 13th Foot returned to England in July of that year.
The regiment spent the next few years on garrison duty in Jersey,
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
In September 1822, the 13th Foot was moved to Chatham in Kent, where it was brought up to strength for service in India. While there, it was reconstituted as 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 in December and was retitled as the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment (Light Infantry).
First Anglo-Burmese War
The 13th Light Infantry arrived in Kolkata in May and June 1823.Carter (1867), pp. 75–86. Soon after arrival,
Burmese
Burmese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia
* Burmese people
* Burmese language
* Burmese alphabet
* Burmese cuisine
* Burmese culture
Animals
* Burmese cat
* Burmese chicken
* Burmese (hor ...
forces attacked
Cachar
Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cachar district alongside ...
, a territory under British protection. War was formally declared on 5 March 1824, and the 13th took part in the campaign that lasted until February 1826, when a treaty was signed, with the King of Ava agreeing to cede territory and pay compensation to the British East India Company.
The 13th Light Infantry returned to garrison duty in India. From 1826 to 1838, they were stationed in Baharampur, Danapur, Agra and Karnal.
First Anglo-Afghan War
In 1837, Persian troops, allied to the Russians, occupied the Herat region of Afghanistan. The British, who feared Russian intervention in the area, decided to remove the emir of Afghanistan,
Dost Muhammad Dost Mohammad ( Urdu/ Dari: دوست محمد), Dost Mohammad, Dost Mahomet and other variants is a male Muslim given name meaning ''friend of Muhammad''. Notable bearers of the name include:
*Dost Muhammad (Moghul Khan) (1445–1468/9), Khan of ...
, and to replace him with a pro-British monarch, Shuja Shah Durrani. Accordingly, an expeditionary force, known as the "Army of the Indus", was formed. The 13th Light Infantry formed part of the invasion force, joining the other units in November 1838. The army passed into Afghanistan in March 1839, taking Kandahar in April without resistance. The 13th took part in the decisive victory at Ghazni in July 1839. The British initially achieved their objective of enthroning Shuja in August 1839.Carter (1867), pp. 91–106. The 13th formed part of the occupation force that attempted to enforce the rule of the new monarch; but, in October 1841, a popular uprising against Shuja broke out. The 13th found itself engaged in operations against the rebels who had overthrown Shuja and taken the capital, Kabul. In November 1841, the regiment was forced to retreat to the fortified town of Jalalabad.
The town was soon encircled, leading to a lengthy siege. In April of the following year, the garrison, under the command of
Sir Robert Sale
Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale (19 September 1782 – 21 December 1845) was a British Army officer who commanded the garrison of Jalalabad during the First Afghan War and was killed in action during the First Anglo-Sikh War.
Biograph ...
of the 13th, broke the siege and defeated the Afghan forces under Akbar Khan. Although the war, which ended in October 1842 with the return of the Army of the Indus to India, was essentially a reverse for the British forces, battle honours and campaign medals were awarded.
13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot
The conduct of the 13th at Jalalabad was officially rewarded on 26 August 1842, when
Prince Albert
Prince Albert most commonly refers to:
*Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria
*Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco
Prince Albert may also refer to:
Royalty
* Albert I of Belgium ...
offered his patronage to the regiment and permitted his name to be used in its title, becoming the 13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot. At the same time, the regimental facings were changed from yellow to (royal) blue, and the badge of a mural crown with a scroll inscribed "Jellalabad" was granted for display on the colours and uniform of the regiment. The unit was also honoured with the firing of a twenty-one gun salute at each army station it passed on its return to India.
The 13th Light Infantry returned to England in 1845 after 23 years of foreign service. Presented with new colours at Portsmouth in 1846, the regiment moved to Ireland in the following year, remaining there until 1850, before spending a year in Scotland. From 1851–1854, they were stationed in Gibraltar.
Crimean War
In 1854, the regiment was brought up to full strength and, in June of the following year, landed in the Crimea as part of the Anglo-French forces conducting a campaign against the Russians. They took part in the Siege of Sevastopol, and remained in the area after the ending of hostilities in February 1856, subsequently sailing to South Africa.
Return to India
In May 1857, the
Indian Mutiny
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 ...
broke out. Reinforcements were requested, and the 13th arrived at Kolkata in October 1857. They took part in some minor actions.
