The Royal Leicestershire Regiment, 17th Foot

The Royal Leicestershire Regiment, 17th Foot PDF

Author: W. E. Underhill

Publisher:

Published: 2002-01

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 9781843421771

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This volume of the history of the regiment begins in 1928 and covers all the battalions, beginning with the years between the wars with the 1st Battalion in India, where it was in action on the NW Frontier, and the 2nd Battalion, after a couple of years in Rhine Army, at home till 1938 when it was sent to Palestine. In 1936 the 4th (TA) Battalion was converted to AA, becoming 44th (The Leicestershire Regiment) AA Battalion RE equipped with searchlights, while the 5th Battalion, as in the Great War, formed a second-line battalion, in May 1939, thus giving 1/5th and 2/5th Battalions. The bulk of the book is taken up with WWII and the parts played by the various battalions. It takes the campaigns in which the regiment was involved on a chronological basis describing the operations undertaken by whichever battalion was there. The last four chapters deal with the post-war period, mainly the 1st Battalion in Hong Kong, Korea, BAOR, the Sudan and Cyprus where the story ends.The regiment s part in WWII begins with the 1/5th in that short-lived and ill-fated campaign in Norway in April 1940, following which the battalion was converted to a pre-OCTU training unit in the UK. 2/5th, which was in 46th North Midland Division throughout the war, joined the BEF in May 1940 and was evacuated from Dunkirk. Subsequently it fought in Tunisia, Italy and Greece ending up in Austria where it was disbanded in May 1946. The 2nd Battalion moved from Palestine to the Western Desert in September 1940 as part of Wavell s Thirty Thousand which routed the Italians in the early stages of that campaign. In May 1941 it fought in Crete then in Syria against the Vichy French and finally in Tobruk. In March 1942 the battalion sailed for Colombo and then India where it was selected for the Chindits and fought in Burma in the long-range penetration role. Its war ended in India. The 1st Battalion began the war in India and in January 1941 it went to Malaya and was involved in the fighting withdrawal down the Malay peninsula to Singapore which surrendered on 15 February 1942. The battalion suffered heavy casualties during the retreat and on 20 December 1941 it was amalgamated with the 2nd E Surrey to form The British Battalion . There is a section on the experiences of this battalion in captivity. In June 1942 the 8th Battalion, formed in October 1940, was redesignated 1st Battalion and as such fought in NW Europe with 49th West Riding Division through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.Finally, the 7th Battalion was raised in July 1940. This battalion went to India and was also chosen for the Chindits.

A History of the Services of the 17th (the Leicestershire) Regiment

A History of the Services of the 17th (the Leicestershire) Regiment PDF

Author: Edward Arthur Howard Webb

Publisher:

Published: 2001-04-01

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 9781843420811

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This regimental history is a revision and continuation up to 1910 of the printed Historical Record of the 17th Foot, published in 1848, by Richard Cannon of the War Office. Cannon produced a series of regimental histories in the mid-nineteenth century. The regiment was raised in 1688 by Colonel Solomon Richards for King James II, but a year later allegiance was switched to William III; its first Battle Honour was Namur, in 1695. The regiment was in N America during the War of Independence, then it was sent to the W Indies in the Wars of the French Revolution. In 1804 it went to India where it remained for twenty years, gaining several battle honours. In 1825 King George IV approved of the regiment bearing on its colours and appointments the figure of the Royal Tiger with the word Hindoostan superscribed, as a lasting testimony of the exemplary conduct of the corps during the period of its service in India, from 1804 to 1823. Hence the regimental nickname The Tigers. It was in the Crimea for 18 months from the end of 1854, and at the Siege of Redan Cpl Philip Smith became the first member of the regiment to receive the newly instituted Victoria Cross. In 1858 the 2nd Battalion was raised, though there had been a 2nd Battalion for three short years, 1799 to 1802. The 1st Battalion saw service in the Boer War. The story ends in 1910 with the 1st Battalion in Aldershot with a strength of 801 all ranks, the 2nd was in India (1,031 all ranks) where it had been adjudged the best regiment at arms (British regiments) at the 6th Divisional Assault at Arms, Poona. The final chapter is devoted to uniforms, equipment and the Colours (of the eleven colour plates two depict the Colours and the rest uniforms). Appendices list the succession of Colonels and give biographical details; give an account of the Siege of Londonderry in 1689 and the Battle of Sherriffmuir in 1715 and details of regimental silver and regimental music

Historical Record of the Seventeenth, Or the Leicestershire Regiment of Foot

Historical Record of the Seventeenth, Or the Leicestershire Regiment of Foot PDF

Author: Richard Cannon

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-10-17

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9780266421542

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Excerpt from Historical Record of the Seventeenth, or the Leicestershire Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1688, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1848 The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

With the Bengal Tigers in the Crimea

With the Bengal Tigers in the Crimea PDF

Author: James O'Malley

Publisher:

Published: 2012-08

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9780857069818

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At war against the Russians in the Victorian era This book, originally entitled, The Life of James O'Malley, gave few clues as to its content. In fact, it is an engaging eye-witness account of the war in the Crimea, with all of its attendant privations, savage violence and disease, as experienced by an ordinary British infantryman, told in simple but graphic detail. O'Malley joined the Leicestershire regiment, the 17th Foot-known proudly as the Royal Bengal Tigers-following exemplary service in India. The regiment was stationed in O'Malley's native Ireland and he there enlisted and learned the fundamentals of a good soldier of the grenadier company. The Crimean War saw his regiment sent to the trenches before Sebastopol and O'Malley's descriptions of the conflict there will strike all readers of military history as tellingly reminiscent of the trench warfare of the Great War some 60 years later. The British Army during this campaign was woefully ill equipped to fight a campaign in the Crimea, as most students will know, and O'Malley's descriptions of the conditions he and his comrades endured particularly from the encroaching winter are most poignant. O'Malley's book was poorly produced in its original edition and has been substantially re-worked by the Leonaur editors for modern readers. The original title of the work perhaps guaranteed its comparative obscurity so it will be welcomed as a new addition to the libraries of those interested in the period. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.