Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment - From Formation To The Great War

From Formation To The Great War

The 1st Battalion took part in the Egypt Intervention in 1882, fighting in the second battle at Kassassin on 9 September and the Battle of Tel el-Kebir a few days later. It then spent two years on garrison duty in Cyprus before being shipped to the Sudan and the Mahdist War, in which it fought at the Battle of Ginnis, notable for being the last battle fought by British Redcoats. It spent the years up to the outbreak of the Great War on garrison duty, both at home and throughout the Empire.

The 2nd Battalion was shipped to South Africa shortly after its formation, in the aftermath of the First Boer War. The following year, it was posted to Ireland and spent the remaining years of the 19th Century in Britain, being sent back to South Africa for the Second Boer War. Its only action was a skirmish at Biddulphsberg, in the company of the 2nd Battalions of the Grenadier and Scots Guards. It then moved to the East, being stationed in Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Peshawar and Multan before the outbreak of the Great War.