Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1920-1950

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1920-1950 PDF Author: H. D. Chaplin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781845741501
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
This book tells the story of the Queen s Own Royal West Kent Regiment from the aftermath of the Great War in 1920 down to the wake of the Second World War in 1950. The RWK did garrison duty in India and the occupied Rhineland in the early 1920s, and in policing the turbulent north and south of Ireland during the Irish independence struggle. The author calls 1923-32 the lean years when post-war cutbacks hit the RWK hard. After 1933, however, the growing prospect of war with Nazi Germany meant gradual rearmament and partial mechanisation. In 1938-39 the RWK s second battalion policed Palestine against Arab unrest. The final months before war saw hasty preparation and expansion; and after war broke out most battalions crossed to Franceand Belgium as part of the BEF. Here they found themselves on the old battlefields of the Great War and even at Oudenarde, scene of one of Marlborough; s victories. Swept up in the German Blitzkrieg of May 1940, the 6th and 7th battalions were overrun at Doullens and Albert; while the Queen s Own Brigade were embarked in the Dunkirk evacuation. From June 1940 new battalions were recruited; the 2nd Battalion defended Malta and the 4th and 5th battalions joined the Eighth Army in Egypt; fighting at the battles of Alam Halfa and Alamein and also seeing service in Iraq. The 1st and 6th battalions joined Operation Torch , the Anglo-American invasion of French Algeria in November 1942; and fought the Germans in the tough Tunisian campaign. The 6th battalion was present at the invasion of Sicily, fighting in the fooothills of Mount Etna and was joined by the 1st and 5th battalions in the Italian campaigns, fighting at Cassino and slogging up the Peninsula to Florence, the Gothic Line and finally entering Austria. Meanwhile the 1st battalion had been in Greece, where it was caught up in the politicial in-fighting in Athens in December 1944; and the 4th battalion had formed part of Slim s forgotten army in Burma. In the five years after the war the RWK underwent extensive re-organisation while serving in Egypt and occupied Germany and in Malaya. With a Roll of Honour, 30 maps and 42 photographs. The text is accompanied by six appendices listing honours and awards, officers in campaigns, Home Guard units, Colonels and CO s etc.

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1920-1950

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1920-1950 PDF Author: H. D. Chaplin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781845741501
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
This book tells the story of the Queen s Own Royal West Kent Regiment from the aftermath of the Great War in 1920 down to the wake of the Second World War in 1950. The RWK did garrison duty in India and the occupied Rhineland in the early 1920s, and in policing the turbulent north and south of Ireland during the Irish independence struggle. The author calls 1923-32 the lean years when post-war cutbacks hit the RWK hard. After 1933, however, the growing prospect of war with Nazi Germany meant gradual rearmament and partial mechanisation. In 1938-39 the RWK s second battalion policed Palestine against Arab unrest. The final months before war saw hasty preparation and expansion; and after war broke out most battalions crossed to Franceand Belgium as part of the BEF. Here they found themselves on the old battlefields of the Great War and even at Oudenarde, scene of one of Marlborough; s victories. Swept up in the German Blitzkrieg of May 1940, the 6th and 7th battalions were overrun at Doullens and Albert; while the Queen s Own Brigade were embarked in the Dunkirk evacuation. From June 1940 new battalions were recruited; the 2nd Battalion defended Malta and the 4th and 5th battalions joined the Eighth Army in Egypt; fighting at the battles of Alam Halfa and Alamein and also seeing service in Iraq. The 1st and 6th battalions joined Operation Torch , the Anglo-American invasion of French Algeria in November 1942; and fought the Germans in the tough Tunisian campaign. The 6th battalion was present at the invasion of Sicily, fighting in the fooothills of Mount Etna and was joined by the 1st and 5th battalions in the Italian campaigns, fighting at Cassino and slogging up the Peninsula to Florence, the Gothic Line and finally entering Austria. Meanwhile the 1st battalion had been in Greece, where it was caught up in the politicial in-fighting in Athens in December 1944; and the 4th battalion had formed part of Slim s forgotten army in Burma. In the five years after the war the RWK underwent extensive re-organisation while serving in Egypt and occupied Germany and in Malaya. With a Roll of Honour, 30 maps and 42 photographs. The text is accompanied by six appendices listing honours and awards, officers in campaigns, Home Guard units, Colonels and CO s etc.

The History of the Second, Queen's Royal Regiment, Now the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment

The History of the Second, Queen's Royal Regiment, Now the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment PDF Author: John Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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The History of the Second Queen's Royal Regiment

The History of the Second Queen's Royal Regiment PDF Author: John Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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The Ninth Queen's Royal Lancers 1936-45: The Story of an Armoured Regiment In Battle

