The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of
Wales's) was an
infantry regiment
of the
British Army, which was in
existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to
1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the
11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly
after became the
64th Regiment of
Foot. In 1881, the 64th Foot was merged with the
98th Regiment of
Foot (originally raised in 1824) to form the new
regiment.
Formed at a time when the
British
Empire was reaching its peak, the Regiment served all over the
Empire, in times of both peace and war, and in many theatres of war
outside the Empire. It fought in
World War
I and
World War II, as well as in
other smaller conflicts around the world. These other wars included
the
Second
Sudanese War, the
Second Boer
War, the
Anglo-Irish
War and the
Third
Anglo-Afghan War.
In 1959, as part of a defence review, the regiment was amalgamated
with the
South
Staffordshire Regiment to form the
Staffordshire Regiment . Today the
traditions of the Regiment are continued by the
3rd Battalion, the Mercian Regiment.
Formation history
The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire)
Regiment was formed under the
Childers Reforms on 1 July 1881, by the
amalgamation of the
64th Regiment of
Foot and
98th Regiment of
Foot. These two regular regiments became, respectively, the 1st
and 2nd Battalions of the new regiment.
The militia and Rifle Volunteers forces of
North Staffordshire were also incorporated into this new regiment,
and a permanent depot was
established at Whittington
Barracks, Lichfield
, which also housed the newly formed South Staffordshire
Regiment.
The 64th Foot was originally raised in 1756 as the 2nd Battalion of
the
11th Foot, and was
renumbered the 64th in 1758. It had a long history of overseas
service with much less time spent in Europe.
It had served in the
West
Indies
during the Seven Years
War, America during the American War of Independence,
South America, the West Indies and Canada during the Napoleonic Wars. Subsequent long
periods were spent in Ireland and the West Indies before action was
seen in India during the
Indian
Mutiny. At the time of the forming of the amalgamation with the
98th Foot, the 64th was based in Ireland.
The 98th
Foot, raised in 1824 in Chichester
, had a much shorter history, but like the 64th had
spent the majority of its time overseas spending a long time in
South Africa before seeing action in China in the First Anglo-Chinese War and India on the
North West
Frontier
. It was based in Afghanistan when the
amalgamation occurred.
The battalions that formed as part of the regiment in 1881 were as
follows:
- 1st Battalion: the 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of
Foot;
- 2nd Battalion: the 98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of
Foot;
- 3rd
(Militia) Battalion: The King's Own (2nd Staffordshire) Light
Infantry Militia, based in Stafford
;
- 4th
(Militia) Battalion: The King's Own (3rd Staffordshire) Rifles
Militia, based in Newcastle-under-Lyme
;
- 1st
Volunteer Battalion: 2nd Staffordshire (Staffordshire Rangers)
Rifle Volunteer Corps, based in Stoke-on-Trent
;
- 2nd
Volunteer Battalion: 5th Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, based
in Lichfield but later moved to Burton-on-Trent
.
The reserve battalions of the regiment were reorganised in 1908 by
the
Territorial
and Reserve Forces Act 1907, with the two militia battalions
being redesignated the 3rd and 4th "Special Reserve" Battalions,
and the volunteer battalions being redesignated as
Territorial Force and renumbered as the
5th and 6th Battalions (TF).
Early service (1881–1914)
Garrison duties and the Mahdist War
Officers of the 2nd Battalion, India
1908
The 1st
Battalion was in Ireland
at the time
of the amalgamation. It moved to England in 1883, and the
following year to the West
Indies, based mainly in Barbados
, but with detachments on other islands.
It moved
to Natal in 1887, to Mauritius
in 1890, to Malta
in 1893 and
to Egypt
in
1895. From there the 1st Battalion took part in operations
in the
Second
Sudanese War under
Lord
Kitchener.
During the campaign, the 1st battalion were
based initially at Wadi
Halfa
but moved to Gemai to avoid a
cholera outbreak. In September the
battalion took part in the action against the
Dervish Army at Hafir, which was decisive in ending
the campaign. As a result, the North Staffordshire Regiment
received the unique “Hafir"
battle
honour, given to no other British regiment.
