The Herefordshire Light Infantry was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

in existence from 1861 to 1967. The regiment had no lineal connection with the

36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot The 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1701. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot to form the Worcestershire Regiment in 1881. Its l ...

History

Formation

The 1st Administrative Battalion, Herefordshire and Radnorshire Rifle Volunteers was formed in 1861. It comprised the 1st to 8th Herefordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps and the 1st to 3rd Radnorshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, units of the Volunteer Force formed in the wake of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. (In this instance ''Corps'' refers to a

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

-sized unit of around 100 men, not the more modern use of the word.)Beckett, p. 47 In 1880, it was re-designated 1st Herefordshire (Hereford and Radnor) Rifle Volunteers, the Corps were renamed Companies, and in 1881 it became the volunteer battalion of

The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

. In 1908, it was transferred to the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

as the Herefordshire Battalion, The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) (without the Radnorshire companies) with its headquarters at Harold Street in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

and in 1909 was renamed as the 1st Battalion, The Herefordshire Regiment.

First World War

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the regiment was expanded to three battalions. The 1st Battalion landed at

Suvla Bay View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as par ...

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

in August 1915, and then having been evacuated in December 1915, transferred to Egypt.The battalion was redeployed to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

in June 1918.

Second World War

The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 BU4983

In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the 1st Battalion was divided to form the 1st and 2nd battalions. The 2nd Battalion was involved in home defence and training throughout the war, serving mainly with the 114th Infantry Brigade of the

38th (Welsh) Infantry Division The 38th (Welsh) Division (initially the 43rd Division, later the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division and then the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division) of the British Army was active during both the First and Second World Wars. In 1914, the division ...

. The 1st Battalion formed part of 159th Brigade in the

53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw service ...

until 159th Brigade joined

11th Armoured Division The 11th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armour ...

in May 1942 and participated in the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

and

Northwestern Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, North ...

. Some 223 men from the 1st Battalion were killed during operations in North-West Europe.

Post-War

In 1947, it was re-designated 1st Battalion, The Herefordshire Light Infantry. In 1967, as part of the re-organization of the Territorial Army, it was disbanded as a regiment.

Regimental museum

The Herefordshire Regimental Museum focuses on the history of the regiment and is located in Suvla Barracks, Harold Street,

. Collections include uniforms, photographs, medals and other memorabilia. Visitation is by appointment only.

Battle honours

The regiment was awarded the following

battle honours A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

: *South Africa 1900-02 *''The Great War (3 battalions)'': Marne 1918, Soissonais-Ourcq, Ypres 1918, Courtrai, France and Flanders 1918, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Egypt 1916-17, Gaza, El Mughar, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917-18 *''The Second World War (2 battalions)'': Odon, Defence of Rauray, Bourguébus Ridge, Cagny, Mont Pincon, Souleuvre, Falaise, Antwerp, Hechtal, Venraij, Venlo Pocket, Rhineland, Hochwald, Ibbenburen, Aller, North-West Europe 1944-45

References

Sources

* *

External links

Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum
{{British Infantry Regiments World War I Infantry regiments of the British Army British light infantry Regiments of the British Army in World War I Regiments of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations in Herefordshire