Medals of the Royal Fusiliers.

	The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
	1685 - 1968


Titles
pre 1881		post 1881
1st and 2nd Battalions, 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers)		1st and 2nd Battalions, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

Earliest recognised formation:	1685; James I, recognising a number of threats, not only to his own position but to the country, ordered an expansion of the army with the formation of a series of new regiments. Lord Dartmouth was instructed with the raising of the Royal Fusiliers, who were to serve as an "ordnance regiment" (artillery guards). This deployment was due to the safer nature of the fusiliers' flintlocks over the more common matchlock weapons, when in proximity to the artilleryman's open powder barrels. This role was the natural choice for the regiment since Lord Dartmouth, being Master-General of Ordnance at the Tower of London anyway, had also incorporated two of the tower's independent companies into the new regiment. In July 1685 the Regiment's strength had reached 12 companies of fusiliers and 1 of miners. Recruiting from the city of London from these earliest times the regiment has always considered London its home.

Motto:	Honi soit qui mal y pense

Regimental Journal:	The Royal Fusiliers Gazette.

WWI:	Battle Honours; 80	Victoria Crosses; 12	Died; 15600
WWII:	Battle Honours; 35	Victoria Crosses; 0	Died; 1691

Amalgamated:	1968, with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Lancashire Fusiliers, and the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers to form The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Two battalions operational overseas 1795-1811 (amalgamated 1811)

Seizure of Martinique from the French 1809 (1st battalion) and the Peninsula War 1808 - 1814 (both battalions*)

Military General Service Medal. 1793 - 1814 clasps:

Martinique

Talavera

Busaco

Albuhera

Ciudad Rodrigo

Badajos

Salamanca

Vittoria

111

100

179

256

124

159

156

213

Pyrenees

St. Sebastian

Nivelle

Nive

Orthes

Toulouse

Total medals

Max clasps

193

179

205

438

Two Officers were in receipt of the Fuentes d' Onor clasp but these were granted for service with other regiments.

* Both battalions up to 1811 then amalgamated due to heavy losses, particularly at Albuhera (705 killed and wounded)

Battle Honours: Martinique, Talavera, Busaco, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula.


Come on men! Follow me!

The last rallying cry of Colonel Yea to his men who were faltering under a withering Russian fire, spoken moments before he was shot through the head and stomach at the first attack on the Redan.

Crimean War 1854 - 1856

Crimea Medal 1854 -56

Clasp: →

..none...

Alma

Balaklava

Inkermann

Sebastopol

Total Medals

Number: →

18 or 19*

* a detachment of 18 (or19?) serving under Captain B. D. Gilby of the 77th Foot qualified for the Balaklava Clasp. The other three hard won clasps are common.

Battle Casualties;

Action.

Killed

"Wounded"

Dangerously
Wounded

Severely
Wounded

Slightly
Wounded

Missing

Battle of the Alma

176

First bombardment of Sebastopol, first battle of Inkermann and minor actions

The Battle of Inkermann

8+1 DOW

30 **

The Assault on the Quarries

12+1 'Wounded Mortally'

The First Attack on the Redan

16+2 DOW

The Final Attack on the Redan

2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and final bombardments of Sebastopol and minor actions

The Magazine Explosion at the French Siege Train

Grand Total: 609

** One of the severely wounded at Inkermann was Major Sir Thomas Troubridge who had both legs shot off. Troubridge refused to be taken off the battlefield and was instead propped up against a gun carriage, from where he continued to exhort his men.

Men who served in the Crimea also eligible for:

Turkish Crimea Medal 1855

VCs: 5; Egerton, Hope, Hughes, Jones, Norman. (separate VC page for this regiment under construction)

Battle Honours: Alma; Inkermann; Sevastopol.

1857: second battalion reformed.

Operations against the Mohmands, Shabkadar. 1863-64 odd men, 1st Battalion

India General Service Medal 1854 - 95

clasp:

North West Frontier

number :

(rare)

Ambela Campaign 1863 1st Battalion

India General Service Medal 1854 - 95

Clasp:

Umbeyla

Number :

470

Fenian Raids Canada 1866-1870 2nd Battalion

Canada General Service Medal 1866-70

clasp:

Fenian Raid 1866

Fenian Raid 1870

Red River 1870

number:

158

*In combination with Fenian Raid 1866

Afghan War 1878-80 2nd Battalion

Afghanistan Medal 1878 -1880

clasp:

...none...

