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| 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Unit name | 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment |
| Dates | 1685–1966 |
| Country | England; United Kingdom |
| Allegiance | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Line infantry |
| Size | Regiment |
2nd Queen's Royal Regiment
The 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment was a historic line infantry regiment of the British Army with service stretching from the late 17th century through the mid-20th century. The regiment saw action in campaigns associated with the Glorious Revolution, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Anglo-Zulu War, the Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War, serving alongside formations such as the British Expeditionary Force, Indian Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and colonial units from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The regiment originated during the reign of James II of England and was active through the reigns of William III of England, Anne, Queen of Great Britain, George II, George III, Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Its history intersected with major conflicts including the Glorious Revolution, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Zulu War, the Second Boer War, World War I, and World War II. Officers and soldiers from the regiment served in theatres ranging from continental Europe at Blenheim and Dettingen to colonial campaigns in India, South Africa, and Egypt.
Raised amid the domestic upheaval of 1685 under royal warrant, the unit formed part of the standing army that followed the suppression of the Monmouth Rebellion and the reforms after the Bill of Rights 1689. Early commanders included figures who had served under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession, and the regiment participated in sieges and pitched battles connected to the campaigns of Eugene of Savoy and continental coalitions opposing Louis XIV of France. During the 18th century, the regiment’s deployments brought it into contact with garrison duties in Ireland, expeditionary service to Flanders, and postings related to the strategic rivalry with Spain and France.
In the Napoleonic era the regiment contributed battalions to formations fighting in peninsular operations associated with Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and shared campaign space with units such as the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards. Mid-19th century service placed it at actions related to the Crimean War alongside the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), and later colonial engagements had the regiment fighting in campaigns connected to Cecil Rhodes's era in southern Africa and operations against Zulukazi opposition during the Anglo-Zulu War. During the Second Boer War the regiment faced guerrilla operations fought by combatants linked to the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. In World War I the regiment raised multiple battalions that served on the Western Front, in the Gallipoli campaign, and in Mesopotamia against forces of the Ottoman Empire; contemporaries included the Royal Fusiliers, the Middlesex Regiment, and divisions such as the 29th Division and 7th Division. In World War II battalions served in the North African Campaign, the Italian Campaign, and in home defence alongside formations such as the Home Guard and the British Eighth Army.
Battle honours awarded to the regiment included engagements named for battles and sieges such as Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Waterloo, Sebastopol, Isandlwana, Modder River, and Somme (1916), as well as campaign honours referencing theatres like Egypt (1882), South Africa (1899–1902), France and Flanders (1914–18), Gallipoli (1915), Mesopotamia (1916–18), North Africa (1940–43), and Italy (1943–45). The regiment’s citations linked it with the strategic efforts of commanders such as The Duke of Wellington, Lord Raglan, and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
Organisationally the regiment expanded and contracted in response to Army reforms including the Cardwell Reforms and Childers Reforms, aligning with county depots and shared infrastructures with other units such as the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. It maintained traditions of regimental music and marching that referenced composers and bands linked to the Royal Military School of Music and drill manuals used by contemporaries in the King's Division. Annual commemorations tied the regiment to battle anniversaries like Waterloo Day and remembrance events associated with Remembrance Sunday and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Throughout its history the regiment’s uniforms evolved from 17th-century redcoats with facings reflecting royal patronage to Victorian scarlet tunics, and later battledress and camouflage used in World War II. Insignia incorporated crowns associated with Queen Victoria and cyphers connected to successive sovereigns, cap badges influenced by heraldry exemplified in examples like the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, collar dogs similar to those of the Grenadier Guards, and shoulder titles used in 20th-century service. Colours and standards bore battle honour scrolls comparable to those carried by the Coldstream Guards and were laid up in cathedrals and regimental museums linked to institutions such as the National Army Museum.
Postwar defence reviews and reorganisations—paralleling the amalgamations that created regiments such as the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and the Queen's Regiment—led to the regiment’s eventual amalgamation in the mid-20th century, contributing personnel, colours, and traditions to successor units involved in Cold War garrison duties across Germany and NATO commitments with formations like the British Army of the Rhine. The regiment’s legacy survives in regimental museums, memorials in Westminster Abbey and local parish churches, associations of veterans linked with the Royal British Legion, and in scholarly studies found in collections at the Imperial War Museum and the British Library.
Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army Category:Military units and formations established in 1685 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1966