Thirty-First Regiment 1827-1848

The Colours Of The East Surrey Regment
(And its forebears the 31^st and 70^th of foot)

This is perhaps the best known and most famous stand of Colours of the 31^st in existence. These Colours were presented at Meerut on 7^th March 1827 by Lady Amherst, wife of the Governor General of India, to replace those lost in the Kent. A contemporary account by Edward Ward Walter Raleigh describes the occasion:

“On arrival [at 4.30 pm] at the parade ground a salute of artillery was fired. On the Governor General and the ladies approaching, the 31^st, drawn up in line, gave a General Salute by presenting arms, with the band playing God Save the King. General Reynolds and Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy then riding up to the saluting base gave Lady Amherst the necessary instructions, and delivered to Her Ladyship the new Colours. The Regiment now marched round, the band playing the 31^st march, and formed into a centre and two side columns. . . The two junior ensigns now advanced up to Lady Amherst, and kneeling received from her the new Colours, on which the Regiment gave three cheers. Lord Amherst now made a very feeling speech, in which he alluded to the melancholy circumstances under which the Regiment had been deprived of its Colours. He expressed his conviction that under every circumstance of warfare the 31^st would support the representatives of those banners under which they had often gloriously conquered. The Regiment then formed line and again presented arms. The artillery saluted and the regiment marched past with their Colours flying and their band playing the 31^st march [presumably Lord Charles Montague’s Huntingdonshire March].”

Figure 41

These Colours were borne throughout the Afghan campaign of 1842, and the Sutlej (Sikh) actions of 1845, when the Regiment earned undying fame during the bitterly fought actions of Moodkhee, Ferozeshah, Aliwal and Sobraon. At Moodkee in December 1845, the entire Colour party was shot down, and immediately Quartermaster Sergeant Jones dashed forward, took the Colours from the hands of the dead Ensigns, and carried them himself for the rest of the battle. For his distinguished conduct, Jones was immediately awarded a commission in the Regiment. This episode has been somewhat overshadowed by the action at Sobraon, fought on 10^th February 1846, when during a third attempt made on the Sikh positions, the Ensign carrying the Queen’s Colour, Lieutenant Tritton, was killed and another officer, Lieutenant Noel, snatched it up. As he carried it in front of the Regiment, the staff was smashed in his hand by enemy fire. The officer bearing the Regimental Colour – none other than Ensign Jones - was then killed. The pike of the latter was seized by Sergeant Bernard McCabe, who rushed forward and planted the Regimental Colour on the highest point of the enemy’s fortifications. He held his position under a withering fire. The Regiment followed, driving the Sikhs before them, and the attack was everywhere successful. Sergeant McCabe, later commissioned into the 32^nd Foot, was killed at Lucknow in 1857 during the Indian Mutiny.

Figure 42

Figure 43

On the return home of these Colours, the Illustrated London News of the 12^th December 1846 described them as “torn to shreds from the storm of grapeshot through which they were victoriously borne, and stained with the blood of the Ensigns who were killed carrying them”. The first Afghan War and Sutlej Honours were not added to these six foot size Colours.

Figure 44

The Colours of the 31^st in Canterbury Cathedral.

These Colours were carried on parade for the last time in 1848, and in 1850, on the fourth anniversary of Sobraon, were laid up in Canterbury Cathedral. Here they can be seen to this day. The scrolls on the Queen’s Colour are yellow, the central device is red ground with gold lining. The numerals are arabic, and these are also in gold. The scrolls on the Regimental Colour are probably blue, but due to fading of the material over the years it is very difficult to say with certainty if this was the case. The ground colour of this Regimental Colour is buff.

Figure 45

The names of the officers killed carrying them are inscribed on silver plates fastened to the pikes. A photograph in the November 1951 issue of the Journal of the East Surrey Regiment shows the Colours to be very thin – they were hung untouched for over one hundred years until 1951, when they were netted and rearranged to project horizontally. More recent visits reveal that the spearpoint finial is missing from Sergeant McCabe’s Colour. Only two thirds of the Queen’s Colour now remains and the now missing Battle Honour scrolls are thought to be, from top to bottom, ‘ORTHES’ ‘PYRENEES’ AND ‘PENINSULA’. This is how they are depicted on the memorial under the stand.

Figure 46

Sobraon Day, Lingfield 1970, Sgt M D Maloney is the Ensign

On the anniversary of Sobraon each year, commitments permitting, the Regimental Colour of the 1^st Queen’s was marched with all ceremony to the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess, into whose care it was given for the day. This practice has since been adopted by the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.

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