Catalogue description 1ST BATTALION

The unit that became the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment was first raised in 1702 as Colonel George Villiers' Regiment of Marines for service in the War of the Spanish Succession and took part in the capture and defence of Gibraltar and the capture of Barcelona. In 1714, now called Goring's Regiment (Col Sir Henry Goring being in command), it became a regiment of the line. In the War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-1748, the regiment fought at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, acquiring the nickname 'The Young Buffs', and at the defeat at Fontenoy in 1745. After the reforms of 1751, the regiment was designated by its number, the 31st. Between 1752 and 1759 the 31st was stationed in Scotland and in 1756 a 2nd Battalion was raised in Glasgow which was redesignated as the 70th Regiment, or 'Glasgow Greys', in 1758 (and was reunited with the 31st in 1881 as the 2nd Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment). After service in Florida and the West Indies, the 31st fought in the American War of Independence, and in 1782, it became the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment.

In the French Wars, 1793-1815, the 31st campaigned in the Caribbean and took part in the unsuccessful invasion of Holland in 1799 and the Egyptian campaign of 1801. In 1805, a second Battalion was created and fought in the Peninsular War and the invasion of France, 1809-1814, before being disbanded. The 1/31st spent most of the last years of the war around the Mediterranean.

In 1825, the 31st was aboard the East Indiamen 'Kent', when the ship caught fire and 54 soldiers were killed. The regiment went on to fight in Afghanistan, 1838-1842, participating in the recapture of Kabul in 1842, and in the 1st Sikh War, 1845-1846, including at the battles of Mudki and Sobraon, and participated in the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimea in 1855. In 1860 it took part in the attack on the Taku Forts in China, its last active service until the outbreak of World War I. In 1873, the regiment was associated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment, sharing a depot, and in 1881, it became the 1st Battalion in the newly formed East Surrey Regiment.

The 1st Battalion served on the Western Front for much of World War I, taking part in many major battles, including Mons, Ypres and the Somme and suffering appalling losses. It served in Italy, Dec 1917 to Spring 1918, before returning to the Western Front. In 1919, it went to North Russia, to assist the Whites against the Bolsheviks, operating along the Murmansk railway.

Between the two World Wars, the Battalion served in Ireland, Egypt, Hong Kong, India and the Sudan. During World War II, it fought in France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. After Dunkirk, it was transferred to North Africa in 1942 and went on to fight in the Italian campaign, 1943-45, before service in Greece. In 1948, the battalion amalgamated with the 2nd Battalion to form a new 1st Battalion which went on to serve in North Africa, 1951-58. In 1959, the 1st Battalion, the East Surrey Regiment, merged with the 1st Battalion, the Queen's, to form the 1st Battalion, the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment.