Wednesday 6 June 2018

8th (The King's) and 18th (Royal Irish) Regiments of Foot

These two units, finished over the holiday weekend, are the last two infantry units for the British in Egypt collection...Ok, OK they may be the last!



Commencing its existence as the Queen's Regiment and later renamed the King's Regiment, the 8th had a long and illustrious history dating back to 1685 and with honours  for service in Ireland, in the War of Spanish Succession, the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, the War of Austrian Succession, the Jacobite Rebellion of the '45, the Seven Years War, the American Revolution and along the Spanish coast during the Revolutionary wars. The Regiment sailed for Egypt in 1801. After that campaign the regiment saw service in the Americas, the Caribbean, India and Afghanistan.  It was amalgamated and became the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in 1881.



The foundation of the Royal Irish predates the King's regiment by a year, and its history was equally prestigeous, counting service in the campaigns of Marlborough, the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary wars, Egypt, the Caribbean, China, Afghanistan and there was a New Zealand connection where the regiment fought in the Waikato and Taranaki campaigns. The Regiment survived the Childers reforms, avioding amalgamation, and continued service through the First World War until its disbandment in 1922.


Above the two regiments, the 8th in front the 18th to the rear.

14 comments:

  1. Excellent work! Many of these British regiments were truly globetrotters.

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    1. They certainly got around. And when you look at some of the details it is quite reasonable to assume that some recruits, if they maintained their health and survived combat, could well have seen service in four or five theatres of operations in their period of service.

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  2. Wonderful addtions, painting, basing and flags are superb!

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    1. Thank you Phil. That will be enough British for a while...back to the French now.

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  3. Lovely toys Mark...

    You are correct... no such thing as ‘Last’... :-)

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Yes wargames units are a bit like chocolate biscuits...there is always an excuse for just one more. I can feel a prade coming on...

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  4. Nice little potted Regimental histories Mark! All those "Royal" regiments with blue facings - you will definitely have to invest in a few more units, just for some variety of facing colours.....!

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    1. These will be the last of the Brit infantry, despte the minimal variation in facing colours. There will be a couple more guns, but further supoort for the Brits will come in the form of Ottoman troops, the first two units of which have been ordered.

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  5. Another couple of interesting units beautifully executed. I remember stopping off at the cheese shop in Mercer a couple of years ago and seeing a gun turret there, initially thinking it was something from the First World War or later.

    I was quite surprised to read that it had been taken from a gunboat sent down the Waikato in the 1860's to support the column of infantry sent to do battle with the Maoris.

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    1. That turret is still there, although the main riad bypasses Mercer now. If my memory serves me right that gunboat shelled the Maori positions at Rangiriri

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  6. More lovely additions to your Egyptian campaign,never say never,alwa al room for one more!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. I think this will be the last of the infantry, as tempting as it would be to do more.

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  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Mark. Its back to 1812 Napoleonics now.

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