The Royal Sussex Regiment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Royal Sussex Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1881 - 1966 |
| Country | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Nickname | The Orange Lillies The Haddocks The Iron Regiment |
| Motto | Nothing succeeds like Sussex |
| March | The Regimental March by John Baines |
| Battles/wars | Egyptian Expedition Anglo-Boer War First World War Second World War |
| Anniversaries | 13th September Quebec 30th June (1916) - The Day Sussex Died |
| Battle honours | Nile 1884-1885 Retreat from Mons Ypres Somme Pilkem North Africa 1940-1943 Burma 1943-1945 |
The Royal Sussex Regiment, a regiment in the British Army , was formed in 1881 from the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot and the 107th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Light Infantry) .
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1st Battalion 1881 - 1914
Following it's formation the 1st Battalion was sent to the Sudan on the unsuccessful attempt to save General Gordon and his garrison at Khartoum in 1882 during the Mahdist War .
In 1899 the battalion joined the British Army in the bloody Anglo-Boer War .
[edit] 2nd Battalion 1881 - 1914
The 2nd Battalion was sent to the infamous North-West Frontier .
[edit] World War I 1914 - 1918
Despite protests from both officers and man the 1st Battalion strangely remained on the North-West Frontier through out the war.
The 2nd Battalion crossed the channel with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and fought through the war on the Western Front . The battalion lost 1,723 officers and men killed by 1918.
At Richbourg in 1916 the 11th, 12th and 13th battalions of the Royal Sussex, in the same brigade of the 39th Division in Kitchener's New Army , stubbornly refused to give ground despite withering fire and got the nickname The Iron Regiment from the German defenders. On 30th June 1916 after a 15 minute bombardment of the German trenches the three battalions went over the top (most for the first time) and under heavy fire attacked the enemy trenches, bombing and bayoneting their way in. They beat off repeated counter attacks and only withdrew from the shortage of ammunition and mounting casualties. Over a period of several hours The Royal Sussex lost 366 officers and men killed , including 12 sets of brothers, and 750 wounded. In the regiment history this is known as The Day Sussex Died. The following day the Battle of the Somme began and 20,000 died on the first day. The Royal Sussex attack at Richbourg was just a diversion not even considered a separate action in the history of the war.
The regiment raised 23 battalions for the war all of which saw action. The regiment had a battalion in every theatre including in Russia in 1919. The regiment lost 6,800 men during the war and four Victoria Crosses were won by men from the regiment.
[edit] Victoria Crosses during World War I
- Sgt.Harry Wells - (Postumous in the Battle of Loos 1915)
- Lt. Eric Archibald McNair - (Hooge in Belgium)
- C.S.M. Nelson Victor Carter - (Postumous at Richbourg l'Avoue in France 1916)
- Lieut.Col. D.G.Johnson - (Crossing the Sambre Canal in November 1918)
[edit] World War II
The Royal Sussex raised 14 battalions for the Second World War, although only a few saw active service during the war. The regiment only one Victoria Cross during the war.
[edit] 1st Battalion
The 1st Battalion was based in Egypt at the outbreak of the Second World War , where it was attached to the 4th Indian Division , with whom it remained for the rest of the war. The battalion took part in the Western Desert Campaign , the Italian Campaign , where it was involved in the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino . During the battle the elements of the 1st Battalion were ordered into an attack in which they sustained over 50% casualties. In 1944 it was shipped across to Greece with Scobie's III Corps where it stayed until 1946.
[edit] 2nd Battalion
The 2nd Battalion was based in Ireland at the out break of war. They were joined with the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Regiment in the 133rd (Royal Sussex) Brigade as part of the 44th (Home Counties) Division . They were sent to the France in 1940, taking part in the fighting and rapid retreat to Dunkirk where they were evacuated. The brigade was sent to North Africa in 1942 where they fought in the Battle of Alam Halfa . The 44th Division was reported to have performed badly during that battle and was disbanded afterwards, the Royal Sussex Brigade was attached to various units after this. They fought at the Battle of El Alamein . In 1943 the 2nd Battalion and volunteers from the 4th and 5th Battalions were formed into the 10th Battalion, Parachute Regiment which landed with the 4th Parachute Brigade at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden in 1944. Captain Lionel Ernest Queripel , from the Royal Sussex won the Victoria Cross postumously, at Arnhem .After the battle the battalion was dispersed.
A new 2nd Battalion was raised again, after the old one became 10th Para, and along with the 4th and 5th Battalions, was reformed with the 133rd Brigade which was sent to the forgotten theatre of war in Iraq and Persia in 1943 with the 6th Indian Division where they remained for the rest of the war.
[edit] Rest of the Regiment
The regiment also raised the 6th and 7th Battalions (both 2nd Line Territorial Army battalions) which were both in the 37th Infantry Brigade , part of the 12th Eastern Division . They also served in France in 1940 but suffered heavy casualties during the fighting. The 6th Battalion served as a Home Defence unit for the rest of the war and was disbanded in 1946. The 7th Battalion was disbanded in 1942.
The Royal Sussex raised another six battalions, mostly for home defence or as trining units, but the 9th Battalion was sent in 1943 with the 72nd Infantry Brigade to fight in the Burma Campaign with the 36th Infantry Division . The battalion saw action in the Arakan , was airlifted into Myitkyina and fought it's way to Mandalay by April 1945. It was in Burma when the Japanese surrendered.
[edit] Post 1945
On 31st December 1966 the regiment was amalgamated with The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment , The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment and The Middlesex Regiment to form The Queen's Regiment .