Second Boer War
The 2nd
Battalion was stationed in India
in 1881 when
the North Staffordshire Regiment was formed, and remained there
until 1886. During this time period, it took part in an
expedition to the Zhob
Valley in
1884, thus making it the first battalion in the regiment to see
active service. In 1886, it returned to England via Aden
, and then
deployed to Ireland in 1893. In 1899, 2nd Battalion
mobilised and moved to
South Africa,
where it took part in the
Second Boer
War.
Forming part of 15th Brigade in the 7th
Division, the majority of the battalion saw little action
throughout the conflict, being mostly occupied in garrison duties
in Johannesburg
in 1900. In 1901, the battalion was part of a mobile
column under Brigadier-General Dartnell in the
Eastern Transvaal
which carried out a scorched earth campaign, and it also took
part in the subsequent blockhouse occupation of the
Transvaal.
More action was seen by the
mounted
infantry company of the regiment that
had been formed on arrival in South Africa. In January 1900
Lord Roberts,
commander of the British forces in South Africa, ordered that every
infantry battalion in South Africa was to raise a company of
mounted infantry. These companies were to be detached from their
parent units and operate as part of eight independent mounted
infantry battalions. The North Staffs company thus formed became
part of the 8th Battalion, Mounted Infantry. This unit was involved
in the pursuit of
Koos de la Rey and
was present when he was captured at
Wildfontein. The militia and volunteer
battalions also saw service in the Second Boer War. The 4th
Battalion was deployed in the Cape Colony and later the
Bechuanaland Protectorate before
being replaced by the 3rd Battalion. Additionally, the two
volunteer companies which formed from the 1st and 2nd Volunteer
Battalions served alongside the 2nd Battalion at various times. As
a result of these contributions and those of the two regular
battalions, the regiment was awarded the "South Africa 1900–1902"
battle honour.
At the war's end in 1902, the battalion returned briefly to
England. In the following year, it returned to India, remaining
there until 1919.
Meeting in India
The 1st Battalion was subsequently stationed in India from 1897
until 1903. Here, the 1st and 2nd Battalions met for the first
time, and no fewer than 590 men from the 1st Battalion were
transferred to the 2nd Battalion. Thus 1st Battalion was reduced to
a small cadre, which served for nine years upon its return to
Lichfield and other stations in England, before moving to Ireland
in 1912.
First World War (1914–1918)
The North Staffordshire Regiment was heavily committed to the
fighting during the
First World War, and
over the course of the conflict, was expanded to 18 battalions,
some by duplication of the Territorial Force battalions and others,
labelled "service" battalions raised as part of
Field Marshal
Kitchener's New Army. These
battalions saw service in a number of theatres including on the
Western Front, at
Gallipoli, in the
Middle East, and
India. The following
list details the involvement of these battalions:
- 1st Battalion – served in France from September 1914 until
November 1918;
- 2nd Battalion – served in India throughout the war;
- 3rd (Reserve) Battalion – operated as a training battalion in
the United Kingdom throughout the war;
- 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion – garrison battalion in Guernsey
1914–1916. Returned to United Kingdom in 1916. Served in France
1917–1918;
- 1/5th Battalion Territorial Force (TF) – mobilised in 1914, and
served in France from 1915 to 1918;
- 1/6th Battalion TF – mobilised in 1914, served in France from
1915 to 1918;
- 2/5th Battalion TF – formed in 1914, moved to Ireland in 1916
where it was involved in the Easter
Rising, served in France 1917–1918. Merged with 1/5th Battalion
in February 1918;
- 2/6th Battalion TF – formed in 1914, moved to Ireland in 1916
where it was involved in the Easter Rising, served in France
1917–1918. Merged with 1/6th Battalion in July 1918;
- 3/5th Battalion TF – formed in 1915. Renamed 5th (Reserve)
Battalion in April 1916. Served as a training battalion in England
1915–1918;
- 3/6th Battalion TF – formed in 1915. Renamed 6th (Reserve)
Battalion in April 1916. Merged with 5th (Reserve) Battalion in
September 1916;
- 7th (Service) Battalion – formed in 1914. Took part in
Gallipoli Campaign July 1915 – January 1916. Evacuated to Egypt and
transferred to North Persia Force in July 1918;
- 8th (Service) Battalion – formed in 1914. Served in France
1915–1918;
- 9th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) – formed as a service
battalion in 1914. Became a pioneer battalion in 1915. Served in
France 1915–1918;
- 10th (Reserve) Battalion – formed as a service battalion in
1914. Became a reserve battalion in 1915. Renamed as 3rd Training
Reserve Battalion of 1st Reserve Brigade in 1916;
- 11th (Reserve) Battalion – formed as a service battalion in
1914. Became a reserve battalion in 1915. Renamed as 4th Training
Reserve Battalion of 1st Reserve Brigade in 1916;
- 12th (Service) Battalion – formed 1918 in France from 11th
Garrison Guard Battalion. Renamed as a service battalion and
continued to serve in France;
- 1st (Garrison) Battalion – formed in 1916. Served in France
1916–1918. Renamed 13th (Garrison) Battalion in July 1918;
- 2nd (Home Service Garrison) Battalion – formed in 1916. Became
17th Battalion Royal Defence
Corps in 1917.
