Сомерсетский легкопехотный полк: История и преобразования

The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry which was again amalgamated, in 1968, with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and the Durham Light Infantry to form The Light Infantry. In 2007, however, The Light Infantry was amalgamated further with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the Royal Green Jackets to form The Rifles.

The regiment was one of nine regiments of foot raised by James II when he expanded the size of the army in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. On 20 June 1685, Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon was issued with a warrant authorising him to raise a regiment, and accordingly the Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot was formed, mainly recruiting in the county of Buckinghamshire.

The regiment remained in existence when William III came to the throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Ferdinando Hastings took over the colonelcy of the regiment, which accordingly became Hastings's Regiment of Foot. Hastings's Regiment first saw action at the Battle of Killiecrankie, where they failed to halt the advance of Jacobite rebels, although they were later defeated at the Battle of Dunkeld. The regiment accompanied William to Ireland in the following year, fighting in the decisive Williamite victories at the Boyne and Cork.

The Jacobite struggles in Scotland and Ireland were part of a wider European conflict that became known as the Nine Years' War. In 1692, Hastings' Regiment sailed to Flanders and, in 1694, took part in the disastrous amphibious assault at Camaret on the French coast. In 1695, Colonel Fernando Hastings was found guilty of extortion, and dismissed. Sir John Jacob became the colonel, and it was as Jacob's Regiment of Foot that they returned to England at the end of the war in 1697.

After a period of garrison duty in Ireland, Jacob's Regiment returned to Flanders in 1701. In the following year, the colonelcy again changed, with Sir John Jacob choosing to retire. He sold the colonelcy to his brother in law, Lieutenant General James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore, for 1,400 guineas. With the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Earl of Barrymore's Regiment of Foot saw action at the sieges or battles of Kaiserwerth, Venlo, Roermond, Huy, Limburg and Liège. The unit fought at the Battle of Almanza (1707), the Battle of La Caya (1709), the Battle of Tortosa (1711) and the Battle of St Mateo (1711).

In 1742, Pulteney's Regiment sailed to Flanders, and in the following year was part of the joint British, Hanoverian and Austrian force that secured a victory over the French at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743. In May 1745, the situation was reversed when they were part of the allied army closely defeated at the Battle of Fontenoy.

By the late seventeenth century, each regiment of the standing army had been allotted a "rank" in the order of precedence. These numbers came to be increasingly used until a royal warrant of 1751 decreed that regiments should in future be known by their numbers only. Accordingly, Pulteney's Regiment became the 13th Regiment of Foot. The redesignated 13th Foot entered a thirty year period of garrison service in England, Ireland, Gibraltar and Minorca.

In 1775, the American Revolutionary War broke out, widening into war with France from 1778 and Spain in 1779. The 13th Foot sailed for the West Indies, arriving in Barbados. They saw little active service, returning to England in 1782, moving on to Ireland in 1783.

It was at this time that the regiment's link to Somerset was first formed. On 21 August 1782, the Commander in Chief of the Forces, Henry Seymour Conway, issued a regulation giving an English county designation to each regiment of foot other than those with a royal title or highland regiments. The intention was to improve recruitment during the unpopular war, and the Secretary at War, Thomas Townshend issued a circular letter to the lieutenants of each county in England in the following terms:
My Lord, The very great deficiency of men in the regiments of infantry being so very detrimental to the public service, the king has thought proper to give the names of the different counties to the old corps, in hopes that, by the zeal and activity of the principal nobility and gentry in the several counties, some considerable assistance may be given towards recruiting these regiments". The regiment duly became the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot (the 40th Foot becoming the "2nd Somersetshire").

In 1812, the war had widened to include the United States of America. In the following year, the 13th Foot left Martinique for Quebec, from whence they proceeded to protect the frontiers of Upper Canada. The regiment crossed the Saint Lawrence River and took part in minor actions around Plattsburgh and Lake Champlain. The war concluded in 1815, and the 13th Foot returned to England in July of that year. The regiment spent the next few years on garrison duty in Jersey, Guernsey, England, Scotland and Ireland.

The 13th Light Infantry arrived in Kolkata in May and June 1823. Soon after arrival, Burmese forces attacked Cachar, a territory under British protection. War was formally declared on 5 March 1824, and the 13th took part in the campaign that lasted until February 1826, when a treaty was signed, with the King of Ava agreeing to cede territory and pay compensation to the British East India Company. The 13th Light Infantry returned to garrison duty in India. From 1826 to 1838, they were stationed in Baharampur, Danapur, Agra and Karnal.

