King's Shropshire Light Infantry

History

Formation

The King's Light Infantry (Shropshire Regiment) was formed on 1 July 1881 as the county regiment of Herefordshire and Shropshire as part of the Childers Reforms. It was renamed as The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) on 10 March 1882.

The regiment was an amalgamation of the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot and the 85th (King's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot, which became the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions. The 1881 reforms also redesignated the militia and rifle volunteers units within the regimental district as battalions of the regiment. Accordingly, the Shropshire Militia and Royal Herefordshire Militia became the 3rd and 4th (Militia) Battalions respectively, and the 1st and 2nd Shropshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions. The 1st Herefordshire (Herefordshire and Radnorshire) Rifle Volunteer Corps was also affiliated as a volunteer battalion, without change of title.

The 1st battalion of the KSLI was stationed in Egypt from 1882, and served with distinction in the Anglo-Egyptian War. The battalion transferred to Malta where it was from 1883 to 1891, but was back in the Eastern Sudan serving in the Soudan Expedition 1886–87. From 1891 the battalion was in Hong Kong, and three years later it was moved to British India, serving there until early 1903. The last posting in India was at Poona.

The 2nd battalion was stationed in Ireland from 1886 to 1894, and in late 1899 embarked for South Africa as part of the reinforcements for the Second Boer War. Following the end of the war in South Africa in 1902, the battalion went to India on the SS Syria in January 1903, where it was stationed at Ranikhet in Bengal.

In 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, the two militia battalions were merged to form the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and the 1st and 2nd VBs were merged to form the 4th Battalion Territorial Force at Longden Coleham in Shrewsbury. At the same time, the Herefordshire RVC became independent as the Herefordshire Regiment (TF).

First World War

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion landed at Saint-Nazaire as part of the 16th Brigade in 6th Division in September 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 2nd Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 80th Brigade in the 27th Division in December 1914 also for service on the Western Front.

Territorial Force

The 1/4th Battalion served in India before landing at Le Havre as part of the 159th Brigade in the 53rd (Welsh) Division in July 1917 for service on the Western Front. The 10th (Shropshire & Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion landed at Marseille as part of the 231st Brigade in the 74th (Yeomanry) Division in May 1918 also for service on the Western Front.

New Armies

The 5th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 42nd Brigade in the 14th (Light) Division in May 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-Sur-Mer as part of the 60th Brigade in the 20th (Light) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 76th Brigade in the 25th Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 8th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the 66th Brigade in the 22nd Division in September 1915 but sailed to Salonika in November 1915. It was disbanded there on 1 December 1918 and its personnel transferred to the 2nd Battalion.

Between the wars

On 7 September 1919, during the Irish War of Independence following the war in Europe, the KSLI suffered the British Army's first casualties at the hands of the IRA when a detachment from a unit stationed at Fermoy was ambushed on a church parade by an IRA unit under the command of Liam Lynch; one soldier was killed, four wounded and the rest disarmed by the motor-borne raiders. After the failure of a local coroner's inquest to return a murder verdict on the dead man, the next day 200 soldiers attacked businesses belonging to members of the inquest jury in an unofficial reprisal. In 1921, the regiment was renamed as The King's Shropshire Light Infantry.

After its Irish posting, the Second Battalion was moved away in December 1922 to Tidworth. A further journey followed to Minden Barracks in Cologne in 1924 as part of the garrison of the demilitarised Rhineland, and across the river in January 1926 to Wiesbaden, where its band played the regular round of paid civilian engagements as well as appearing at both the 1924 and 1925 Empire Exhibitions at Wembley. Bandmaster Burnell was the last to conduct the National Anthem before the withdrawal of British troops from the area in November 1927. The battalion returned to Aldershot.

Second World War

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion would serve with the 3rd Infantry Brigade, part of the 1st Infantry Division for the entire war. The battalion fought in the Battle of Dunkirk, the Tunisia Campaign and the Italian Campaign including the Battle of Anzio.

The 2nd Battalion began the war in Jamaica, with a company detached to the Bermuda Garrison. The battalion would eventually join the 185th Infantry Brigade, which included the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. The brigade was originally assigned to the 79th Armoured Division, but was then transferred to the 3rd British Infantry Division in April 1943,

Territorial Army

The 4th Battalion was a 1st Line Territorial Army (TA) unit assigned to the 159th Infantry Brigade, part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division.

The 5th Battalion was a 2nd Line TA duplicate of the 4th Battalion formed in 1939 on the doubling of the Territorial Army as, by this time, another European conflict seemed inevitable. The battalion was assigned to the 114th Infantry Brigade of the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division, a 2nd Line duplicate of the 53rd (Welsh) Division which the 4th Battalion was originally assigned. The battalion remained within the United Kingdom on home defence duties. In 1944, the battalion was transferred to the 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division and later the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division. With these two formations, the battalion served as a training unit for both the KSLI and the North Staffordshire Regiment, eventually sending over 100 officers and 4,000 other ranks to the front-line as trained replacements.

Hostilities-only

A hostilities-only unit, the 6th Battalion was raised in June 1940 and assigned to the 204th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), later part of Lincolnshire County Division. The 6th Battalion was converted into 181st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in March 1942. At the time, there was a shortage of insignia, so the troops were ordered to cut off the 'KING'S' and 'L.I.' from the ends of their cloth shoulder titles, leaving 'SHROPSHIRE', which led to the regiment's nickname 'the Shropshire Gunners'. This regiment served with 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, wearing Scottish Tam o' Shanter caps and Royal Artillery badges, but still with a regimental badge of a gold light infantry bugle horn embroidered on a green background. The Shropshire Gunners supported 15th (Scottish) throughout the North West Europe Campaign from Normandy to Germany, being the first field artillery regiment across both the Rhine and the Elbe.

