THE REGIMENTS
The Queen’s Royal Regiment
The Queen’s Royal Regiment’s first title was
The Tangiers Regiment and it first paraded on Putney Heath on the
14th October 1661 under Henry, Earl of Peterborough, who became
its first Colonel. He was also appointed Chief Governor of Tangier
where the Regiment served from 1661-1684. Its first Battle Honour
‘Tangier 1661-1680’ is the oldest in the British Army.
During its history it had several titles, becoming The Queen’s
(Second) Royal Regiment of Foot, on 1st July 1751. On the 1st July
1881 it became The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, its
first real link with the County of Surrey. Its Depot was at Stoughton
Barracks, Guildford, from 1876-1959.
The East Surrey Regiment
In 1702, Queen Anne authorised the raising of six Regiments of Marines,
including one commanded by a Colonel Villiers. In 1704, the Regiment,
now commanded by a Colonel Luttrell, won its first Battle Honour
at the siege and capture of Gibraltar. It became a Regiment of the
Line in 1715 and was designated the 31st Regiment of Foot in 1751.
In 1756, the 70th Regiment of Foot was raised, originally as the
2/31st (until 1758). In 1782 the 31st became known as The Huntingdonshire
Regiment and the 70th as The Surrey Regiment. A Depot Company of
the 70th was formed at Kingston- upon-Thames. In 1881, the 31st
and 70th became the 1st and 2nd Battalions The East Surrey Regiment
respectively.
The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment
The Regiment was formed on 14th October 1959 from the amalgamation
of The Queen’s Royal Regiment and The East Surrey Regiment.
The Queen’s Regiment
As a result of further reductions in the Army, The Queen’s
Regiment was formed on the 31st December 1966 from the amalgamation
of The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment, The Queen’s Own
Buffs, (Royal Kent Regiment) The Royal Sussex and The Middlesex
Regiment (DCO). The Regiment suffered further amalgamation in 1992.
It formed with The Royal Hampshire Regiment, a new Infantry Regiment,
The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and
Royal Hampshires).
THE COLOURS
On the North wall of the Chapel nearest the altar are the last Colours
to be in service with 1st Battalion The Queen’s Royal Regiment,
and next to those of the 1st Battalion The East Surrey Regiment.
The Colours are in pairs, the Queen’s on the right, the Surreys
on the left; in each pair the right hand one is the Queen’s
Colour (or King’s Colour according to which monarch is on
the throne); These are embroidered with ten selected Battle Honours
of The First World War and ten selected Battle Honours of The Second
World War. The left hand one is the Regimental Colour and contains
the Battle Honours awarded up to 1914.
Facing these Colours on the opposite South wall are the only Colours
ever to be in service with the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Royal
Surrey Regiment which were presented in 1960 by HRH The Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh and laid up in this Cathedral on 15th June 1975.
The 1st Battalion The Queen’s Regiment Colours, were presented
by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1974 and laid up
in this Chapel on 13th September 1997.
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