In 1837, Persian troops, allied to the Russians, occupied the Herat region of Afghanistan. The British, who feared Russian intervention in the area, decided to remove the emir of Afghanistan, Dost Muhammad, and to replace him with a pro British monarch, Shuja Shah Durrani. Accordingly, an expeditionary force, known as the "Army of the Indus", was formed. The 13th Light Infantry formed part of the invasion force, joining the other units in November 1838. The army passed into Afghanistan in March 1839, taking Kandahar in April without resistance. The 13th took part in the decisive victory at Ghazni in July 1839. The British initially achieved their objective of enthroning Shuja in August 1839. The 13th formed part of the occupation force that attempted to enforce the rule of the new monarch; but, in October 1841, a popular uprising against Shuja broke out. At the same time, the regimental facings were changed from yellow to (royal) blue, and the badge of a mural crown with a scroll inscribed "Jellalabad" was granted for display on the colours and uniform of the regiment. The 13th Light Infantry returned to England in 1845 after 23 years of foreign service. Presented with new colours at Portsmouth in 1846, the regiment moved to Ireland in the following year, remaining there until 1850, before spending a year in Scotland. From 1851–1854, they were stationed in Gibraltar.

In 1854, the regiment was brought up to full strength and, in June of the following year, landed in the Crimea as part of the Anglo French forces conducting a campaign against the Russians. They took part in the Siege of Sevastopol, and remained in the area after the ending of hostilities in February 1856, subsequently sailing to South Africa.

In October 1899, war broke out between British Empire and the Boer Republics of South Africa. The 2nd Battalion landed in the Cape in December 1899, and was part of the British forces defeated at the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900. In February of the same year, the battalion helped to relieve the siege of Ladysmith. They spent the remainder of the conflict taking part in a number of minor actions. The 4th (2nd Somerset Militia) Battalion was embodied in December 1899, and 415 officers and men embarked in the in early March 1900 for service in South Africa. A large contingent of the men returned home in May 1902 on the SS Sicilia.

The Boer War had severely stretched the resources of the British Army and had exposed the weakness of the militia and volunteers as an effective reserve force. In 1907–1908, Richard Haldane, Secretary of State for War reorganised these second line units of the army as part of a larger series of reforms. The existing militia was reduced in size and redesignated as the "Special Reserve", while the Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry to form a new Territorial Force, organised into 14 infantry divisions, liable for service in wartime. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former merging with the Yeomanry to become the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. The Regiment saw active service in the First World War, with battalions involved on the Western Front, Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Palestine. Altogether, 18 battalions existed during the war. One of the new battalions was formed by the conversion of the West Somerset Yeomanry, a Territorial Force Cavalry Regiment; the rest were formed by the duplication of the existing Territorial Force units or by the formation of new "service" battalions. +Battalions of the Somerset Light Infantry in the First World War3/5th Battalion (TF)5th (Reserve) BattalionThird line duplicate of 5th Battalion, formed March 1915. Converted to reserve battalion in April 1916, remained in United Kingdom.6th (Service) BattalionFormed August 1914. To Western Front as part of 14th (Light) Division. Following heavy casualties they formed a composite unit with the 5th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry April 1918, returned to England for reconstruction and absorbed 13th Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, returned to France August 1918.7th (Service) BattalionFormed September 1914. To Western Front as part of 20th (Light) Division July 1915.8th (Service) BattalionFormed October 1914. To Western Front as part of 21st Division September 1915. Transferred to 37th Division July 1916.9th (Service) Battalion9th (Reserve) BattalionFormed October 1914 as part of 33rd Division. Converted to Reserve battalion April 1915, converted to 45th Training Reserve Battalion 1916. Remained in United Kingdom.10th (Home Service) BattalionFormed November 1916, disbanded November 191711th BattalionFormed January 1917 by redesignation of 86th Provisional Battalion, TF. To France May 1918 as part of 59th (2nd North Midland) Division12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion. Formed January 1917 in Egypt by conversion of West Somerset Yeomanry. Part of 74th (Yeomanry) Division. To France May 1918.13th (Home Service) BattalionFormed April 1918 to replace 11th Battalion.1st Garrison BattalionFormed 1917. To India.

Following the armistice ending the First World War, the war raised battalions were rapidly disbanded. Returning to India in 1920, the battalion moved to the Sudan in 1926 and England in 1927.

Altogether, the Somerset Light Infantry raised 11 battalions for service during the Second World War, six of which saw service overseas. In addition to the Regular Army 1st and 2nd battalions, the existing 4th and 5th Territorial Army battalions both formed 2nd Line duplicate units in 1939 prior to war being declared: the 6th and 7th battalions, both part of 45th (Wessex) Division on the outbreak of war. The 8th (Home Defence) Battalion, which was also formed in 1939, was renumbered as the 30th Battalion in 1941. The 9th, 10th, 11th (Holding) and 50th (Holding) Battalions were all formed in 1940, although the latter two had ceased to exist by the end of the year.

