393: The Kings Own Lancaster & The Royal Border Regiment
King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
The King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1680 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
History
The regiment was raised on July 13, 1680, as the 2nd Tangier, or Earl of Plymouth’s Regiment of Foot. It saw service for nearly three centuries. In 1751, after various name changes, the regiment was titled 4th (King’s Own) Regiment of Foot. The regiment retained this title until the Childers Reforms of 1881 when it became The King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). In 1921, it was re-designated The King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster).
The regiment’s first battle honour was gained at Namur (1695) during the War of the Augsburg League, 1688-1697. Soon after they again saw action at Gibraltar in 1704-1705, Guadeloupe 1759, and St. Lucia 1778. In 1746, the regiment received most of the government casualties at the Battle of Culloden. During the Napoleonic Wars they fought at Corunna, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, San Sebastian, Nive, Peninsula, Bladensburg, and Waterloo. During the Crimean War the regiment fought at Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, before also seeing action at Abyssinia, South Africa 1879, the Relief of Ladysmith, and South Africa 1899-1902.
The regiment also saw colonial service in Australia from 1832 until 1837, being stationed variously at Tasmania, Sydney, Victoria South Australia, and the Swan River Colony under the command of Lieut. Colonel J. K. McKenzie.
During the First World War, the regiment received battle honours for France, Greece, Turkey, and Mesopotamia, and during the Second World War, they received honours for France, NW Europe, Iraq, Syria, N. Africa, Italy, Malta, and Burma.
The regiment received the freedom of Lancaster in 1953, before being amalgamated with The Border Regiment into the The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment on October 31, 1959.
Border Regiment
(Redirected from The Border Regiment)
| The Border Regiment | |
| Active | 1881-1959 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| March | John Peel John Peel Audio Clip |
| Anniversaries | 28th October Arroyo Day Commemorates an action in Spain when the 34th Foot captured the Drums of their French opposite numbers. |
| Battle honours | The Relief of Ladysmith 1900, South Africa 1899-1902, France and Flanders 1914-1918, Ypres 1914,15,17,18, Langemark 1914,17, Gallipoli 1915,16, Somme 1916,18, Arras 1917,18, Cambrai 1917,18, Lys 1918, Macedonia 1915,18, Vittorio Veneto 1918, Afghanistan 1919, Dunkirk 1940, Tobruk 1941, Meiktila, Landing In Sicily, Chindits 1944, Arnhem 1944, Imphal, Myinmu Bridgehead Burma 1943-45, North West Europe 1940-44 |
The Border Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot.
After service in the First and Second World Wars, it was amalgamated into The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment in 1959. Its lineage is continued today by the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
Victoria Crosses
Five men of the Border Regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross, all during World War I:
- Private James Alexander Smith (21 December 1914)
- Private Abraham Acton (21 December 1914)
- Sergeant Edward John Mott (27 January 1917)
- Sergeant Charles Edward Spackman (20 November 1917)