John Connors
Private John Connors

3rd Regiment of Foot.

ON September 8, 1855, during the assault on the Redan, Connors displayed great courage in personal conflict with the Russians. He also rescued an officer of the 30th Regiment who was surrounded by the enemy, one of whom he shot, and bayonetted another, and inside the Redan was noticed in personal combat for some time with the enemy. Selected by his comrades to receive the French War Medal.

Frederick Francis Maude

Frederick Francis Maude,
(Major, Afterwards General, G.C.B. 3rd Buffs (East Kent Regiment) Knight of the Legion of Honour

DECORATED for conspicuous and most devoted bravery, during the final attack on the Redan, on September 8, 1855.

When in command of the covering-party of the 2nd division, Major Maude, with only nine or ten of his men, all the rest having fallen and he himself being severely wounded, dashed for a traverse, which he held, and only retired when all hope of support was at an end. Frederick Francis Maude, born December 20, 1821, died at Torquay on June 20, 1897 ; was the son of the Rev. Honourable J. C. Maude. In 1861 was A.A.G. at Gibraltar ; commanded a division in India, 1875-80, and the 2nd of the Khyber Force during the Afghan War, 1878-9. Retired 1885.

William Reginald Cotter

L6707 A/Cpl. William Reginald Cotter

6th Battalion East Kent Regiment

On 6 March 1916 near Hohenzollern Redoubt, France, Corporal Cotter's leg was blown off at the knee and he was also wounded in both arms. He nevertheless made his way unaided for 50 yards to a crater, steadied the men who were holding it, controlled their fire, issued orders and altered their dispositions to meet a fresh counter-attack. For two hours he held his position and only allowed his wounds to be roughly dressed when the attack had quietened down. He could not be moved back for 14 hours and during all this time he had a cheery word for everyone.
 

 

Medals of the Regiments:
The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

 
 
Buffs Officer's BadgeEast Kent Regiment Badge
The Dragon badge granted by Prince George of  Denmark in 1707 for continuous gallant conduct.
  
Above: Officers' service dress cap badge in bronzeAbove: Other ranks in gilding metal

© Images Copyright ©

 

 

 The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
1665 - 1961
 
 
 
Titles
pre 1881post 1881
3rd (East Kent) Regiment of Foot (or The Buffs) 1st and 2nd Battalions The Buffs ( East Kent Regiment)
 
Earliest recognised formation & brief history: 1665, raised as the Holland Regiment, and absorbed into the standing army of Charles II -although the lineage can be traced back to 1572 and the 'trained bands' of men from the city of London serving in Holland to free the United Provinces from Spanish domination. (bands which formed the nucleus of the Holland Regiment)  This ancient link gave the regiment the privilege of marching through the City of London "Drums beating , colours waving and bayonets fixed". In 1669 they became known as the Prince of Denmark's Regiment. 1747 saw the name "Buffs" come into popular usage from the colour of the facings of the uniform - becoming part of the official title by 1751 as "The Buffs" or 3rd Regiment of Foot. A second battalion of the regiment was operational 1803-1815, 1857-1881, 1881-1949.
 
Motto: Veteri frondescit honore =  It flourishes in ancient honour.
 
Regimental Journal:  The Dragon
 
WWI:Battle Honours; 48Victoria Crosses; 1Died; 6000
WWII:    Battle Honours; 44Victoria Crosses; 0Died; ????
 
Amalgamated:1961, with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, to form 'The Queen's Own Buffs, the Royal Kent Regiment'.
 
 
 
 

Peninsula War 1808 - 1814 1st Battalion.

Military General Service Medal.  1793 - 1814 clasps:

 
Corunna
Talavera
Busaco
Albuhera
Vittoria
  
5130641652  
       
Pyrenees
Nivelle
Nive
Orthes
Toulouse
Total MedalsMax clasps
1648887621252818
 
 
 

Battle Honours: Douro; Talavera; Albuhera; Vittoria; Pyrenees; Nivelle; Nive; Orthes; Toulouse; Peninsula.

 
 
 

Gawalior Campaign 1843 1st Battalion

Gawalior Campaign Punniar Star 1843

 
number:?
 

Battle Honour:  Punniar

 
 
 

Crimean War  1854 - 1856  1st Battalion

Crimea Medal 1854 -56

 
Clasp: →..none...

Sebastopol

Total Medals
Number: →16875891
 
 

Battle Casualties;

 

Action.KilledDangerously
Wounded 		Severely
Wounded		Slightly
Wounded 		Total
The Assault on the Quarries 7/6/18551361121
First Attack on the Redan18/6/1855--4-2
Final Attack on the Redan 8/9/185531103163135
2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th Bombardments of Sebastopol and Minor Actions.21*133182148**

Grand Total:      

306

* includes one died of wounds, and three 'mortally wounded'.

