Steady the Buffs!: A Regiment, a Region, and the Great War

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The 1st Buffs were mobilised to join Wolseley's Egyptian expedition but it was all over by the time they reached Malta and they went to Ireland instead. In 1885 they were sent to Singapore while the 2nd Buffs were returning from Hong Kong. The 2nd were sent to Egypt for the Nile Expedition. They went up river to Aswan but the Dervishes had been defeated at Ginnis so after two debilitating months in the desert they returned to England, in April 1886. In 1961, the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, which was later merged, on 31 December 1966, with the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) to form the Queen's Regiment. This, in turn, was amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, in September 1992, to create the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires). [65] Regimental museum [ edit ] The East Kent Militia, as with other militias, was transformed into the 3rd and 4th Battalions The Buffs, at the same time as the regimental reorganisation. The 4th Battalion, however, was short-lived. The East Kent Militia dated from 1760 and had served overseas in the Mediterranean during the Crimean War. For this they were permitted to carry the battle honour MEDITERRANEAN on their Colour. At first their Regimental Colour was of Kentish Grey, to match their facings. They were not permitted to emblazon the honours gained by the regular battalions. Besides the 2 extra battalions added from the militia there were 2 Volunteer Battalions which were Kent Rifle Volunteers. In 1883 they became 1st VB, Canterbury, and 2nd VB Cranbrook (the Weald of Kent). All these extra battalions served in the Boer War and received battle honours for SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02.

These men were not of high quality and during a period of 7 months in that year there were 113 court marshals with sentences amounting to 7,000 lashes given out. But in 1836 an inspection reported that the Buffs were 'in a most excellent state of discipline'. The Spanish made moves towards Antwerp, the main city of the Provinces, capturing many other towns in the process. At the same time they sent assassins to kill the Prince of Orange, and in 1585 there was a successful attempt and the Flemish reached a low point in long war. They at first asked for help from Henry III of France, then approached Elizabeth. They offered her sovereignty over the United provinces, but she declined this responsibility and offered a further increase in military support. 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry were to be raised on condition that three of her generals be admitted onto their council and the expenses be repaid at the end of the war. Perrett, Bryan (1998). At All Costs: Stories of Impossible Victories. Cassell Military Classics. ISBN 978-0304350544. The battle of Blenheim village was still in progress and the Buffs were involved at this stage. The garrison of 24 battalions was cut off from the rest of the French army and were putting up a stout resistance. The Buffs were covering any breakout attempt in the direction of the Danube. At around 7.30pm the French were offered a chance to surrender and would not do so until one of their officers was taken to a vantage point where he could see that the battle was lost. They capitulated at 8pm. The losses were heavy on both sides. The figure for the Franco-Bavarians was put at 40,000, but other sources say around 18,000 is more likely, in the battle and subsequent pursuit. Marlborough's wing lost 2,818 killed and 5,442 wounded, while Eugene's had 1,724 killed and 2,500 wounded. The British contingent of 14 battalions and 18 squadrons of cavalry sustained a loss of 60 officers and 610 rank and file killed. The wounded figures were 144 officers and 1,564 other ranks. The Buffs lost 3 officers killed and 7 wounded. No figures are given for the rank and file.Sir Francis Doyle: Moyse, the Private of the Buffs". The Heretical Press . Retrieved 30 December 2015. The negotiations between the courts of England and Spain respecting the marriage of Prince Charles to the Infanta were broken off in early 1624 and the States were able to obtain fresh troops from England. That summer 4 regiments of 1,500 men each were raised and sent to Holland under the command of the Earls of Oxford, Essex and Southampton, and Lord Willoughby. The Dutch authorities decided to honourably discharge the English and Scots troops serving in the regiments and replace them with Netherlanders. Those Englishmen and Scotsmen who were prepared to swear the oath of allegiance to The Dutch republic would be re-admitted into the regiments. The discharged officers and men were given no assistance from the English government for their repatriation, so the English envoy Sir George Downing paid for their passage to England and gave them letters of recommendation. Army Museum; Ogilby Trust". Buffs, Royal East Kent Regiment Museum Collection. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009 . Retrieved 7 February 2010.

