Post by gadge on Jan 3, 2010 6:52:53 GMT -5
Inspired by Adler I thought I'd put up a post about my old mob.
I was fortunate enough to serve in the late 90s in the Staffordshire Regiment - one of the oldest (and best) infantry regiments in the British Army.
(my old patrol kit)
Regrettably at the time (but in my opinion fortunately in retrospect) my service was a bit of a 'jarhead' in that we trained for a war we never went to and I had a very peaceful service career (other than the dying down of the 'troubles').
(some pics of me as a young soldier)
My old Mk6 lid
(and my old beret)
(with some mates from other battalions messing about on a training course... the 'censors' are electrical tape!)
But.. the STAFFORDS are probably one of the UKs strongest regiments with some exciting history haivng been Chindits and Airborne in the Second World War and fighting in both Gulf Wars.
The regiment was founded in 1705 as the '38th of foot' which makes it one of the oldest units and our regiment saw service in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny.
The regiment fought well in the 1st world war but we're most well known for fighting in WWII
The Staffords were the first allied troops into occupied Europe as it was gliders of the 2nd battalion South Staffords that first landed to seize bridges in Operation Huskey in sicily
Also the Staffords fought in the far east as chindit special forces against the japanese in long range penetration units and more famously as part of the force dropped in to capture Arnhem Bridge as part of market garden. At market garden we won two victoria crosses (the most won in a single battle in wwii by a single battalion ever!)
After wwii the North and south staffordshire regiments were merged into one regiment.
The Staffords then went on to serve worldwide, notably in Northern Ireland in the late 70s and early 80s and then in the 90s they were the vanguard of British forces fighting against Saddam and were involved in fierce fighting with Iraqi forces from the beginning of land operations to the end. They covered an astonishing 290 km/180 miles in just 100 hours.
Our insignia is the county symbol of the Staffordshire Knot with the motto 'ich dien' (i serve) beneath it. Our regimental colour is black and the regiments nickname is the 'black knots'. Our mascott is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, he iss always called 'watchman' and holds the rank of Sgt!
Regrettably a couple of years back defence cuts caused the Staffords to be amalgamated with some other historic units to form the new 'Mercian Regiment' of which we comprise the 3rd Battalion.
Battle honours
* Pre-WWI: Guadeloupe 1759, Martinique 1794, Hafir, South Africa 1878-79, Egypt 1882, Kirbekan, Nile 1884-85, South Africa 1900-02
* World War I:
o France and Flanders: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914-18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914-17, Langemarck 1914-17, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915 Loos, Somme 1916-18, Albert 1916-18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Bapaume 1917-18, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Arleux, Bullecourt, Hill 70, Messines 1917-18, Ypres1917-18, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcapelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917-18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Avre, Lys, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Kortrijk, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18
o Gallipoli: Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915-16
o Mesopotamia: Egypt 1916, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Bagdhad, Mesopotamia 1916-18
o Italy: Piave, Vittorio Veneto 1918
o North West Frontier India: Baku, Persia 1918, North West Frontier India 1915
* Inter-War: Afghanistan 1919
* World War II:
o North West Europe: Dyle, Defence of the Scheldt, Ypres-Comines Canal, Caen, Orne, Noyers, Mont Picton, Brieux Bridgehead, Falaise, Arnhem 1944, North West Europe 1940 -1944
o North Africa: Sidi Barrani, Djebel Kesskiss, Medjez Plain, Gueriat el Atch Ridge, Gab Gab Gap, North Africa 1943
o Italy: Landing in Sicily, Sicily 1943 Anzio, Carroceto, Rome, Advance to Tiber, Gothic Line, Marradi, Italy 1943 and Italy 1944-45,
o Burma: Chindits 1944, Burma 1943-1944
* Post-WWII: Gulf 1991, Wadi al Batin
I was fortunate enough to serve in the late 90s in the Staffordshire Regiment - one of the oldest (and best) infantry regiments in the British Army.
(my old patrol kit)
Regrettably at the time (but in my opinion fortunately in retrospect) my service was a bit of a 'jarhead' in that we trained for a war we never went to and I had a very peaceful service career (other than the dying down of the 'troubles').
(some pics of me as a young soldier)
My old Mk6 lid
(and my old beret)
(with some mates from other battalions messing about on a training course... the 'censors' are electrical tape!)
But.. the STAFFORDS are probably one of the UKs strongest regiments with some exciting history haivng been Chindits and Airborne in the Second World War and fighting in both Gulf Wars.
The regiment was founded in 1705 as the '38th of foot' which makes it one of the oldest units and our regiment saw service in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny.
The regiment fought well in the 1st world war but we're most well known for fighting in WWII
The Staffords were the first allied troops into occupied Europe as it was gliders of the 2nd battalion South Staffords that first landed to seize bridges in Operation Huskey in sicily
Also the Staffords fought in the far east as chindit special forces against the japanese in long range penetration units and more famously as part of the force dropped in to capture Arnhem Bridge as part of market garden. At market garden we won two victoria crosses (the most won in a single battle in wwii by a single battalion ever!)
After wwii the North and south staffordshire regiments were merged into one regiment.
The Staffords then went on to serve worldwide, notably in Northern Ireland in the late 70s and early 80s and then in the 90s they were the vanguard of British forces fighting against Saddam and were involved in fierce fighting with Iraqi forces from the beginning of land operations to the end. They covered an astonishing 290 km/180 miles in just 100 hours.
Our insignia is the county symbol of the Staffordshire Knot with the motto 'ich dien' (i serve) beneath it. Our regimental colour is black and the regiments nickname is the 'black knots'. Our mascott is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, he iss always called 'watchman' and holds the rank of Sgt!
Regrettably a couple of years back defence cuts caused the Staffords to be amalgamated with some other historic units to form the new 'Mercian Regiment' of which we comprise the 3rd Battalion.
Battle honours
* Pre-WWI: Guadeloupe 1759, Martinique 1794, Hafir, South Africa 1878-79, Egypt 1882, Kirbekan, Nile 1884-85, South Africa 1900-02
* World War I:
o France and Flanders: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914-18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914-17, Langemarck 1914-17, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915 Loos, Somme 1916-18, Albert 1916-18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Bapaume 1917-18, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Arleux, Bullecourt, Hill 70, Messines 1917-18, Ypres1917-18, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcapelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917-18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Avre, Lys, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Kortrijk, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18
o Gallipoli: Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915-16
o Mesopotamia: Egypt 1916, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Bagdhad, Mesopotamia 1916-18
o Italy: Piave, Vittorio Veneto 1918
o North West Frontier India: Baku, Persia 1918, North West Frontier India 1915
* Inter-War: Afghanistan 1919
* World War II:
o North West Europe: Dyle, Defence of the Scheldt, Ypres-Comines Canal, Caen, Orne, Noyers, Mont Picton, Brieux Bridgehead, Falaise, Arnhem 1944, North West Europe 1940 -1944
o North Africa: Sidi Barrani, Djebel Kesskiss, Medjez Plain, Gueriat el Atch Ridge, Gab Gab Gap, North Africa 1943
o Italy: Landing in Sicily, Sicily 1943 Anzio, Carroceto, Rome, Advance to Tiber, Gothic Line, Marradi, Italy 1943 and Italy 1944-45,
o Burma: Chindits 1944, Burma 1943-1944
* Post-WWII: Gulf 1991, Wadi al Batin