Battle Honours
Tangier 1662-80
Tangier 1662-80
Nine Years' War 1688-1697
Namur 1695
French Revolutionary Wars 1793-1802
Ushant
Egypt
Vimiera
Corunna
Salamanca
Vittoria
Pyrenees
Nivelle
Toulouse
Peninsula
First Anglo-Afghan War 1839-1842
Ghuznee 1839
Khelat
Afghanistan 1839
6th Kaffir War 1835
South Africa 1851-2-3
Second Opium War 1857 -1860
Taku Forts
Pekin 1860
Third Anglo-Burmese War 1885
Burma
Tirah Campaign 1897-1898
Tirah
South African War 1899-1902
Relief of Ladysmith
South Africa 1899-1902
World War 1
69 Battle Honours
Third Anglo-Afghan War 1919
Afghanistan 1919
World War 2 (Emblazoned)
39 Battle Honours
Total Honours: 131
| History of the 2nd Regiment of Foot
Pre-Napoleonic Wars
The regiment shipped to Tangier where it remained until the port was evacuated in 1684, when it returned to England. It took part in the suppression of the Monmouth Rebellion, fighting at the Battle of Sedgemoor, where it earned a widespread (but probably exaggerated) reputation for brutality. After the Glorious Revolution, it fought in Ireland for the new King, William III, defending the besieged Londonderry in 1689 and at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. From 1692 to 1696 it fought in Flanders in the Nine Years' War, at the Battle of Landen and the recapture of Namur in 1695.
During the War of Spanish Succession it served in the Iberian campaign, at Cadiz, Vigo, the sieges of Valencia de Alcantara, Alburquerque, Badajoz, Alcantara and Ciudad Rodrigo, and was virtually destroyed in the disastrous Battle of Almansa. In the campaign in the Low Countries in 1703, it defended Tongres against overwhelming odds, giving Lord Overkirk time to re-group his forces, until it was eventually captured. It was for this action that it was awarded its Royal title and its mottoes. It spent most of the remainder of the 18th Century on garrison duty, being one of the regiments involved in putting down the Gordon Riots.
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Grenadier and Officer, 2nd 'Queen's Royal' Regiment of Foot - 1775
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Center Coy. Private, 2nd 'Queen's Royal' Regiment of Foot - 1808 | Napoleonic Wars
On the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, detachments were in the West Indies and acting as marines in the Channel Fleet, notably at the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, where they served on Howe’s flagship, Queen Charlotte and also on board Russell, Defence, Royal George and Majestic. In recognition of the Regiment's service, it was granted the distinction of wearing a Naval Crown superscribed 1 June 1794 on its colours. Another Regimental tradition dating from this victory was that of drinking the Loyal Toast seated (as is Royal Navy custom, owing to the difficulty of officers standing in the low, crowded and often unsteady wardroom of a man-of-war). This tradition is maintained by the successor Regiment, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. The Regiment was then reunited and sent to the West Indies where it took part in the capture of Guadeloupe in 1794, although the occupation was short-lived owing to outbreaks of disease, particularly yellow fever, among the troops, and the capture of Trinidad in 1797. A second battalion was formed in 1795 and stationed in Guernsey before being shipped to Martinique, where it was disbanded in 1797, its personnel being absorbed by 1st Battalion.
The Regiment was transferred to Ireland in 1798 where it helped put down the Irish rebellion and then took part in the unsuccessful 1799 Helder campaign. In 1800, it was part of the abortive expedition to Belle Isle, from which it sailed to Egypt where it fought at the Battle of Alexandria, the Siege of Fort Julien and the Siege of Alexandria.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the regiment first fought in the Peninsular War at the battles of Vimeiro and Corunna. It then took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign before returning to the Peninsula to fight at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the second Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the Battle of Salamanca and the unsuccessful Siege of Burgos. By the winter of 1812, the Regiment was so depleted by casualties and disease that four companies were amalgamated with the equally weakened 2nd Battalion, 53rd Foot, to form the 2nd Provisional Battalion. Six cadre companies returned home to re-form. As part of the 4th Division, the Provisional Battalion took part in the Wellington's triumph at the Battle of Vittoria on 21 June 1813, followed by the Siege of San Sebastian and, 1814, the battles of Orthes and Toulouse. In 1814, the Provisional Battalion was broken up and the Regiment re-formed.