A: The first of those expressions originated in the British military and the second probably did, though its origins are a lot more obscure. The war was stepped up after Breda and the Spanish increased their activity in Flanders as well as Spain and Italy. The States of the United Provinces raised the size of their army to 5,853 cavalry and 61,670 infantry. The English troops numbered 19,970 in total: 400 cavalry, 14,140 English infantry, and 5,430 Scottish infantry. There were 7 English regiments of infantry and 5 Scottish. The largest regiment was Lord Vere's Regiment of Foot with 4,090. The other 6 English regiments were commanded by Viscount Wimbleton, Sir Charles Morgan, Sir Edward Harewood, Sir James Leveson, Earl of Essex and Lord Willoughby, numbering between 1,500 and 2,000 each.The Buffs arrived in Portugal on 1st Sep 1808 and sailed up the Tagus. Sir Arthur Wellesley had returned to England leaving Sir John Moore to advance into Spain with two thirds of the British army. The Buffs brought up the rear, escorting supply wagons, so that when Moore beat a hasty retreat towards Corunna the Buffs were left behind. The grenadier company, however, were with Moore and suffered the horror of the winter schlep over the mountains to Corunna. They fought with the rearguard, attached to the 20th Foot, and were evacuated to England where they arrived 'some 70 barefoot scarecrows' to join the 2nd Battalion. The remaining 9 companies of the Buffs stayed behind, guarding a large amount of money destined for Moore's troops. Lt-Col Richard Blunt managed to keep his regiment, and the money, safe from Napoleon and his marauding soldiers. The abortive raid on the town of Rochefort, situated in the middle of the French west coast in the Bay of Biscay was the brainchild of William Pitt to divert French forces from threatening Germany. The raid was led by Sir John Morduant who was blamed for its failure and court-marshaled. The Ile d'Aix was captured but the raid had to be cancelled for many reasons. James Wolfe had been appointed Quartermaster General and his good advice was largely disregarded. The Buffs remained on board ship and inactive throughout September. The raid had cost the country one million pounds and was derided by opposition leader Henry Fox who famously remarked that the enterprise was "breaking windows with guineas". Apart from the 1719 Vigo expedition, the next 25 years were spent on garrison duty in England and Scotland. It returned to Flanders in 1742 during the War of the Austrian Succession, as Thomas Howard's regiment; to distinguish it from that led by Sir Charles Howard, one became the " Buffs", and the other the Green Howards. [4] It fought at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 [9] and at the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745. [10] With the outbreak of the 1745 Rising, it was sent to Scotland, taking part in the Battle of Falkirk Muir in January 1746 [11] and Battle of Culloden in April 1746. [12] It returned to the Netherlands in April 1747 and saw action at the Battle of Lauffeld in July. [13]

Churchill, Winston L. Spencer (1898). The Story of the Malakand Field Force: an episode of frontier war, CHAPTER XII: AT INAYAT KILA. London, UK: Longmans, Green. The Irish were encouraged by the Catholic Spanish king in their rebellion against England, and the Earl of Tyrone and other chiefs became enough of a threat to alarm Elizabeth. She sent the Earl of Essex, with hardy veterans from the war in the Netherlands, to 'reduce the insurgents to obedience'. Their place in the Low Countries was taken by new recruits from London and the Home Counties. Spagnoly, Tony and Smith, Ted (1999), Cameos of the Western Front: Salient Points Three: Ypres & Picardy 1914–18, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 978-0850527902 (pp. 27–31) In this passage, Wheal’s father is speaking: “ ‘Stiffen the Prussian Guards!’ he exploded—his invariable comment at moments of high drama. ‘They’ve given you a scholarship!’ ”Royal Collection Trust: R. S. H. Moody, Historical Records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) […]". Prince Maurice besieged Sluys and captured it with a force that included 6 companies of English and 7 of Scots. But at Ostend the town was in ruins and the war there had cost 120,000 lives. An assembly of the of the States of the United Provinces reluctantly decided to give it up and at the beginning of September 1604 the 4,000 defenders marched out with drums beating and Colours flying. The inhabitants also quit the town except for one old man and two women. The Spaniards sued for peace in November 1762 and in June 1763 the Buffs sailed to Minorca which had been returned to the British. The French had occupied the island since 1756 when it was taken from the British and Admiral Byng was executed for failing to prevent it. The Buffs remained there for 8 years during which time they absorbed the men from the disbanded 91st Regiment. The Military Commandant of Minorca was John Crauford who governed in the absence of Governor Sir Richard Lyttelton. Crauford had become Colonel of the regiment in May 1763. The regiment returned to England in 1771 spending 4 years in the West Country.