Kandahar

total medals

number:

353

409

762

VCs: 1; Ashford

Battle Honours: Kandahar; Afghanistan 1879-80.

1881: The 7th Foot now becomes the 1st and 2nd Battalions, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

A 3rd and 4th battalion of regulars existed 1898-1922 and 1900-1922 respectively.

South African War 1899 - 1902 or "Boer War" 2nd Battalion; Nov 1899 - end of the war. (Also Volunteer Service Companies provided from the 1st & 2nd Volunteer Battalions)

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

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

clasp:

Relief of Mafeking

Relief of Ladysmith

Tugela Heights

number:

27*

* This entitlement was to the small body of men from the 2nd Battalion that formed a component of Barton’s Fusilier Brigade, together with; 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers (1 officer and 25 ORs), 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers (20 ORs), 1st Royal Welch Fusiliers (1 officer and 25 ORs).

Casualties:

Officers

NCOs and Men

KIA & DOW

Wounded

Missing / POW

KIA & DOW

Death from disease

Wounded

Missing / POW

2nd Battalion, November 1899 - end of war

VCs: 1; Fitzclarence (Att. Protectorate Regiment)

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

Tibet Expedition 1903-4 Four companies of the 1st Battalion

Tibet Medal 1903-4

clasp:

...none...

Gyantse

total

number:

The Great War 1914 - 1918 and the North Russian Relief Force 1919 (expanded to 47 Battalions, 34 served overseas)

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

Battalion →

Extra Reserve

"Stock-brokers"
(unofficial)

date of first overseas service.
(first theatre red x )

?/9
1914

28/3
1915

?/1
1915

13/8
1914

24/7
1916

?/5
1915

30/7
1915

?/7
1915

1/9
1915

30/7
1915

France & Flanders

Gallipoli

x
25/4/15

Egypt & Palestine

Macedonia

Italy

Star
possible ?

1914 or 1914-15

or 1914-15 only

VCs at a glance:

died
Extracted from : "Soldiers / Officers Died in the Great War" (consider approximate - in addition the regiment as a whole lost an additional 263 officers who are recorded with 'battalion not shown' or with battalions not shown here, or who we have not yet allocated a battalion.)

775

1473

777

1681

863

1059

1353

758

1031

466

769

* The 2nd and 3rd battalions were in India when war broke out and returned first to the UK. 2nd Battalion Gallipoli first day landers, allocated "X Beach".

Regular

Territorial Force

New Armies

Garrison.

Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19
52 officers and men of the Royal Fusiliers also qualified for this medal.

VCs: 12: Dease, Godley, Dartnell, Palmer, Jarratt, Molyneux, Elliott-Cooper, Gee, Stone, Robertson, Sullivan, Pearse.
(separate VC page for this regiment under construction)

Battle Honours: Mons; Aisne 1914, 1918; Ypres 1914, 1915, 1917, 1918; Somme 1916, 1918; Arras 1917, 1918; Passchendaele; Cambrai 1917, 1918; Hindenburg Line; Macedonia 1915-18; Landing at Helles; Palestine 1918. Le Cateau; Retreat from Mons; Aisne 1914; La Bassée 1914; Messines 1914, 1917; Armentières 1914; Nonne Bosschen; Gravenstafel; St Julien; Frezenberg; Bellewaarde; Hooge 1915; Loos; Albert 1916, 1918; Bazentin; Delville Wood; Pozières; Flers-Courcelette; Thiepval; Le Transloy; Ancre Heights; Ancre 1916; Vimy 1917; Scarpe 1917; Arleux; Pilckem; Langemarck 1917; Menin Road; Polygon Wood; Broodseinde; Poelcapelle; Passchendaele; St Quentin; Bapaume 1918; Rosières; Avre; Villers Bretonneux; Lys; Estaires; Hazebrouck; Béthune; Amiens; Drocourt-Quéant; Havrincourt; Epéhy; Canal du Nord; St Quentin Canal; Beaurevoir; Courtrai; Selle; Sambre; France and Flanders 1914-18; Italy 191718; Macedonia 1915-18; Helles; Krithia; Suvla; Scimitar Hill; Gallipoli 1915-16; Egypt 1916; Megiddo; Nablus; Troitsa; Archangel 1919; Kilimanjaro; Behobeho; Nyangao; East Africa 1915-17.

