23rd Regiment of Foot

23rd Regiment of Foot
Dormskirk · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Unit name	23rd Regiment of Foot
Dates	1688–1968
Country	Kingdom of England; Kingdom of Great Britain; United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Line infantry
Garrison	Winchester; Aldershot
Nickname	"Royal Welch Fusiliers" (after 1836)

23rd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army raised in 1688 and serving until its amalgamation in 1968. Renowned for service in campaigns from the War of the Spanish Succession through the Second World War, the regiment saw action in European, North American, African, and Asian theaters and developed associations with figures and units across British and imperial history.

History

The regiment's chronology intersects with events such as the Glorious Revolution, the Jacobite rising of 1715, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Its postings linked it to garrisons at Winchester and Aldershot and to colonial stations in Canada, India, South Africa, and Palestine.

Formation and Early Service

Raised during the events surrounding William III of England and Mary II of England, the regiment initially served under commanders influenced by the politics of the Glorious Revolution and the continental realignments that produced the Grand Alliance. Early deployments included campaigns in the Low Countries connected to the War of the Grand Alliance and later action in the War of the Spanish Succession under generals associated with the Duke of Marlborough and the War Office administration of the period. The regiment's officers and men interacted with contemporaries from regiments such as the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, the Coldstream Guards, and units commanded by figures like John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde.

Napoleonic and 19th Century Campaigns

During the Napoleonic Wars, the regiment served in formations operating alongside corps led by commanders tied to the Duke of Wellington, participating in actions influenced by the strategic contests at Waterloo and Peninsular campaigns that involved coordination with allied contingents from the Kingdom of Portugal and the Spanish Army of Galicia. In the 19th century the regiment was engaged in conflicts associated with imperial expansion, encountering forces and events such as the First Anglo-Burmese War, the Crimean War with engagements related to the Siege of Sevastopol, and colonial policing actions linked to administrations in British India and the governance structures of the East India Company transition.

Victorian Era and Imperial Service

Under Victorian ministers like Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone and military reforms influenced by figures such as Cardwell and Childers, the regiment adapted to changes in organization, drill, and depot systems that tied it to regiments including the Royal Irish Rifles and administrative changes enacted by the Army Act 1881 era. Deployments in this era connected the unit to operations in Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 aftermath, and to campaigns in Africa culminating in theatres such as the Second Boer War, where coordination with units like the Yorkshire Regiment and commands under generals like Lord Kitchener were significant.

World War I and Interwar Period

In the First World War, battalions of the regiment served on the Western Front, at battles such as Somme, Ypres, and Passchendaele, and in other theaters where they cooperated with divisions and corps commanded by officers connected to the British Expeditionary Force leadership and allied contingents from the French Army and the United States Expeditionary Forces. Post-war reductions and reorganizations in the 1920s and 1930s linked the regiment to peacetime garrison duties, colonial policing in areas administered by the British Empire, and training reforms associated with the Territorial Force and later the Territorial Army.

World War II and Amalgamation

During the Second World War, battalions deployed to campaigns in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and North-West Europe, seeing action in operations that intersected with commands such as the Eighth Army, the Allied invasion of Sicily, and the North African Campaign fought against forces of the Wehrmacht and the Regia Aeronautica’s theatre allies. Following post-war drawdowns, the regiment experienced structural changes in the context of Defence White Papers and army reorganization measures that culminated in its amalgamation during the 1960s with another infantry regiment under reforms influenced by ministers like Denis Healey and the successive Chiefs of the General Staff, creating a new successor regiment within the framework of the British Army's infantry reductions.

Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army Category:Military units and formations established in 1688 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1968