Dorset Regiment

Dorsetshire Regiment
Dorset Regiment

Cap badge of the Dorset Regiment (1953–1958).
Active 1881–1958
Country  United Kingdom
Branch  British Army
Type Infantry
Role Line infantry
Size 2 Regular battalions
1 Militia and Special Reserve battalion
1 Volunteer and Territorial battalion
Up to 6 Hostilities-only battalions
Garrison/HQ The Depot Barracks, Dorchester
Nickname(s) The Dorsets
Motto(s) Primus in Indis
March Quick: The Maid of Glenconnel
Anniversaries Plassey, 23 June

The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 1958, after service in the Second Boer War along with World War I and World War II, the Dorset Regiment was amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment. In 2007, it was amalgamated with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, The Light Infantry and the Royal Green Jackets to form a new large regiment, The Rifles.

History

The Dorsetshire Regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot and the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot.[1] The 1st Battalion took part in operations in the Tirah Campaign on the North West Frontier of British India in 1897–98, and the 2nd Battalion fought in the Second Boer War, participating in the Relief of Ladysmith.[2]

First World War

During the First World War, nine hostilities-only battalions were formed, six battalions serving overseas. The 1st Battalion and 6th (Service) battalion served on the Western Front throughout most of the war.[3] Additional battalions (1/4th Battalion, 2/4th Battalion and 3/4th Battalion) were formed as part of the Territorial Force to meet the demand for troops on the Western Front.[3]

1st Battalion
The 1st Battalion was in Belfast when war broke out: it landed at Le Havre in August 1914 forming part of the 15th Brigade in the 5th Division.[3] It transferred to 95th Brigade in the 32nd Division in December 1915 and to the 14th Brigade in the same Division in January 1916.[3]

2nd Battalion The 2nd Battalion was in Poona, India, when war broke out and was shipped, as part of the 16th Indian Brigade, to Mesopotamia, where it was trapped in the Siege of Kut and captured by the Turks. (Of the 350 men of the battalion captured, only 70 survived their captivity.) During the siege, returning sick and wounded, and the few replacements who had been sent out, were unable to re-join their battalion, so they, and similar drafts of the 2nd Norfolk Regiment, were amalgamated into a scratch battalion forming part of the force attempting to relieve Kut.[4] This battalion was formally titled the Composite English Battalion, but was more commonly known as The Norsets; it was broken up in July 1916, when the 2nd Dorsets was re-constituted.[3] The battalion then served in Egypt as part of 9th Indian Brigade in the 3rd Indian Division.[3]

Other battalions
The 1/4th Battalion of the Territorial Force served in India and Mesopotamia and 2/4th Battalion in India and Egypt.[3] The 5th (Service) Battalion took part in the Gallipoli Campaign, and having been evacuated from there in December 1915, went to Egypt before joining the war on the Western Front in July 1916.[3] The 6th (Service) Battalion was shipped to Boulogne in France in July 1915 as part of 50th Brigade in the 17th (Northern) Division and saw action on the Western Front.[3]

Anglo-Irish War

The 3/4th Reserve Battalion was moved to Ebrington Barracks in Derry in April 1918.[5] In April 1920, during the Anglo-Irish War, soldiers from the regiment fired into a protesting crowd on Bridge Street, leading to riots and skirmishes which saw it fight alongside the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and (later) Ulster Volunteers (UVF) against the Irish Republican Army (IRA).[6][7] Sporadic violence in the city continued until another large engagement in June, when the Dorsets and the UVF attacked the Bogside area of the city. A large IRA counter-offensive from the west ended the disturbances, which had seen 40 people killed since April.[8][9] Some RIC officers threatened to resign over the Dorsets' fraternisation and co-operation with the UVF.[9]

Malabar Campaign

Memorial for the Officers and Men of the Dorset Regiment, who lost their lives in the Moplah Revolt, at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore

In Summer 1921 the 2nd Battalion served under the command of Major-General John Burnett-Stuart, General Officer Commanding Madras District in India,[10] where he was involved in the suppression of the Moplah Rebellion at Malabar between 1921 and 1922. The riots that they quashed were inspired by 10,000 guerrillas and led to 2,300 executions.[11]