The Great War 1914 - 1918 and the North Russian Relief Force 1919

continued.........

Battalion →

Empire

1st - 4th
Public Schools

Kensington

1st & 2nd
Sportsman's

Frontiers-men

Bankers

East Ham

date of first overseas service.
(first theatre red x )

17/11
1915

?/11
1915

17/11
1915

?/11
1915

4/5
1915

5/5
1916

France & Flanders

East Africa

Italy

Star
possible ?

1914 or 1914-15

or 1914-15 only

VCs at a glance:

542

25*

36*

587

18*

452

745

553

136

534

422

* These three "Public Schools" battalions disbanded April 1916 and most men commissioned.

The Great War 1914 - 1918 and the North Russian Relief Force 1919

continued.........

Battalion →

38*

43**

44**

Labour (5 Btns)
all transferred to Labour Corps April 1917

"Jewish"
(unofficial)

Garrison

***

date of first overseas service.
(first theatre red x )

?/6
1916

6/6
1916

5/2
1918

?/4
1918

?/8
1918

?/5
1918

?/9
1918

France & Flanders

(x)

Egypt and Palestine

Italy

(x)

North Russia 1919

Star
possible ?

1914 or 1914-15

or 1914-15 only

VCs at a glance:

combined: 46

deaths prior to transfer to LC.

*Sent to Egypt via France and Italy.

** Formed in France from Garrison Guard Companies.

*** Formed in London April 1919, served "Elope Force", North Russia 1919

3rd and 4th battalions of regulars disbanded 1922.

WW2 1939 - 1945 6 battalions served overseas:
Battalion →	1st	2nd	8th	9th	14th	20th
campaign ↓
France and Belgium 1940. (Dunkirk )		x			x
North Africa & Middle East	x	x	x	x
Far East
Sicily / Italy	x	x	x	x
N.W. Europe

Notes.
	In India at the start. 5th Indian Infantry Brigade. Sent to the Middle East. Surrendered to the Vichy French, Syria 16/6/41. Reformed Palestine 23/6/41. Served 17th Indian Infantry Brigade from 15/12/41	12th Infantry Brigade: Arrived North Africa 23/3/43, to Italy 6/3/44, and on to Greece 15/12/44	1st London Infantry Brigade.		Under GHQ BEF for the 1940 campaign. Two companies sent to Iceland 16/10/40. Converted to 107th L.A.A Regt RA, 1/1/42	Sent from the UK to India for internal security duties. Arrived 19/3/43. Became part of 52nd Infantry Brigade, which was used for training British infantry reinforcements in jungle warfare.
			23/9/44 9th RF absorbed surplus personnel of 8th RF which was reduced to a cadre.

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


Most also entitled to the 1939-45 War Medal and many the Defence Medal


Battle Honours: Dunkirk 1940; Keren; North Africa 1940, 1943; Mozzagrogna; Salerno; Garigliano Crossing; Anzio; Cassino II; Gothic Line; Coriano. North-West Europe 1940; Agordat; Syria 1941; Sidi Barrani; Djebel Tebaga; Peter's Corner; Sangro: Caldari; St Lucia; Battipaglia; Teano; Monte Camino; Damiano; Ripa Ridge; Gabbiano; Advance to Florence; Monte Scalari; Croce; Casa Fortis; Savio Bridgehead; Valli di Comacchio; Senio; Argenta Gap; Italy 1943-5; Athens; Greece 1944-5.

Regulars reduced to a single battalion (the 1st) 1948

Korean War 1950 - 1953 1st Battalion (Aug 1952-Aug 1953)
Queen's Korea Medal
number:	?


