Formation It was formed as a
fusilier regiment in 1685 by
George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth, from two companies of the
Tower of London guard, and was originally called the
Ordnance Regiment, later the
Royal Regiment of Fuziliers (a variety of spellings of the word "fusilier" persisted until the 1780s, when the modern spelling was formalised). Most regiments were equipped with
matchlock muskets at the time, but the Ordnance Regiment were armed with
flintlock fusils. This was because their task was to be an escort for the
artillery, for which matchlocks would have carried the risk of igniting the open-topped barrels of
gunpowder. The regiment was also known by the names of its colonels until 1751. before returning home in 1690. It embarked for
Flanders later that year and fought at the
Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 and the
Battle of Landen in July 1693 and the
Siege of Namur in summer 1695 before returning home. The regiment took part in an expedition which captured the town of
Rota in Spain in spring 1702 and then saw action at the
Battle of Vigo Bay in October 1702 during the
War of the Spanish Succession. The regiment served as
Marines aboard
Royal Navy ships in 1703 (and again in 1718–18, April 1742 (details only), and 1756–57). The regiment was broken up into detachments that served at
Montreal,
Quebec,
Fort Chambly and Fort St Johns (
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu). In the face of the American invasion of Canada in 1775/76, the 80 man garrison of Fort Chambly attempted to resist a 400-man Rebel force but ultimately had to surrender, losing its regimental colours as a result. The bulk of the regiment was captured when St John's fell. A 70-man detachment under the command of Captain Humphrey Owens assisted with the
Battle of Quebec in December 1775. The men taken prisoner during the defence of Canada were exchanged in British held
New York City in December 1776. Here, the regiment was rebuilt and garrisoned New York and New Jersey. In October 1777, the 7th participated in the successful assaults on
Fort Clinton and
Fort Montgomery and the destruction of enemy stores at Continental Village. In late November, 1777 the regiment reinforced the garrison of
Philadelphia. During the British evacuation back to New York City, the regiment participated in a diversionary raid in the days leading up to the
Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. The 7th participated in
Tryon's raid in July 1779. In April 1780, the Royal Fusiliers took part in the
capture of Charleston. Once Charleston fell, the regiment helped garrison the city. Between October 1780 and early January 1781, the regiment, having lost about one third of its officers and men to sickness and disease, protected the communication and supply lines between Camden and
Winnsboro, South Carolina. On 7 January 7, 1781, a contingent of 171 men from the Royal Fusiliers was detached from Cornwallis's Army and fought under the command of Tarleton at the
Battle of Cowpens in January 1781. The Royal Fusiliers were on the left of the line of battle: Tarleton was defeated and the regiment's colours were once again captured, stored in the baggage wagons. A 19-man detachment from the regiment fought through North Carolina participating in the
Battle of Guilford Court House in March 1781 and ultimately the Siege of Yorktown, where it served with the regiment's Light Infantry Company. There was another detachment, composed largely of men recovered from the hospital and recruits, which remained in the South under the command of Lt Col.
Alured Clarke: these men remained in garrison in Charleston, until they were transferred to
Savannah, Georgia in December 1781. The regiment returned to England in 1783.
Napoleonic Wars The regiment embarked for Holland and saw action at the
Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807 during the
Gunboat War. It was then sent to the
West Indies and took part in the capture of
Martinique in 1809. It embarked for
Portugal later that year for service in the
Peninsular War and fought at the
Battle of Talavera in July 1809, the
Battle of Bussaco in September 1810. and the
Battle of Albuera in May 1811. The regiment then took part in the
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, the
Siege of Badajoz in spring 1812 and the
Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 as well as the
Battle of Vitoria in June 1813. It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the
Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813, the
Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the
Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. It returned to England later that year before embarking for
Canada and seeing action at the capture of
Fort Bowyer in February 1815 during the
War of 1812. A 2nd Battalion was formed in 1804 and also took part in the Peninsular Campaign from 1809 to 1811. Both battalions took part in the 1811 Battle of Albuera. The 2nd Battalion was disbanded after the war.
Victorian and Edwardian eras in his Royal Fusiliers uniform, The single-battalion Regiment embarked for
Scutari for service in the
Crimean War on 5 April 1854 (with the Depot at Winchester), and saw action at the
Battle of Alma in September 1854, the
Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 and the
Siege of Sebastopol in winter 1854. The newly re-formed 2nd battalion, which had been at
Preston, embarked for Gibraltar on 27 May 1858 (the Depot at this point was at
Chatham, moving to
Walmer). It was deployed from
Malta to
Upper Canada in October 1866 and helped suppress the
Fenian raids and then embarked for
India on 1 October 1873, and saw action at the
Battle of Kandahar in September 1880 during the
Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the reforms, the regiment became
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) on 1 July 1881. The regiment was now organised into the following:
Regulars • 1st Battalion, in 1881 based at
Defensible Barracks, Pembroke Dock • 2nd Battalion, in 1881 based in
Madras Militia • 3rd (later 5th) (Militia) Battalion based in
Brentford, formerly 3rd
Royal Westminster Middlesex Militia • 4th (later 6th) (Militia) Battalion based in
Finsbury, formerly
Royal London Militia • 5th (later 7th) (Militia) Battalion based in
Hounslow, formerly 4th
Royal South Middlesex Militia Volunteer Infantry •
10th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps based in
Bloomsbury, formerly under command of
The King's Royal Rifle Corps, but transferred in 1883, and subsequently renamed as 1st Volunteer Btn •
23rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps based in
Westminster renamed 2nd Volunteer Btn in 1883 In 1901 the 1st Battalion moved from India to
Mandalay,
Burma. The regiment's 2nd regular battalion took part in the
Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. The battalion, which had previously been stationed the
Curragh in
Ireland, embarked for South Africa on the 22 October 1899, and served there throughout the war, which ended with the
Peace of Vereeniging in June 1902. Four months later 350 officers and men of the 2nd battalion left
Cape Town on the SS
Salamis in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton in late October, when the battalion was posted to
Aldershot. A 3rd regular battalion was formed on 6 April 1898 at
Dover A 4th regular battalion was formed on 31 February 1900 at Dover, and received
colours from the
Prince of Wales (Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment) in July 1902. In 1903 it was at Woolwich. major engagements involving the battalion included the
Battle of the Somme in autumn 1916 and the
Battle of Passchendaele in autumn 1917. The 2nd Battalion landed at
Gallipoli as part of the
86th Brigade in the
29th Division in April 1915; after being evacuated in December 1915, it moved to Egypt in March 1916 and then landed in
Marseille in March 1916 for service on the Western Front; and Private
Sidney Godley).
