50th Regiment of Foot

Also known as The Royal West Kent Regiment

Chronology

• 1755 raised as the 52nd Regiment of Foot
• 1757 renumbered 50th Regiment of Foot
• 1782 became the 50th (West Kent) Regiment of Foot
• 1827 became the 50th (Duke of Clarence's) Regiment of Foot
• 1831 became the 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot
• 1881 amalgamated with the 97th Regiment of Foot and became the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment).
• 1920 became The Royal West Kent Regiment (Queen's Own)
• 1921 became The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
• 1961 amalgamated with The Buffs to form The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment

Kent Cyclist Battalion (Territorial Force), WW1

This Battalion was a separate Battalion, probably not part of the Royal West Kent Regiment, but included here for convenience, in India March 1916 to November 1919.

• The Kent Cyclist Battalion A Short History by Cyril Bristow March 1985, revised November 1996. Now an archived webpage. On arrrival in India in 1916 1/1st Battalion was known as the '1/1st Kent Battalion'
• Kent Cyclist Battalion (Territorial Force) Kentfallen.com
• Kent Cyclist Battalion Delaunecc.org, now archived.
• An Excerpt from the Diaries of Private John Charles Waters February- March, 1916, now an archived webpage. He was a member of the 1st/1st Kent Cyclists and travelled on the S.S."Benalla" a Peninsular and Oriental liner, to Kebbal Camp, Bangalore.
• James Taylor Leigh Historical Society. He went to India with the Kent Cyclist Battalion.

There was a history published, History of the Kent Cyclist Battalion, Territorial Force, 1908-20 by Cyril Bristow. Paperback, 132 Pages, Published 1986. ISBN 0-9512880-0-8. Available at the British Library, UIN: BLL01011838757. There is also what seems to be a different publication UIN: BLL01011840162.

Regimental Journal

The “Queen's Own” Gazette
Publication Details: Kinsale, Edinburgh Castle, etc., 1876-1961
The British Library appears to hold most editions, but some are missing. UIN: BLL01001097053
Some editions are available online, refer below.

External links

• 50th Regiment of Foot www.britishempire.co.uk
  
• 50th Regiment of Foot Wikipedia
  Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Wikipedia
• Photo of Sutlej Monument in Canterbury Cathedral Flickr.com . This commemorates men who fell under the colours of the 50th (Queens Own) Regiment 1845-1846. Two Rolls of Honour (Officers etc) and Privates and Drummers are available in this link from Kent Fallen: Pdf
• 50th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot including deployments Regiments.org, an archived site
• The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment including deployments: 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion Regiments.org, an archived website
• The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment British Armed Forces & National Service
• Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum Collection Armymuseums.org
• The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment (PWRR). The Regimental Association Includes some online editions of the regimental magazines. Note currently (2023 June) the website does not seem to be working properly.
  • "Every Day A Bonus" by Ken Clarke from Regimental Association of The Queen's Own Buffs (PWRR): The Journal issues No 11-14 Autumn 2005- Spring 2007. The pages covering the voyage to India in 1933, time in India, and voyage back to England in 1938 are (11)48-49; (12)29-39; (13)15-25; (14)38.

  Issue 11, 12, 13, 14 (Archived links from the previous website, as the current website has problems.).

  Issues 11 and 14. He joined the Army as a Boy Musician in 1932 aged 14 and went as part of a a draft to India leaving 4th February 1933 on the troopship HMT Dorsetshire, returning to England on the Dilwara arriving Southampton on 13th January 1938.

  Issues 12 and 13. His time in India with the 1st Battalion in Gough Barracks in the cantonment of Trimulgherry, and time spent in Wellington in the Nilgiri Hills. Issue 13 includes a move of the regiment to Karachi. Issue 14 includes a statement that the 1st Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment had served continuously in India for eighteen years.

• Alan Osborn’s William Edmund Osborn, Royal West Kent Regiment He was in the 1/5th Battalion Territorial Force which was in India 1914-1917
• Janet & Richard Mason’s The Royal Queens Own West Kent Regiment includes
  • The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914 to 1919 by C T Atkinson 1924. A transcription. Includes
    • Chapter 4 which mentions the 2nd Battalion in India at the commencement of the War, and the 4th and 5th Battalions (Territorial Force) who arrived in India in 1914.
    • Chapter 9 of the same book which mentions the Territorial Battalions in India in 1915
  • Photograph: 2nd Battalion Band, Cherat, North West Frontier, India – 1913
  • Photograph: 4th Battalion, D Company, 1915, India
  • Photograph: No.2. Section, "D" Company, 5th Battalion, India (First World War period)]
  • Photograph: 5th Battalion, Barian Camp, Muree, India (First World War period)
  • Photograph album of Private Henry Knight, who served in "A" Company of the 1/5th Royal West Kent Regiment in India during the Great War
• Voyage to India: Memoirs of the 1st/3rd Kent Battery 1914 Frank William Critchley was 22 years old and a sergeant in the 1st/3rd Kent Battery, Royal Artillery,. He travelled to India on the troopship Grantully Castle which departed Southampton 29 Oct 1914 and arrived Bombay 2 December 1914. One board were: Artillery 450. East Surreys 400. 4th Queens 800. voyagetoindia.co.uk
• North West Kent Family History Society

Historical books online

• A Short History of The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) 1920. access.bl.uk British Library
• The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914 to 1919 by C T Atkinson 1924, see above.
• A broken range of editions of The “Queen's Own” Gazette perhaps is available on the website of "The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment (PWRR). The Regimental Association", see above. Currently 2023 June, there seem to be problems with the website.
• Isacke Diaries, 1897 (Part 1) with links to four other parts including
  • Isacke Diaries (1897 part 5) Handwritten online document, 94 pages. This final part of the 1897 Isacke diary covers the period 1 August until 31 December. It describes Hubert Isacke's involvement in the Malakand Field Force Expedition of July-August 1897 and also describes a long period of illness or injury and hospitalisation in India. The long voyage home includes a stop at Suez. King’s College London Collections: The Serving Soldier. He appears to have been an Officer in the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)