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Template:Kings Regiment history
Template:Infobox British Army regiment
The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest regiments in the British Army, having originally been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th in 1751. From 1881 the King's were the city regiment of Liverpool, seeing active service in the Boer War, the World Wars, and the Korean War, before being amalgamated with the Manchester Regiment in 1958.
History
In 1881, under the Cardwell-Childers reforms, the British Army's structure was transformed, and all regiments were given a city or county affiliation. The regular, militia and volunteer battalions were also integrated into one structure,. Thus, on 1 July, the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot became The King's (Liverpool Regiment). The many non-regular battalions that existed in Liverpool at the time were incorporated as reserve battalions of the regiment. Mention volunteer battalions
The 1st King's were based in North West England during the period of the army's reforms - its time there would not be entirely peaceful. While based in Salford Barracks, Manchester, the battalion was subject to a bomb attack attack by Fenians; the barracks sustained some structural damage as a result of the explosion, which killed a child and badly wounded its mother. The battalion was also called out to help quell riots that had broken out following a mineworkers' strike. In 1882 the battalion was posted to Ireland, based in the Curragh. The battalion's time there was quiet, though it was called upon to help reestablish order during four riots in Belfast that followed the defeat of the 1886 Home Rule Bill in the British Parliament. About fifty people died during the disturbances. The battalion returned to England three years later.
The colonial wars
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For the 2nd King's, the 1880s would be turbulent. The battalion had been based on the Indian subcontinent since 1877 and had fought in the Second Afghan War. They fought in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, travelling up the Irrawaddy River, helping to capture to a number of frontier forts and the capital Myingyan. The battalion provided an escort that oversaw the exile of King Thibaw of Burma. The annexation of Upper Burma was complete by 1 January, 1886. During the ensuing guerilla campaign, the 2nd King's operated in small groups against hostile tribes in the Burmese jungle. Their stay in Burma lasted over a year before they returned to India. The battalion garrisoned Aden for a year before being posted back to Britain in 1892. Overseas service for the 1st King's included a two-year stay in Nova Scotia, becoming the last battalion of the regiment to garrison Canada Their posting was to to the West Indies in 1895, then Natal Colony in 1897. The Second Boer War began two-years later
mention volunteers from, guess what, volutneer battalions!Prior to the outbreak of war, as relations between the British and Boer republics deteriorated, the 1st King's were moved to Ladysmith, where they underwent intensive training and formed a company of mounted infantry.
along with a number of other regiments took part in an abortive attack on Boer forces who were converging on the British-held town of Ladysmith in late 1899. The attack, orchestrated by Lieutenant-General Sir George White VC, was complicated, that was bound to fail from the beginning it was first envisaged. The regiment was exposed to much horrendous fire by the Boer commandos, though thankfully suffered light casualties. All forces soon withdrew back to Ladysmith, the siege had begun. The 1st King's, as well as every other regiment, fought with courage and professionalism repelling a number of attacks by the Boer sieges, as well as suffering heavy bombardment throughout the siege, in which three major operations to relieve the besieged defenders had failed. The siege ended on the 28th February 1900, it had started on the 29th October 1899.
In August 1900, during operations around Van Wyk Vlei, the 1st King's were involved in very heavy fighting, indeed two of its men, in an incredibly courageous action, won the Victoria Cross. Throughout the operations in that area, the King's suffered a number of casualties, with another Kingsman also winning the VC at Geluk Farm. The 1st King's took part in further action that year, as well as into 1901, being involved in some tough scrapes with the Boers.
A monument commemorating the regiment's service in the Boer War was erected in St John's Gardens, unveiled on 9 September, 1905, by Field Marshal Sir George White. The monument was sculpted by Sir John William Goscombe; a figure of Britannia features prominently atop a pedestal, which has four standing soldiers positioned on its four corners, each representing a different period of the regiment's history.
First World War
The regiment raised 45 battalions during the war, amassing 68 battle honours for service on the Western Front, the Balkans, India and Russia. The regiment experienced some of the heaviest fighting of the war, receving six Victoria Crosses at a cost of about 14,000 casualties.