Formation of second battalion
The British Army had been shown to be overstretched by the Crimean War, while the mutiny in India had led to the responsibility for providing a garrison in the subcontinent from the Honourable East India Company to the Crown forces. Accordingly, there was a need for an expansion and reorganisation of the existing regiments. Rather than raising new infantry regiments, the senior regiments of foot were each ordered to raise a second battalion, with the existing regiment being redesignated as the 1st Battalion. The 2nd Battalion of the 13th Light Infantry was raised at
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
in January 1858. The two battalions, while sharing a depot, operated as separate units.
The 1st Battalion saw active service in South Africa, fighting in the Ninth Xhosa War of 1878 and Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry)
Childers reforms
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the
Cardwell Reforms
The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...
of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at
Jellalabad Barracks
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about ...
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 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under the reforms the regiment became the Prince Albert's Light Infantry (Somersetshire Regiment) on 1 July 1881. As the county regiment of Somersetshire, it also gained the county's militia and rifle volunteer battalions, which were integrated into the regiment as numbered battalions. Within months the regiment had been retitled to Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry).
On formation, the regiment had the following battalions:
*1st Battalion (formerly 1st Battalion, 13th Foot)
*2nd Battalion (formerly 2nd Battalion, 13th Foot)
*3rd Battalion (formerly 1st Somersetshire Light Infantry Militia)
*4th Battalion (formerly 2nd Somersetshire Light Infantry Militia)
*1st Volunteer Battalion (formerly 1st Somersetshire Rifle Volunteer Corps)
*2nd Volunteer Battalion (formerly 2nd Somersetshire Rifle Volunteer Corps)
*3rd Volunteer Battalion (formerly 3rd Somersetshire Rifle Volunteer Corps)
The two regular battalions continued the system of alternating between home and foreign stations:
Actions in India and Burma
The 2nd Battalion took part in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885 to 1887. Following an initial invasion, the battalion spent two years broken up into small groups pacifying the inhabitants of the country. While the unit lost only 17 men in combat, 150 were to die from disease.
During its period in India, the 1st Battalion was mainly stationed in the North West Frontier Province, and took part in First Mohmand Campaign of 1897. The battalion was posted at
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
until late 1902 when it moved to Peshawar near the historic
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...
on the border to Afghanistan.
Second Boer War
In October 1899, war broke out between British Empire and the Boer Republics of South Africa. The 2nd Battalion landed in the Cape in December 1899, and was part of the British forces defeated at the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900. In February of the same year, the battalion helped to relieve the siege of
Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to:
* Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
* Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada
* Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States
* Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia
* Ladysmith, Virginia, United States
* Ladysmith Island, Queensl ...
. They spent the remainder of the conflict taking part in a number of minor actions.
The 4th ( Militia) Battalion was embodied in December 1899, and 415 officers and men embarked in the in early March 1900 for service in South Africa. A large contingent of the men returned home in May 1902 on the SS ''Sicilia''.
Haldane reforms
The Boer War had severely stretched the resources of the British Army and had exposed the weakness of the militia and volunteers as an effective reserve force. In 1907–1908,
Richard Haldane
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (; 30 July 1856 – 19 August 1928) was a British lawyer and philosopher and an influential Liberal and later Labour politician. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during whi ...
, Secretary of State for War reorganised these second-line units of the army as part of a larger series of reforms. The existing militia was reduced in size and redesignated as the "Special Reserve", while the Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry to form a new Territorial Force, organised into 14 infantry divisions, liable for service in wartime.
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former merging with the Yeomanry to become the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions.
First World War
The regiment's name was again changed to the Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry) in 1912.
The Regiment saw active service in the First World War, with battalions involved on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. Altogether, 18 battalions existed during the war. One of the new battalions was formed by the conversion of the West Somerset Yeomanry, a Territorial Force Cavalry Regiment; the rest were formed by the duplication of the existing Territorial Force units or by the formation of new "service" battalions.
Inter-war period
Following the armistice ending the First World War, the war-raised battalions were rapidly disbanded. The regular battalions returned to the pre-war system of alternating home and foreign stations. The 1st Battalion was stationed in Northern Ireland and England, before being stationed in Egypt (1926–1928), Hong Kong (1928–1930) and India from 1930.
