King's Royal Rifle Corps

For other units with the same regimental number, see 60th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation).
62nd (Royal American) Regiment
60th (Royal American) Regiment
Duke of York's Own Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps

Cap badge of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
Active 1756–1966
Country  United Kingdom
Branch  British Army
Type Rifles
Role Light infantry
Size 4 Battalions in Peacetime (28 during the Great War)
Garrison/HQ Peninsula Barracks, Winchester
Nickname(s) 60th Rifles
Motto(s) Celer et Audax (Swift and Bold).
March Quick March- Lützow's Wild Chase
Slow March- The Duke of York
Double March- The Road to the Isles/Monymusk
The KRRC's music traditions[1]
Anniversaries Christmas Day (Formation)

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, originally raised in North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from North American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire. In 1966 the regiment amalgamated with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) to become the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, a new large regiment. In 2007 the Royal Green Jackets was merged with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and The Light Infantry to form The Rifles, where the lineage of the King's Royal Rifle Corps continues on as the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles.

History

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was raised in the American colonies in 1756 as the 62nd (Royal American) Regiment to defend the thirteen colonies against attack by the French and their Native American allies. After Braddock's defeat in 1755, royal approval for a new regiment, as well as funds, were granted by parliament just before Christmas 1755 – hence the regiment's traditional birthday of Christmas Day. However parliamentary delays meant it was 4 March 1756 before a special act of parliament created four battalions of 1,000 men each to include foreigners for service in the Americas.

Benjamin West's depiction of Sir William Johnson sparing Lord Dieskau's life after the Battle of Lake George. (Reportedly, the uniforms of soldiers in the background right are of the Royal Americans)

A regimental history compiled in 1879 by a captain in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, states that in November 1755 Parliament voted the sum of £81,000 for the purpose of raising a regiment of four battalions, each one thousand strong for service in British North America. Parliament approved “An Act to enable His Majesty to grant commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants, who have served abroad as officers or engineers, to act and rank as officers or engineers in America only under certain restrictions and regulations.” The Earl of Loudoun, who as commander-in-chief of the Forces in North America, was appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment. About fifty officers’ commissions were given to Germans and Swiss, and none were allowed to rise above the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[2]

According to a modern history of the regiment, the idea for creating this unique force was proposed by Jacques Prevost, a Swiss soldier and adventurer who was a friend of the Duke of Cumberland (William, who was the King's second son and was Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.) Prevost recognised the need for soldiers who understood forest warfare, unlike the regulars who were brought to America in 1755 by General Braddock.[3]

The regiment was intended to combine the characteristics of a colonial corps with those of a foreign legion. Swiss and German forest fighting experts, American colonists and British volunteers from other British regiments were recruited. These men were Protestants, an important consideration for fighting against the predominantly Catholic French. The officers were also recruited from Europe – not from the American colonies – and consisted of English, Scots, Irish, Dutch, Swiss and Germans. It was the first time foreign officers were commissioned as British Army officers. The total regiment consisted of 101 officers, 240 non-commissioned officers and 4,160 enlisted men. The battalions were raised on Governors Island, New York. The regiment was renumbered the 60th (Royal American) Regiment in February 1757 when the 50th (Shirley's) and 51st (Pepperel's) foot regiments were removed from the British Army roll after their surrender at Fort Oswego.[4]

Among the distinguished foreign officers given commissions in the 60th (Royal Americans) was Henri Bouquet, a Swiss citizen, whose ideas on tactics, training and man-management (including the unofficial introduction of the rifle and 'battle-dress') would become universal in the British Army some 150 years later. Bouquet was commanding officer of the 1st battalion,[5] and with his fellow battalion commanders, set about creating units that were better suited to warfare in the forests and lakes of northeast America. The Royal Americans represented an attempt to produce a more able soldier who was encouraged to use his initiative while retaining the discipline that was noticeably lacking in the irregular units of colonial Rangers that were being raised at the same time.

The new regiment fought at Louisbourg in 1758, the Cape Sable Campaign and Quebec in 1759 in the campaign which finally wrested Canada from France; at Quebec it won from General James Wolfe the motto Celer et Audax (Swift and Bold). These were conventional battles on the European model, but fighting during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763 was of a very different character. The frontier war threatened the British control of North America. The new regiment at first lost several outlying garrisons but finally proved its mastery of forest warfare under Bouquet's leadership at the victory of Bushy Run.

