Medals of the Regiments:
The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)

 
 
Royal West Surrey Regiment Cap Badge.Paschal Lamb. The Queen's Regiment
The Paschal Lamb badge of the regiment, post  1924 pattern. Smaller beret badge on the right , same scale.
Kipling and King reference 1969 and 1970

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The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)

1661 - 1959
 
 
 
Titles
pre 1881post 1881
2nd, Queen's Own Royal Regiment of FootThe Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
1st and 2nd Battalions
 
Earliest recognised formation: 1661 as the Tangier Regiment. Granted the "Queen's" title in 1684.
 
Mottoes: Pristinae virtutis memor = Mindful of the gallant actions of the past
Vel exuviae triumphans = even in defeat there can be triumph.
 
Regimental Journal:  ' The Journal of the Queen's Royal Regiment.'
 
WWI:Battle Honours; 74Victoria Crosses; 4Died; 8000
WWII:    Battle Honours;  39Victoria Crosses;  1Died; ???
 
Amalgamated:1959, with the East Surrey Regiment  to form ' The Queens Royal Surrey Regiment.'
 
 
 

Campaigns & Medals

 

Actions against the French Navy: "Glorious First of June" 1794
(Regiment split into detachments and serving as marines.)

Naval General Service Medal.  1793 - 1840

clasp:

1st June 1794

total number:3
per ship:111
ship :HMS Royal GeorgeHMS Queen CharlotteHMS Russell
 

Battle Honours: Naval crown borne on the colours superscribed '1st June 1794'

 
 
 

Egypt Campaign 1801 and the Peninsula War 1808 - 1814

Military General Service Medal 1793 - 1814 clasps:

 
Total MedalsMax claspsEgyptVimeraCorunnaTalaveraSalamancaVittoriaPyreneesSt. SebastianNivelleNiveOrthesToulouse
16110*28**746718769066133091168
 
 Several unique clasps to officers have been omitted.
* The unique 10 clasp medal went to Private James Thomson who had the clasps as listed less Egypt and Corunna.
** interesting to note about 557 officers and men landed Egypt,  therefore only  5% still around to successfully claim the clasp when it was authorised  in 1850
Battle Honours: Vimiera; Corunna; Salamanca; Vittoria; Pyrenees; Nivelle; Toulouse; Peninsula. (and a Sphinx superscribed 'Egypt' was permitted to be borne on the colours)
 
 
 

First Afghan War 1839 -42

Ghuznee Medal 1839

 
number:?

Battle Honours: Ghuznee 1839; Afghanistan 1839; Khelat

 
 
 

Third Kaffir War 1850 - 1853 (arrived Aug. 1851)

South Africa Medal 1834-53

number:601
 

The regiment lost  36 men (out of a reinforcement draft of  52) who were onboard the Birkenhead when she was wrecked, 25th February 1852.

Battle Honours: South Africa 1851-1852-1853.

 
2nd Battalion raised August 1857
 

Second China War 1856-60  1st Battalion

Second China War Medal 1856-60

  
clasp:..none...

Taku Forts 1860

Pekin 1860

total medals
number:20659611701
     

not corrected for forfeited etc.

Battle Honours;  Taku Forts, Pekin 1860

 
Became the "The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)" in 1881 (1st and 2nd Battalions)
 

Third Anglo-Burmese War 1885-1887   2nd Battalion

India General Service Medal 1854

clasp: →

Burma 1885-7

Burma 1887-89

number:??
 

Battle Honour: Burma 1885-7

 
 
 

 North West Frontier Operations 1897-98  1st Battalion

India Medal 1895

clasp:
Punjab Frontier 1897-98

Tirah 1897-98

number:??
 

Battle Honour: Tirah

 
 
 

South African War 1899 - 1902 or "Boer War"   2nd Battalion, November 1899 - end of war. With a body operating as Mounted Infantry.  (Also volunteer drafts provided from the Volunteer Battalions)

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:

Natal

Relief of Ladysmith
Tugela Heights

Laing's Nek

 
number:???? 
 