The numbering of the Territorial Force battalions was laid down by
War Office instructions issued in 1914 and 1915. On joining the
Territorial Force men were asked if the would serve overseas
(foreign service) or just volunteered for service in the United
Kingdom (home service) and their service records amended
accordingly. At the declaration of war all Territorial battalions
were mobilised and on 15 August 1914 the War Office issued
instructions for those men who had volunteered for foreign service
to be separated out into what were called first line battalions.
Home service men were placed in second line battalions. Thus there
would now be a first line 5th Battalion and a second line 5th
Battalion. On 24 November 1914, as the first line battalions began
to go overseas, additional instructions were issued allowing the
raising of a third line battalion once the first line battalion was
on foreign service. In January 1915 these designations were
simplified and the battalions called the 1/5th, 2/5th and 3/5th
battalions respectively.
The
battalions that served in France took part in many of the major
actions of the war including the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the
Battle of Loos, the Battle of the Somme, the Third Battle
of Ypres
and the Battle
of Amiens.
Military service
The 1st Battalion went to France in September 1914 as part of
17th Brigade
in
6th
Division.
It took part in the First Battle
of Ypres
being based in the Armentieres sector on the
southern flank of the battle. In October 1915 17th Brigade
was exchanged with 71st Brigade of
24th Division. Immediately on
joining 24th Division, the battalion was moved to 72nd Brigade
within the division. It was to remain as part of this formation
until the end of the war.
The 24th
division took part in the Battle of
the Somme in the fighting around Guillemont
and later Delville Wood
suffering over 240 casualties during the
fighting.
During the Third Battle of Ypres, the 1st Battalion took part in
the initial assault on 31 July 1917. Its objectives were to capture
the German frontline trench called Jehovah trench, the second line
trench called Jordan trench and the remains of Bulgar Wood. These
three objectives were , and from the British front line. The
battalion managed to capture both the trenches and a platoon
reached Bulgar Wood before events around them forced a retreat from
Bulgar Wood and Jordan trench. The battalion dug in on the Jehovah
trench line having lost 11 officers and 258 other ranks as
casualties, almost 50% of the battalion strength. After the war,
the anniversary of this attack became the main Regimental Day.
137th Brigade (including 1/6th
Battalion North Staffs) at the St Quentin Canal, October 1918
The 2nd Battalion was one of only eight Regular battalions of the
British Army to remain in India throughout the war.
It took part in
operations on the North West Frontier in 1915. Amusingly, the
commanding officer at this time was
Major Fox and the
adjutant Captain Squirell.
Although it was a Regular Army battalion, it received very few
replacements during the war. From a pre-war establishment strength
of a HQ plus eight companies, after the 1915 North West Frontier
campaign the battalion comprised only a HQ company and four rifle
companies. This cannot be attributed to war casualties as the
battalion suffered less than 100 casualties throughout the entire
war.
The 1/5th and 1/6th Battalions arrived in France in February 1915
as part of 137th (Staffordshire) Brigade of
46th Division.
Among the
first territorial units to go to France, these two battalions took
part in the Battle of Loos,
especially the battles around the Hohenzollern Redoubt
in 1915, and at Gommecourt on the northern flank of
the Battle of the Somme.
