Authors and Contributors this page: T.F. Mills, Graham Watson
Page created 15 July 2000. Corrected and updated 27.11.2005
 
The  Worcestershire
Regiment
crest and tie
 by A. Melville-Brown
United Kingdom 
  Titles & Lineage
  History
  Battle Honours
  Colours, Standards & Guidons
  Uniforms & Badges
  Colonels-in-Chief
  Colonels

  Biography & Gallantry Awards
  Traditions
  Alliances
  Associations, Forums, Re-Enactors
  Museums, Monuments, Memorials
  Bibliography
How to find information about individuals who served in this corps
 
1881.07.01 The Worcestershire Regiment
organised as the county regiment of Worcestershire, encompassing its Militia and Volunteer infantry [see below] and uniting two regular battalions:
 
1970.02.28 amalgamated with The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), to form The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot)
The Worcestershire Regiment, by Louis Scully
History of the Worcester Regiment (Worcester City Museum)
Worcestershire Regiment Timeline, by Louis Scully
The Worcestershire Regiment, by Chris Baker (The British Army in the Great War).
The Worcestershire Regiment, by Brad Chappell (The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918)
     
  RHQ and Depot:
    RHQ:
    29th Regimental District at Worcester [1881-1905]
   
   
    K Group, at Oswestry [1946-1948]
    Mercian Brigade, at Lichfield [1948-1968]
    Prince of Wales's Division at Lichfield [1968-1970]
     
  Regulars:
    1st Battalion [1881-1970]
   
    2nd Battalion [1881-1948]
   
   
3rd Battalion [1900-1923]
   
    4th Battalion [1900-1922]
   
     
Militia and Special Reserve:
5th Battalion (Worcester Regiment of Militia) [1881-1953]
6th Battalion [1881-1953]
Territorials and Volunteers:
1st Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
2nd Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
7th Battalion [1881-1967]
    8th Battalion [1881-1946]
    Mercian Volunteers [1967-1970]
     
  Hostilities-Only Units (First and Second World War, including T.A. duplicates):
    2/7th Battalion [1914-1918]
    7th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1919]
    2/8th Battalion [1914-1920]
    8th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
    9th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
    9th Battalion [1939-1945]
   
    10th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
    10th Battalion [1939-1945]
   
    11th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
    11th Battalion [1940-1943]
   
    12th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
    12th Battalion [1940-1942]
   
    13th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
   
    14th (Service) Battalion (Severn Valley Pioneers) [1915-1919]
   
    15th (Transport Workers) Battalion [1916-1919]
   
    16th (Transport Workers) Battalion [1917-1919]
   
    17th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) [1914-1919]
   
    18th (Service) Battalion [1919-1919]
    50th Battalion [1940-1940]
  107th Battalion [1947-1947]
    1st (Reserve) Garrison Battalion [1916-1919]
     
     
[combined battle honours of 29th Regiment and 36th Regiment, plus:]  

Ramillies1, Bellisle2, [Ushant]3, Mysore4, South Africa, 1900-02

The Great War [22 battalions]:  Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914 ‘18, La Bassée 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 ‘15 ‘17 ‘18, Langemarck 1914 '17, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 ‘18, Albert 1916, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Arleux, Messines 1917 '18, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 ‘18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Courtrai, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Piave, Vittorio Veneto, Italy 1917-18, Doiran 1917 ‘18, Macedonia 1915-18, Helles, Landing at Helles, Krithia, Suvla, Sari Bair, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915-16, Egypt 1916, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916-18, Baku, Persia 1918

The Second World War:  Defence of Escaut, St. Omer-La Bassée, Wormhoudt, Odon, Bourguébus Ridge, Maltot, Mont Pincon, Jurques, La Varinière, Noireau Crossing, Seine 1944, Nederrijn, Geilenkirchen, Rhineland, Goch, Rhine, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Gogni, Barentu, Keren, Amba Alagi, Abyssinia 1940-41, Gazala, Via Balbia, North Africa 1941-42, Kohima, Relief of Kohima, Naga Village, Mao Songsang, Shwebo, Mandalay, Irrawaddy, Mt. Popa, Burma 1944-45

7th Battalion:  South Africa 1900-01

1.  awarded 1882 for service of 29th Regiment.
2.  awarded 1951 for service of 36th Regiment.
3.  the Naval Crown badge superscribed "1st June 1794"; awarded 1909 for service of 29th Regiment.
4.  awarded 1889 for service of 36th Regiment.
The Colours, by Louis Scully
   
Badges:
Uniform:
   
   
     
   
   
