List of battalions of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)

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This is a list of battalions of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1961.

Contents

Original composition

When the 3rd (The East Kent) Regiment of Foot became the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, four pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Kent were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881-1908 occurred in 1888, when the two militia battalions of the regiment amalgamated. [1]

BattalionFormedFormerly
Regular
1st15721st Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot
2nd18572nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot
Militia
3rd (Militia) 17601st Battalion, East Kent Militia [2]
4th (Militia) 18762nd Battalion, East Kent Militia [2]
Volunteers
1st Volunteer18592nd Kent (East Kent) Rifle Volunteer Corps [3]
2nd (The Weald of Kent) Volunteer18605th Kent (The Weald of Kent) Rifle Volunteer Corps [3]

Reorganisation

The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". All volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order. [1]

BattalionFormerly
4th1st Volunteer Battalion [4]
5th (The Weald of Kent)2nd (The Weald of Kent) Volunteer Battalion [5]

First World War

The Buffs fielded 15 battalions and lost over 6,000 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. [6] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Buffs were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. Many battalions of the regiment were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. [1] [7] The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918 these were linked to county regiments. [8]

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular [9] [10]
1st1572 Western Front
2nd1857Western Front, Salonika
Special Reserve [9] [10]
3rd (Reserve) 1760Britain
Territorial Force [9] [10]
1/4th1859 India, Aden See Inter-War
1/5th (The Weald of Kent)1860India, Mesopotamian See Inter-War
2/4th Canterbury, September 1914BritainDisbanded in November 1917
2/5th (The Weald of Kent) Ashford, September 1914BritainDisbanded in November 1917
3/4th,
4th (Reserve) from 8 April 1916
Canterbury, July 1915BritainDisbanded in 1919
3/5th (The Weald of Kent),
5th (The Weald of Kent) (Reserve) from 8 April 1916
Ashford, March 1915BritainAbsorbed into the 4th (Reserve) Battalion on 1 September 1916
10th (Royal East Kent & West Kent Yeomanry) Sollum, 1 February 1917,
from the 1/1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry and 1/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry
Western FrontDisembodied 1919
New Army [9] [10]
6th (Service)Canterbury, August 1914Western FrontDisbanded in 1919
7th (Service)Canterbury, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded in 1919
8th (Service)Canterbury, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded on 13 February 1918
9th (Reserve) Dover, October 1914BritainBecame the 29th Training Reserve Battalion of the 7th Reserve Brigade on 1 September 1916
Others [9] [10]
1st (Home Service) GarrisonDover, 29 April 1916BritainBecame 2nd Battalion, Royal Defence Corps
Volunteer Training Corps [11]
1st Battalion (Cinque Ports) Kent Volunteer Regiment
later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
HytheDisbanded post war
2nd Battalion (St. Augustine's) Kent Volunteer Regiment
later the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
CanterburyDisbanded post war
4th Battalion (Thanet) Kent Volunteer Regiment
later the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
ThanetDisbanded post war

Inter-War

By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft. [1]

BattalionFate
4thAbsorbed 5th (The Weald of Kent) Battalion, without a change in title on 26 August 1921 [12]
5th (The Weald of Kent)Absorbed by 4th Battalion on 26 August 1921 [13]

Second World War

The Buff's expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion, In addition to this, 12 of the 39 Kent battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment, wearing its cap badge. [1]

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular
1st1572 North Africa, Italy [14] See Post-World War II
2nd1857 France, North Africa, Burma [15] See Post-World War II
Supplementary Reserve
3rd1760See Post-World War II
Territorial Army
4th,
(redesignation of 4th/5th Battalion)
1859France, Malta, Greece [16] See Post-World War II
5th (The Weald of Kent)31 March 1939, as a duplicate of 4th BattalionFrance, North Africa, Sicily, Italy [17] Disbanded on 1 January 1947
6th (Home Defence)November 1939BritainRedesignated as 30th Battalion in December 1941 [18]
7thJuly 1940BritainConverted to 141st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps, in November 1941 [19]
8th July 1940,
from a cadre of The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
BritainConverted to 9th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery in November 1942 [20]
9thJuly 1940,
from a cadre of the Northamptonshire Regiment [20]
BritainDisbanded 1946
10thJuly 1940BritainDisbanded in October 1943 [20]
11th October 1940,
as a redesignation of the 50th (Holding) Battalion
BritainConverted to 89th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery in November 1940 [20]
30thDecember 1941,
as a redesignation of the 6th (Home Defence) Battalion
BritainDisbanded in March 1943 [20]
Others
70th (Young Soldiers)September 1940BritainDisbanded January 1943
Home Guard [21]
BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)
1stAshfordKT 12ndCharingKT 2
3rdCanterburyKT 34th (St. Augustine's)CanterburyKT 4
5thWinghamKT 56th (Thanet)MargateKT 6
7thLymingeKT 78th (Cinque Ports)FolkestoneKT 8
9thFavershamKT 910thSittingbourneKT10
23rdHawkhurstKT 2330th (Sheppey)SheernessKT 30

Post-World War II

In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded. [1]

BattalionFate
1stAmalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 23 September 1949, without a change in title [22]
2ndAmalgamated with 1st Battalion on the 23 September 1949 [23]
4thRedesignated the 4th/5th Battalion on 1 January 1947 [12]
5thRedesignated the 4th/5th Battalion on 1 January 1947 [12]

Amalgamation

In 1956, the 5th Battalion was reformed, leading to the 4th/5th Battalion being redesignated as the 4th Battalion. The 1957 Defence White Paper stated that the Buffs was due to amalgamated with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment on the 1 March 1961. [1]

BattalionFate
1stAmalgamated with 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, to form 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment
4thTransferred to the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment without a change in title
5thTransferred to the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment without a change in title

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References

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  4. "The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) - 4th Battalion". armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  5. "The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) - 5th Battalion". armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  6. "The Buffs (East Kent Regt) - 1st & 2nd Battalions". armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com. 15 November 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. James, pp. 44–5.
  8. Westlake, Ray (2020). Guide to the Volunteer Training Corps 1914-1918. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. pp. 4–7. ISBN   9781783315390.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Buffs (East Kent Regiment)" . Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Unit History: Buffs (East Kent Regiment)" . Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  11. Westlake p. 119
  12. 1 2 3 "4th Battalion, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 25 May 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  13. "5th (The Weald of Kent) Battalion, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  14. "1st Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  15. "2nd Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  16. "4th Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  17. "5th Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  18. "Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) - Queen's Regimental Association" (PDF). queensregimentalassociation.org. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  19. Joslen, p. 372
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) - Queen's Regimental Association" (PDF). queensregimentalassociation.org. p. 4. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  21. "History of the Home Guard" . Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. "1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot 1665-1881/1st Battalion, The Buffs 1881-1961". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 28 May 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  23. "2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot 1803-1815, 1857-1881/2nd Battalion, The Buffs 1881-1949". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2020.

Sources