The 2nd Battalion, which had spent the entire war in India, fought in the brief Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, seeing active service in Afghanistan and on the North-West Frontier. Returning to India in 1920, the battalion moved to the Sudan in 1926 and England in 1927.
The Territorial Force was reorganised to become the Territorial Army in 1920, and the 4th and 5th Battalions were reconstituted. At the same time, the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion was placed in "suspended animation", and was never again embodied.
On 1 January 1921, the regimental title was changed a final time, becoming The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's).
Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)
Second World War
Altogether, the Somerset Light Infantry raised 11 battalions for service during the Second World War, six of which saw service overseas. In addition to the Regular Army 1st and 2nd battalions, the existing 4th and 5th Territorial Army battalions both formed 2nd Line duplicate units in 1939 prior to war being declared: the 6th and 7th battalions, both part of 45th (Wessex) Division on the outbreak of war. The 8th ( Home Defence) Battalion, which was also formed in 1939, was renumbered as the 30th Battalion in 1941. The 9th, 10th, 11th (Holding) and 50th (Holding) Battalions were all formed in 1940, although the latter two had ceased to exist by the end of the year.
=Regular Army
=
The 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
114th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 14th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed at Attock in October 1940, and assigned to the 7th Indian Infantry Division. In April 1942, the brigade was renumbere ...
which was part of the
7th Indian Infantry Division
The 7th Infantry Division is a war-formed infantry division, part of the British Indian Army that saw service in the Burma Campaign.
History
The division was created on 1 October 1940 at Attock, under the command of Major General Arthur Wakely ...
, itself part of the
British Fourteenth Army
The British Fourteenth Army was a multi-national force comprising units from Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries during the World War II, Second World War. As well as British Army units, many of its units were from the British Indian ...
, led by
Bill Slim
Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known as Bill Slim, was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia.
Slim saw active service in both the First an ...
. John Waddy served with the battalion in the early stages of the war.
The 2nd Battalion was serving with the
2nd Gibraltar Brigade
The 2nd Gibraltar Brigade was a British Army garrison brigade during the Second World War.
History
After serving as part of the Garrison of Gibraltar from 24 April 1941 to 1 December 1943, it was redesignated as the 28th Infantry Brigade and as ...
as part of the garrison there, upon the outbreak of war in 1939. On 1 December 1943, the brigade was redesignated the 28th Infantry Brigade, which also included the 2nd King's Regiment (Liverpool) and 1st
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
(later 2/4th
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 ...
). On 24 December, the brigade became attached to the
British 4th Infantry Division
The 4th Infantry Division was a Regular army, regular infantry Division (military), division of the British Army with a very long history, seeing active service in the Peninsular War, the Crimean War, the First World War, and during the Second ...
. The 2nd Somersets, with the rest of the division, arrived in Italy in March 1944 and served in the Italian Campaign as part of the British Eighth Army in many battles such as that of Monte Cassino, one of the worst battles of the Italian Campaign, in 1944, where they played an important role alongside 2nd King's and fought in Operation Diadem and on the
Gothic Line
The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...
from August–September 1944. In November, the 4th Division, with the rest of
III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to:
France
* 3rd Army Corps (France)
* III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...
, was sent to Greece to help calm the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
, which was caused after the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
withdrew from the country.
=Territorial Army
=
The regiment also had four Territorial battalions, although only two would serve overseas. Throughout the war, the 4th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry served with the 129th Brigade, alongside the 4th and 5th Wiltshire Regiment, part of the
43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division
The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was an infantry division of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). The division was first formed in 1908, as the Wessex Division. During the First World War, it was broken-up and never served as a complete formatio ...
, and spent most of its existence in the United Kingdom in Kent under XII Corps of Southern Command.
The 7th Battalion, which had been created on 24 August 1939 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 5th, was originally serving alongside both the 5th and 6th battalions in 135th Brigade, of the 45th Division. On 11 September 1942, the battalion was transferred to the 214th Infantry Brigade, which included the 5th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and the 9th Somersets (later replaced by the 1st Worcestershire Regiment).
