This database contains service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who were discharged from the Army and claimed disability pensions for service in WWI. The 9th Battalion served alongside 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and the 8th and 9th battalions of the Essex Regiment as part of the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) until early February 1941, when it was transferred to the 6th Support Group, part of the 6th Armoured Division. Daily updates from the war diary of the 1st Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment. Frank Bovis. [18][21], The 1st Battalion was part of the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. Killed in action whilst piloting a Martinsyde G100 fighter/bomber near Ervillers. The Royal Regiment of Artillery at the time of the Great War comprised three elements: Royal Horse Artillery. [13] Two companies were attached to the 30th Indian Brigade (part of the 6th (Poona) Division) and were captured in the Siege of Kut in April 1916. [13], The 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions were both part of the Kent Brigade, alongside the 4th and 5th (Weald) Buffs (East Kent Regiment), of the Home Counties Division were both sent to British India in late October 1914. In January 1921, the regiment was renamed the Royal West Kent Regiment (Queen's Own) and, in April of the same year, was again renamed, this time as the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. It remained in the United Kingdom, mainly engaged in anti-invasion duties, coastal defence, and training for future combat operations until February 1943, where the battalion left for French North Africa, arriving in Algeria in March, to take part in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign. The diaries include information on a unit’s movements, where the unit was stationed on a given day, what activities troops were engaged in, … 1st Battalion August 1914 : in Dublin. In early May 1940 the battalion was transferred to the 132nd Infantry Brigade of the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division, a TA formation which also included the 4th and 5th Battalions. This database contains the surviving service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who served in WWI and did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II. After distinguished service in the Second Boer War, along with both World War I and World War II, on 1 March 1961, the regiment was amalgamated with the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, which was destined to be short-lived. [22] The battalion fought in the Battle of France and the subsequent retreat to Dunkirk soon after, returning to England via the Dunkirk evacuation, but had suffered heavy casualties, including the loss of two rifle companies. Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914-1919 Moved to Mesopotamia, arriving Basra 6 February 1915 where it came under command of 12th Indian Brigade. UK, World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920. The battalion, in late April, suffered over 300 casualties assaulting Peter's Corner and Cactus Farm. [22] Unlike in the Great War the battalion was not immediately in action, and the first few months of the conflict were spent digging trenches and defensive positions in expectation of a repeat of the trench warfare of the Great War. It remained part of Home Forces until January 1945, defending the UK against air attack by the Luftwaffe. [4], Between 1881 and 1913, the regiment lost 219 men: 22 killed in action or died from wounding, 12 by accident, and 185 from disease. At the Battle of Loos in September 1915, the 8th (Service) Battalion, raised the previous September, lost all but one of its officers, and 550 men. Soon after the outbreak of war in September 1939, the battalion was sent to France where it became part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). 1918 War diary. He was in the Militia at the outbreak of war and he enlisted in the Royal West Kent Regiment on the 21 September 1914 at the age of 35. Returned to France April 1918. UK, World War I War Diaries (Gallipoli and Dardanelles), 1914-1916. [41], Colonels-in-Chief of the regiment were:[42]. Wednesday 27-09-1916. An archive of First World War research information on soldiers in the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment).. Kent was split into two areas, with those in West Kent forming the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, while those in East Kent becoming the Buffs (East Kent Regiment). The dividing line that separated the two regimental areas was east of the River Medway. The remaining companies were attached to 34th Indian Brigade (part of 15th Indian Division), and were transferred to 17th Indian Division in August 1917. War diaries are held on the National Archives website. He was killed in action on 7th October 1916 in France and Flanders and is buried in Warlencourt British Cemetery, France. Army Prisoner of war interview reports 1914-1918 Soon after arrival the division was broken up and both battalions were later sent to British Indian Army brigades, the 1/4th joining, in February 1918, the 3rd Quetta Brigade of 4th (Quetta) Division, the 1/5th to 54th Indian Brigade in the 18th Indian Division. Records of the Royal West Kent Regiment Description: This collection consists substantially of documents of the various Battalions of the Royal West Kent Regiment, and its predecessors, the 50th and the 97th Regiments of Foot. The 31 st Regiment 1702 - 1881; The 70 th Regiment 1756 - 1881; The East Surrey Regiment 1881 - 1959; The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment 1959 - 1965; The Queen's Regiment 1967 - 1991; The Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) The Infantry Regiments of Surrey; Battle Honours & Distinctions. Get a day-to-day look at what your ancestor’s unit was up to during the First World War with these war diaries. A memorial for those who died in service exists in All Saints Church, Maidstone, which is located next to the regiment's barracks. [22] During the battle, Lance Corporal John Harman of the 4th Battalion was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the first and only to be awarded to the regiment during the Second World War. It was unveiled on 30 July 1921 by Major General Sir Edmund Leach, colonel of the regiment, and dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 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