By September 1918 the 1/5th Battalion had been reduced to a cadre
and had been transferred away from 46th Division, but the 1/6th
remained and with the rest of 137th Brigade took part in the
storming of the
St Quentin
Canal.
The 12th Battalion formed part of
40th Division and
served in France on the River Lys during the advance in Flanders
(18 August to 6 September 1918) and the
Fifth Battle of Ypres, and in France
and Belgium during the final weeks of the war.
Awards and decorations
Altogether, the regiment was awarded 52 battle honours, but it was
ruled that only ten could be carried on the
colours.
Victoria Crosses
Four
Victoria Crosses were awarded to
men of the regiment during World War I:
Interwar years (1918–1939)
The 1st
Battalion was posted to The Curragh,
Ireland after the
armistice, becoming involved in the Irish War of Independence until
1922, when it moved to Gibraltar
. In the following year it was moved to
Thrace, where it played a
peace-keeping role in the conflict between
Greek and Turkish forces. In 1923 it moved to India and remained in
the Far East until 1948.
The 2nd Battalion was stationed in India in 1919 when Afghan forces
crossed the border and occupied some Indian territory, sparking the
brief
Third Anglo-Afghan War.
During
this conflict, the battalion was involved very early on, firstly in
the investing of Peshawar
City
, where Afghan sympathisers were mooting a holy war
and on 11 May 1919 when they were involved in a bayonet charge on
the Afghan forces at Bagh, near Landi Kotal. For their
involvement, the regiment received the battle honour "Afghanistan
NWF 1919". It returned to England via Egypt and the Sudan in 1921,
and was quickly redeployed to Ireland.
On the establishment
of the Irish Free State in 1922, it
returned to the regimental depot at Lichfield. Until 1939, it spent time in "home
stations".
Apart from England, this included service in
Gibraltar from 1930 to 1932 and a year in Palestine in 1936–7.
The 3rd and 4th (Special Reserve) Battalions were placed in
suspended animation in 1921, finally being disbanded in 1953. The
Territorial Force was reconstituted as the
Territorial Army in 1920,
and the 5th and 6th Battalions were reformed. In 1936, the 5th
Battalion was converted to an anti-aircraft unit of the
Royal Engineers as 41st (North Staffordshire
Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion and thus ceased to be a part of
the regiment. However the affiliation with the regiment was
retained and the battalion number was reinstated when the 41st
Anti-Aircraft Battalion was transferred to the Royal Artillery in
1940 as the 41st (5th North Staffordshire) Searchlight Regiment TA.
In 1939 the size of the Territorial Army was doubled, and the
remaining 6th Battalion formed a duplicate 7th Battalion.
In 1921, the regimental title was altered to
The North
Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's). In 1937,
the black facings formerly worn by the 64th Foot were restored,
replacing the white colour that had been imposed on all non-royal
English regiments in 1881..
The
London, Midland
and Scottish Railway renamed one of their
Royal Scot class locomotives,
number 6141 (formerly
Caledonian), after the
regiment.
Second World War (1939–1945)
In September 1939, the North Staffordshire Regiment consisted of
two regular and two Territorial battalions — the 1st, 2nd and 6th
and 7th Battalions. Following the outbreak of the
Second World War, the regiment was expanded as
it had been during the First World War. This expansion, however,
was limited this time only to the addition of two more battalions —
the 8th and 9th Battalions, raised in 1940. The roles of the two
regular battalions were reversed this time, with the 1st Battalion
serving in India and Burma throughout the war, while the 2nd
Battalion remained in Europe and North Africa.
The 1st
Battalion saw no action until 1942, when one company that was
stationed on the Andaman
Islands
were involved in the defence of the islands during
the
Japanese invasion. In 1943, the battalion served for six
months in
Burma before
being withdrawn to India again. For the rest of the war, the
battalion was employed on internal security duties.
The 2nd Battalion went to France in September 1939 as part of
1st Division
of the
British Expeditionary
Force, and was involved in the
Battle of France before eventually being
evacuated from
Dunkirk on 1 June
1940. Following that, it remained in the United Kingdom until 1943
when, still as part of 1st Division, it sailed to North Africa and
took part in the
Tunisian Campaign.
