The Herefordshire Regimental Museum

The Herefordshire Regimental Museum

Contact Information:

The Museum (and archive) is located in The Territorial Army Centre in Harold Street Hereford.


Visiting is strictly by appointment only; for details write to:
The Curator, Hereford LI Museum, Harold St, Hereford, HR1 2QX or ring 01432 370280.

The Museum contains artefacts relevant to:
The Hereford Rifle Volunteer Corps (HRVC) (1860-1908),
The Herefordshire Regiment (1908-47)
The Herefordshire Light Infantry (1947-68)

The Hereford Regiment prior to 1914

The history of the Herefordshire Light Infantry starts in 1860 with the formation of eight Rifle Volunteer Corps in Herefordshire, which were brought together as the 1st Administrative Battalion, the Herefordshire Rifle Volunteers.

There were additionally, three corps of the Battalion in Radnorshire.

The reforms to both the regular and volunteer elements of the Army during this period brought about the first of four name changes in 1880, when the title was altered to The Herefordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps (Hereford & Radnor).

The Regiment was linked to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, which was formed at the same time.

This association with the KSLI, the Light Infantry, and Shropshire was to be an enduring one, which survives to this day.

The first opportunity for active service came during the Boer War. Two Volunteer Service Companies were formed from the three Volunteer Battalions of the KSLI, of which the Herefordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps was one, to reinforce 2nd Battalion KSLI in South Africa.

The Companies, serving for one year each, were only allowed a strength of 116 all ranks, which made for stiff competition to join them. The first Company went to South Africa in April 1900, and was involved with 2nd Battalion KSLI on several operations.

By the time the second Company went out in 1901, the war had changed with most of the time spent in guard duty on blockhouses and escorting trains. Both Companies performed extremely well.

In recognition of this, the Volunteer Battalions were granted permission for the Battle Honour 'South Africa 1900-1902' to be borne on their Colours.
In the campaign, Herefordshire lost four men killed.

The next major change came with the reorganisation of the reserve forces into the Territorial Force in 1908.

The title of the Regiment was changed to 'The Herefordshire Regiment TF'.
Although Radnorshire was dropped from the Title, the link remained with two Radnorshire Companies remaining in the Battalion.

Service in World War One

In 1914, the 1st Battalion was mobilised as part of 158 Brigade in 53rd (Welsh) Division.

It was later renumbered as 1st/1st Battalion, as two other line battalions were raised during the war, 2nd/1st and 3rd/1st. Neither of these saw active service and were eventually absorbed into 4h (Reserve) Battalion KSLI.

In 1915, 53rd Division was dispatched to join the Gallipoli campaign, and on 9th August 1915, the Battalion landed at SUVLA BAY and was immediately involved in the fighting. In spite of the appalling conditions and poor generalship, the Battalion greatly distinguished itself.

In his dispatches, the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Ian Hamilton reported the following:

"Some of the units which took part in this engagement acquitted themselves very bravely. The Divisional Commander speaks with appreciation of one freshly landed battalion of 53d Division, a Herefordshire battalion, which attacked with impetuosity and courage...."

With the withdrawal from Gallipoli in December 1915, the Battalion, by then less than a hundred strong, was sent with 53rd Division to Egypt. After rest, reinforcement, and retraining, it was involved in the defence of the Suez Canal and Egypt, taking a prominent part in the battle of RUMANI in July 1916.

In 1917, when Government policy changed, 53rd Division became involved in the Palestine Campaign, led by General Allenby, to drive out the Turks. The 1st Battalion fought in all three battles of GAZA and distinguished itself at BEERSHEBA and KHUWEILFEK arriving in JERUSALEM in December 1917. In the subsequent advance in March 1918, the Battalion took part in the battle of TEL ASUR.

By this time, the priority was for troops for the Western Front. In June 1918, the Battalion was among five from 53rd Division dispatched to France, to be replaced by Indian Army units. The Battalion joined 102 Brigade in 30 Division with which it was involved in some of the last battles of the war including the MARNE and 3rd YPRES. In October, after some particularly heavy fighting near MENIN, the Commanding Officer received a special letter from the Brigade Commander, Brigadier -General Hilliam in which he wrote

"Congratulations to you and all ranks of your splendid Battalion for the excellent work done during the three days fighting."

After the Armistice on 11th November, the Battalion was involved in garrison duties in Germany until it returned to Hereford where it was demobilised on 24th May 1919.

The Regiment had acquitted it self well in the war. Members of the Battalion received the following awards for bravery:
1 VC, won by the Medical Officer posthumously, Captain J Fox-Russell MC at KHUWEILFEH in Nov 1917.
7 DSOs
15 MCs
9 DCMs
15 MMs
2 Croix de Guerre.

The Regiment was awarded 16 Battle Honours of which 10 were carried on the King's Colour.
The casualty list was 27 Officers and 495 Other Ranks killed. 46 Officers and 974 Other Ranks were wounded.

Between the Wars.

In 1920, the Reserve Army was reformed as the Territorial Army.

There was a moment of panic when it was proposed that the Herefordshire Regiment should become a heavy artillery regiment. However, after a great outcry in the County, the proposal was withdrawn and the Regiment was reformed as infantry as 'The Herefordshire Regiment TA', this time without the Radnorshire element. The links with Radnorshire were thus finally extinguished.

The Battalion became part of 159 (Welsh Border) Brigade rejoining 53d (Welsh) Division with which it had fought throughout the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns. The other Battalions in the Brigade were 4th Battalion KSLI and 3rd Battalion the Monmouthshire Regiment.

