Durham Light Infantry

Durham Light Infantry
Officer's Forage Cap, c. 1881 

The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the 106th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Light Infantry) along with the Militia and Volunteers of County Durham. On formation of the regiment the 1st Battalion was in India at Meerut and the 2nd Battalion was in Ireland at Dublin.

In 1885 the 2nd Battalion was transferred to Egypt to take part in the Mahdist War, fighting at the Battle of Ginnis. 

The 1st Battalion arrived in South Africa in November of 1899 for the Second Boer War, participating in the Relief of Ladysmith. One company of the 2nd Battalion was dispatched from India in January of 1900, forming part of the Burmah Mounted Infantry. The 3rd and 4th Militia Battalions were also sent to South Africa in February of 1900 and February of 1902, respectively. The 1st Battalion and the company from the 2nd left South Africa for India at the end of October of 1902. The two militia battalions departed that September.

In 1968 the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and the King's Shropshire Light Infantry to form The Light Infantry. That regiment was further amalgamated in 2007 to the form The Rifles.

Officers of the Royal Bucks Militia in patrol jackets with forage caps, c. 1893.

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)

Basket-hilted Broadsword - 1865 Pattern, George V cypher, produced by Wilkinson in 1912

Etched for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)

The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. During the Crimean war, the 93rd (later 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) earned the sobriquet of "The Fighting Highlanders" and carried with it the status of having been the original "Thin Red Line". This title was bestowed following the Battle of Balaklava when the regiment stood alone facing four squadrons of charging Russian cavalry.

The 1st Battalion took part in the Boer War, arriving in the Cape in 1899. They played leading roles in the Battle of Modder River, the Battle of Magersfontein, and the Battle of Paardeberg. During the Great War, the 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre in December of 1914. The 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne-Sur-Mer in August of 1914. The 2nd Battalion was later stationed in Claremorris, County Mayo in 1919, during the Irish War of Independence. 

As part of the restructuring of the British Army's infantry in 2006, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were amalgamated with the other Highland regiments into the seven-battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

 

An officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) in levee dress.

Captain Alister Hillyar Darby Chapman

 

Captain Alister Hillyar Darby Chapman

 1882-1915

Dress Tunic, c. 1911

 

 Chapman studied at Eton and was gazetted to the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry on the 19th of September, 1900. The battalion was originally the Shropshire Militia and had been redesignated as the 3rd (Militia) Battalion in 1881. He transferred to the 1st (Royal) Dragoons in December of 1901, joining the regiment in South Africa during the Second Boer War. Upon their return to England in 1902, the regiment was inspected by its Colonel-in-Chief Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. Chapman was advanced to lieutenant in January of 1905. He obtained his captaincy in February of 1910. The regiment was once again posted to South Africa when the Great War began. They returned to England and then landed at Belgium with the 6th Cavalry Brigade of the 3rd Cavalry Division in October of 1914. The regiment participated in the First Battle of Ypres in October of 1914. Chapman was mentioned in despatches during the Second Battle of Ypres in April of 1915. During the Battle of Loos, under heavy shelling, Chapman was killed in action on the 27th of September, 1915. He was laid to rest in the Noeux-Les-Mines Communal Cemetery in the Pas de Calais region of France.

 

11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)

 

 

Sergeant, 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)

Walking Out Dress, c. 1914

The regiment was formed in 1715 as Honeywood's Regiment of Dragoons, one of sixteen raised in response to the Jacobite uprising. It was then numbered as the 11th Regiment of Dragoons in 1751. The regiment saw action during the Seven Years' War, winning its first battle honour at Warburg. The regiment was re-designated as light cavalry in 1783, becoming the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons.

The regiment was sent to Portugal in 1811 to join the Peninsular War. It saw action in the Battles of Badajoz, Salamanca, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo. In 1819, the regiment moved to India, where it remained until 1836 and there participated in the Siege of Bharatpur. Shortly before returning to Britain, the Earl of Cardigan became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment.

In 1840, the 11th Light Dragoons served as escort to Prince Albert on his arrival in England to marry Queen Victoria. She appointed Prince Albert colonel of the regiment and granted them the title 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars. Prince Albert's interests included military tactics and equipment and he helped design the regiment's new uniforms.

The regiment served in the Crimean War, as part of the Light Brigade commanded by Cardigan, now a Major General. It  fought at the Battle of Alma and was also involved in the Charge of the Light Brigade in October of 1854. The regiment was renamed the 11th (or Prince Albert's Own) Hussars in 1861.

