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The King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 1881 - 1968.
The King's Shropshire Light Infantry was the county's Regular infantry regiment between 1881 and 1968.
The new "county" regiment
In 1881, in the wake of the Cardwell army reforms, the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment and 85th King’s Light Infantry were amalgamated to form a new “county” regiment, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.
The 53rd became the 1st Battalion and the 85th became the 2nd Battalion.
New barracks were built for the regiment at Copthorne in Shrewsbury between 1877-81.
The 1st Battalion soon earned its first battle-honour.
In August 1882, it served in Sir Garnet Wolseley’s army in the conquest of upper Egypt, being based at Alexandria as part of the garrison and later taking part in the occupation of Cairo.
After a spell at Malta, the 1st Battalion served at Suakin on the Red Sea in 1885-86 in operations against local tribes under Osman Digna.
[see seaprate pages on the 1 KSLI in the Sudan campaign.]
Moving from Malta, by 1894 the 1st Battalion was in Hong Kong where it played a major role in fighting a terrible outbreak of the bubonic plague - the notorious “Black Death” - which killed over 3,500 Chinese citizens.
[see separate pages on the 1 KSLI in the Hong Kong plague.]
The battalion was in India until 1903, when it returned to the UK and was in Tipperary in Ireland when the First World War began in August 1914.
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The 2nd Battalion
Throughout the period 1881-1899, the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Ireland and England and saw no active service until December 1899, when it was called upon to join British forces fighting in South Africa in “the Boer War”.
The battalion served continuously throughout the campaign until its conclusion in May 1902. It distinguished itself at the major battle of Paardeberg in February 1900, when a Boer army under General Cronje was captured, and "Paardeberg Day" was celebrated annually as a Regimental Day thereafter.
It was later present in the occupation of Pretoria and in 1901-02 played its part in the arduous “guerrilla war” phase of the campaign until its conclusion with the Treaty of Vereeniging in May1902.
The 2nd KSLI raised a very successful Mounted Infantry company during the campaign and also received drafts from the KSLI Volunteer Battalions in the UK - their first overseas service.
The 2nd KSLI was in India between 1903 and 1914 and was stationed at Secunderabad when war began in August 1914.
The "Great War" 1914-18.
As with other county regiments, the KSLI was greatly expanded during “the Great War”.
Its ten battalions (of which eight served overseas) won 60 battle honours and the KSLI was the first British regiment to be mentioned by name in dispatches.
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- The 1st Battalion
The 1st Battalion went to France in September 1914, serving in the later stages of the Battle of the Aisne and then in Flanders during the First Battle of Ypres.
It remained on the Western Front for the entire duration of the war, fighting on the Somme in 1916 and at Arras and Cambrai in 1917.
Just about destroyed during the German Spring Offensive in April 1918, the battalion went on to serve in the final breaching of the Hindenburg Line later in 1918 and then joined the British occupation force in the Rhineland.
- The 2nd Battalion
The 2nd Battalion moved from India to Flanders in December 1914 and took part in some of the most severe fighting of the war, in the Ypres Salient in the Spring of 1915 (Second Battle of Ypres).
Later in the year, it was sent to Salonika and spent the next three years fighting the Bulgarians in Macedonia, based for the most part on the Struma line.
It returned home via Western Turkey and went to Ireland in 1919.
It was the last British regiment to leave Dublin Castle on the formation of the Irish Free State in 1921.
- The Territorial Battalion
The 4th (Territorial) Battalion, formed from the old Volunteers in 1908, initially had a peaceful and exotic war - on imperial garrison dutry in Hong Kong, Rangoon and Singapore from October 1914.
However, in July 1917 it was sent to the Western Front and was pitched straight into the Passchendaele operations during the Third Battle of Ypres.
It served through the great German offensive of 1918 and distinguished itself on June 6th when it captured the Montaigne de Bligny - for which feat the battalion as a whole was awarded the French Croix-de-Guerre avec Palme.
"Bligny Day" is still celebrated annually on the nearest Sunday to June 6th.
It resumed its round of peacetime activities and training after the war.
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- The "Service" Battalions
As in other counties, local men flocked to join the colours and four “Service Battalions” of the KSLI were raised - the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.
The 5th, 6th and 7th all spent the period 1915 to 1918 exclusively on the Western Front and saw extensive action in all the major offensives, especially on the Somme and in the Ypres Salient.
The 8th Battalion, like the 2nd, was sent from France to Salonika late in 1915 and spent three years on the Macedonian front before being absorbed by the 2nd Battalion at the end of the war.
The 10th KSLI was formed from the dismounted Shropshire and Cheshire Yeomanry in Palestine in 1917 and fought through the battle of Gaza and the capture of Jerusalem and Jericho before being sent to France in the Spring of 1918.
It ended the war in France and was disbaned at its conclusion, the Shropshire element reverting to the Shropshire Yeomanry.
The 3rd (Special Reserve) and 9th Battalions served as training formations in the UK and saw no overseas war service.
Between the Wars
When the war ended, the Service Battalions were quickly disbanded and the 4th returned to its peace-time Territorial activities.
