Formation '''The King's Light Infantry (Shropshire Regiment)
was formed on 1 July 1881 as the county regiment of Herefordshire and Shropshire as part of the Childers Reforms. It was renamed as The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry)''' on 10 March 1882. The regiment was an amalgamation of the
53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot and the
85th (King's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot, which became the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions. The 1881 reforms also redesignated the
militia and
rifle volunteers units within the regimental district as battalions of the regiment. Accordingly, the
Shropshire Militia and
Royal Herefordshire Militia became the 3rd and 4th (Militia) Battalions respectively, and the 1st and 2nd
Shropshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions. The
1st Herefordshire (Herefordshire and Radnorshire) Rifle Volunteer Corps was also affiliated as a volunteer battalion, without change of title. The 1st battalion of the KSLI was stationed in Egypt from 1882, and served with distinction in the
Anglo-Egyptian War. The battalion transferred to
Malta where it was from 1883 to 1891, but was back in the Eastern Sudan serving in the
Soudan Expedition 1886–87. From 1891 the battalion was in
Hong Kong, and three years later it was moved to
British India, serving there until early 1903. The last posting in India was at
Poona. The 2nd battalion was stationed in Ireland from 1886 to 1894, and in late 1899 embarked for South Africa as part of the reinforcements for the
Second Boer War. Following the end of the war in South Africa in 1902, the battalion went to India on the SS
Syria in January 1903, where it was stationed at
Ranikhet in
Bengal. In 1908, as part of the
Haldane Reforms, the two militia battalions were merged to form the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and the 1st and 2nd VBs were merged to form the 4th Battalion
Territorial Force at
Longden Coleham in
Shrewsbury. At the same time, the Herefordshire RVC became independent as the
Herefordshire Regiment (TF). The 2nd Battalion landed at
Le Havre as part of the
80th Brigade in the
27th Division in December 1914 also for service on the Western Front. The 10th (Shropshire & Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion landed at
Marseille as part of the
231st Brigade in the
74th (Yeomanry) Division in May 1918 also for service on the Western Front. In 1921, the regiment was renamed as '''The King's Shropshire Light Infantry'''.
Second World War Regular Army The 1st Battalion would serve with the
3rd Infantry Brigade, part of the
1st Infantry Division for the entire war. The battalion fought in the
Battle of Dunkirk, the
Tunisia Campaign and the
Italian Campaign including the
Battle of Anzio. The 2nd Battalion began the war in Jamaica, with a company detached to the
Bermuda Garrison. The battalion would eventually join the
185th Infantry Brigade, which included the 2nd Battalion,
Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion,
Royal Norfolk Regiment. The brigade was originally assigned to the
79th Armoured Division, but was then transferred to the
3rd British Infantry Division in April 1943,
Territorial Army The 4th Battalion was a 1st Line
Territorial Army (TA) unit assigned to the
159th Infantry Brigade, part of the
53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. The 5th Battalion was a 2nd Line TA duplicate of the 4th Battalion formed in 1939 on the doubling of the Territorial Army as, by this time, another European conflict seemed inevitable. The battalion was assigned to the
114th Infantry Brigade of the
38th (Welsh) Infantry Division, a 2nd Line duplicate of the 53rd (Welsh) Division which the 4th Battalion was originally assigned. At the time, there was a shortage of insignia, so the troops were ordered to cut off the 'KING'S' and 'L.I.' from the ends of their cloth shoulder titles, leaving 'SHROPSHIRE', which led to the regiment's nickname 'the Shropshire Gunners'. This regiment served with
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, wearing Scottish
Tam o' Shanter caps and
Royal Artillery badges, but still with a regimental badge of a gold light infantry bugle horn embroidered on a green background. The Shropshire Gunners supported 15th (Scottish) throughout the
North West Europe Campaign from Normandy to Germany, being the first field artillery regiment across both the
Rhine and the
Elbe. The 7th and 8th Battalions were, like the 6th Battalion, raised in 1940. The 7th Battalion was converted to the
99th Anti-Tank Regiment in November 1942, but was disbanded in December 1943. The 8th (
Home Defence) Battalion was raised specifically for home defence duties until it became a training unit until 1943 when it was disbanded. The KSLI was to participate in
Korean War and was the longest-serving British regiment, alongside the
King's Own Scottish Borderers. In 1968, the Brigade's four regiments (the KSLI,
Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry,
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and
Durham Light Infantry) were amalgamated to form
The Light Infantry, with the 1st KSLI being redesignated as the 3rd Battalion of the new regiment. ==Regimental museum==