Both the 4th and 7th battalions served in the North West Europe Campaign after the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, D-Day. The division fought very well in the Battle of Normandy, particularly so during the Battle for Caen in Operation Epsom in late June, at the Battle for Hill 112 (Operation Jupiter). During the battle, "''the 4th Somersets suffered 556 casualties out of a strength of 845. Between 26 June and 14 July, 4th SLI received 19 reinforcement officers and 479 ORs as replacements.''" The battalion became involved in trench warfare similar to that of the Great War. They later played a large part in the disastrous
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 ...
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
.
=Hostilities-only
=
The other battalion to see active service was the 10th Battalion, raised in 1940, which was converted in 1942 into the
7th Parachute Battalion
The 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, formed by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was raised in November 1942 by the conversion of the 10th Battalion, ...
, and was now part of the Parachute Regiment, itself part of the British Army's
airborne forces
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...
5th Parachute Brigade
The 5th Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces formation of brigade strength, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. Created during 1943, the brigade was assigned to the 6th Airborne Division, serving alongside the 3rd Parachut ...
, part of the
6th Airborne Division
The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being t ...
, which had also just been raised. The 7th Parachute Battalion would see its first combat during Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in Normandy, the night before 6 June 1944,
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 ...
. They would then go on to serve throughout the Battle of Normandy as normal infantrymen, The battalion then played a part in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and then again in Operation Varsity in March 1945, the largest airborne drop of the war, including both the 6th Airborne and the US 17th Airborne Division, with well over 16,000 airborne troops being involved.
The SLI also had responsibility for defending local airfields, including RNAS Charlton Horethorne, where they prepared trenches, hardpoints and machine gun positions.
The 30th Battalion, of 43rd Infantry Brigade, formed part of the British First Army, and served in Tunisia and Italy.
Post war to amalgamation
The 1st Battalion was the last British infantry battalion to leave India after its independence, departing on 28 February 1948. During the final ceremony, the battalion marched through Bombay (now Mumbai) and received a guard of honour from the newly formed Indian Army at the
Gateway of India
The Gateway of India is an arch-monument built in the early 20th century in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of King-Emperor George V, the first British monarch to visit India, in December 1911 at ...
. The 2nd Battalion ended the war in Greece, subsequently forming part of the Allied occupation force of Austria. The two regular battalions returned to the United Kingdom where they were amalgamated into a single 1st Battalion on 28 June 1948 - this was part of a general reduction in the size of the infantry following Indian independence.
The reconstituted 1st Battalion was stationed in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine from 1951–1953. From 1952–1955, it formed part of the British forces fighting in the
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
, where it took part in jungle warfare. In its final years, the battalion was involved in a number of conflicts: the anti-tank platoon formed part of the Anglo-French force that intervened in the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
of 1956. The majority of the battalion was in Cyprus, where a nationalist uprising against British rule had broken out. In 1957, they returned to Germany.
In 1947, the Territorial Army was reconstituted and the 4th and 6th Battalion were reformed as infantry battalions; the 5th Battalion was reformed as a unit of the Royal Artillery. Three years later, the 4th Battalion absorbed the two other units.
Light Infantry Brigade
The Light Infantry Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular English light infantry regiments.
After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, eac ...
Somerset Military Museum
The Somerset Military Museum is part of the Museum of Somerset located in the 12th century great hall of Taunton Castle, in Taunton, Somerset. It is a "registered and accredited museum" with the British Museums, Libraries, and Archives Council, a ...
The regiment was awarded the following battle honours for display on the colours:
Displayed on the regimental colours
*Gibraltar 1704–5
*Dettingen
*Martinique 1809
*Ava
*Ghuznee 1839
*Affghanistan 1839 ('' sic'')
*Cabool 1842
*Sevastopol
*South Africa 1878–9
*Burma 1885–87
*Relief of Ladysmith
*South Africa 1899–1902
*Afghanistan 1919
*''The sphinx superscribed "Egypt"''
*''A mural crown superscribed "Jellalabad"''
First World War
Battle honours in bold were selected for display on the King's/Queen's Colours.
* Le Cateau
* Retreat from Mons
* Marne 1914'18
* Aisne 1914
* Armentières 1914
* Ypres 1915'17'18
* St. Julien
* Frezenberg
*
Bellewaarde
During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...
*
Hooge 1915
During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pre ...
