The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment was formed by the merger of the 28th Regiment with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. It inherited the unique distinction in the British Army of wearing a badge on the back of its headdress as well as the front, a tradition that originated with the 28th Regiment after it fought in two ranks back to back at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. At its formation the regiment comprised two regular, two militia and two volunteer battalions, and saw its first action during the Second Boer War.
Before the First World War, the regiment's four auxiliary battalions were converted to three Territorial Force battalions and a Special Reserve battalion; a further 18 battalions were added to the regiment's establishment during the war. Sixteen battalions of the regiment saw active service in France and Flanders, Italy, Gallipoli, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia and Salonika, losing a total of 8,100 men killed and winning 72 different battle honours. Four awards of the Victoria Cross (VC) were made to soldiers serving with the regiment. The wartime battalions were disbanded as the war ended, and just before the Second World War, two of the territorial battalions were re-purposed and ceased to have any affiliation with the regiment. On the eve of the war, the remaining territorial battalion was duplicated, and another five battalions were raised on the outbreak of war, though most of these were disbanded or re-purposed as the war progressed. Four battalions saw active service under the regiment's colours during the war. The 2nd and 5th Battalions both fought in the Battle of France and, after being lost almost in its entirety during the Battle of Dunkirk, the re-formed 2nd Battalion landed at Gold Beach on D-Day and fought in the Allied campaign in North-West Europe. The 1st Battalion was involved in the retreat from Rangoon during the Japanese conquest of Burma, and the 10th Battalion saw active service in the defeat of Japanese forces during the Burma Campaign 1944–45.
After the Second World War, the hostilities-only battalions were disbanded and the 1st and 2nd Battalions were amalgamated, leaving the regiment with one regular and one Territorial Army battalion. The regiment achieved fame during the Korean War when the 1st Battalion held out for three nights against overwhelming odds during the Battle of the Imjin River. The stand, described by the commander of the United Nations forces in Korea at the time as "the most outstanding example of unit bravery in modern war", prevented the encirclement of other United Nations forces, for which the regiment was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and earned the nickname The Glorious Glosters. Two men serving with the regiment were awarded the VC for their actions in the battle. In the latter half of the 20th century, the regiment was reduced to a single regular battalion and completed tours of duty around the world, including Germany, Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and the Middle East, as well as in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Shortly after celebrating its tercentenary in 1994, the regiment, which carried more battle honours on its colours than any other regiment of the line, was merged with the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment to form the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. The new regiment inherited the back badge, and when it too was merged in 2007, it passed the tradition on to its successor, The Rifles.
Origins
The Gloucestershire Regiment traced its roots to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, raised in 1694 in Portsmouth,Daniell, p. 3. which first saw action in 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession.Daniell, p. 12. Having been commanded by, and therefore named after, a succession of colonels, the regiment was renamed in 1742 as the 28th Regiment of Foot and fought under this name during the War of the Austrian Succession.Daniell p. 18 Another predecessor, the 61st Regiment of Foot, was formed in 1758 when the British Army was expanded during the Seven Years' War. The 61st Regiment gained its first battle honour a year later during the invasion of Guadeloupe,Daniell pp. 23–25 the same year that General Wolfe placed himself at the head of the 28th Regiment on the Plains of Abraham in the capture of Quebec.Daniell, pp. 34–39.
In 1782, the British Army began linking foot regiments with counties for the purposes of recruitment. For the first time the county of Gloucestershire was associated with both the 28th and 61st Regiments, which were renamed as the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. Both regiments began to recruit from the county, and it was in Gloucester in December 1782 that the 61st Regiment was presented with new colours to replace those lost during the Franco-Spanish invasion of Minorca earlier that year.Daniell, p. 54.
In March 1801, the 28th Regiment formed part of the British expeditionary force that landed at Aboukir Bay in Egypt to oppose Napoleon's Army of the East. On 21 March, during the Battle of Alexandria, French cavalry broke through the British lines, formed up behind the regiment, and began to charge. With the men still heavily engaged to their front, the order was given for the rear rank to turn about, and standing thus in two ranks back to back, the regiment held the line. To commemorate this action, the regiment began wearing a badge on the back as well as the front of the headdress, a unique distinction in the British Army that was officially sanctioned in 1830.Daniell, pp. 69–75.Grazebrook, pp. 112–113. The 61st Regiment also deployed to Egypt and, although arriving too late to play an active part, was, like the 28th Regiment, awarded the battle honour "Egypt" and the right to display the Sphinx on its colours.