The initiation into life in India proved fatal for many of the Buffs. After the arrival in February 1828 of the main body of the regiment, Cholera spread through the ranks, killing men and officers alike. Lt-Col Charles Cameron was the most senior officer to be killed by the disease. He had survived all the battles and rigours of the Peninsula campaign, and set up himself and his Portuguese wife with their 7 children for a life in Australia, but was obliged to leave them and go to India. The men spent periods of 18 months in one station before moving on to another so that by 1835 they were at Meerut having built up their numbers with drafts from other battalions that had returned to Britain. James's second wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son and heir on 10th June 1688, named James Edward and who later became the Old Pretender. (There was a rumour that Mary's child was still-born and replaced by the new-born son of Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, Colonel of the Holland Regiment.) The prospect of a Catholic prince to continue James's plans of returning England to the old religion gave heart to the king but prompted William of Orange to take an army to England and gather support from the king's many enemies to dethrone him. The Holland Regiment was mostly posted around Kent at the time when William landed at Brixham on 5th Nov 1688. He entered Exeter without opposition and by December was in London. James after a bungled attempt to leave the country, finally embarked for France towards the end of December. As a precautionary measure, William posted the British regiments outside London and only allowed his Dutch troops and the English troops in his service to guard the capital. The Holland Regiment were stationed at Chesham and Amersham. After a few months on occupational duty in Scotland the Buffs moved gradually south until they were in the Isle of Wight in July 1719. There was an expedition to Vigo with 10 battalions that was tasked with destroying the preparations for a Jacobite invasion. They encountered little opposition and returned with a large haul of weapons and plunder.The Duke of Medina set sail from Lisbon at the end of May 1588 with 100 galleons of greater size than any ever before used in Europe, plus 30 other vessels. It did not start well because a storm caused them to take shelter in Corunna. When they did set sail again they met the English fleet under Lord Howard the Lord High Admiral on 21st July. The English ships harried the Armada for several days until they reached Calais where they waited to be reinforced by the Duke of Parma. Howard sent fire-ships into the harbour on the night of the 6th Aug, causing the Spanish to cut their cables and take flight. There was much confusion and several Spanish ships were sunk or captured. The Duke of Parma's ships were of little use to the Armada as they were troops ships rather than fighting vessels. Medina decided to return home but the wind was not favourable so he had to head for the North Sea and hope to circumnavigate the British Isles. However, after passing the Orkneys a violent storm destroyed half the remaining Armada. The American buffalo or bison is a symbol of abundance and manifestation, and the lesson learned by the Lakota that day is that one does not have to struggle to survive if the right action is joined by the right prayer. The birth of a sacred white buffalo is a sign of hope and an indication of good times to come. What does the British saying Steady The Buffs mean? Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0, p. 110. A waste of time? Oh, I beg to differ. Searching through reference books may not produce the answer to your particular question, but one almost always learns something in the process, even if it’s only the specific gravity of tuna salad or how to hypnotize a wildebeest. And you never know when you may need to know how to tie a half-over whiptailed hitch knot. Granted, that’s not very likely since I just made that up and can barely tie my own shoes. But I do know how to start a stalled car using only a credit card and a cell phone.