Mount Sorrel
The Battle of Mont Sorrel (''Battle of Mount Sorrel'', ''Battle of Hill 62'') was a local operation in World War I by three divisions of the British Second Army and three divisions of the German 4th Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres, Bel ...
*
Somme 1916 __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), a ...
Albert 1916
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Albert C ...
Guillemont
Guillemont () is a commune approximately east of Albert in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
It, like much of the surrounding area, is primarily an agricultural community, but is known for its large Commonwealth War ...
Ancre 1916
The Ancre (; ) is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. It is long. For most of its length it flows through the department of Somme. For a short stretch near Puisie ...
Scarpe 1917
The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the ...
Menin Road Menin may refer to:
*Menin, the French name for the Belgian town of Menen
*Menin, a little village in the municipality of Cesiomaggiore, Italy
*Menin or MEN1, a tumor suppressor associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1
*Měnín, villag ...
*
Polygon Wood
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...
*
Broodseinde
The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British British Second Army, Second and British Fifth Army, Fifth armies against the German 4th Army (German Empire), ...
*
Poelcappelle
Langemark-Poelkapelle () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders.
Geography
Other places in the municipality include Bikschote, Langemark and Poelkapelle. On January 1, 2006, Langemark-Poelkapelle had a total populati ...
St. Quentin
Saint Quentin ( la, Quintinus; died 287 AD) also known as Quentin of Amiens, was an early Christian saint.
Hagiography
Martyrdom
The legend of his life has him as a Roman citizen who was martyred in Gaul. He is said to have been the son of a ...
Avre
Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE), also known as Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers is the title given to a series of armoured military engineering vehicles operated by the Royal Engineers (RE) for the purpose of protecting engineers during ...
Canal du Nord
The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...
Selle
Selle may refer to:
* Selle (Scheldt tributary), the name of a river in Nord, France
* Selle (Somme tributary), the name of a river in Picardy, France
* Pic la Selle, a mountain in Haiti
* La Selle-Guerchaise, a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine depa ...
Sambre
The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.
The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...
*
France and Flanders 1914–18
The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of import ...
*
Gaza
Gaza may refer to:
Places Palestine
* Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea
** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip
** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon
* Ghazzeh, a village in ...
*
El Mughar
al-Maghar was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated by the Givati Brigade during Operation Barak on 18 May 1948. It was located 12 km southwest of Ramla, situated north of Wadi al-Maghar. ...
*
Nebi Samwil
An-Nabi Samwil, also called al-Nabi Samuil ( ar, النبي صموئيل ''an-Nabi Samu'il'', translit: "the prophet Samuel"), is a Palestinian village of nearly 220 inhabitants in the Quds Governorate of the State of Palestine, located in the ...
Sharon
Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname.
In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...
Tigris 1916 Tigris 1916 was a battle honour awarded to units of the British and Imperial Armies that took part in the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to relieve the Siege of Kut in the Mesopotamian Campaign of the Great War.T.F. MillMesopotamia 1914-1918(archiv ...
Mesopotamia 1916–18
The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies of World War I, Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australi ...
* N.W. Frontier India 1915
Second World War
Battle honours in bold were selected for display on the King's/Queen's Colours.
* Odon
*
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,Hill 112
*
Mont Pincon
Mont may refer to:
Places
* Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state
* Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium
* Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France
* Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France
* Mont, Sa� ...
*Noireau Crossing
*Seine 1944
*Nederrijn
*Geilenkirchen
*Roer
*Rhineland
*Cleve
*Goch
*Hochwald
*Xanten
*Rhine
*Bremen
*North-West Europe 1944–45
*Cassino II
*Trasimene Line
*Arezzo
*Advance to Florence
*Capture of Forli
*Cosina Canal Crossing
*Italy 1944–45
*Athens
*Greece 1944–45
*North Arakan
*Buthidaung
*Ngakyedauk Pass
*Burma 1943–44
Harry Pulteney
General Harry Pulteney (14 February 1686 – 26 October 1767) was an English soldier and Member of Parliament.
He was the younger son of Colonel William Pulteney, of Misterton in Leicestershire, and Mary Floyd. His elder brother, William was on ...