The 60th were uniformed and equipped in a similar manner to other British regiments with red coats and cocked hats or grenadier caps,[5] but on campaign, swords were replaced with hatchets, and coats and hats cut down for ease of movement in the woods.[5]

Napoleonic Wars

During the Napoleonic Wars the regiment saw action in the Peninsular War. The first four battalions had been raised as regular line battalions, but in 1797 a 5th battalion had been raised at Cowes on the Isle of Wight and equipped entirely with the Baker rifle, and wore green jackets with red facings.[5] The mixing of rifle troops and muskets proved so effective that eventually line battalion light companies were replaced with rifle companies. The line battalions found themselves in several different theatres, including the West Indies. The rifle battalion was soon joined by a second, and these found themselves in the Peninsula with Wellington's army, serving along with the 95th Rifles, and the King's German Legion rifle units. A 7th battalion was eventually raised as a rifle battalion specifically for service in the American War of 1812.[6]

King's Royal Rifle Corps c. 1895-1914 by Harry Payne (1858–1927)
The 7th Kings Royal Rifles parading through Chipping Barnet.

After the Napoleonic Wars the regiment received a new title: first, in 1815, its name was changed to The Duke of York's Own Rifle Corps and then, in 1830, to the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC). In 1858 the Rifle Depot at Winchester was made their headquarters. The regiment served in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. During the rest of the 1800s the unit also was active in China, Canada (Wolseley Expedition), Afghanistan, India, Burma and South Africa. The regiment was deployed during the Second Boer War from the outset playing a key role in the first battle at Talana Hill. Two officers from the regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross; Lieutenant Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts and Lieutenant Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies. Private Frederick Corbett also receive the Victoria Cross for his action at Kafr Dowar, Egypt, on 5 August 1882; his VC was later rescinded when he was convicted of embezzlement, theft, and being absent without leave.[7]

First World War

Memorial to William Henry Laverty, King's Royal Rifles, killed during the First World War. St Swithun-upon-Kingsgate Church, Winchester

In the First World War the KRRC was expanded to twenty-eight battalions and saw much action on the Western Front, Macedonia and Italy with sixty battle honours awarded. 12,840 men of the regiment were killed while seven members received the Victoria Cross and over 2,000 further decorations were awarded.[8]

After 1918 the unit returned to garrison duties in India, iPalestine and Ireland. In 1922 the regiment was reduced from four to two battalions with the third and fourth being disbanded. In 1926 the Regiment was reorganised as one of the first mechanised infantry regiments.

Second World War

In the Second World War after initial deployment to France as part of the BEF, the regiment lost two battalions (2nd Bn KRRC and 1st Bn, Queen Victoria's Rifles, a Territorial Army unit) at the defence of Calais, where a Green Jacket Brigade held up the German advance and enabled the Dunkirk evacuation.

In the Mediterranean theatre, the KRRC saw action in the Greek campaign, including the Battle of Vevi and Battle of Crete, where 9th Battalion, The Rangers, served with 1st Armoured Brigade Group. It later served in Italy and Austria.

Following the D-Day landings, the 1st Battalion served in the 4th Armoured Brigade at the Battle of Arnhem (when the brigade failed to link up with the 1st Airborne Division). Rifleman John Beeley was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions during Operation Crusader. The regiment was awarded 41 battle honours for service in World War II. Following the war's end the unit was deployed in Germany.

Royal Green Jackets

In 1948, for administrative purposes the KRRC was brigaded with the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade to form the Green Jackets Brigade.

In 1958 the Regiment was re-titled the 2nd Green Jackets, the King's Royal Rifle Corps, as were the two other regiments of the Green Jackets Brigade, re-titled 1st and 3rd Green Jackets respectively. In 1966 the three regiments were amalgamated to form the three battalions of the Royal Green Jackets Regiment (RGJ). In 1992 the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets was disbanded, and the KRRC were renumbered the 1st Battalion, with the 3rd Battalion (former Rifle Brigade) becoming the 2nd Battalion. In 2007, the two-battalion RGJ regiment was amalgamated with the remaining Light Infantry regiments, to form the five Regular and two Territorial battalions of the Rifles.

The regiment's traditions are preserved by the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, which is a redesignation of the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets.

Territorial Battalions

Soldier of the 60th Royal American Regiment

In World War II these territorial battalions were made formally part of the KRRC as follows:

Cadet Battalions

Over the years the formation of the cadet battalions was changed regularly, due to the changes to do with rules and commanding officer.