The regiment landed in France as part of the 1st Cavalry Brigade in the 1st Cavalry Division in 1914 for service on the Western Front with the British Expeditionary Force. The regiment was renamed the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) in 1921 and later amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own), to form the Royal Hussars in 1969.

 

Corporal, 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars, c. 1900

By Percy William Reynolds

1st The Royal Dragoons

1st The Royal Dragoons

Field Service Cap, c. 1921

 

The regiment was raised in 1661 as the Tangier Horse, taking the name from their service in the Garrison of Tangier. The regiment was ranked as the 1st Dragoons, the oldest cavalry regiment of the line, in 1674. It was then renamed in 1690 simply as The Royal Regiment of Dragoons. 

The regiment was formally titled as the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Dragoons in 1751 and served on the continent during the Seven Years' War. It also took part in the charge of the Union Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo in June of 1815. Having been re-titled the 1st (Royal) Dragoons in 1877, the regiment later participated in the Mahdist War.

After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October of 1899, the regiment was sent to South Africa and took part in the relief of Ladysmith. The regiment had been serving in South Africa at the outbreak of the Great War, but returned to the United Kingdom and landed in Belgium in October of 1914. The regiment was re-titled as the 1st The Royal Dragoons in 1921. It was then posted to Egypt in 1927, India in 1929, and Palestine in 1938.

During the Second World War, the regiment participated in Second Battle of El Alamein, the Allied invasion of Sicily, and the Normandy landings. In 1961 the regiment was re-titled as The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons). It amalgamated with the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), to form The Blues and Royals in 1969.

 

Yeomanry cavalry officers in Mounted Drill Order with field service caps, c. 1901.

Captain Geoffrey W. I. Bairstow

 

Captain Geoffrey W. I. Bairstow

 1891-1941

 Full Dress Uniform, c. 1911

 

 A member of the Colchester Polo Club, Bairstow joined with the 20th Hussars on February 4, 1911. His father Walter Bairstow was the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire County. Bairstow became a lieutenant in 1913. He landed in France with the regiment in August of 1914 and was wounded in the shoulder during the retreat from Mons that September, paralyzing his right arm. Bairstow was placed on the Half-pay List in 1916, owing to ill-health. He received his captaincy on November 28, 1917.

 

Captain Alexander Evan Frederick Maconochie

 

 

Captain Alexander Evan Frederick Maconochie

1898-1933

Mess Dress, c. 1919

Maconochie graduated from the Cadet College at Quetta in 1916 and was gazetted to the 12th Cavalry of the Indian Army on the 5th of July. The regiment had been raised at Lahore in 1857 by Captain P.R. Hockin as the 2nd Regiment of Sikh Irregular Cavalry, becoming the 12th Bengal Cavalry in 1901, and simply the 12th Cavalry in 1903. Maconochie was made lieutenant in 1917 and acting captain in 1919 whilst commanding a squadron. During the Great War, he participated in operations in Mesopotamia (Iraq) from September of 1917 to October of 1918. Maconochie was seconded to the Madras Governor’s Body-Guard as adjutant in 1919 and advanced to captain in 1920. The 12th Cavalry was amalgamated in 1921 with the 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) to form the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse. Maconochie left the service in 1923 and later joined the stock brokerage firm of Croft, Forbes, and Chard as senior partner. Upon the departure of Mr. Chard, the name of the firm was changed to Maconochie & Co.

Captain Francis Orlando Henry Bridgeman

  

 

Captain Francis Orlando Henry Bridgeman

1819-1895

P1821 Light Cavalry Saber

Bridgeman was the eldest son of Hon. Orlando Henry Bridgeman, the third son of Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford. After being educated at the Harrow School, he purchased an ensign’s commission in the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) on the 28th of October, 1836. Bridgeman purchased a lieutenancy in that regiment in 1839. During this period, the regiment was posted to Gibraltar in 1837 and the West Indies in 1839. Bridgeman secured a captaincy by purchase in the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot on the 30th of September, 1842. He exchanged into the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own) Royal Regiment of Light Dragoons (Hussars) as a captain on the 29th of September, 1843. Bridgeman then retired from the regiment in December of 1844.