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Post Napoleonic 19th Century
The Regiment was on garrison duty in Baluchistan when the First Afghan War broke out in 1839. It formed part of the force that attacked the previously-impregnable city of Ghazni, taking the city by storm because the army lacked siege equipment, and opening the way to Kabul. It returned to India in November 1839, storming the city of Khelat en route, and avoiding destruction along with the rest of Elphinstone's army.
It was shipped to the Cape Colony during the Eighth Kaffir War in 1851. On February 25, 1852 a draft of 51 men under the command of Ensign Boyland were aboard HMS Birkenhead travelling from Simon's Bay to Port Elizabeth when the ship struck rocks. The troops were assembled on deck and remained at attention to afford the embarked women and children time to take their place in the lifeboats. Shortly after this the ship broke up and the vast majority of the troops on board were either drowned or fell victim to sharks. The bravery of the troops, made up of cadres from ten different regiments, led to the naming of Birkenhead Drill. It once again became the 1st Battalion when the 2nd Battalion was reformed in 1857, and went to China in 1860 at the time of the Second Opium War, fighting at the Third Battle of Taku Forts and the capture of Beijing. In 1897–98, it took part in the Tirah Expedition on the North-West Frontier. The 2nd Battalion fought in the Third Anglo-Burmese War from 1886 to 1888 and in South Africa from 1899 to 1904 in the Second Boer War.
A 3rd (Militia) Battalion was formed in late 1899 from the former 2nd Royal Surrey Militia, to provide troops for the Second Boer War. It had head quarters at Guildford. The Battalion was sent to South Africa in December 1899, and returned to the United Kingdom in May 1902, when it received a public welcome and reception at Guildford.
In 1909, many years after the event, the Regiment was granted the Battle Honour of "Tangier 1662-80", the oldest in the British Army. The Honour is still held by its successor, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
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Private, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) - 1885
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Corporal, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) - 1914 | Great War and Second World War
The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre in August 1914, and spent the entire war on the Western Front. The 2nd Battalion was in South Africa when war broke out and was shipped to France in November 1914. It fought in France and Flanders until November 1917, when it was sent to the Italian Front, taking part in the battles of the Piave and Vittorio Veneto. The Territorial and New Army battalions undertook a number of duties, including training, garrison duty around the Empire and combat service on several fronts. 270 other rank returning prisoners of war were awarded a "Welcome Home Medal" at a reception in Guildford in January 1919. The medal has the regimental badge on one side and the inscription, " Prisoners of War The Queens Regiment Welcome Home on the reverse and is dated MCMXVIII. Following the armistice troops from the 4th/5th reserve Battalion were involved in a mutinous riot at Clipstone Camp, Nottinghamshire, following disquiet at the slow rate of being demobilised.
The 1st Battalion was serving in British India on the outbreak of the Second World War but did not see action until 1942 against the Imperial Japanese Army. The 1st Queens fought in the Burma Campaign throughout the war as part of the 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade, 7th Indian Infantry Division, of the British Fourteenth Army under Bill Slim.
The 2nd Battalion spent the early years of the war in the Middle East and Syria before also going out to the Far East. They were part of the 16th Brigade, 6th Infantry Division which was later redesignated as the 70th Infantry Division and were involved in Operation Thursday, the second Chindits campaign. The Chindits were the creation of Brigadier Orde Wingate. After suffering heavy casualties in the Chindits campaign, 2nd Queen's reverted to being an ordinary infantry battalion, nicknamed PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry), and served with 29th Infantry Brigade, part of 36th Infantry Division from May 1945 onwards.
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21st Century - Amalgamations
The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1948 and its personnel transferred to 1st Battalion (which had previously been reduced to nil strength in 1947). The 1st Battalion served in Berlin during the blockade to 1949 then Iserlohn in BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) part of 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Crossed Keys) until 1953. The 1st Battalion fought the Communist guerrillas during the Malayan Emergency from 1954-1957. In 1957, it returned to Germany where, in 1959, it was amalgamated with 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, to form the 1st Battalion, Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment.
On 31 December 1966 it amalgamated again with the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) to form the Queen's Regiment. Following a further amalgamation in 1992 with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, the lineage of the regiment is continued today by the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires).
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Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment - 2008
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