The 1st Battalion spent the period 1919-38 in India - a relatively peaceful tour of duty, moving from cantonment to cantonment, enlivened with a spell at Razmak in Waziristan (1929-30) and active service against the Mohmands on the North West Frontier in 1930-31.
The 2nd Battalion was sent to Dublin (where it absorbed the 9th Battalion) in 1919. It became involved in anti-Sinn Fein operations prior to its return to the UK and was the last British regiment to leave Dublin on the formation of the Irish Free State.
From Ireland, the 2nd Battalion went to Cologne as part of the Rhineland occupation force, returning home in 1927. It was based in the UK until January 1939, when it sailed for the West Indies and service in Jamaica.
The Second World War
First British casualty in the Second World war, Cpl. T. W. Priday
When war broke out again in 1939, the 1st Battalion KSLI was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force in September and suffered the first British casualty of the war with the death of Cpl. T. W. Priday near Metz on 9th December.
The battalion advanced into Belgium, took part in the eventual retreat towards the coast and was heavily involved in the rearguard fighting at and around Dunkirk, being one of the last British units evacuated from the port.
- 1st Battalion
At home until 1943, the 1st sailed for Tunisia in February and played a leading part in the actions around Tunis.
From there, it served in the capture of the island of Panetellaria and the invasion of Italy. The battalion was particularly involved in the very heavy fighting at Anzio in 1944 and then served in the arduous campaign through Italy via Florence, the Arno and Monte Ceco.
Before the campaign was over, however, the battalion was ordered to Syria and then to Palestine, where it ended the war.
- 2nd Battalion
A 2-KSLI sniper, near Caen, 1944.
The 2nd Battalion had a peaceful start to the war, pending the first three years in the West Indies and Dutch West Indies guarding oil refineries.
Returning home to a period of intensive training in 1942, the 2nd took part in the D-Day landings on June 6th, landing near La Breche on “Queen” beach. Its subsequent service took it via Bieville, Caen and Lirose, then through Belgium and into Holland.
The 2nd was heavily involved in the fighting around Overloon and spent the winter of 1944 along the Maas. During the advance to the Rhine, Pte. J. Stokes won a posthumous VC for his gallantry at Kervenheim on 1st March 1945.
Crossing the Rhine on 29th March, the Battalion ended the war near Bremen.
- 4th (Territorial) Battalion
Sgt. George Eardley receives the ribbon of the VC "in the field" from Field Marshal Montgomery.
The 4th (Territorial) Battalion served as lorry-borne infantry in 159 Brigade of 11th Armoured Division and landed in Normandy on 14th June 1944.
Involved in the heavy fighting in the “bocage”, it took part in the advance on Amiens and thence to Antwerp, being the first allied unit to enter that city. Crossing the Dutch frontier, the 4th took part in the capture of Asten, and at Overloon on 16th October 1944, Sgt. H. Eardley MM, won the VC. Crossing the Rhine on 28th March 1945, the 4th was the first British unit to reach the Elbe.
Expansion during the War
As in 1914-18, the KSLI was greatly expanded during World War Two.
Newly-raised 5th and 7th battalions remained in the UK on Home Defence duties; the 6th was converted to Artillery and as 181 Field Battery served in Normandy, Belgium and Holland, being the first RA field regiment to cross the Rhine. The 8th and 20th Battalions served as training and holding battalions.
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After the war and the end of the "county" regiment
As in the aftermath of all the major wars in which the KSLI and its ancestors had served, there were major Army reforms and reductions after the Second World War. In 1948, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, which had both served in Palestine after the war, were amalgamated to form one single-battalion regiment.
The KSLI undertook Public Service duties in London in 1948-49, but thereafter the post-war years were ones of frequent overseas service.
In 1949, the KSLI was posted to Hong Kong and from there in 1951 it embarked for service in Korea.
It earned battle-honours for its part in the actions at Kowang San and on Hill 227 and shares with the KOSB the distinction of the longest period of service during “the first United Nations war”.
Leaving for the UK in 1952, the KSLI did a brief tour of duty in Germany and during its bi-centennial year in 1955 - marked with due ceremony - left for active service in Kenya during the Mau-Mau disturbances. Whilst based in Kenya (1955-58), the KSLI was called upon to send troops to Aden during a rebellion in the Yemen.
After three years in the UK, the KSLI was in Germany between 1961-1963 and what was to be its final overseas tour of duty began in 1966 in Malaysia and Singapore, with a brief spell on exercise in Australia.
The final “active service” of the KSLI came in 1968 when two companies were dispatched to Mauritius to deal with disturbances during the island’s independence ceremonies.
It was whilst in Malaysia that the regiment ended its separate existence as a county regiment. In July 1968, it was absorbed into the newly-formed Light Infantry as the 3rd Battalion.
The 4th (Territorial) Battalion was disbanded in 1967, to be succeeded by the 5th Light Infantry. This in turn was disbanded in 1999 and the old traditions of the Rifle Volunteers and T.A. were then perpetuated by a single Territorial Army company - “E” Company of the West Midlands Regiment, which was based at Copthorne Barracks.
On the formation of the new regiment, The Rifles, in Feb. 2007, the T.A. company at Copthorne was redesignated as "E" (Rifles) Company of the West Midland Regiment.