Lieutenant Celadon Charles Sutherland Brownlow

 

Lieutenant Celadon Charles Sutherland Brownlow

 1885-1948

 Dress Tunic, c. 1908

 

 Brownlow was the son of Colonel Celadon Charles Brownlow, CB, late of the Bengal Staff Corps and first cousin once removed to Field Marshal Sir Charles Henry Brownlow, GCB. Brownlow was gazetted to the Indian Army on the 24th of January in 1906. He was attached to the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis) in March of 1907. The regiment was raised by Sir Charles Henry Brownlow as the 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry in 1857, when then a lieutenant. In 1904 the regiment was designated as the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry and Sir Charles Henry Brownlow was made Colonel of the Regiment. Brownlow was advanced to lieutenant on the 24th of April in 1908. He was placed on the Half-pay List in 1912 and left the service on the 1st of September 1914. Brownlow married Mary Ellen Lowes Dickinson, the granddaughter of the Victorian portrait painter Lowes Cato Dickinson in 1926. Brownlow then attended the Academie Julien in Paris in 1927 where he studied painting, emerging as a sporting and equestrian painter. He showed 141 pieces at a solo exhibition hosted by the Arlington Gallery in 1937 and exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1942. Several of Brownlow's works are in the collections of the National Trust.

 

British and Native Officers, 1909

20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis)

 

Lieut. Brownlow
 (center back row)

 

 

Charles Sutherland Brownlow

Footwork

Oil on board

Major Thomas H.C. Cox

 

Major Thomas H.C. Cox

Mess Jacket, c. 1904

 

Cox joined the 3rd Battalion of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) as a second lieutenant on March 7, 1903. The 3rd Battalion, formed from the Perth Militia, was known as the Royal Perth Rifles until 1900. Cox was elevated to lieutenant in 1904 and made captain on February 2, 1915. From 1900 to 1908, the Third was known as the 3rd (Militia) Battalion. In 1908 they became the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion. The Third provided replacements for casualties from the 1st and 2nd (Regular) Battalions during the Great War. Cox relinquished his commission on March 10, 1934, and was granted the honorary rank of major.

 

Major John Christopher Blaxland

 

 

Major John Christopher Blaxland

1917-2003

Field Service Cap, c. 1951

 

Blaxland was gazetted to the General List as a university candidate in August of 1939 and commissioned into the Royal Engineers on the 3rd of September. He joined the staff of the Royal Engineers as an acting captain in June of 1940. On the 2nd of September that year, Blaxland was made a war substantive lieutenant and then a temporary captain in 1942. He became a war substantive captain on the 9th of May, 1945, and a temporary major the same day. Blaxland’s captaincy was made permanent in March of 1946. He transferred to the 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars on the 10th of May, 1950. Blaxland obtained his majority on the 3rd of March, 1951. An excellent horseman, he won both the Prix Caprilli and the Grade ‘A’ show-jumping competition in a horse show organized by the 8th Hussars in 1953. After joining the 15th/19th Hussars, Blaxland periodically served as second-in-command of the regiment and was in that role upon his retirement in 1959.

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Ralph Eastwood, KCB DSO MC

 

 

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Ralph Eastwood, KCB DSO MC

1890-1959

Full Dress Uniform, c. 1934

 

Eastwood entered Eton College in 1904 and was accepted into the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in 1908. He was gazetted to the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade on the 19th of March, 1910, and advanced to lieutenant in 1911. Eastwood was assigned as Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of New Zealand, Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1912. At the onset of the Great War, Eastwood was released as A.D.C. and commissioned into the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own), becoming a captain on the 30th of December, 1914, and participating in the capture of German Samoa. In April of 1915, Eastwood’s regiment was deployed to Gallipoli, where he was awarded the Military Cross for leading a column during a night assault on the 6th-7th of August. The regiment having been transferred to France, Eastwood joined the general staff in 1917 and was subsequently made a brevet major in January of 1918. He transferred back to the British Army that October and was made a temporary lieutenant colonel, commanding the 12th Battalion, Rifle Brigade. In August of 1919, Eastwood served for a short period on the staff of Lord Rawlinson and participated in the ill-fated North Russia Intervention. During the Great War, Eastwood was mentioned in despatches seven times and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1919. Eastwood served in staff appointments until 1927, when he returned to regimental duty with the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade in India with the rank of major. Eastwood returned the following year and took command of the Rifle Brigade Depot in 1931. He transferred to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps on the 5th of April, 1934, to assume command of the 2nd Battalion as lieutenant colonel, during which period the battalion was posted to Belfast. Eastwood achieved his colonelcy in July of 1936. He was made major general on the 12th of January 1938 and appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Eastwood was made commanding general of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. He was then given command of the 4th Infantry Division in May of 1940 and subsequently appointed Inspector-General of the Home Guard. Eastwood was made an acting lieutenant general in November of 1940 and assumed the role of Director-General of the Home Guard. He was appointed as commanding general of the Northern Command in June of 1941. On the 5th of December, 1941, Eastwood was made a permanent lieutenant general and went on to become the Governor of Gibraltar in 1944. He retired from the service in 1947.

