51st Regiment of Foot

Known as the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI)

Chronology

• 1755 raised in Leeds as the 53rd Regiment of Foot
• 1757 renumbered 51st Regiment of Foot
• 1782 became the 51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding) Regiment of Foot
• 1809 became the 51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding) Regiment of Light Infantry
• 1821 became the 51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding, The King's Own Light Infantry) Regiment
• 1881 amalgamated with the 105th Regiment of Foot and became the 1st Battalion, The King's Own Light Infantry (South Yorkshire Regiment)
• 1897 became The King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry)
• 1921 became The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
• 1968 became the 2nd Battalion of The Light Infantry (2LI)
• 2007 merged with the Royal Green Jackets to form The Rifles becoming '5 RIFLES'

Service in British India

• 1798 India
• 1801 Ceylon
• 1803 1st Kandyan War
• 1846 Madras
• 1847 Poonamallee
• 1848-50 Bangalore
• 1851 Poonamallee
• 1852 2nd Burma War, served at Pegu
• 1854 Left Burma for England
• 1857 Returned to India due to the Indian Mutiny (see below)
• 1863 India
• 1872 India
• 1881 Dinapore
• 1886 3rd Burma War

Indian Mutiny

With the exception of a few detachments, the regiment saw no action during the Mutiny and thus were not awarded the Indian Mutiny medal.

Regimental journal

• The British Library catalogue lists
  • The Bugle. A paper for the men of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. vol. 18. no. 2.-vol. 19. no. 9. Dec. 1900-July 1902.
  • The Bugle. The monthly journal of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. 1922-
• The National Army Museum, in its online catalogue lists editions for 1903-1906 and a broken range of editions from 1922

External Links

• King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Wikipedia
• The Light Infantry Wikipedia
• 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding), or The King's Own Light Infantry Regiment including deployments Regiments.org, an archived site.
• The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry including deployments: 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion Regiments.org, an archived site
• King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry lightinfantry.me.uk
• King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Museum
• Diary and Letters: The Afghan War by Colonel Charles Ball-Acton of the 51st Regiment from the Parsons Family website now archived. He commanded the 51st in the second phase of the war (second-in-command during the first phase).
• Extract: "Night Attack on South Picket and Theft in Camp" from The Bugle 1st Feb 1879, the regimental magazine of the 51st. rootschat.com

Historical books online

• A Record of the Services of the Fifty-first (Second West York), the King's Own Light Infantry by William Wheater 1870 Archive.org