Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
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| Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1881 - 1968 |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry Regiment |
| Nickname | "The Skins" |
| Motto | Motto: Nec Aspera Terrent (By Difficulties Undaunted). |
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry). It saw service in the South African War, the First World War and the Second World War, before being amalgamated into the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968.
After its formation, the regiment saw action in the British colonies in Africa and fought in the Pathan uprising and the Second Boer War.
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[edit] First World War
In 1914 the Great War broke out and the 2nd Battalion was first to see action in the Battle of Le Cateau. The 1st Battalion participated in the landings at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915 with the 29th Division. There were also 9 New Army battalions raised seeing service on the western front and Gallipoli, Macedonia and Palestine.
There were 12 battalions raised by this regiment during the First World War and 8 Victoria Crosses were won during it.
Between the first and second world war the 1st Battalion was stationed in India, Iraq, Shanghai and Singapore. The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1922 but raised again in 1937 at Catterick.
[edit] Second World War
During the second world war the 2nd Battalion, as part of the BEF was among those that were evacuated from Dunkirk. In 1942 the 1st Battalion was flown to Burma to help stem the Japanese advance and in 1943 took part in the operations in the Arakan peninsula. After re-fitting, the 2nd Battalion as part of the Fifth Division, it left England in 1942 on a journey that was to include Syria, Persia, India and Madagascar, and eventually arrived in the Mediterranean in time to take part in the invasion of Sicily followed by that of Italy.
Some soldiers from the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were posted to the famous 8th Army in the desert. They were under the command of Field Marshall Montgomery. Some of the chosen soldiers we assigned the possition of being his close bodyguards.
During the Italian Campaign the 6th Battalion would serve in the same theatre as the 2nd but with the 38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade. The 6th Battalion had fought in the Tunisian Campaign in North Africa and had also taken part in the landings on Sicily.
During the Second World War the regiment raised 8 battalions to fight in the war.
[edit] Post War
After the war the First Battalion returned to India from Burma and after a stay in Hong Kong was engaged for many months hunting terrorists in the jungles of Malaya. In 1949 after a brief spell at home it went to the West Indies returning to the United Kingdom in April 1951. In 1952 it was presented with the Freedom of Enniskillen, the town of its birth and later in the same year went abroad to the Suez Canal Zone and afterwards to Kenya where it helped to suppress the Mau Mau terror; while in the latter country it received the Freedom of Nairobi in perpetuity, the first and so far the only time that a British Regiment has been so honoured by a colonial city.
The First Battalion returned to England in 1955 and after two years at the School of Infantry went to Germany, being stationed in Berlin and Wuppertal. In 1960 half of the Battalion was back in Kenya with a detachment in Bahrein. In 1961 the Battalion flew into Kuwait when the Sheikdom was threatened by Iraq. The Battalion returned to England in 1962 being stationed at Gravesend.
In April 1968 the 1st Battalion had its final operational deployment when Tactical Headquarters and B Company were ordered at short notice to Bermuda with trouble brewing on the Island due to a tense political situation. Following a peaceful election the detachment returned to Worcester in preparation along with the remainder of the Battalion for the final Regimental Chapter and at midnight on 30th June 1968, following a nostalgic ceremony the Regimental Flag was lowered for the last time.
[edit] Amalgamation
On 1st July 1968, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, The Royal Ulster Rifles and The Royal Irish Fusiliers became The Royal Irish Rangers (27th Inniskilling, 83rd and 87th). The Royal Irish Rangers was later to amalgamate with The Ulster Defence Regiment and on the 1st July 1992 became The Royal Irish Regiment.