The battalion did not participate in the
invasion of Sicily or the
initial invasion of Italy but was
one of the lead units for the
Anzio
landings. As part of
15th Army,
the 2nd Battalion continued to serve in Italy until January 1945
when the battalion and the rest of 1st Division were transferred to
Palestine.
The two Territorial battalions both formed part of 176th Brigade of
59th
Division. The division spent several years training until it
landed in Normandy in June 1944. Only the 6th
Battalion went with the division though, since the 7th Battalion
had been transferred away in 1942. The 6th battalion had been in
France for less than two months when, in August 1944, along with
all the other infantry units of 59th Division, it was broken up to
supply replacements to other units.
The 7th Battalion, upon leaving 59th
Division, served with the 228th and 207th Infantry
Brigades in the Orkney
and Shetland
islands in 1943–1945, before being transferred to
Italy in 1945 as an administrative unit in the 183rd Infantry
brigade within the 61st Infantry
Division. The battalion was disbanded in 1947. The 8th
and 9th Battalions were initially raised as training battalions.
The 8th Battalion was converted to artillery in March 1942 becoming
the 180th Field Artillery Regiment,
RA. This unit was disbanded in August 1944.
The 9th Battalion transferred to the
Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) in December
1941 becoming 154th Regiment RAC. This unit was disbanded in July
1943.
The regiment was awarded 22 battle honours for the war but, as at
the end of the First World War, only 10 could be displayed on the
colours.
Postwar service (1945–1959)
Following the
independence of
India in 1947, all infantry regiments in the British Army were
reduced to a single regular battalion. Accordingly the 1st
Battalion left India to take part in a ceremony officially
amalgamating with the 2nd Battalion in Egypt in 1948. The new 1st
Battalion remained in Egypt until 1950, when it returned to the
depot in Staffordshire.
A year later, the battalion was posted to
the disputed port city of Trieste
. In 1953, the battalion was transferred to
Korea
, where they
were stationed on garrison duties as part of the United Nations force established at the end
of the Korean War. In 1954, it moved to
Hong
Kong
, where the regiment's 200th anniversary was
celebrated in 1956.
Amalgamation
In July 1957, a
defence
review was announced, which resulted in the amalgamation of the
North Staffordshire Regiment with the
The South Staffordshire
Regiment, with the new regiment becoming part of the new
administrative
Mercian Brigade.
The
amalgamation of the 1st Battalions of the two regiments took place
on 31 January 1959 at Minden, Germany
, to form the 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment
.
The 6th Battalion continued as a Territorial unit of the new
regiment without a change of title. In 1961, it merged with the
441st Light Anti Aircraft Regiment,
Royal Artillery, the successor to the 5th
North Staffords, to become the 5th/6th Battalion. The combined
battalion was abolished in 1967 on the creation of the
Territorial Army and
Volunteer Reserve in 1967.
The Staffordshire Regiment only had a separate existence from
1959–2007. As part of the reforms proposed in the 2003 Defence
White Paper,
Delivering Security in a
Changing World, the regiment was merged with the
Cheshire Regiment and the
Worcestershire and
Sherwood Foresters Regiment to form the
Mercian Regiment. The amalgamation took
place on 1 September 2007 when the Staffordshire Regiment became
the 3rd Battalion, the Mercian Regiment.
Battle Honours
The following lists all battle honours awarded to the Regiment or
inherited by the regiment from the 64th Foot and 98th Foot.
Prior to 1914 all battle honours awarded to a unit were displayed
upon the colours. However the number of battle honours awarded
during the First World War was such that it was ordered that no
more than 24 honours were to be carried on the colours, of which no
more than 10 were to be honours relating to the First World War.
Similarly, following the Second World War it was ordered that up to
10 honours relating to that conflict could be displayed on the
colours, in addition to honours already carried. The choice of the
honours to be displayed were at the discretion of regimental
committees.
The honours chosen by the North Staffordshire Regiment to be
carried on the colours are shown in capitals in the following
list.
Honours awarded to the 64th Foot
Honours awarded to the 98th Foot
1881–1914
1914–1919
1939–1945
See also
:Category:North
Staffordshire Regiment officers
:Category:North
Staffordshire Regiment soldiers
Notes
References
;
, France;
, 1918
, 1918
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