Shortly after the war began, Lord Kitchener, Secetrary of State for War, under the belief that the war would not be over by Christmas, began a vigorous campaign to recruit 100,000 men ("Kitchener's Army"). Shortly afterwards, the Earl of Derby proposed forming a battalion of "Pals" for the King's Regiment, to be recruited from men of the same workplace. The idea was successful. Within a week, thousands of Liverpudlians had volunteered, forming four battalions. These battalions became known as the "Liverpool Pals". Lord Derby, speakin of these men, said: This should be a battalion of Pals, a battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool.
The 1st King's was part of 6th Brigade, 2nd Division, which was one the original components of the British Expeditionary Force that landed in France on 14 August, 1914. The BEF's first encounter with the Germans at Mons was followed by a withdrawal, which the 1st King's helped cover as a Rearguard. On 1 September the battalion was ordered to Villers-Cotteréts to prevent the 4th Guards Brigade and 70th Battery, Royal Horse Artillery from being cut off by a German force. Through the actions of the battalion, the guns were successful extracted, which earned them the praise of General Monro, commander of the 2nd Division.
The 1st King's next fought in the First Battle of Ypres, which began on 19 October, 1914. Some notable actions included the capture of the small village of Molenaarelstoek, just north-east of Polygon Wood, and the destruction of a battalion of Prussian Guards during the German counter-offensive om 11 November. They also fought at Gheluvelt on the last day of the battle, supporting the 2nd Worcestershire Regiment. During the course of 'First Ypres', the 1st King's lost over 800 men, including their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel William Bannatyne, killed by a sniper on 24 October.
They took part in a subsidiary action of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, losing over 200 men in the process. The 4th King's, a Special Reserve battalion, part of the Lahore Division of the British Indian Army, took part in the Second Battle of Ypres. They took part in a number of actions in the St Julien area, in which the battalion suffered over 400 casualties. The 1/6th King's and 1/10th King's also fought at Ypres, the latter taking part in an engagement at Hill 60 in May, during German attempts to capture the position, which they had actually captured and lost the month before. The battalion, supporting the 1st Cheshire Regiment, took part in the attack on the Hill, now held by the Germans. The 1/6th King's suffered over 100 casualties in two days of heavy fighting.
Four battalions of the King's were involved in the Battle of Festubert. The 1/7th King's were part of the first wave of the attack, managing to reach the second-line German trenches. The three other battalions were eventually involvement; they suffered over 1,400 casualties during the battle.
Two of the King's battalions also fought at the First Battle of Bellewaarde and the Second Battle of Givenchy. Eight battalions of the regiment took part in the Battle of Loos, which lasted from the 25th September to the 19th October 1915. The 1/9th King's, part of the 2nd Division, successfully capturing over 300 German prisoners during action on the 25th September. The 1st King's, during the first day of the battle, suffered heavy casualties in taking the German front-line trenches. Both battalions took part in further actions, especially the German counter-attack on the 8th October.
On 1st July 1916, many of the battalions of the King's Regiment took part in the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, the Battle of the Somme. Many of the King's battalions on the first day were heavily involvement, though suffered minimal casualties compared to many other regiments. Fourteen battalions took part in the five attempts to capture the village of Guillemont, taking place from July to September. During the third attempt, three companies of the 1st and 1/8th King's were surrounded by German forces and decimated by concentrated German fire. By the end of the fifth battle for the small village, on 3 September, the 12th King's were the only battalion of the regiment to take part in the final capture of the village.
On the Western Front, battalions of the King's fought throughout the Arras Offensive of 1917, which was, for the first few days at least, relatively successful, though it soon began to stall once the German Army began reinforcing its defences. The regiment's battalions once again involved in the Ypres sector, taking part in the Third Battle of Ypres, which began in July, not ending until November 1917. Captain Noel Chavasse of the 1/10th King's, or "Liverpool Scottish", was awarded a posthumous VC (his second VC) at Ypres for rescuing wounded soldiers while he was seriously wounded himself.