During the 19th century, relatively uneventful postings at home and abroad were punctuated with periods of active service. The 28th and 61st Regiments both fought in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War.Daniell ch.IX–X The 28th Regiment also participated in the final defeat of Napoleon; it was commended by the Duke of Wellington for gallantry in the Battle of Quatre Bras and saw action again in the Battle of Waterloo.Daniell ch.XI In the mid-19th century, both regiments were deployed to India, and the 61st Regiment saw active service during the Second Anglo-Sikh War and the Indian Mutiny, adding "Chillianwallah", "Goojerat", "Punjaub" and "Delhi 1857" to the list of battle honours that the Gloucestershire Regiment would soon inherit. The 28th Regiment, whose time in India was shorter and less eventful, was meanwhile deployed to the Crimea and added "Alma", "Inkerman" and "Sevastopol" to its legacy.Daniell, ch.XIII–XIV.
Another thread that would be woven into the story of the Gloucestershire Regiment is that of the civilian administered auxiliary forces that supported the army in times of need. In the mid-18th century, county militia regiments were raised for home defence and as a pool of reserves for the regular army. In 1759, the Gloucestershire Militia had been reorganised into two battalions of militia, and these were organised in 1763 as the South Gloucestershire Militia based at Gloucester and the North Gloucestershire Militia at Cirencester.Daniell p. 26 In 1859, county-based volunteer rifle corps were raised, leading to the formation of the 1st (City of Bristol) Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteer Corps and the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers.Daniell, pp. 184–187.
Formation
In 1872, the Cardwell Reforms began the process of organising the British Army along county lines based on two-battalion line infantry regiments, a process that was completed by the Childers Reforms nine years later. As a result, the 28th and 61st Regiments were amalgamated in 1881 to form the Gloucestershire Regiment, headquartered at Horfield Barracks in Bristol.Daniell pp. 186–187. The regimental depot moved to Gloucester in 1940. The reforms also added the county's auxiliary forces to the regiment's establishment, and at its formation it thus comprised two regular, two militia and two volunteer battalions: 1st Battalion – formerly the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot 2nd Battalion – formerly the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot 3rd (Militia) Battalion – formerly the Royal South Gloucestershire Militia 4th (Militia) Battalion – formerly the Royal North Gloucestershire Militia 1st (City of Bristol) Volunteer Battalion – formerly the 1st (City of Bristol) Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers 2nd Volunteer Battalion – formerly the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers
The Gloucestershire Regiment inherited from the 28th Regiment the privilege of wearing the back badge. It was a privilege that the 2nd Battalion did not want, but it was made palatable to the former 61st Regiment by replacing the number 28 with the Sphinx, a battle honour awarded to both predecessor regiments. Although both battalions were forced to give up their individual facing colours on their uniforms – yellow for the 28th Regiment and buff for the 61st Regiment – when the government imposed a standard white across all English and Welsh regiments, the Gloucestershire Regiment never accepted this change for their regimental colours. Both battalions retained their former colours until 1929, when a compromise primrose yellow was finally chosen and a new regimental colour subsequently presented.Daniell, p. 188.
The two battalions continued to refer to themselves by their former regimental numbers until they were merged in 1948, when the Gloucestershire Regiment became a single-battalion regiment. The 1st Battalion celebrated the bicentenary of the regiment at Malta in 1894 and the anniversary of the Battle of Alexandria annually. The 2nd Battalion, on the other hand, held games followed by a dinner and a ball on the anniversary of the 61st Regiment's victory at Chillianwallah on 13 January 1849 when overseas, or on the anniversary of that regiment's victory at Salamanca on 22 July 1812 when at home.Daniell, p. 189.
The new regiment acquired its march, The Kinnegad Slashers, and its official nickname, Slashers, from the 28th Regiment. The name arose from an incident in 1764, when members of the regiment allegedly slashed off part of the ear of a Montreal magistrate who had been harassing soldiers stationed in the city after the Seven Years' War. The regiment was also sometimes referred to as The Old Braggs, from Colonel Philip Bragg, who commanded the 28th Regiment when it was still named after its colonels. Two other nicknames associated with the new regiment were inherited from the 61st Regiment; The Flowers of Toulouse, from the scarlet uniforms of that regiment's many dead in the Battle of Toulouse, and The Silver-Tailed Dandies, from the silver decorations on the longer-than-normal coat tails of the 61st Regiment's uniform.Daniell, pp. 17, 41–42, 118, 178.
Second Boer War
The Gloucestershire Regiment began life quietly. The two battalions alternated between postings at home and overseas, mostly in India, but their first action came in 1899 during the Second Boer War. Deployed to Ladysmith, the 1st Battalion was part of a column sent out on 24 October to cover the withdrawal of a brigade after the Battle of Talana Hill. When the column came under fire near Rietfontein, the battalion was detached and ordered forward, but the order was ambiguous and the battalion advanced too far. The troops were caught in the open for several hours before they were able to extricate themselves at the cost of five men killed, including the battalion commander, and 58 wounded.Daniell, pp. 190–191.