** total includes Captain C.C. Ross reported as missing 31/8/1855

 

Men who served in the Crimea also eligible for:

Turkish Crimea Medal 1855

 


VCs : 2  Maude    Connors

 

Battle Honour: Sebastopol

 

 
 
 

Second China War 1856-60 1st Battalion

Second China War Medal 1856-60

  
clasp:..none...

Taku Forts 1860

total medals
numbers:49813862
    
 

Battle Honour: Taku Forts

 
 
 

Perak War, Malay Peninsula 1874-76 1st Battalion.

India General Service Medal 1854 - 95

clasp:

Perak

number :600
 
 
 
 

South Africa and the Zulu War 1876-79 2nd Battalion

South Africa Medal 1877-79

clasp:..none...

1878-9

1879

total
numbers :81388921011
 
 

31 recorded as 'died in service' and 6 killed in action, two of which were at Isandhlwana: 45/810 Pte. C. Shaw  & 45/389 Pte. G. Wheatley  (see mounted infantry section of the casualty list)

Battle Honour: South Africa 1879

 
1881: Regiment now titled  (1st and 2nd Battalions) The Buffs, East Kent Regiment.
 

Manipur Expedition 1891 (odd men 1st Battalion.)

India General Service Medal 1854 - 95

clasp:
N.E. Frontier 1891
number :6
 
 
 
 

The Relief of Chitral 1895 and North West Frontier Operations 1897-98  1st Battalion

India Medal 1895

clasp:

Relief of Chitral
 1895

Punjab Frontier
1897-98
number:??
 


VCs; 1, Cpl James Smith (see NWF 1895-98 VCs page)

 

Battle Honour: Chitral

 

 
 
 

Anglo-Boer War 1899 - 1902 2nd Battalion, Jan 1900- end of war.  3rd Battalion  (With other volunteer companies provided by non-regular battalions of the regiment.)

Queen's South Africa Medal 1899-1902, with or without the King's South Africa Medal 1901 - 1902

Frequently encountered clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902; also:

 
clasp;
Relief of Kimberly

Paardeberg

Driefontein

Johannesburg

Diamond Hill

Wittebergen

numbers;??????
 

Relief of Kimberly, Paardeberg, and Driefontein are a common combination to the 2nd Btn.

 

Casualties:

OfficersNCOs and Men
KIA & DOWWoundedDeath from disease Missing / POWKIA & DOWDeath from disease WoundedMissing / POW
  
41144618218480
 

Battle Honours: Relief of Kimberley, Paardeburg, South Africa 1900-02

 
 
 

The Great War 1914 - 1918  (reached a maximum of 15  battalions; 8 served overseas:- )

Generally awarded the British War Medal & Victory Medal, most men overseas prior to 1/1/1916 also a 1914 or 1914-15 Star.

Battalion →1 2*1/4**1/567810***
date of first overseas service →10/9
1914		17/1
1915		?/11
1914		?/11
1914		2/6
1915		?/7
1915		1/9
1915		1/2
1917
Theatre ↓ (first theatre red x )
France & Flandersxx  xxx 
Egypt & Palestine       x
Mesopotamia   x
6/12/15		    
Salonika/Macedonia x      
India  xx    
Star
possible ? 		1914 or 1914-15 x       
or 1914-15 only xx? Aden Field Force?xxxx 
died
Extracted from : "Soldiers / Officers Died in the Great War" (consider approximate - in addition at least 191 officers are recorded with 'battalion not shown' or with battalions not shown here. )		114869620
other ranks died India		29413561069588152
 

* 2nd Btn. was in India when war declared - returned first to the UK
** 1/4th Battalion was sent to India Nov 1914 where it remained with the exception of a 6 month tour in Aden Aug 1915 - Feb 1916. A number of men from this battalion were still in India 1919 and were deployed on active service in the 3rd Afghan war.
*** Formed in Egypt from two dismounted yeomanry regiments; The Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles and 1/1st West Kent Yeomanry.

 

Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19
114 officers and men of the East Kent Regiment also qualified for this medal.