[none]
  Note: biographical links are to Louis Scully's regimental site
 
1881 [1st Bn:] Gen. John Longfield, CB [also 8th Foot]
1881 [2nd Bn:] Gen. Sir Charles William Dunbar Staveley, GCB [also Essex Rgt; C-in-C Bombay 1874-78]
1881.12.19 [1st Bn:] Gen. Edward Arthur Somerset, CB [also 60th Foot]
1883.07.25 [2nd Bn:] Gen. Sir William Parke, KCB [also Seaforth Hldrs]
1884.09.14 [1st Bn:] Gen. Robert William Disney Leith, CB
1893.08.29 Gen. Sir George Wentworth Alexander Higginson, GCB, GCVO
1927.02.02 F.M. Sir Claude William Jacob, GCB, GCSI, KCMG [also Col. Hazara Pnrs, 2/10th Baluch Rgt; Hon. Col. 6th Bn Seaforth Hldrs; CGS India 1920-24, C-in-C India; Constable of the Tower 1938-43]
1938.11.02 Brig-Gen. George William St. George Grogan, VC, CB, CMG, DSO
1945.09.01 Brig. Bowcher Campbell Stenhouse Clarke, DSO
1950.04.20 Gen. Sir Richard Nelson Gale, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC [also Col. Cmdt. Para Rgt]
1961.04.20 Brig. Donald Harley Nott, DSO, OBE, MC
1967.07.21 Col. Thomas Jim Bowen, MC [continued 1970 as Dep. Col. WSFR]
Victoria Crosses, by Mike Chapman (VC Reference).
VCs in the Worcestershire Regimental Museum, by Iain Stewart.
Men of the Worcestershire regiment who have been awarded the VC, by Louis Scully
Worcestershire Regiment men who were awarded the DSO in World War 1, by Louis Scully
Worcestershire Regiment men who were awarded the DCM, by Louis Scully
Worcestershire Regiment men who were awarded the MM, by Louis Scully
Worcestershire Regiment men Mentioned in Despatches, by Louis Scully
Roll of Honour, by Louis Scully
   
   
 
Motto: Firm [inherited from 36th Foot]
Nicknames:
Anniversaries: Glorious First of June, Gheluvelt (31 Oct.)
Freedoms:
Marches: quick (1881): Royal Windsor (by Princess Augusta)
  slow: Duchess of Kent (by The Duchess of Kent)
  assembly (drums): Hearts of Oak
Musicians:
Mascot:
Miscellaneous Tradition Links:
 
1930-1951
36th Battalion (The St. George English Rifle Regiment)
 1930-1951
The British Guiana Defence Force
 
 
Worcestershire Regiment Forum
The Worcestershire Regiment Museum, Worcester (Army Museums Ogilby Trust)
Museum of the Worcestershire Regiment & Yeomanry Cavalry, Worcester (Simonides listing)
The Worcester Soldier Collection (Worcester City Museum)
   
   
Regimental Journal:
The green 'un.
Firm.
Full Histories:
Gale, Richard Nelson, Sir. The Worcestershire Regiment (the 29th and 36th Regiments of Foot). London : Leo Cooper Ltd., 1970. (Famous regiments) ISBN: 0850520312
Birdwood, Christopher Bromhead Birdwood, baron. The Worcestershire Regiment, 1922-1950. Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1952.
Parker, B. A. A history of 1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment in Malaya, 1950-1953. In: Firm, 1954-56
Parkes, E. B. No drums to beat, no flags to fly. London : Minerva, 2000. [1st Battalion in Malayan Emergency]
 
Short Histories:
Mylne, K. M. The history of The Worcestershire Regiment : a lecture to recruits. Worcester : Littlebury & Co., 1918.
1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment. Meerut : Official Press, 1926.
The Worcestershire Regiment : regimental history. [s.l. : s.n.], 1930.
The Worcestershire Regiment : an historical note. Bromsgrove " "Messenger" Co., 1946.
 

Militia:

Holden, Robert Mackenzie. Historical record of the Third and Fourth Battalions of The Worcestershire Regiment. London, K. Paul, Trench, 1887.
 

First World War:

Stacke, Harry Fitz Maurice. The Worcestershire regiment in the Great War. Kidderminster : G.T. Cheshire & Sons, Ltd. 1928
How the Worcesters saved the day. Gheluvet. 31 October 1914. Worcester : Printed for the Worcestershire County council stationary dept., by E. Baylis & son, 1915.
The Worcestershire Regiment : the action at Gheluvelt, fought on October 31st, 1914. Devonport : Hiorns & Miller, 1917.
 

Second World War:

Watson, D. Y. The First Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment in North West Europe. [Worcester : Trinity Press], 1946.
Scully, Louis M. The battle for Tripsrath: 1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment. [s.l. : The Author, ca. 2000] {book notice by the author}
Special Topics:
Bennett, Roger Wilmot. Badges of the Worcestershire Regiment. Bordon, Hampshire : R.W. Bennett, 1994. ISBN: 0952423103