Everything about The Lancashire Fusiliers totally explained
The
Lancashire Fusiliers was a
British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other
Fusilier regiments in
1968 to form the
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
History
Formation and early history
The Regiment was formed in 1688 in
Devon under Sir
Richard Peyton as
Peyton's Regiment of Foot. The regiment's name changed according to the name of the
colonel commanding until
1751, when it became the
20th Regiment of Foot.
The Regiment served in the
Glorious Revolution under
King William III and at the
Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and
Aughrim in 1691. During the
War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), it aided in the capture of Spanish galleons at
Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702. The regiment distinguished itself at the
Battle of Dettingen in June 1743, and at
Fontenoy in May 1745, and served in the
Battle of Culloden in April 1746.
During the
Seven Years' War the regiment earned honour at the
Battle of Minden on
1 August 1759, when, as an infantry formation, they stood up to and broke a French, cavalry charge. The Regiment was sent to
Quebec in April 1776 and assisted in the relief of Quebec in May 1776. Serving under General
John Burgoyne for the remainder of the Canadian Campaign, they later surrendered along with General Burgoyne at
Saratoga.
Lancashire Fusiliers
The 20th Regiment of Foot was designated the
East Devonshire Regiment in 1782, and the
Lancashire Fusiliers in 1881.
World War I
The Lancashire Fusiliers raised thirty battalions for
World War I and was represented in every campaign of the war.
Gallipoli
At the main landings at
Gallipoli on
25 April 1915, six
Victoria Crosses were awarded to 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. This is sometimes referred to as 'the six VCs before breakfast'.
The landing in Gallipoli involved a brigade from the
42nd (East Lancashire) Division that had four
territorial battalions from the regiment. The landings also involved the 1st Battalion.
A service of commemoration has been held in the regimental town,
Bury in
Lancashire every Gallipoli Sunday, the nearest Sunday to
25 April, since 1916. It has recently been decided that this commemoration will continue despite the death of the last survivor of the Lancashire Fusiliers who were present at Gallipoli.
Western Front
The regiment, like most British regiments in the war, sent the majority of its battalions to the
Western Front. During the
Battle of the Somme there were eleven battalions of the regiment that saw action in the campaign including three
Pals battalions (The
Salford Pals) and three
Bantam battalions.
The famous fantasy author
J.R.R Tolkien served in this regiment from 1915 until contracting "
trench fever" during the
Battle of the Somme in October 1916.
World War II
The Lancashire Fusiliers raised seventeen battalions for service in the Second World War. During
Battle of France, the 1/8 Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, along with battalions of the
Royal Norfolks and the
Royal Scots, were overrun on
26 May–
27 May 1940 around the village of Locon, 2 kilometres north of
Bethune by advancing German troops. Several massacres of Allied prisoners took place shortly thereafter, primarily by the German
SS Totenkopf Division.
1st Battalion
After recovering its numbers from the First World War the battalion spent the interwar years based in various garrisons around the
British Empire . In 1939 the battalion was based in
India . During the
Burma Campaign the 1st Battalion fought with various units until 1943 when it became a
Chindit formation with the
77th Brigade under Brig.
Orde Wingate . The battalion was involved in both major Chindit operations suffering many casualties before the war ended.
2nd Battalion
Post 1945
Battle Honours
Dettingen, Minden, Egmont-op-Zee,
Egypt, Maida, Vimiera, Corunna, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Lucknow, Khartoum,
Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902
World War I (30 battalions): Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914 '18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, St. Julien, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Ginchy, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Béthune, Scherpenberg, Amiens, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1915-18, Helles, Landing at Helles, Krithia, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Egypt 1915-17
Second World War: Defence of Escaut, St. Omer-La Bassée, Caen, North-West Europe 1940 '44, Medjez el Bab, Oued Zarga, North Africa 1942-43, Adrano, Sicily 1943, Termoli, Trigno, Sangro, Cassino II, Trasimene Line, Monte Ceco, Monte Spaduro, Senio, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943-45, Malta 1941-42, Rathedaung, Htizwe, Kohima, Naga Village, Chindits 1944, Burma 1943-45
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