The 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Harding, was stationed in British India at the outbreak of war and would remain in the Far East throughout the conflict. The battalion fought in the Burma Campaign with the 114th Indian Infantry Brigade which was part of the 7th Indian Infantry Division, itself part of the British Fourteenth Army, led by Bill Slim. John Waddy served with the battalion in the early stages of the war. The 2nd Battalion was serving with the 2nd Gibraltar Brigade as part of the garrison there, upon the outbreak of war in 1939. On 1 December 1943, the brigade was redesignated the 28th Infantry Brigade, which also included the 2nd King's Regiment (Liverpool) and 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (later 2/4th Royal Hampshire Regiment). On 24 December, the brigade became attached to the British 4th Infantry Division.

The regiment also had four Territorial battalions, although only two would serve overseas. Throughout the war, the 4th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry served with the 129th Brigade, alongside the 4th and 5th Wiltshire Regiment, part of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, and spent most of its existence in the United Kingdom in Kent under XII Corps of Southern Command. The 7th Battalion, which had been created on 24 August 1939 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 5th, was originally serving alongside both the 5th and 6th battalions in 135th Brigade, of the 45th Division. On 11 September 1942, the battalion was transferred to the 214th Infantry Brigade, which included the 5th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and the 9th Somersets (later replaced by the 1st Worcestershire Regiment). Both the 4th and 7th battalions served in the North West Europe Campaign after the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, D Day. The division fought very well in the Battle of Normandy, particularly so during the Battle for Caen in Operation Epsom in late June, at the Battle for Hill 112 (Operation Jupiter). During the battle, "the 4th Somersets suffered 556 casualties out of a strength of 845. Between 26 June and 14 July, 4th SLI received 19 reinforcement officers and 479 ORs as replacements." The battalion became involved in trench warfare similar to that of the Great War. They later played a large part in the disastrous Operation Market Garden, a small role in the Battle of the Bulge and finally took part in Operation Plunder, the crossing of the River Rhine by the Allies. The SLI also had responsibility for defending local airfields, including RNAS Charlton Horethorne, where they prepared trenches, hardpoints and machine gun positions. The 30th Battalion, of 43rd Infantry Brigade, formed part of the British First Army, and served in Tunisia and Italy.

The 1st Battalion was the last British infantry battalion to leave India after its independence, departing on 28 February 1948. During the final ceremony, the battalion marched through Bombay (now Mumbai) and received a guard of honour from the newly formed Indian Army at the Gateway of India. The 2nd Battalion ended the war in Greece, subsequently forming part of the Allied occupation force of Austria. In its final years, the battalion was involved in a number of conflicts: the anti tank platoon formed part of the Anglo French force that intervened in the Suez Crisis of 1956. The majority of the battalion was in Cyprus, where a nationalist uprising against British rule had broken out. In 1957, they returned to Germany.

The regiment amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1959 to form the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry. This, in turn, amalgamated with the three other regiments of the Light Infantry Brigade to form The Light Infantry in 1968.

The Somerset Military Museum is based at Taunton Castle.

From its establishment in 1685, the regiment had a red coat with yellow facings. This was originally the colour of the cloth lining of the coat, which appeared in the turned back cuffs, skirts and lapels. Later, as uniform styles changed, it became the colour of the collar and cuffs of the jacket or tunic. A royal warrant of 1751 first regulated the facing colours of the "Marching Regiments of Foot". Those of the 13th Foot, or Lieutenant General Pulteney's Regiment, was given as "philemot" yellow, a description repeated in the next clothing regulation of 1768. "Philemot" was a corruption of the French feuille morte or "dead leaf", a shade of yellow approximating to that of a faded (Autumn) leaf. When the 13th Foot was given the title "Prince Albert's" in 1842, it became a "royal" regiment, and the facings were changed to dark blue.

A distinction unique to the regiment was that the warrant officers and sergeants wore their sashes over the left shoulder and tied on the right side, in the same manner as officers. This commemorated the regiment's stand at Culloden, where the large number of officer casualties led to the sergeants taking command. In 1898, officers of all regiments were ordered to wear the sash knotted on the left side, with the exception of the Somerset Light Infantry who were permitted to continue with the knot on the right.

In 1822, the regiment was granted light infantry distinctions, which survived in the scarlet full dress of 1914 as a dark green home service helmet (instead of the dark blue of line infantry) and a bugle horn incorporated in the badge. The forage cap and postwar No.1 dress tunic worn by the regiment from 1947 were also dark green, while trousers remained dark blue with green piping. When a new model of shako was adopted in 1844, a mural crown and scroll inscribed "Jellalabad" were added. Similar devices were used on the plate of the home service helmet adopted in 1878. In 1898, when khaki service dress was introduced, a metal badge was designed for the new slouch hat. This consisted of a bugle surmounted by a mural crown above which was a scroll inscribed "Jellalabad". The cypher "PA" for Prince Albert was placed within the strings of the bugle horn. This remained the regiment's cap badge on various forms of head dress until amalgamation.