The Germans launched their [[Spring Offensive] in March 1918. It was a risky gamble by the German High Command, who put many of its assets into the offensive in the hope of acheiving a final, war-winning victory before the Americans could arrive in large numbers. The offensive was initially highly successful; many Allied positions were overwhelmed and encircled. The 19th King's, situated in the Scarpe area, was effectively destroyed; they had suffered heavy casualties, all but one of their officers had survived.
Inter-War period
With the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, most King's battalions returned to Britain. The 17th King's war did not end on 11 November; the battalion was part of the Allied intervention force sent to Russia during its civil war. They were intended to provide assistance to the "White Army" in its fight against the Bolsheviks. The battalion saw limited action during its time in Russia. The battalion was disbanded in September, 1919.
In 1921 the regiment's name was inverted, becoming The King's Regiment (Liverpool).
1st King's
In 1920 the 1st King's were sent to Bantry, County Cork in Ireland. They were noted for their chivalrous reputation in their treatment of prisoners, compared to other regiments, and this saved some of the lives of its soldiers. After the establishment of the Irish Free State in the south, the battalion was moved to Northern Ireland, stationed in Londonderry and Omagh. The battalion briefly joined the Army of Occupation in Turkey in 1923.
After the Army withdre from Turkey, the battalion moved back home before heading for the island of Malta in the Mediterranean in 1926. It remained there until 1927 when it moved to the Sudan and then Egypt the following year. The battalion was posted to India in 1932, based initially in Jubbulpore. It was based throughout India, remaining there into the Second World War.
2nd King's
During the inter-war period, the regiment spent much of its time garrisoning throughout the British Empire, now the primary role of the British army. The 2nd King's, who had been stationed in British India a few years before WWI broke out, had remained there until it was deployed to the Sudan in the early 1920s. It moved to the Hong Kong garrison in 1922, returning to India in 1924. Their stay in India was, however, brief and they were posted to Iraq the following year. It moved to Britain in 1927, remaining there for 11 years until its posting to Gibraltar in 1938. This was the battalion's last peaceful deployment before the Second World War began.
Second World War
By the outbreak of the war, three battalions of the regiment (1st, 2nd and 13th) were stationed abroad. The home-based battalions consisted of th 5th, 8th and newly-formed 9th and 10th. The King's Regiment was not represented in the British Expeditionary Force that fought in France.
In that year 2nd King's departed Gibraltar, where they had been stationed since 1938, for Egypt, then Tunisia. The 13th King's became part of the famous Chindits, taking part in Operation Longcloth, the operation beginning on the 8th February. The Chindits objectives were to cut off a number of railway lines. By 6th March, the Chindits had achieved one of their objectives, destroying a railway brdige and wrecking some railway lines. By the 24th March, the Chindits were ordered to withdraw, the men exhausted and lacking many supplies. The Chindit columns dispersed going their separate ways, but with one objective, getting home. By the time the surviving Chindits had returned, of the 3,000 men that had set off on the operation, 2,182 men had returned, yet just 600 were regarded fit for duty.
The following year Operation Thursday began, the second Chindit operation. The 1st King's replace 13th King's for this operation, and were part of 77 Brigade under the command of Brigadier Michael Calvert. The 1st King's took part in some fierce fighting against the Japanese during their time in Burma, also taking part in the capture of Mogaung. All Chindits had withdrew from Burma by late August 1944.
The 5th and 8th King's, the latter known as the 'Liverpool Irish', were part of the vast invasion force during the Normandy Landings. The 5th were part of the 3rd Division, who were to land at 'Sword Beach'. The Liverpool Irish were a spearhead battalion of the amphibious assault on 'Juno Beach', and were attached to the 3rd Canadian Division. The Liverpool Irish saw much action on the beach, at one point charging through minefields to take some German strongpoints, in which they did do successfully.
The 5th King's were also in the thick of it at Sword Beach, coming under fire from German machine gunners and snipers, despite assault companies having already landed, though some of these German positions had simply been bypassed by the assault forces. One of the 5th King's platoons came under fire, the platoon returned fire, then subsequently stormed and took the position, taking sixteen prisoners in the process. In August, the 8th King's were disbanded, the 5th King's later being reduced to cadre strength, though they avoided being disbanded thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel G.D. Wreford-Browne who argued that the 5th King's was almost the most senior of battalions of the Territorial Army and were duly made upto full-strength in the summer.