The 7th and 8th Battalions were, like the 6th Battalion, raised in 1940. The 7th Battalion was converted to the 99th Anti-Tank Regiment in November 1942, but was disbanded in December 1943. The 8th (Home Defence) Battalion was raised specifically for home defence duties until it became a training unit until 1943 when it was disbanded.

Postwar

In 1948, the KSLI was reduced to one regular battalion and became part of the Light Infantry Brigade.

The KSLI was to participate in Korean War and was the longest-serving British regiment, alongside the King's Own Scottish Borderers.{{cite web|url= https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/kings-shropshire-light-infantry|title=The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry |publisher= National Army Museum|access-date=4 February 2024}}

In 1968, the Brigade's four regiments (the KSLI, Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and Durham Light Infantry) were amalgamated to form The Light Infantry, with the 1st KSLI being redesignated as the 3rd Battalion of the new regiment.

Regimental museum

The KSLI was based at Copthorne Barracks in Shrewsbury. Its regimental museum has been located in Shrewsbury Castle since 1985 and combines the collections of the 53rd, the 85th, the KSLI to 1968, the local Militia, Rifle Volunteers and Territorials, as well as those of other county regiments - the Shropshire Yeomanry and the Shropshire Artillery. The museum was attacked by the IRA in 1992 and extensive damage to the collection and to some of the Castle resulted: it re-opened in 1995.

Battle honours

As well as inheriting the battle honours of the 53rd and 85th Foot, the KSLI bore the following honours on their colours:

• Early wars
  • Egypt 1882, Suakin 1885, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899-1902
• Ten selected honours for the First World War:
  • Armentieres, 1914, Ypres 1915, '17, Frezenberg, Somme 1916, '18, Arras, 1917, '18, Cambrai, 1917, '18, Bligny, Epehy, Doiran, 1917, '18, Jerusalem
• Ten selected honours for the Second World War:
  • Dunkirk, 1940, Normandy Landing, Antwerp, Venraij, Hochwald, Bremen, North-West Europe 1940, '44-'45, Tunis, Anzio, Italy, 1943-5
• Later wars
  • Korea, 1951-2

Colonels

The following served as Colonel of the regiment:

• General Sir Charles Trollope, KCB (1st Bn 27 December 1868)
• General Sir Henry de Bathe, 4th Baronet KCB (2nd Bn 25 April 1880)
• Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Edmond Knox KCB (6 January 1907)
• Major-General Raymond Northland Revell Reade, CB (19 January 1921)
• General Sir Charles John Cecil Grant, KCB, KCVO, DSO (16 February 1931)
• Major-General John Malcolm Lawrence Grover, CB, MC (1 January 1947)
• Lieutenant-General Sir Ernest Edward Down, KBE, CB (5 May 1955)
• Major-General William Reginald Cox, CB, DSO (5 November 1957)
• General Sir Geoffrey Randolph Dixon Musson, GCB, CBE, DSO (5 November 1963)

Notable soldiers

• Private Arthur "Nick" Carter served with the regiment from 1901 to 1951. He actively served in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and World War I (1914–1918). When he retired, he was the oldest serving member of the British Army. He earned ten Good Conduct stripes and the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with two clasps for 48 years of good service, the only soldier in British Army history to do so.

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

• Sergeant George Harold Eardley, 4th Battalion, Second World War
• Private Charles Irwin, 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot, Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Sergeant James Stokes, 2nd Battalion, Second World War
• Private Harold Edward Whitfield, 10th (Shropshire and Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Great War

Notes

References

• N.B. Leslie, The Succession of Colonels of the British Army from 1660 to the Present Day, Society for Army Historical Research Special Publication No 11, 1974.
• Don Neal, Guns and Bugles: The Story of the 6th Bn KSLI – 181st Field Regiment RA 1940–1946, Studley: Brewin, 2001, .
• Arthur Swinson, A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army, London, 1972.
• Ray Westlake, Tracing the Rifle Volunteers, Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, .

References

1. {{London Gazette. (1 July 1881)
2. "King's Shropshire Light Infantry". Regiments.org.
3. Westlake, pp. 209–12.
4. Hart′s Army list, 1903
5. "Locations: 1st Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry". Regiments.org.
6. "King's Shropshire Light Infantry". Anglo-Boer War.
7. (14 January 1903). "TROOPS RETURNING HOME". [[The Times]].
8. (11 October 1902). "THE ARMY IN INDIA". [[The Times]].
9. Chris Baker. "The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry)".
10. "4th (Territorial) Battalion KSLI: Bligny and the Croix de Guerre". Shropshire Regimental Museum.
11. Bennett, Richard. (1959). "The Black and Tans". Four Square.
12. ''The King's Shropshire Light Infantry: 1881-1968'', Duckers, Peter, Tempus Publications, 2004
13. "The King's Shropshire Light Infantry 1939 - 1945". Shropshire Regimental Museum.
14. "RA 1939-45 181 Fld Rgt".
15. Neal, pp 30–31.
16. Neal, pp. 29–30
17. "RA 1939-45 99 A/Tk Rgt".
18. Whitaker's Almanack 1956, p. 471
19. "Regimental History".
20. "Shropshire Regimental Museum".
21. (10 August 2009). "The King's Shropshire Light Infantry". British Light Infantry Regiments.
22. {{London Gazette. (29 December 1944)