Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR)
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Battalions |
There are three PWRR battalions, two regular and one territorial. Members of the 1st and 3rd battalions supported operations in Afghanistan. The 2nd Battalion had a very busy time with its continued support to public duties and infantry training. There is also a PWRR-badged rifle company within the Territorial Army's London Regiment, at Edgware, known as B (Queen's Regiment) Company and there are PWRR army cadet and CCF detachments all across the southern Home Counties.
The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment was formed in 1992 by an amalgamation of The Queen's Regiment and The Royal Hampshire Regiment. The Regiment is the proud inheritor of a history extending back to the very earliest beginnings of the British Army. The Regiment has a long, distinguished history, having been involved in virtually every theatre of war since the Battle of Tangier in 1662. It is the most decorated of all British Army regiments, with 57 Victoria Crosses including the VC awarded to Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry in 2004 for his gallantry in Iraq. The examples of valour, adherence to duty and fortitude continue to inspire the current officers and soldiers of the modern Regiment, who are proud to belong to the oldest and most senior English Regiment of the Line.
The Regiment's forebears are the great line regiments of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Middlesex and Hampshire, which have expanded and contracted in an ever-changing political climate. The names of these regiments have changed over the centuries but have included The Queen's Royal Regiment (2nd Foot), The Buffs (3rd Foot), The East Surrey Regiment (31st and 70th Foot), The Royal Sussex Regiment (35th and 107th Foot), The Royal Hampshire Regiment (37th and 67th Foot), The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (50th and 97th Foot) and The Middlesex Regiment (57th and 77th Foot).
The Regiment has been represented in virtually every campaign of the British Army and provided a significant contribution to many famous battles, including Blenheim, Quebec, Minden, Albuhera, Sobraon, Sevastopol, Gallipoli, Ypres, Kohima and Salerno. In more recent years, the Regiment has helped bring the Cold War to a successful conclusion and was represented in the campaigns in Korea, Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus, Aden, Borneo and Northern Ireland. The inherited traditions of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, which include the reputation for courage, endurance, determination, loyalty and good humour, are second to none.
For centuries, The Queen's Royal Regiment (2nd Foot), first known as the Tangiers Fegiment of Foot, gallantly held its own wherever the care of the British Empire needed stout defenders. It was called into existsnce in the year 1661, when King Charles the Second married Catherine of Portugal. As part of the dowry of this Princess, Tangier, a town on the coast of Morocco, then in possesion of Portugal, was handed over to King Charles. At that time the Mediterranean Sea was infested with pirates, or "corsairs " as they were called, and the possession of Tangier was, therefore, regarded with a considerable amount of satisfaction by the merchants and people of this country, as giving a place of refuge and protection for British ships. It was not, however, to be kept without trouble. The Portuguese had held it on sufferance from the Moors; the English determined to hold it in spite of them. To form a garrison, it was resolved to raise a regiment of Englishmen, and accordingly the above regiment was called into existence.
In 1684, the regiment received the honour of being designated "The Queen's" Regiment. In 1685, it took part in the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion, and four years later was in Ireland supporting the Protestant cause under King William III against King James and his Irish-French army. The most noteworthy event in this campaign was the celebrated siege of Londonderry. In this town the Protestant settlers had been besieged for four months by King James's army, and were reduced to terrible straits, when they were rescued from their plight by the arrival of the Queen's Regiment under Colonel Kirke, which made its way into the town after great exertions.
The regiment next served against the French in Flanders, when the army was commanded in person by King William III. It; valour at the fierce battle of Landen, and at the siege of Namur, in 1695, raised the British soldier in the estimation of foreign nations, but its most brilliant exploit was at a place called Tongres. Here, with only one other regiment, since disbanded, it maintained itself most gloriously for 28 hours against the fierce and repeated attacks of a French army of 40,000 men, and by its heroism saved the rest of the army from being taken by surprise. For this gallant action it received the proud distinction of being named a "Royal" regiment, and was granted the motto "Pristince virtutis memor."
While their comrades were gathering laurels under the Duke of Marlborough, the men of the "Queen's" were sent into Spain where war was also being actively carried on. Though they fought as bravely, they were not so fortunate in their leader, and after the regiment had been reduced to a skeleton it was sent to England to recruit its ranks. In 1794 it served as marines on board the English fleet, and took part in the victory of the glorious 1st of June, when Lord Howe defeated the French fleet off Brest. In 1798 it helped to defeat the French invasion of Ireland, under General Humbert, and in 1801, under the gallant Abercromby, formed part of the British force which drove Napoleon's "Army of the East" out of Egypt, its valour being commemorated by "The Sphinx" and "Egypt" on its colours.
The next field of renown for the "Queen's" was in Spain, where it reaped a glorious record of valour, as no less than eight names on the colours tell of the stern strife of the Peninsular War. A few hours only after landing in Spain it shared the victory of "Vimiera," in 1808, and in 1809 it was again victorious at Corunna. In 1811 it assisted in gaining the victory at Salamanca, its losses being such that it was left at the close of the day under the command of a subaltern officer, a fact which speaks plainly of the work it had done. "Vittoria," a crowning victory over King Joseph Bonaparte, the "Pyrenees," a fierce contest among mountain passes and rocky gorges, " Nivelle," " Toulouse," and " Peninsula," were also added to the proudly earned distinctions won by the regiment between 1811 and 1813. At the close of the Peninsular War the regiment went to guard British possessions in the West Indies, and in 1825 went to the East Indies.
In India it took its share in extending and consolidating the British Indian Empire, and Afghans and Mahrattas alike recoiled before the gleaming bayonets and waving colours of the Surrey men. "Afghanistan," "Ghuznee," and "Khelat" commemorate on the colours the victories in which it shared. The next war service of the regiment was in South Africa, and in 1851, 1852 and 1853 it was busily engaged in defending the scattered homesteads of the early colonists of the Cape of Good Hope. It was while the regiment was at the Cape that the Birkenhead was wrecked, and a detachment of the "Queen's" was among the troops who, in order to allow the women and children to be saved, stood firm in their ranks on the deck of the doomed ship, until the waves swallowed all but the deathless glory of their deed. The 2nd battalion was raised in 1857. In 1860 the 1st battalion took part in the war which humbled the pride of the mighty Chinese Empire, and in 1886-8 the 2nd battalion was engaged in the operations in Burmah, which added that valuable territory to the British Empire.
In 1897 the 1st battalion formed part of the Malakand Field Force, and was specially mentioned for its steady conduct during the night attack on the camp at Nawagai on the 20th September. Following hard upon this service came the Tirah expedition, in the course of which the battalion took part in the attack on the Sampagha and Arhanga passes and subsequent operations, being highly complimented by Major-General Perm Symons on its achievements.
The South African campaign then called the 2nd battalion to active service, and it sailed for the seat of war on the 20th October, 1899. At the battle of Willow Grange on the 22nd November, 1899, the men had their first encounter with the enemy, and Sir Conan Doyle says, "The Surreys behaved very well," and this was followed on 15th December, by the battle of Colenso. Here the battalion formed the firing line of the 2nd brigade, and was complimented by Sir Redvers Buller for its conduct in the fight, while Sir Conan Doyle mentions the brigade of which it formed part as one of those which bore off the honours of the fight. In the stern fighting which ensued by the Tugela River the Queen's had an ample share, being engaged in the Spion Kop operations, at Vaal Krantz, Monte Cristo, and Pieter's Hill.
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