New Armies in 1916 The 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions landed in France; they both saw action on the Western Front as part of the
36th Brigade of the
12th (Eastern) Division. The battalion was originally part of the
54th Brigade of the
18th (Eastern) Division, transferring to the
111th Brigade,
37th Division. The
25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, formed in February 1915, served in East Africa. in Palestine; many of its surviving members went on to be part of the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
Russian Civil War uniforms while in Russia. One of the men to the left is wearing a fur hat. The 45th and 46th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers were part of the North Russia Relief Force, which landed in early 1919 to support the withdrawal of
international forces assisting "
White" (anti-Bolshevik) Russian forces during the
Russian Civil War. The understrength 45th Battalion was composed mainly of former members of the
Australian Imperial Force – many of them veterans of the Western Front – who had volunteered for service in Russia.
Interwar The 3rd and 4th Battalions were disbanded at Aldershot on 15 July 1922. The London Regiment having fallen into abeyance, the 1st–4th Londons reverted to their Royal Fusiluers affiliation. When the London Regiment was formally abolished they became the 8th (1st City of London), 9th (2nd City of London) and 10th (3rd City of London) Battalions (the 4th Londons had already been converted into
60th (City of London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery). In the period of rearmament before the outbreak of
World War II, the 8th and 9th Battalions each formed a duplicate battalion (11th and 12th respectively) while 10th Battalion was converted into
69th (3rd City of London) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery. The 2nd Battalion was attached to the
12th Infantry Brigade,
4th Infantry Division and was sent to France in 1939 after the outbreak of war to join the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF). In May 1940, it fought in the
Battle of France and was forced to
retreat to Dunkirk, where it was then
evacuated from France. With the brigade and division, the battalion spent the next two years in the United Kingdom, before being sent overseas to fight in the
Tunisia Campaign, part of the final stages of the
North African Campaign. Alongside the 1st, 8th and 9th battalions, the 2nd Battalion also saw active service in the
Italian Campaign from March 1944, in particular during the
Battle of Monte Cassino, fighting later on the
Gothic Line before being airlifted to fight in the
Greek Civil War. The
8th and
9th Battalions, the two
Territorial Army (TA) units, were part of the
1st London Infantry Brigade, attached to
1st London Infantry Division. These later became the
167th (London) Infantry Brigade and
56th (London) Infantry Division. Both battalions saw service in the final stages of the Tunisian campaign, where each suffered over 100 casualties in their first battle. In September 1943, both battalions were heavily involved in the
landings at Salerno, as part of the
Allied invasion of Italy, later crossing the
Volturno Line, before, in December, being held up at the
Winter Line. Both battalions then fought in the
Battle of Monte Cassino and were sent to the
Anzio beachhead in February 1944. The duplicate TA battalions, the 11th and 12th, were both assigned to
4th London Infantry Brigade, part of
2nd London Infantry Division, later
140th (London) Infantry Brigade and
47th (London) Infantry Division respectively. Both battalions remained in the United Kingdom on home defence duties. In 1943, the 12th Battalion was transferred to the
80th Infantry (Reserve) Division and later to the 47th Infantry (Reserve) Division. The regiment raised many other battalions during the war, although none of them saw active service overseas in their original roles, instead some were converted. The 20th Battalion, for example, formed soon after the
Dunkirk evacuation, was sent to
India in the summer of 1942 and later became part of the
52nd Infantry Brigade, acting in a training capacity to train British troops in
jungle warfare for service in the
Burma Campaign. The 21st and 23rd Battalions, also created in June/July 1940, were later converted into
54th and
46th Battalions,
Reconnaissance Corps, assigned to the
54th (East Anglian) and
46th Infantry Divisions respectively; the 54th later formed the bulk of
15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment, while the 46th servied with its parent division for the rest of the war. 14th (Overseas Defence) and 22nd Battalions became
107th Light Anti-Aircraft and 94th Anti-Tank Regiments respectively of the
Royal Artillery.
Korean War In August 1952, the regiment, now reduced to a single Regular battalion, served in the
Korean War as part of the
28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade. A 19-year-old
Michael Caine served with the battalion during the conflict; on several occasions his unit had to defend itself from Chinese
human wave attacks.
Amalgamation On 23 April 1968, the regiment was merged with the
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (5th Foot), the
Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers (6th Foot) and the
Lancashire Fusiliers (20th Foot) to form the 3rd Battalion,
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. ==Regimental museum==