The
Surreys raised seven Service Battalions, of which the 7th, 8th,
9th, 12th and 13th and the 2nd/23rd London saw service overseas.
In 1919 it was authorised that those Service Battalions which
had served overseas would each be presented with a silk Union
Flag, to form a tangible recognition of service on the Western
Front and elsewhere – indeed it is possible that King
George V was associated with the idea. These flags were not
officially consecrated, nor were they maintained at public expense.
When the Service Battalions were disbanded their Union Flags,
known as ‘King’s Colours’, were laid up except
that of the 13th Battalion, which had been disbanded prior to
the Armistice. This Colour was presented (and consecrated) at
a special ceremony on Wandsworth Common on 16th July 1921, in
the presence of over 350 former members of the battalion.
Of the King’s Colours given to The East Surreys those
of the 7th, 8th and 9th Battalions hang in the Regimental Chapel
at All Saints’ Church Kingston-on-Thames; the 12th Battalion
Colour is in Bermondsey, and that of the 13th Battalion is in
the Parish Church in Wandsworth.
The King’s Colours are of the three feet nine inches by
three feet size, with fringe and the pike has a pointed spearhead.
All except the 12th Battalion conformed to the same pattern:
the Union, with a central roundel bearing the title The East
Surrey Regiment around the outside, and a Roman battalion numeral
in the centre, surmounted by a King’s Crown. Only the
12th bore Battle Honours on the arms of the cross of St George
– twelve in place of the usual ten:
YPRES
1917, ’18 |
|
SOMME
1916, ’18 |
FLERS
COURCELLETTE |
|
ARRAS
1918 |
MESSINES
1917 |
|
MENIN
ROAD |
ST
QUENTIN |
|
BAPAUME |
COUTRAI |
|
ITALY
1917-18 |
The 13th wore a special badge (much sought after by collectors)
authorised by the War Office – instead of the Arms of
Guildford worn normally on the East Surrey Garter Star, the
arms of Wandsworth are worn with the motto “We Serve”
on a scroll. As far as is known, this was not featured on the
Colour.
The Colour of the 2nd/23rd London was presented at Le Gouffre,
near Boulogne, in France on 22nd April 1919. Its subsequent
history and current whereabouts are unknown.