North Staffordshire Regiment

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North Staffordshire Regiment

The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was an infantry

Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
regiment of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
, formed in 1881 with antecedents dating from 1756. In 1959 the regiment was amalgamated with the South Staffordshire Regiment

South Staffordshire Regiment

The South Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881, but with antecedents dating from 1705. In 1959 the regiment was amlagamated with the North Staffordshire Regiment to form the Staffordshire Regiment....
to form the Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's).

regiment was formed as the The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) under the Childers Reforms

Childers Reforms

The Childers Reforms restructured the infantry regiments of the British army. The reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms....
on July 1, 1881 by the amalgamation of the 64th and 98th regiments of foot, which became the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions of the regiment.

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Encyclopedia

The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was an infantry

Infantry

British Army

South Staffordshire Regiment

Formation and antecedents

The regiment was formed as the The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) under the Childers Reforms

Childers Reforms

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service....
and Rifle Volunteers

Volunteer Force (Great Britain)

The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a Social movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army, before forming part of the Territorial Force in 1908....
of North Staffordshire were also incorporated in the new regiment. The battalions formed in 1881 were as follows:

1st Battalion: the 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot
64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot

The 64th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, created in 1756 and becoming the 1st Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment in 1881....
, raised in 1756 as the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Foot, and renumbered the 64th in 1758. In 1782 county designations were given to regiments of foot, with the 64th becoming the 2nd Staffordshire.
2nd Battalion: the 98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot
98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot

The 98th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, created in 1824 and becoming the 2nd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's in 1881...
, raised in 1824. It received the subsidiary title Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
's in 1876.
3rd (Militia) Battalion: The King's Own (2nd Staffordshire) Light Infantry Militia
4th (Militia) Battalion: The King's Own (3rd Staffordshire) Rifles Militia
1st Volunteer Battalion: 2nd Staffordshire (Staffordshire Rangers) Rifle Volunteer Corps
2nd Volunteer Battalion: 5th Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps

The reserve battalions of the regiment were reorganised in 1908 by the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907

The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 was an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the reserve forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer Force and Yeomanry units into a new Territorial Force , and disbanding the Militia to form a new Special Reserve of the Re...
, with the two militia battalions becoming the 3rd and 4th (Special Reserve) Battalions and the volunteer battalions transferring to the Territorial Force

Territorial Force

The Territorial Force was a volunteer component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army....
as the 5th and 6th Battalions (TF).

1881 - 1914

The 1st Battalion (the former 64th) was in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
at the time of the amalgamation. It moved to England in 1883, and the following year to the West Indies, based at Barbados

Barbados

Barbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Continental Island-island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. Located at roughly 13? North of the equator and 59? West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles....
, with detachments on different islands. It moved to Natal

Natal

Natal may refer to:...
in 1887, to Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, , is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar....
in 1890, to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
in 1893 and to Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
in 1895. From there the 1st Battalion took part in operations in The Sudan

Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
under Lord Kitchener

Lord Kitchener

Lord Kitchener may refer to:* Earl Kitchener, for the title* Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener , prominent British soldier in the Sudan, the Second Boer War, and World War I...
, receiving the battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or Military operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....
'"Hafir"'. The battalion was subsequently stationed in India from 1897 until 1903, returning to England for nine years, before moving to Ireland in 1912.

The 2nd Battalion (the former 98th) was stationed in India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
in 1881, and remained there until 1886, taking part in an expedition to the Zhob Valley in 1884. In 1886 it returned to England via Aden, and then to Ireland in 1893. In 1899 it moved to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, taking part in the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War , commonly referred to as The Boer War and also known as the South African War , the Anglo-Boer War and in Afrikaans as the Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902, between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Fre...
until 1902, when it returned to England. In the following year it returned to India, remaining there until 1919.

First World War 1914 - 1918

The regiment was greatly expanded for the duration of the war, with 17 battalions serving on the Western Front, the Dardanelles, Middle East, Persia and India. Ten representative battle honours were chosen for display on the regiment's colours:

Armentieres 1914
Somme 1916, 1918
Arras 1917
Messines 1917, 1918
Ypres 1917, 1918
St. Quentin Canal
Selle
Sari Bair
Kut al Amara
North-West Frontier India 1915

1918 - 1939

The 1st Battalion was posted to The Curragh, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
after the armistice, becoming involved in the Irish War of Independence

Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla warfare mounted against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army ....
until 1922, when it moved to Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a border with Spain to the north....
. In the following year it was moved to Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
, where it played a peace-keeping role in the conflict between Greek and Turkish forces. In 1923 it moved to India, where it remained until 1947.