 

1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse

 

1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse

 Torin Cap, c. 1922

 

 Skinner's Horse was an irregular cavalry regiment formed in 1803 by Captain James Skinner, an Anglo-Indian officer in the East India Company's service. Nicknamed "The Yellow Boys" for their flamboyant saffron-coloured uniforms, Skinner's Horse were famous for their horsemanship and skill at arms. The regiment became the 1st Regiment of Bengal Cavalry in 1861, the 1st Regiment of Bengal Lancers in 1896, and the 1st Duke of York's Own Lancers (Skinner's Horse) in 1903.

 

 Skinner raised a second regiment of his Skinner's Horse in 1814. This regiment became the 3rd Regiment of Bengal Cavalry in 1861 and the 3rd Skinner's Horse in 1903.

 

 Upon the reduction of the Indian Army in 1922, the regiments were amalgamated to form the 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse. The regiment was mechanized in 1939 and later became part of the Indian Armoured Corps.

 

1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse Full Dress, 1910

By Snaffles

Lieutenant Henry Rogers Turner

 

 

Lieutenant Henry Rogers Turner

 1910-1970

 Mess Dress, c. 1937

 

Turner studied at Radley College, located in Oxfordshire, and was gazetted to the 7th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment on the 15th of January, 1930. The 7th Battalion was then part of the Territorial Army. He was placed on the Unattached List for the Indian Army in 1934 and joined The Central India Horse (21st King George's Own Horse) on the 1st of September that year. The regiment was raised as two irregular cavalry regiments at the outset of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, those being Mayne's Horse and Beatson's Horse. Turner was advanced to lieutenant in June of 1937 and served the regiment as quartermaster beginning in September of 1939. The regiment’s horses were replaced with armoured fighting vehicles in 1939 and the regiment later became part of the Indian Armoured Corps. During the Second World War, the regiment served as the divisional reconnaissance regiment for the 4th Indian Division and were involved in the Western Desert Campaign, the East African Campaign, the Tunisia Campaign, and the Italian Campaign. Turner served as an acting captain prior to being made a temporary captain in August of 1940. For his service, he was awarded the Military Cross on the 29th of November, 1945. After the Partition in 1947, Turner returned to England, where he resided in Hertfordshire.

Brigadier General Alexander William Pagan, DSO

 

 

Brigadier General Alexander William Pagan, DSO

 1878-1949

 Full Dress Uniform, c. 1931

 

Pagan studied at Cheltenham College and was gazetted to the 2nd Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment (formerly the 61st Regiment of Foot) on the 11th of February, 1899. He accompanied the 2nd Battalion to South Africa in January of 1900 to fight in the Boer War and was advanced to lieutenant that February during the Battle of Paardeberg. Pagan earned his captaincy in September of 1906. He was attached to the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, the Royal South Gloucestershire Militia, as adjutant in 1911. Now serving with the 1st Battalion (formerly the 28th Regiment of Foot), Pagan was promoted to major on the 1st of September, 1915. As a temporary lieutenant-colonel, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for conspicuous good work commanding his battalion near Loos on the 8th of October, 1915, during a heavy bombardment of 4 ½ hours, followed by a heavy infantry assault. Pagan was made a brevet lieutenant-colonel in January of 1917. Whilst commanding the 3rd Infantry Brigade, he was wounded during the Second Battle of Passchendaele on the 10th of November. Pagan was later made a temporary brigadier general and appointed commanding officer of the 184th Infantry Brigade in March of 1918. He was mentioned in despatches three times during the Great War and was also awarded the Belgian Order of Leopold and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Pagan was placed in command of the 11th District, Irish Command in 1919. From 1922 to 1925, he commanded the Gloucestershire regimental depot at Bristol. On the 1st of February, 1925, Pagan received his colonelcy with seniority of the 1st of January, 1921, whilst assigned as Assistant Commandant of the Small Arms School at Hythe. He remained there until January of 1929 and was appointed to command the 10th Infantry Brigade that February at Jubblepore in India with the temporary rank of brigadier. Pagan retired from the service on the 15th of July, 1929, and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier general. He was appointed Colonel of the Gloucestershire Regiment on the 31st of July, 1931. In November of 1936, Pagan received a Territorial Army Reserve of Officers commission as a major and was assigned to the 8th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. He relinquished that commission in 1942 and continued to serve with the Home Guard.