 

 
OfficersNCOs and Men
KIA & DOWWoundedDeath from disease KIA & DOWDeath from disease WoundedMissing / POW
41223694260-
 

Battle Honours: Relief of Ladysmith,  South Africa 1899-1902

 
 
Lieutenant Wallace Duffield Wright won a Victoria Cross in 1903 serving with the Northern Nigerian Regiment in West Africa.
 

The Great War 1914 - 1918  (maximum of 27 battalions; 15 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*1/42/43/41/56781011131415
(Labour) Battalions**
date of first overseas service 13/8
1914
6/10
1914
3/14
1914
9/8
1915
1/6
1917
2/14
1914
6/6
1915
27/7
1915
31/8
1915
6/5
1916
5/5
1916
1/6
1917
1/6
1917
1/6
1917
Theatre ↓ (first theatre red x )
France & Flandersxx xx xxxxxxxx
Gallipoli   x          
Italy x       xx   
Egypt & Palestine   x          
Mesopotamia     x
7/12/15
        
India  x  x        
Star
possible ?
1914 or 1914-15 xx            
or 1914-15 only   x xxxx     
               
died
Extracted from : "Soldiers / Officers Died in the Great War" (consider approximate - in addition it has not been possible to allocate a considerable percentage of officer deaths to a specific battalion )
1503114693551801298691247712586557???
India for the duration
other ranks only
 

*Battalion in South Africa when war declared, returned first to the UK.
** Transferred to the Labour Corps shortly after arrival in France.

 
RegularTerritorial ForceNew Armies
 

 Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19
 395 officers and men of the Queens also qualified for this medal.

 

Battle Honours:  Retreat from Mons; Ypres 1914, 1917, 1918; Somme 1916, 1918; Messines 1917; Vittorio Veneto; Macedonia 1916-17; Gallipoli 1915; Palestine 1917-18; Mesopotamia 1915-18; NW Frontier India 1916-17. Mons; Marne 1914, 1918; Aisne 1914; Langemarck 1914; Gheluvelt; Aubers; Festubert 1915; Loos; Albert 1916, 1918; Bazentin; Delville Wood; Pozières; Guillemont; FlersCourcelette; Morval; Thiepval; Le Transloy; Ancre Heights; Ancre 1916, 1918; Arras 1917, 1918; Scarpe 1917; Bulle-court; Pilckem; Menin Road; Polygon Wood; Broodseinde; Passchendaele; Cambrai 1917, 1918; St Quentin; Bapaume 1918; Rosières; Avre; Villers Bretonneux; Lys; Hazebrouck; Bailleul; Kemmel; Soissonais-Ourcq; Amiens; Epéhy; Hindenburg Line; St Quentin Canal; Courtrai; Selle; Sambre; France and Flanders 1914-18; Piave; Italy 1917, 1918; Suvla; Doiran 1917; Landing at Suvla; Scimitar Hill; Rumani; Egypt 1915, 1916; Gaza; El Mughar; Nebi Samwil; Jerusalem; Jericho; Jordan; Tell'Asur; Megiddo; Sharon; Khan Baghdadi.

VCs:  Bushell   Foster    Sayer  ??

 
 
 

Third Afghan War 1919  1/4th Battalion

India General Service Medal 1908

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

Battle Honour: Afghanistan 1919

 
 
 

Operations against the Waziris and Mahsuds, North West Frontier 1919 - 24 2nd Battalion

India General Service Medal 1908

clasp:
Waziristan 1919-21
Waziristan 1921-24
numbers:??
 
 
 
 
 

Jewish / Arab Unrest, Palestine 1936 - 39 2nd Battalion

General Service Medal 1918 -62

clasp:

Palestine

numbers:?
 
 
 
 

WW2 1939 - 1945  8 battalions served overseas

Battalion →1st2nd1/4th1/6th1/7th2/5th2/6th2/7th
campaign ↓ 
France and
Belgium 1940.
(Dunkirk )
  xxxxxx
North Africa & Middle East xxxxxxx
Burmaxx      
Far East        
Sicily / Italy  xxxxxx
N.W. Europe  xxx   
 

Notes.

 moved from India to the Arakan
28/8/43
Long Range Penetration Force, Burma (Chindits).
 