The 2nd Battalion was stationed in India when Afghan forces crossed the border and occupied some Indian territory. It took part in the retaliatory British and Indian invasion of Afghanistan

Third Anglo-Afghan War

The Third Anglo-Afghan War began on 6 May 1919 and ended with an armistice on 8 August 1919. Whilst it was essentially a minor tactical victory for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in so much as they were able to repel the regular Military of Afghanistan, in many ways it was a strategic victory for the Afghans....
, leading to the North Staffords receiving the battle honour Afghanistan, 1919. It returned to England via Egypt in 1921, and were quickly redeployed to Ireland. On the establishment of the Irish Free State

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand....
, it returned to the regimental depot at Lichfield

Lichfield

Lichfield is a city status in the United Kingdom and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. One of seven civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated 25 km north of Birmingham and 200 km northwest of central London....
. It spent the period until 1939 in "home stations". Apart from England, this included service in Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Palestine

Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is derived from a name used already much earlier for a narrower geographical region, mainly along the coastal region....
in 1936/7.

The 3rd and 4th (Special Reserve) Battalions were placed in "suspended animation" in 1921, being disbanded in 1953. The Territorial Force was reconstituted as the Territorial Army

Territorial Army

The Territorial Army is the volunteer Military reserve force of the British Army, the army of the United Kingdom, and composed mostly of part-time soldiers paid at a similar rate, while engaged on military activities, as their Regular equivalents....
in 1920, and the 5th and 6th Battalions were reformed. In 1936 the 5th Battalion was converted to an anti-aircraft unit of the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the Structure of the British Army of the British Army....
. In 1939 the size of the Territorial Army was doubled, and the remaining 6th Battalion formed a duplicate 7th Battalion.

In 1921 the regimental title was altered to The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's). In 1937 the black facings formerly worn by the 64th Foot were restored, replacing the white colour that had been imposed on all non-royal English regiments in 1881.

Second World War 1939 - 1945

The regiment was expanded during the war, with the two regular and two territorial battalions being supplemented by the creation of 8th and 9th Battalions. Battalions served in North West Europe, North Africa, Italy and Burma. The regiment selected the following ten representative battle honours to appear on the colours:

Dyle
Ypres-Comines Canal
Caen
Brieux Bridgehead
Medjez Plain
North Africa 1943
Anzio
Rome
Marradi
Burma 1943

1945 - 1959

Following the granting of independence of India in 1947, all infantry regiments in the British Army were reduced to a single regular battalion. Accordingly the 1st Battalion left India to take part in a ceremony officially amalgamating with the 2nd Battalion in Egypt in 1949. The new 1st Battalion (64th/98th) remained in Egypt until 1950, when it returned to the depot in Staffordshire. A year later the battalion was posted to the disputed port city of Trieste

Trieste

Trieste is a city and port in northeastern Italy very near to the Slovenian border, to the North, East, and South. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste on the Adriatic Sea....
. In 1953 the battalion was transferred to Korea

South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
, where the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea and South Korea regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950 until the armistice signed on July 27, 1953....
had just come to an end. In 1954 it moved to Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
, where the regiment's 200th anniversary was celebrated in 1956.

In July 1957, a defence review

1957 Defence White Paper

The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a United Kingdom white paper setting forth the future as seen of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry....
was announced. The North Staffords were to amalgamate with The South Staffordshire Regiment, and to become part of the new administrative Mercian Brigade

Mercian Brigade

The Mercian Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1964. The Brigade administered the regular infantry from the area of England between the River Trent, River Mersey and River Severn rivers that roughly corresponded to the ancient kingdom of Mercia....
.

The amalgamation of the 1st Battalions of the two regiments took place on January 31, 1959 at Minden, Germany, to form the 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own).

The 6th Battalion continued as a territorial unit of the new regiment without change of title. In 1961 it merged with the 441 Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery

The Royal Artillery, is the common name for the Royal Regiment of Artillery, is an Arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it is made up of a number of regiments....
, the successor to the 5th North Staffords, to become the 5th/6th Battalion. The battalion was abolished in 1967 on the creation of the Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve in 1967.