The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1966. It was formed when the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot and 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot were amalgamated with a number of the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.
The regimental district or recruiting area consisted of the County of Middlesex and the northern and western parts of the County of London. The remainder of the County of London lay in the regimental districts of the Royal Fusiliers, the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and the East Surrey Regiment.
Duke of Cambridge's Own[]
On formation in 1881 the regimental title was The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)
The regiment inherited the designation "Duke of Cambridge's Own" from the 77th Foot, to which regiment it had been awarded in 1876. The regiment was also permitted to bear the coronet and cypher of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge on its colours and badges.[1] The regiment had earlier been granted the plumes and motto of the Prince of Wales in 1810 for twenty years service in India.[2]
In 1921, in common with many other regiments, the regimental title was effectively reversed to The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)[3]
The Duke was colonel-in-chief of the regiment from 1898 to his death in 1904.[4]
Battle honours[]
In addition to the battle honours inherited from the 57th and 77th Foot, the Middlesex Regiment was granted the following battle honours:
Second Anglo-Boer War: Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1900-02
First World War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914 '18, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914 '17 '18, Armentières 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, Hooge 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Ginchy, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Bapaume 1917 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Avre, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Courtrai, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Italy1917-18, Struma, Doiran 1918, Macedonia 1915-18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Egypt 1915-17, Gaza, Jerusalem, Jericho, Jordan, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917-18, Mesopotamia 1917-18, Murman 1919, Dukhovskaya, Siberia 1918-19
Second World War: Dyle, Defence of Escaut, Ypres-Comines Canal, Dunkirk 1940, Normandy Landing, Cambes, Breville, Odon, Caen, Orne, Hill 112, Bourguébus Ridge, Troarn, Mont Pincon, Falaise, Seine 1944, Nederrijn, Le Havre, Lower Maas, Venraij, Meijel, Geilenkirchen, Venlo Pocket, Rhineland, Reichswald, Goch, Rhine, Lingen, Brinkum, Bremen, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Mareth, Akarit, Djebel Roumana, North Africa 1942-43, Francofonte, Sferro, Sferro Hills, Sicily 1943, Anzio, Carroceto, Gothic Line, Monte Grande, Italy 1944-45, Hong Kong, South-East Asia 1941
Korean War: Naktong Bridgehead, Chongju, Chongchon II Chuam-Ni, Kapyong-chon, Kapyong, Korea 1950-51
Amalgamation[]
In 1966 the Middlesex Regiment was merged with the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Queen's Own Buffs and the Royal Sussex Regiment to create a new "large regiment": the Queen's Regiment. In 1992 there was a further amalgamation with the Hampshire Regiment to form the present Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires).
External links[]
- National Army Museum page [1]
- Unit History [[2]
References[]
- ↑ Ian Sumner, British Colours and Standards 1747 - 1881 (2) - Infantry, Oxford, 2001
- ↑ Regimental History - The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
- ↑ Army Order 509/1920, in effect January 1, 1921
- ↑ H.R.H. Prince George Duke of Cambridge 1819-1904 (regiments.org)