131st Queens Brigade , sometime lorried infantry of the 7th Armoured Division -  'Desert Rats'.
Landed Normandy D-Day +2
35th Brigade/ 12th Div. for France and Belgium 39/40. Redesignated 28/11/40 in the UK becoming the 169th Queen's Brigade
 
 
 The relief in battle of one brigade by another from the same regiment occurred for the first time in British military history when 131st relieved 169th at Selerno in Sept '43.
 

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

 BA, BA, I, F&GA, I, F&GA, I, F&GA, IA, IA, I
clasp ???????
 

Most also entitled to the 1939-45 War Medal

 

Battle Honours: Villers Bocage; Tobruk 1941; El Alamein; Medenine; Salerno; Monte Camino; Anzio; Gemmano Ridge; North Arakan; Kohima.  Defence of Escaut; Mont Pinçon; Lower Maas; Roer; North-West Europe 1940, 1944-45; Syria 1941; Sidi Barrani; Tobruk Sortie; Deir el Munasib; Advance on Tripoli; Tunis; North Africa 1940-3; Monte Stella; Scafati Bridge; Volturno Crossing; Garigliano Crossing; Damiano; Gothic Line; Senio Pocket; Senio Floodbank; Casa Fabbri Ridge; Menate; Filo; Argenta Gap; Italy 1943-5; Yenangyaung 1945; Sittang 1945; Chindits 1944; Burma 1943-5.

 
1949: Regulars reduced to a single battalion (the1st),
 
1950: supplied a large draft of volunteers (136) for service with the Middlesex Regiment in  the Korean War.
 

The Malaya Emergency: Operations against Communist insurgents. 1948-60 1st Battalion (1954-57)

General Service Medal 1918 - 62

clasp:

Malaya

number:?
 
 
 
 

The Cyprus Emergency 1955 - 1960  'A' Company only, attached to 1st Battalion The East Surrey Regiment. (July 1958 - Sept 1958)

General Service Medal 1918-62

clasp:

Cyprus

number:?
 
 
 

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Selected Links

The Regimental Museum. (Located in )

 
 

Selected Bibliography;

 
AuthorTitlePublisher
(Cannon's Historical Records Series).Historical Record of The Second, or Queen's Royal Regiment of Foot; containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in the year 1661, and of its subsequent Services to 1837   95 pp. London: printed by Clowes and Sons, 1838.
 Lieut. Col. John Davis. The History of the Second, Queen's Royal Regiment, now The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment.,
6 vols.
(Vol. 6. Contains Officers' Services, 1661 to 1904.)
 London:
Richard Bentley & Son; vols. 1-3
Eyre & Spottiswoode, vols. 4-6,
 Col. H. C. Wylly.History of The Queen's Royal Regiment. Vol. 7. 308 pp. With Separate Case of Maps.Aldershot: Gale & Pollen Ltd., for the Regimental Committee [1925].
Major R. C. G. Foster.— Vol. 8. 1924-1948. 595 pp., Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1953
Major R. C. G. Foster.— Vol. 9. Part 1. 1948-1959. Part 2. Summary, 1661-1959.   86 pp.,Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1961
 preface by Canon Grant.Some Notes on the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, together with an Account of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions in the late South African Campaign and Guildford's aid to the troops during peace and war.   94 pp.Guildford: Frank Lasham, 1904.
 Major M. A. Lowry.
Foreword by Gen. Sir George Giffard
An Infantry Company in Arakan and Kohima. . 132 pp
" B " Company, 1st Battalion The Queen's Royal Regiment.
Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1950.
Capt. E. W. J. Neave. Foreword by Lieut.-Gen. Sir Sydney Lawford.History of the 11th Battalion, " The Queen's."  123 ppLondon: Brixton " Free Press " Printing & Advertising Co. Ltd., 1931.
   

 

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  
   
 

 

 

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