The 1st Cadet Battalion owes its foundation to the Reverend Freeman Wills, who was commissioned into the Volunteer Army in the rank of Captain on 26 July 1890. He was also Vicar of St Agatha’s just behind Sun Street, Finsbury Square. On receiving his commission he decided to form a cadet company within the 1st Cadet Battalion, The Royal West Surrey Regiment. The Company quickly expanded to become the 2nd Cadet Battalion, The Royal West Surrey Regiment, at which point he moved the Battalion Headquarters to No. 2 Finsbury Square (and in 1904 to 42 Sun Street, which he had specially built for the purpose). In 1894 he applied to HRH Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, Colonel-in-Chief, to affiliate to the Regiment, with the title of 1st Cadet Battalion, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Consent was granted on 8 November 1894 and the Battalion has remained a part of the Regiment ever since.[9]

In the days of its foundation Cadet battalions were privately organized and funded. On becoming a part of The King’s Royal Rifle Corps subscriptions began to flow in and after the commanding officer had spent nearly £1,000, the Battalion was placed on a financial basis, which many Volunteer Corps would have envied. There were to be many ups and down in later years, especially when recognition of the Cadet Force was withdrawn between the two World Wars, but fortunately the enthusiasm and commitment of those involved consistently triumphed over the parsimony of Governments.[9]

In 1900, when volunteers were urgently needed for the South African War, The Commanding Officer, Colonel Freeman Croft-Wills persuaded the War Office to accept a Company of the older Cadets, principally N.C.O.s (Non-Commissioned Officers), the company being enrolled in the City Imperial Volunteers. Around 100 cadets thus served in South Africa with this unit, whilst other Cadets and ex-Cadets served in the R.A.M.C. (Royal Army Medical Corps), and other units. Four were killed in action, one serving with the 1st KRRC at the battle of Dundee, and the others with units of the C.I.V.s. Their comrades erected brass plaques in their memory in the Drill Hall at Sun Street. These are now displayed in the Cadet Company Office here at Davies Street.[9]

In recognition of this service, King Edward VII granted the Battalion the honour of wearing on its accoutrements the Battle Honour “South Africa 1900-1902” (Army Order 151 of 1905). The announcement of this privilege was made to the Battalion by His late Majesty, King George V, then Prince of Wales, when, accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Mary, he distributed the prizes at the Guild Hall in the City of London. The 1st Cadet Battalion KRRC are the only Cadet Unit in the United Kingdom to have been granted such an honour and are permitted to wear the miniature 60th Cap Badge with the single Battle Honour, and call their Cadets “Riflemen”.[9]

The 2nd Cadet Battalion, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps was formed in 1942 when a Home Guard instruction was issued ordering each Home Guard battalion to raise a cadet unit. Lieutenant-Colonel R.L. Clark of Queen Victoria’s Rifles was given the task and on 15 May the Queen Victoria’s Rifles Cadet Corps was born. Over the next three years the unit expanded to five companies, which in April 1945 led to it being re-titled the 2nd Cadet Battalion, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps. In1951 the 1st and 2nd Cadet Battalion were amalgamated. This resulted in the disposal of the Headquarters of the 1st Cadet Battalion at 42 Sun Street. In 1954 the Battalion office of the ‘new’ 1st Cadet Battalion was established at 56 Davies Street, where it remains to this day.[9] [10]

Today the KRRC 1st Cadet Battalion still exists,with the following units making up the Battalion:

Alliances

Titles

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to King's Royal Rifle Corps.

References

  1. ↑ Russell, Prof. W.M.S. (Rifleman, 12th Battalion KRRC, 1944-45) A Note on the Regimental March. KRRC Assn. website
  2. ↑ Wallace, Capt. Nesbit Willoughby (1879). "A Regimental Chronicle and List of Officers of The 60th, or the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, formerly the 62nd, or the Royal American Regiment of Foot". London. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "History of the 60th Regiment of Foot, the Royal Americans". Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Brown, Robert (March 1909). "Siege and Capture of Havana in 1762". Maryland Historical Magazine. p. 324.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Military Heritage
  6. ↑ Raising of the 7th Battalion of the 60th Regiment for North America, by Keith Raynor War of 1812
  7. ↑ Iain Stewart, Frederick Corbett, Victoria Cross Trust. 21 April 2004 version, accessed 25 March 2015.
  8. ↑ KRRC VC's
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Wallace, Lt.-Gen. Sir Christopher, The King's Royal Rifle Corps ... the 60th Rifles - A Brief History: 1755 to 1965 Appendix D Territorials, Militia and Cadets, pp.235-236, Royal Green Jackets Museum Trust, Winchester, 2005 Rifles Museum Bookshop
  10. ↑ Text on cadets from Wallace's The King's Royal Rifle Corps ... the 60th Rifles - A Brief History: 1755 to 1965 published on KRRC Association website

Publications

External links

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