Casualties (extracted from "The 38th Parallel" Peter Gaston: Pub A.D. Hamilton Glasgow 1976 and the separate POW roll compiled by the same individual )
		KIA or DOW	Wounded	POW
		35	?	11

Battle Honour: Korea 1952-3

Operation Musketeer: The Suez Crisis 1956 1st Battalion

General Service Medal 1918 - 62

clasp:

Near East

number:

Selected Links
The Regimental Museum. (Located in )



Selected Bibliography;

Author	Title	Publisher
Compiled by Richard Cannon, Esq., Adjutant-General's Office, Horse Guards.	Historical Record of the Seventh Regiment or The Royal Fusiliers; containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent Services to 1846. 114 pp	London: Parker, Furnivall, & Parker, 1847.
Compiled at the request and with the assistance of the Officers of the Regiment by W. Wheater	Historical Record of the Seventh or Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. 232pp	Leeds: printed for private circulation, 1875.
Compiled from histories of the Royal Fusiliers by the late Mr. Cannon ... and the late Col. G. H. Waller (afterwards Maj.-Gen. Sir G. H. Waller, Bt.) and from MS. Records and Journals supplied by the Officers of the Regiment by Lieut.-Col. Percy Groves, Royal Guernsey Artillery.	Historical Records of the 7th or Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, now known as The Royal Fusiliers (The City of London Regiment), 1685-1903. 454pp.	Guernsey: Frederick B. Guerin, 1903
H. C. O'Neill.	The Royal Fusiliers in the Great War. 436 pp.	London: William Heinemann, 1922
C. Northcote Parkinson.	Always a Fusilier. The War History of The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), 1939-1945. 320pp	London: Sampson Low, 1949
??	The Royal Fusiliers in an Outline of Military History, 1685-1926. 88 pp. [2nd edition]. 1685-1932. 88 pp. 1932. [3rd edition]. 1685-1938. 90 pp. 1938.	Aldershot: printed by Gale & Polden Ltd., 1926
??	A Short History of the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) during the First Year of the War. 26 pp.	[Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1941]
Lt.-Col. C. A. L. Shipley	The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). History of the 2nd Battalion in North Africa; Italy and Greece, March 1943-May 1945. 89 pp.	Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1946
Lt.-Col. E. C. Packe.	An Empire-Building Battalion; being a history, with reminiscences of the 3rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers, formed 1898, disbanded 1922. . 258 pp.	Leicester: privately published for the author by Edgar Backus [1957]
Everard Wyrall. With a Foreword by Major-Gen. Sir C. E. Pereira.	The 17th (S.) Battalion Royal Fusiliers, 1914-1919. 312 pp.	.London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. [1930]
	The History of the Royal Fusiliers " U.P.S." University and Public Schools Brigade (Formation and Training) [18th-21st Battalions].. 128 pp.	London: "The Times " [1917]
Edited by Major Christopher Stone.	A History of the 22nd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (Kensington). 79 pp.	Privately printed for the Old Comrades Association of the Battalion. [London: H. Rosewarne], 1923
Fred W. Ward, Captain R.E., formerly No. 662 First Sportsman's Battalion.	The 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman's). A Record of its Services in the Great War, 1914-1919. 168 pp.	London: Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd., 1920.
Lieut.-Col. J. H. Patterson.	With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign. 279 pp. (38th-42nd Btns. Royal Fusiliers.)	London: Hutchinson & Co. [1922].
	With the Zionists in Gallipoli. By Lt.-Col. J. H. Patterson. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1916. viii, 316 pp., maps.
Edited by Rev. Michael Adler. Organizer: Max R. G. Freeman.	British Jewry Book of Honour. 1922. 636, 364 pp.	London: Caxton Publishing Company Ltd.
Vladimir Jabotinsky, Translated by Samuel Katz. With a Foreword by Col. John Henry Patterson.	The Story of the Jewish Legion. 191 pp., (38th-40th Btns, Royal Fusiliers.)	New York: Bernard Askeman, Inc., 1945. (Originally published in Paris, 1925, in Russian.)


Additional Bibliography for this Page.

Author/Compiler	Title	Publisher
Officers of the Regiment.	Unpublished rolls in the care of the National Archives; WO 100/ etc.	-
Foss, Michael	The Royal Fusiliers (Famous Regiment Series)	London: Hamish Hamilton 1967
	Additional bibliography same as Northumberland Fusiliers page