The 13th (1st Somersetshire) Prince Albert's Light Infantry
*1843–1846: Major-Gen Sir Robert Henry Sale GCB
*1846–1863: F.M. Sir William Maynard Gomm GCB
*1863–1864: Major-Gen Philip McPherson
*1864–1880: Gen Philip Spencer Stanhope
The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)
*1880–1900: Gen Lord
Mark Ralph George Kerr
General Lord Mark Ralph George Kerr GCB (15 December 1817 – 17 May 1900) was a British Army officer who served in the Crimean War and in India.
Background
Kerr was born in his ancestral home (Newbattle Abbey), in Midlothian, Scotland in 1817 ...
GCB
*1900–1901: Lt-Gen Sir John William Cox KCB
*1901–1910: Major-Gen Edward Lutwyche England CB
*1910–1914: Major-Gen Sir Henry Hallam Parr KCB CMG
*1914–1919: Major-Gen Richard Lloyd Payne CB DSO
*1919–1929: Lt-Gen Sir
Thomas D'Oyly Snow
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas D’Oyly Snow, (5 May 1858 – 30 August 1940) was a British Army officer who fought on the Western Front during the First World War. He played an important role in the war, leading the 4th Division in the retreat ...
George Albert Cairns
Lieutenant George Albert Cairns VC (12 December 1913 – 19 March 1944) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and ...
*Private
Patrick Carlin
Patrick Carlin VC (1832 – 11 May 1895), of Belfast, County Antrim, 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 and Commonwealth fo ...
*Major
William Knox Leet
William Knox-Leet VC CB (3 November 1833 in Dalkey, County Dublin – 29 June 1898), 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 ...
From its establishment in 1685, the regiment had a red coat with yellow facings. This was originally the colour of the cloth lining of the coat, which appeared in the turned back cuffs, skirts and lapels. Later, as uniform styles changed, it became the colour of the collar and cuffs of the jacket or tunic. A
royal warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law.
Royal warrant may refer to:
* Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...
of 1751 first regulated the facing colours of the "Marching Regiments of Foot". Those of the 13th Foot, or Lieutenant-General Pulteney's Regiment, was given as "philemot" yellow, a description repeated in the next clothing regulation of 1768.Royal Warrant of 1 July 1751 (PRO/WO/26/21), reproduced in "Philemot" was a corruption of the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
''feuille morte'' or "dead leaf", a shade of yellow approximating to that of a faded (Autumn) leaf. When the 13th Foot was given the title "Prince Albert's" in 1842, it became a "royal" regiment, and the facings were changed to dark blue. The braid and lace worn on officers' coats was silver until 1830 and thereafter gold. It had a black line threaded through it.
Sergeants' sash
A distinction unique to the regiment was that the warrant officers and sergeants wore their sashes over the left shoulder and tied on the right side, in the same manner as officers. This commemorated the regiment's stand at Culloden, where the large number of officer casualties led to the sergeants taking command. This was authorised in 1865, although appears to have been worn earlier without authority; the origin is disputed, since the regiment did not report any casualties as a result of Culloden. In 1898, officers of all regiments were ordered to wear the sash knotted on the left side, with the exception of the Somerset Light Infantry who were permitted to continue with the knot on the right.
Light infantry distinctions
In 1822, the regiment was granted light infantry distinctions, which survived in the full dress of 1914 as a dark green home service helmet (instead of the dark blue of line infantry) and a bugle-horn incorporated in its badge. The forage cap and postwar No.1 dress uniform worn by the regiment was also dark green.
Badges
The first distinctive badge awarded to the regiment was the sphinx for service in Egypt, authorised in 1802. From 1814, a stringed bugle-horn had been the approved badge of light infantry and rifle regiments. When the 13th Foot were converted to light infantry in 1822, the badge adopted for the shako head-dress was a "bugle-horn with strings with the numerals 13 in the centre and surmounted by the Sphinx". When a new model of shako was adopted in 1844, a mural crown and scroll inscribed "Jellalabad" were added. Similar devices were used on the plate of the home service helmet adopted in 1878. In 1898, when khaki service dress was introduced, a metal badge was designed for the new slouch hat. This consisted of a bugle surmounted by a mural crown above which was a scroll inscribed "Jellalabad". The cypher "PA" for Prince Albert was placed within the strings of the bugle horn. This remained the regiment's cap badge on various forms of head-dress until amalgamation.
References
Bibliography
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*
*
* as part of the ''Famous Regiments'' series.