1881–1914 The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the
Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the
35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot and the
107th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Light Infantry), together with the
Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia and the
Cinque Ports and Sussex units of the
Volunteer Force. The 1st Battalion was sent to
Egypt as part of General
Garnet Wolseley's expedition to crush the
‘Urabi Revolt and conquer Egypt in the name of the Khedive. The 1st battalion was also part of the
Nile Expedition, an unsuccessful attempt to save General
Charles Gordon and his garrison at
Khartoum during the
Mahdist War. Twenty men of the regiment, led by Lieutenant Lionel Trafford, constituted the advanced party which marched towards Khartoum. The battalion took part in the
Battle of Abu Klea in January 1885 when
Muhammad Ahmad was defeated. After a couple of years back in England, the battalion was stationed in Ireland from 1891 to 1896, then at
Malta in 1899. The 2nd Battalion was stationed at Malta from 1882, then moved to
India in 1885 and took part in the
Hazara Expedition in 1888 and the
North-West Frontier campaign 1897–1898. in Brighton When the
Second Boer War required more troops to reinforce British forces in South Africa, the 1st Battalion was sent there in February 1900, and fought at the Battle of
Doornkop in May 1900. A memorial to the fallen of the Second Boer War, incorporating a sculpture by
Charles Leonard Hartwell titled "The Bugler", is at
Regency Square, Brighton. The Sergeant Bugler sounded the charge of The Royal Sussex that swept The Boers from their formidable position at Doornkop. A smaller bronze casting of The Bugler is held by the
National Army Museum. A silver reduction copy is also held by The 2nd Battalion
Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Officers' Mess. The
Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia formed the 3rd Battalion. The three Volunteer Battalions contributed to a service company that reinforced the 1st Battalion, and gained them the
Battle honour. Following the end of the war in South Africa, the 1st battalion transferred to India, where they were stationed at
Sitapur in
Bengal Presidency. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the
Territorial Force (TF) and the latter the
Special Reserve (SR); the regiment now had one Reserve battalion and three Territorial battalions. These were the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion (SR), with the
4th Battalion (TF) at Park Street in
Horsham (since demolished), the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion (TF) at Middle Street in
Hastings (since demolished) and the
6th (Cyclist) Battalion (TF) at Montpelier Place in
Brighton (since demolished) However, it served in the
Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. The 2nd Battalion landed in France as part of
2nd Brigade in the
1st Division in August 1914 and fought through the war on the
Western Front. During the
Battle of Loos in September 1915 Sergeant
Harry Wells was awarded a posthumous
Victoria Cross, when the battalion took part in an attack. The battalion took part in the
Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916, the British pursuit to the
Hindenburg Line in Spring 1917, the
Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917, the
Battle of the Lys in April 1918 and the
Second Battle of Arras in August 1918. before moving to
Italy in November 1917.
New Armies The 7th (Service) Battalion was formed in September 1914 by men volunteering for
Lord Kitchener's
New Armies and landed at
Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
36th Brigade in the
12th (Eastern) Division in June 1915 for service on the Western Front. In regimental history this is known as
The Day Sussex Died.
Edmund Blunden, a
second lieutenant in the 11th Battalion, wrote an excellent account of his experiences in his memoirs,
Undertones of War (1928).
Victoria Crosses during World War I •
Sgt. Harry Wells – (posthumously for the
Battle of Loos, 1915) •
Lt. Eric Archibald McNair – (
Hooge in
Belgium, 1916) •
C.S.M. Nelson Victor Carter – (posthumously for
Richebourg-l'Avoué in
France, 1916) •
Lieut. Col. D.G.Johnson – (Crossing the
Sambre Canal, November 1918)
Second World War Regular Army The 1st Battalion was based in
Egypt at the outbreak of the
Second World War, having been sent to
Palestine in 1938. The battalion was initially part of the
23rd Infantry Brigade. In October 1940, the battalion was transferred to the
7th Indian Infantry Brigade in the
4th Indian Infantry Division, with whom it remained for the rest of the war. The battalion, briefly commanded by
Geoffrey Charles Evans, took part in the
Western Desert campaign and the
Italian Campaign, where it had a terrible time and was involved in the bloody
Battle of Monte Cassino. The 2nd Battalion was a
Regular Army unit that was based in
Northern Ireland at the outbreak of war. The battalion, under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel Manley James, were joined with the 4th and
5th Battalions of the regiment in the
133rd (Royal Sussex) Infantry Brigade as part of the
44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division. The 4th Royal Sussex Regiment was then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Lashmer Whistler. The 2nd Battalion was sent to France in April 1940, to join the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF), taking part in the
Battle of France and the subsequent
retreat to Dunkirk where they were evacuated to England in the
Dunkirk evacuation. The 10th Parachute Battalion was disbanded in November 1945. The 2nd Battalion was reraised, after the old one became the 10th Para, and joined the 4th and 5th Battalions in 133rd Brigade of 44th (Home Counties) Division. They were sent to Egypt and fought at the battles of
Alam el Hamza and
Alamein. Afterwards the brigade was sent to the forgotten theatre of war in
Iraq and
Persia in 1943 with the
6th Indian Infantry Division where they remained for the rest of the war, the 2nd Battalion joining the
24th Indian Infantry Brigade, and the merged 4th/5th Battalion joining the
27th Indian Infantry Brigade.
Territorial Army The regiment also raised the 6th and 7th battalions (both 2nd Line
Territorial Army duplicates of the 4th and 5th Battalions) which were both in the
37th (Royal Sussex) Infantry Brigade, part of the
12th (Eastern) Infantry Division. They also served in
France with the BEF in 1940 but suffered heavy casualties during the fighting and were
evacuated from Dunkirk. The 12th Division was disbanded in July 1940 due to the heavy number of casualties suffered. The main reason for such heavy casualties was because most of the men had had very little training and few had even fired a rifle. After the return to England, the 6th Battalion served as a home defence unit for the rest of the war and was disbanded after the war in 1946. The 7th Battalion defended
Amiens against air raids and the German
1st Panzer Division, which captured the town on 20 May. The battalion was transferred to the
Royal Artillery and converted into the 109th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery.
Hostilities-only The 8th (
Home Defence) Battalion was raised in 1939, presumably from the
National Defence Companies. The battalion was mainly composed of older and less fit men and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war. The battalion was redesignated as the 30th Battalion in 1941 and it was disbanded in 1943. The battalion formed part of the
212th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home). In October 1942, the battalion was converted to armour as the
160th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps and joined the
267th Indian Armoured Brigade, which included other infantry units converted to armour. As with all infantry units converted in this way, they would still have worn their infantry capbadge on the black beret of the RAC. However, it returned to the infantry role in April 1943 and was sent with the
72nd Infantry Brigade to fight in the
Burma Campaign with the
British 36th Infantry Division, previously 36th Indian. The battalion saw action in the
Arakan, was airlifted into
Myitkyina and fought its way to
Mandalay by April 1945. during a patrol, 22 November 1944. The 10th Battalion was another hostilities-only battalion also raised in 1940 and joined the
219th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), later the
203rd Brigade. .
Post 1945 South Seaward facadeOn 31 December 1966 the regiment was amalgamated with the
Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the
Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment and the
Middlesex Regiment to form the
Queen's Regiment. ==Regimental museum==