The Officers and Men from the Dorset Regiment, who lost their lives while taking part in the suppression of the revolt are commemorated in a brass tablet at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore.[12]

Second World War

In the Second World War, eight hostilities-only battalions were raised. The 1st Battalion was a regular army unit and part of 231st Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1st Hampshires and 2nd Devonshires, for the duration of the war, fighting in Malta between 1940 and 1942, Sicily in August 1943, and Italy in September 1943. The 1st Dorsets landed on Gold Beach on D-Day in June 1944 as a part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and fought with the division in the Battle of Normandy and North-West Europe, until the division was withdrawn in late 1944 and used as a training division. The battalion had troops 327 killed and 1,029 wounded.[13]

The 2nd Battalion was also a regular army unit and was a part of 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, throughout the war, participating in the Battle of France and the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. In 1944, it took part in the Battle of Kohima during the Burma Campaign of 1944–1945, still with the 2nd Division.[14]

The 4th Battalion was an original 1st Line Territorial Army unit and, in 1939, raised a 2nd Line duplicate, the 5th Battalion, when the Territorial Army was doubled in size. The 4th and 5th Battalions were both part of 130th Infantry Brigade in the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, participating in the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden and the Rhine Crossing.[15]

Men of the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment climb into a Buffalo in preparation for crossing the Rhine, Germany, 28 March 1945.

The 30th Battalion, previously the 6th (Home Defence) Battalion, was with 43rd Infantry Brigade in North Africa and the invasion of Sicily, after which it spent the rest of the war in Gibraltar.[16]

The 7th Battalion was raised in 1940 and was later transferred to the Royal Artillery and converted to the 110th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. The regiment served with the 43rd (Wessex) Division in North-West Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.[17]

The 8th Battalion was also raised in 1940 and was initially assigned to the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) and was on home defence. Like the 7th Battalion the 8th was transferred to the Royal Artillery and became the 105th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. The regiment was sent to North Africa in late 1942 and fought with the British First Army and later served in the Italian Campaign with the British Eighth Army.[17]

Post war and amalgamation

In 1958, the regiment amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.[18]

Battle honours

The regiment was awarded the following battle honours. Those from the two World Wars that are emblazoned on the Queen's Colour are indicated in bold:[19]

Victoria Cross

The following member of the regiment was awarded the Victoria Cross:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dorsetshire Regiment.

References

  1. ↑ "The Dorset Regiment at the archive of regiments.org". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on October 28, 2005. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
  2. ↑ "Dorsetshire Regiment". Anglo Boer War. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The Dorsetshire Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "The 2nd Dorsets in Mesopotamia". Keepmilitarymuseum.org. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
  5. ↑ Chris Baker. "The Dorsetshire Regiment". Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "CAIN: Fox, Colm. The Making of a Minority, chapter 4 of 'Towards Partition'". Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  7. ↑ The Outrages by Pearse Lawlor, pages 15-16
  8. ↑ "Derry mayor banned flag from Guildhall in 1920". Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  9. 1 2 The Outrages by Pearse Lawlor, pages 16-18
  10. ↑ "The Malabar Campaign (Moplah Rebellion)". The Keep Military Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Nuacht UCD". University College, Dublin. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  12. ↑ David, Stephen (9 January 2009). "200 years of Bangalore's oldest Christian landmark". India Today. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "The 1st Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment in World War Two". The Keep Military Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "The 2nd Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment in World War Two". The Keep Military Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "The 4th and 5th Battalions The Dorsetshire Regiment in World War Two". The Keep Military Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "The 6th (Home Defence), 9th, 30th and 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalions The Dorsetshire Regiment in World War Two". The Keep Military Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  17. 1 2 "The Dorsetshire Regiment in the Second World War". The Keep Military Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  18. ↑ Merged regiments and new brigading — many famous units to lose separate identity. The Times, 25 July 1957.
  19. ↑ "Dorset Regiment". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
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