The Ninth Queen's Royal Lancers 1936-45: The Story of an Armoured Regiment In Battle PDF Author: Joan Bright
Publisher: Naval & Military Press
ISBN: 9781783314959
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
This a very good WW2 Regimental History of a fine fighting unit that formed part of the the 1st Armoured Division. The regiment's battle honours for the Second World War were as follows: Somme 1940, Withdrawal to Seine, North-West Europe 1940, Saunnu, Gazala, Bir el Aslagh, Sidi Rezegh 1942, Defence of Alamein Line, Ruweisat, Ruweisat Ridge, El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, El Hamma, El Kourzia, Tunis, Creteville Pass, North Africa 1942-43, Coriano, Capture of Forli, Lamone Crossing, Pideura, Defence of Lamone Bridgehead, Argenta Gap, Italy 1944-45. The Lancers landed in France to cover the retreating French, Belgian and British armies on 20 May 1940 and took part in the Battle of France. Withdrawn to England, the regiment landed in North Africa in September 1941 and undertook a leading part in the First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942. According to General Sir Richard McCreery: "The 9th Lancers took part in many decisive battles, none more so perhaps than the long withdrawal from Knightsbridge, south of Gazala, to El Alamein. Many think that Egypt was saved when the Eighth Army defeated Rommel's last big attack in the Western Desert at the end of August 1942. Actually, Egypt was saved earlier during those first few critical days of July when Rommel drove his tanks and self-propelled guns and trucks forward along the Ruweisat Ridge in close formations, to be stopped by the 25-pounders and the remnants of the 2nd Armoured Brigade with their "thin-skinned" Crusader tanks. In this critical action the 9th Lancers took the principal part. Throughout that long withdrawal from Knightsbridge, when the fluctuating Battle of Gazala had finally swung against the Eighth Army, past Sollum and Matruh to the Ruweisat Ridge, only seventy miles from Alexandria, the 2nd Armoured Brigade with the 9th Lancers always there but often reduced to only a handful of tanks, fought on skilfully and with gallant endurance and determination. Egypt was then saved indeed and with the arrival of the 9th Australian Division from Syria about the 6th of July, the tide of the whole war was turned." McCreery went on: "Right well did the intensive training of the 9th Lancers with the Sherman bear fruit in the great battle which followed. As the world knows, the breakthrough at El Alamein did not come quickly. Rommel had had two months to build up defences and minefields in depth. However, in the ten days "dogfight" tank crews with their new 75-mm guns were knocking out far more enemy tanks than our infantry appreciated at the time." The regiment's marksmanship was renowned; their best shot was Corporal Nicholls of B Squadron, who was once personally congratulated by General Bernard Montgomery for knocking out nine enemy tanks in one day. The regiment landed in Italy in mid-1944, where it saw action at San Savino in the battle for the Gothic Line in September 1944 on the Italian Front. The regiment formed the spearhead of the British Eighth Army in the breakthrough to the River Po in the Spring of 1945. By the end of War, 143 members of the regiment had lost their lives. The regiment was amalgamated with the 12th Royal Lancers to form the 9th/12th Royal Lancers in September 1960.

The History of the Second Queen's Royal Regiment

The History of the Second Queen's Royal Regiment PDF Author: John Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Queen's Own Highlanders

Queen's Own Highlanders PDF Author: Trevor Royle
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1780572425
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Created in 1961 as a result of the amalgamation of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and the Seaforth Highlanders, the Queen's Own Highlanders embody the history and traditions of some of Scotland's oldest Highland regiments. Two great Highland families - Cameron of Lochdarroch and Mackenzie of Seaforth - were involved in the formation of the antecedent regiments and their tartans were incorporated in their successor's uniform. During its long history, the regiment has served in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimea, the Indian Mutiny, the Boer War and the two World Wars of the twentieth century. After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Duke of Wellington specifically mentioned the Cameron Highlanders in his dispatches as a result of the bravery shown by Piper Kenneth Mackay, who left the safety of the regiment's defensive square to encourage the men by playing the traditional rallying tune 'Cogadh no Sith' (War or Peace - the True Gathering of the Clans). In 1994, the Queen's Own Highlanders amalgamated with the Gordon Highlanders, and in 2006 they became the 4th Battalion of the new Royal Regiment of Scotland. This account of the regiment is therefore a timely memorial to its long and distinguished history.

The Army Medical Services

The Army Medical Services PDF Author: Francis Albert Eley Crew
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medicine, Military
Languages : en
Pages : 866

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4th Hussar

4th Hussar PDF Author: David Scott Daniell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Forgotten Voices Desert Victory

Forgotten Voices Desert Victory PDF Author: Imperial War Museum
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1409034860
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
‘Between Friday and Monday we never slept at all. Everyone’s face was one mass of sand ... The guns were so hot, all the paint had gone’ Bombardier Ray Ellis Had the Allies lost in North Africa, Rommel’s Afrika Korps would have swept through the Middle East, cutting the vital supply line through the Suez Canal to Australia and India, and taking the oilfields of the Persian Gulf. Britain would have been isolated, without oil, and unable to fight. These historic battles of 1940–1943 were fought over vast distances on rugged terrain, with supply lines often stretched to breaking point. It was here that David Stirling formed the SAS to perform audacious sabotage missions, and the Long Range Desert Group collected intelligence from behind enemy lines. This is the story of the Allies’ first victory against Hitler’s army, told in the voices of the men who were there, which proved that the seemingly unstoppable Germans could be beaten.

Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army

Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army PDF Author: Anonymous
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
In 'Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army', Anonymous delves into the unique and fascinating world of British military history. This meticulously researched book explores the origins and significance of various regimental nicknames and traditions, shedding light on the diverse cultural heritage that has shaped the British Army. Written in a scholarly yet accessible style, this book is a treasure trove of information for history enthusiasts and military buffs alike. Anonymous skillfully weaves together historical anecdotes, linguistic analysis, and cultural insights to paint a vivid picture of the British Army's rich tapestry of traditions. While the identity of the author remains a mystery, their expertise in military history and passion for the subject matter shines through in every page. Anonymous's meticulous attention to detail and comprehensive knowledge make 'Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army' a must-read for anyone interested in British military history and the cultural heritage of the armed forces. I wholeheartedly recommend 'Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army' to readers who are eager to explore the colorful and diverse history of the British Army. This book is a valuable resource for scholars, historians, and anyone with a keen interest in the military traditions of the United Kingdom.