11th Regiment of Foot

Known as The Devonshire Regiment

Chronology

• 1685 raised as The Duke of Beaufort's Regiment of Foot
• 1751 became the 11th Regiment of Foot
• 1782 became 11th (North Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
• 1881 became The Devonshire Regiment
• 1958 amalgamated with The Dorset Regiment to form The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
• 2005 renamed the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry
• 2007 merged with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and was designated 1st Battalion The Rifles

Service in British India

First Battalion

• 1864 India
• 1891 Egypt
• 1892 Thobba
• 1896 Cherat
• 1897 Tirah Campaign
• 1897 Punjab
• 1902 Rhaniket
• 1904 Chaubattia
• 1905 Rangoon
• 1929 Quetta
• 1932 Razmak
• 1934 Calcutta
• 1936 Lucknow
• 1937 Rawalpindi
• 1942 Ceylon
• 1943 Burma

FIBIS resources

• A nominal roll of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 2nd Battalion 11th Foot (North Devon Regiment) who died during the campaign in South Afghanistan, from 17 July 1880 to 10 November 1880, originally published in the North Devon Journal, 3 March 1881 appears in FIBIS Journal 8 (Autumn 2002). See FIBIS Journals for details of how to access this article.

Second World War

In the early years of WW2 the 1st Devon’s were in training and service on the NWF of India. In 1942 they headed for Ceylon, where they joined the 20th Indian Division and settled into jungle training with the specific aim of learning how to counter and engage the Japanese. The 1st Devon’s formed part of 80th Brigade in the 20th Indian Division and in April 1944 found itself defending the Shenam Ridge on the Tamu/Palel road in Assam. These were the approaches to the now famous Indian towns of Imphal and Kohima and the scene of one of the most bloody and horrific battles of WW2.

External Links

Historical Books Online

Historical Record of the Eleventh, or the North Devon Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent services to 1845 Google Books 1845

Other

• Devonshire Regiment Wikipedia
  
• The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment Wikipedia
• The Devonshire Regiment including deployments: 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion Regiments.org, an archived site.
• The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester, Dorset. Covers the 11th, 39th and 54th Regiments of Foot
  • Resources Held at the Museum
    
  • The Bloody Eleventh: The History of the Devonshire Regiment Volume II 1815-1914 by WJT Aggett 1994 and The Bloody Eleventh: The History of the Devonshire Regiment Volume III 1914 – 1969 by WJT Aggett 1995 are available to buy from the Museum Shop. These books are also available at the British Library
• Devon Family History Society
  
• The Devonshire Regiment and the Tirah Campaign Devon Heritage
• This link from Janus (janus.lib.cam.ac.uk) Burma Campaigns 1889-91 briefly mentions the 2nd Devons Regiment and the assault on the Kyaing-Kwintaung Stockade during the Wuntho Sawbwa Campaign of 1891, a later part of the [[3rd Burma War]
• Photograph: 1st Battalion Band at Rawalpindi 1939 1st Battalion Band escorting a new draft of recruits from Rawalipindi station 1939 (Scroll forwards for further photographs). photobucket.com (retrieved 31May 2014)
• The Devons: The War In The Jungle by Jeremy Taylor burmastar.org.uk. WW2