The 5th King's, now part of 'T (Target) Force', which was a force designed to seize important targets, such as equipment, intelligence, installations and personnel. The 5th King's reached the Walterwerke in Kiel, the location of an important submarine factory. There, elements of the battalion also captured the German cruiser Admiral Hipper in May 1945, as well as taking 7,000 German sailors prisoner.
In the Italian Campaign, in May 1944, the 2nd King's took part in the 4th Division's crossing of the Rapido River, which was designed to seize objectives in preparation for, what was to be, the final assault on Monte Cassino. The British came under intense mortar and artillery fire from the German forces. Once they had crossed, it was still not over, the 2nd King's fought with much bravery, individual soldiers showing true inspiration in the face of great adversity. The 2nd King's, despite suffering many casualties, held onto the bridgehead they had secured for two and a half days. The battalion took part in further heavy fighting in Italy for the month
On 12 December the 2nd King's were flown to Piraeus, Greece, two months after Allied troops had first landed in the country to prevent Communist partisans from seizeing control of the country. The battalion was soon called on to seize a rebel-held barracks, successfully doing so at the cost of fourteen casualties. For the next several weeks the battalion was employed on internal security duties, which involved many incidents of difficult house-to-house and street fighting in Athens. The city was cleared of rebels in January, 1945, though the King's remained for a year before leaving for Palestine.
Post-World War II
for Cyprus, where they would stay until 1948. In April that year, the battalion departed for, what was then, Palestine. They performed mainly internal security duties, but just two weeks later were back in Cyprus, and then onto Liverpool in the UK, where they amalgamated with the 1st King's.
The 1st King's remained in India, finally departing in late 1947 after Indian achieved independence. In 1948 the battalion was stationed in West Germany. The battalion moved to the British sector of West Berlin in Spandau. While there, the battalion garrisoned Spandau Prison where Nazi war criminals were kept.
Korean War
After the North Koreans invaded the south in 1950, the Korean War began; the United Nations condemned the attack and a UN force, led by the United States, was sent to assist the South Koreans]. The 1st King's, however, did not deploy to Korea until 1952. It arrived in Korea in September, joining the 29th Infantry Brigade to replace 1st Royal Norfolk Regiment. The battalion's tasks were mostly defensive, defending the lines against possible enemy attack. On 23 May 1953, at the infamous position of the Hook, a company of the battalion launched a raid on a Chinese stronghold known as 'Pheasant'. One of the platoons inadvertently stumbled upon a minefield, wounding many of the platoon, consequently stalling the attack. The company soon withdrew back to British lines, carrying their wounded back with much difficulty in the dead of night.
The battalion later took part in the Third Battle for the Hook, the main defenders being the Duke of Wellington's Regiment with 1st King's on the right flank. The Chinese -- an ally of the North Koreans -- attacked the British on 28 May. It was a fierce battle, the 'Dukes' suffered quite heavily but defended stoutly. The Dukes bore the brunt of the Chinese attack but, no doubt, it was just as vicious for the mostly young men of the King's, many just doing their National Service. The battalion had suffered 28 killed and about 200 wounded by the end of the war in July 1953.
The battalion left Korea in October 1953, arriving in Hong Kong that same month. It returned to Britain in 1955 and was posted to West Germany the following year. It would remain there until 1958 when it returned home to Britain for the last time.
Amalgamation
Due to defence cuts imposed in the late 1950s by Duncan Sandys (the Sandys Review), many regiments were amalgamated. The King's were one of them; due to the historic links between the King's and the Manchester Regiment, the two merged to form the 1st Battalion, The King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool) on 1 September 1958.
References
. ISBN 1873907109. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
- Regiments.org - The King's Regiment (Liverpool). Accessed 8 November, 2005
- The Long, Long Trail (1914-1918). Accessed 8 November, 2005