 
RegularTerritorial ForceNew Armies
 


VCs 1:  Cotter

 

Battle Honours: Aisne 1914; Ypres 1915, 1917; Loos; Somme 1916, 1918; Arras 1917; Amiens; Hindenburg Line; Struma; Baghdad; Jerusalem; Armentières 1914; Gravenstafel; St Julien; Frezenberg; Bellewaarde; Hooge 1915; Albert 1916, 1918; Bazentin; Delville Wood; Pozières; Flers-Courcelette; Morval; Thiepval; Le Transloy; Ancre Heights; Ancre 1916-17; Scarpe 1917; Messines 1917; Pilckem; Passchendaele; Cambrai 1917, 1918; St Quentin; Avre; Bapaume 1918; Epéhy; St Quentin Canal; Selle; Sambre; France and Flanders 1914-18; Doiran 1918; Macedonia 1915-18; Gaza; Tell'Asur; Palestine 1917-18; Aden; Tigris 1916; Kut al Amara 1917; Mesopotamia 1915-18.

 

 
 
 

Third Afghan War 1919  part 1/4th Battalion?

India General Service Medal 1908

clasp:
Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919
numbers:?
 
 
 
 

Saya San Rebellion, Burma.  1st Battalion

India General Service Medal 1908

clasp:

Burma 1930-32

numbers:?
 
 
Granted the 'Royal' prefix in 1935 to become "The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)"
 

Palestine 1936 - 39 1st & 2nd Battalions

General Service Medal 1918 -62

 1st Battalion2nd Battalion
clasp:
Palestine
numbers:??
 
 
 
 

WW2 1939 - 1945  

Battalion →1st2nd4th5th
campaign ↓    
France and
Belgium 1940.
(Dunkirk )		 xxx
North Africa / Middle Eastxxx
captured on Leros Dodecanese 16/11/43		x
Burma x  
Sicily / Italyx  x
N.W. Europe    
 

Notes.

  on the strength of 132nd Inf Bde at El Alamein232nd Infantry Brigade
Malta 10/11/40 - 22/2/41

234th Infantry Brigade
(captured)		36th Infantry Brigade

majority captured France and Belgium '40
reformed UK
 
 
 

WW2 Stars common to the Battalion (excluding 39-45 star )
 Key: A = Africa, P = Pacific, B =  Burma, I = Italy,  F&G = France and Germany

 A, I.A, B.AA, I.
     
 

Battle Honours: North-West Europe 1940; Alem Hanza; El Alamein; Robaa Valley; Trigno; Anzio; Sicily 1943; Argenta Gap; Leros; Shweli. Defence of Escaut; St Orner-La Bassée; Withdrawal to Seine; Sidi Suleiman; Alam el Halfa; El Agheila; Advance on Tripoli; Tebaga Gap; El Hamma; Akarit; Djebel Azzag 1943; Djebel bech; Chekaoui; Heidows; Medjez Plain; Longstop Hill 1943; North Africa 19413; Centuripe; Monte Rivoglia; Termoli; Sangro; Cassino I; Liri Valley; Aquino; Rome; Trasimene Line; Coriano; Monte Spaduro; Senio; Italy 1943-5; Middle East 1943; Malta 1940-2; Myitson; Burma 1945.

 
Regulars reduced to a single battalion, 1949
 

Mau Mau Rebellion, Kenya. 1953 1st Battalion

Africa General Service Medal 1902 - 56

clasp:

Kenya

numbers:?
 
 
 
 

© This website and its contents are copyright. Images are digitally watermarked. © North East Medals, All Rights Reserved

 

  

 

Selected Links

Buffs Regimental Museum  High Street Canterbury

 
 
 

Selected Bibliography; The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

 
AuthorTitlePublisher
Richard CannonHistorical Record of the Third Regiment of Foot, or The Buffs; formerly designated The Holland Regiment; containing an Account of its Origin in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, and of its subsequent Services to 1838. 281 pp. (Cannon's Regimental Records Series). London: Longman, Orme and Co., 1839.
Capt. H. R. KnightHistorical Records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment, 3rd Foot, formerly designated The Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. Vol. 1. 1572-1704.. London: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1905.
Capt. C. R. B. Knight. [Vol. 2]. 1704-1914.   2 parts. London: The Medici Society Ltd., 1935.
Col. R. S. Moody.[Vol. 3]. 1914-1919 London: The Medici Society, Ltd., 1922
Col. C. R. B. Knight[Vol. 4]. 1919-1948.  London: The Medici Society Ltd., 1951.
Eric Foster HallA Short History of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot); formerly designated The Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. By Eric Foster Hall, a Captain in the Regiment. London:  80 pp.

— 2nd edition. 1950. 128 pp.

The Medici Society Ltd., 1929.

 

Additional Bibliography for this Page.

 
Author/CompilerTitlePublisher
Officers of the Regiment.Unpublished rolls in the care of the National Archives; WO 100/ etc.-
   
 Additional bibliography same as Northumberland Fusiliers page  
   
 

 

 

Site Home Page

Guide to British Medals

© This website and its contents are copyright. Images are digitally watermarked 
All Rights Reserved. North East Medals 2007 ©