Although peacetime soldiering continued normally, by the late thirties it was realised that another war was coming, which no doubt gave an added zest to training.

The Herefords in World War Two, 1939-45.

In April 1939, the strength of the TA was doubled, with every unit and formation being duplicated.

The newly-raised 2nd Battalion Herefordshire Regiment, formed by splitting the 1st Battalion, was involved in anti invasion duties. It never saw action and was placed in suspended animation in July 1944.

The 1st Battalion was mobilised on 2nd Sept 1939 just days after returning from Camp at Weston- Super-Mare. 159 Brigade was established in TENBY, Pembrokeshire.

After the German invasion of Norway, it was felt that N IRELAND might be at some risk, so in April 1940 the Division moved to the Province. The Battalion remained in N IRELAND until May 1942, when as part of a restructuring of both infantry and armoured divisions, 159 Brigade was selected to be a Lorried Infantry Brigade joining 29 Armoured Brigade in 11th Armoured Division.

The change of role gave a new sense of purpose to the Battalion, greatly improving morale.
The Division was commanded by Major-General Percy Hobart, a legendary figure in the armoured world. He had been brought out of retirement in the Home Guard by Winston Churchill to form and train the Division.

The Division was set for service in North Africa in January 1943 but at the very last moment, the Allied Conference in CASABLANCA decided to send an infantry division instead. This was naturally a severe disappointment. However, the Battalion soon got over it, and buckled down to training once more.

The Battalion finally went to war in NORMANDY, landing there on D + 7, 13th June 1944.
The Divisional Commander by this time was Major General 'Pip' Roberts who at 37, was one of the youngest Divisional Commanders of the war. He had gained his spurs in the desert, commanding two separate armoured brigades in Eighth Army.

The Division was involved in all the major operations in NORMANDY: ODON (Op Epsom), CAEN, (Op Goodwood) and CAUMONT, (Op Bluecoat) and the battles around the FALAISE pocket.
They led the great 'Swan' as it was known, to ANTWERP, arriving there on 3rd September having driven 260 miles in 6 days.
They fought the battles there, followed by the winter fighting on the River MAAS.
Finally, there was the RHINE crossing, and the fight through Germany to LUBECK on the Baltic coast, for the war's end.

The Battalion took part in the very last operation in NW Europe, 'Operation Blackout' on 23rd May, when 159 Brigade, with the Herefords, 1-4th KSLI, the Cheshires, and 15/19th Hussars, toppled the puppet government of the 2nd and last Fuehrer of the 3rd and last Reich, Grand Admiral Doenitz in FLENSBURG.

The Battalion gathered up his car pennants for safekeeping. They are still in Hereford.
It is said that members of the Battalion surprised some German 'WRENS' taking a shower. It was further reported that the soldiers retired hurriedly, also that the ladies did not object to the intrusion!

The next 14 months involved Occupation duties, as well as preparing men for demob.

In January 1946, 11th Armoured Division was disbanded. 159 Brigade returned to 53rd Division then stationed in KREFELD. In July, the Battalion was placed in suspended animation.

It should be said that 11th Armoured Division was overwhelmingly a Territorial Army and 'Wartime Only' division. It is even more to their credit therefore, that the division is generally recognised as the outstanding division in the Campaign. Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey, the Commander of Second British Army wrote of the Division on 5th August 1945:

"The 11th Armoured Division proved itself throughout the campaign in North West Europe an outstandingly fine division. I have never met a better."

Captain Sir Basil Liddell Hart, a Light Infantryman himself in the first war and one of the foremost military historians of his generation, wrote of 11th Armoured Division in his book 'The Tanks':

"within a few months 11th Armoured achieved a reputation in Europe matching that which the long-famous 7th Armoured Division gained in Africa."

The casualty list was 8 Officers and 210 Other Ranks killed.
The following awards were made to members of the Battalion.
5 DSOs including 1 bar
12 MCs, 3 DCMs
25 MMs
3 Croix de Guerre.

16 Battle honours were awarded to the Regiment, 10 of which were carried on the Queen's Colour.
As these awards were won in eleven months, as opposed to three years in the first war, there can be no doubt that the Battalion fought with great distinction in the campaign from Normandy to the Baltic.

Post War developments : the Herefordshire Light Infantry

The Battalion was reformed in April 1947 and one month later, in recognition of its war service, and its long association with the KSLI, changed its name
for the fourth and last time.
The Regiment became the Herefordshire Light Infantry (TA), adopting the uniform and customs of the Light Infantry with which it had been associated for so long.

The Battalion prospered in the following 20 years. Not only was it well recruited, but excelled at work and play, winning many shooting and sporting competitions.

In 1967, the final curtain came down with the reorganisation, or destruction as some might call it, of the TA, in which the Regiment ceased to exist.

That is not quite the end of the story. Their military descendants, the Light Infantry, though now reduced to platoon strength in Hereford, are continuing to play their part.

Light Infantry TA soldiers from HEREFORD have provided support for their regular comrades serving in Bosnia, Kosovo, and more recently in Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The record of the Herefordshire Light Infantry lives on in its battle honours, which have been incorporated into those of the Light Infantry, four of which are borne on the Colours.

In summary, the Regiment played a significant role in the three major wars of the first half of the 20th Century. It acquitted itself at the highest level, and its reputation, as the only TA Regiment to be given the honour of becoming 'Light Infantry', is unrivalled.