Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
The Dutch fight for independence from Spain in the 1568–1648 Eighty Years' War was supported by Protestants across Europe; the origins of the regiment were Thomas Morgan's Company of Foot, a group of 300 volunteers from the London Trained Bands formed in 1572.[2] In 1586, these English and Scottish volunteer units were brought together in the Anglo-Scots Brigade, which in various formats served in the Dutch military until 1782.Using his own funds, Sir George Downing, the English ambassador to the Netherlands, raised the Holland Regiment from the starving remnants of those who refused to sign.[4] When the Third Anglo-Dutch War began in 1672, the Duke of Buckingham was authorised to recruit an additional eight companies but the two countries made peace in the February 1674 Treaty of Westminster.[5] These men were incorporated into the Anglo-Scots Dutch Brigade and fought in the 1672–1678 Franco-Dutch War; in November 1688, it accompanied William III to England.[6] During the War of the Spanish Succession, it served in Marlborough campaigns, including the battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Malplaquet and Oudenarde, before returning to England in August 1714.[7] Until the 1751 reforms, units were commonly named after their current colonel; it reverted to this practice when Prince George of Denmark died in 1708, although it was also referred to as the 'Holland Regiment' or "Buffs" after its coat facings.[13] Following the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it spent the next ten years on garrison duty in England; in 1751, it was retitled the 3rd Regiment of Foot, "The Buffs".[4] The Seven Years' War began in 1756; in autumn 1758, the regiment was posted to the West Indies, taking part in the January 1759 attacks on Martinique and Guadeloupe.[24] The grenadier company of the regiment served under Sir John Moore at the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 before being evacuated to England later that month.[29] At Albuhera the regiment suffered heavy losses (about 400 out of 728) when caught in open order during a hail/rain storm by charging Polish lancers and French hussars.[49] The 1st Battalion was based in Fermoy as part of the 16th Brigade in the 6th Division until 12 August 1914 when it moved to Cambridge before landing in France on 8 September 1914.The battalion then joined the 234th Infantry Brigade, which took part in the disastrous Battle of Leros in an attempt to capture the Dodecanese Islands in late 1943.[66] The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) still has some exhibits at Beaney House, although most of the collection was subsumed into the National Army Museum in 2000.[85] An illustration of the Colonel's colour in 1707 shows a dragon on a buff background, following the award of this distinctive symbol to the regiment as "a reward for its gallant conduct on all occasions"; according to the Army historian Richard Cannon in a book published in 1839.[86] Through the remainder of the 18th century both the dragon and the buff facings (worn on cuffs, lapels and coat linings) remained as particular distinctions of the regiment.The green dragon was recorded in the same document as the "ancient badge" of the Buffs – displayed as a woven or painted device on the mitre cap of the Regiment's grenadiers, the colours and the drums.[91] For the rest of its existence as a separate entity, both dragon badge and buff facings remained as primary distinctions of the regiment.
Kingdom of EnglandKingdom of Great BritainUnited KingdomBritish ArmyLine InfantryInfantryHowe BarracksCanterburyJohn Campbell, 2nd Duke of ArgyllArchibald Douglas, 2nd Earl of ForfarSir George HowardCanterbury Cathedralregimentbattle honoursChilders ReformsQueen's Own Royal West Kent RegimentQueen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent RegimentQueen's Royal Surrey RegimentRoyal Sussex RegimentMiddlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)Queen's RegimentRoyal Hampshire RegimentPrincess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)BuckinghamEighty Years' WarTrained BandsAnglo-Scots BrigadeSecond Anglo-Dutch WarStadtholderSir George DowningPrince George of DenmarkThird Anglo-Dutch WarDuke of BuckinghamTreaty of WestminsterFranco-Dutch WarWilliam IIINine Years WarLow CountriesWalcourtSteenkerqueLandenTreaty of RyswickWar of the Spanish SuccessionMarlboroughBlenheimRamilliesMalplaquetOudenardefacings31st FootVigo expeditionWar of the Austrian SuccessionThomas HowardSir Charles HowardGreen HowardsBattle of DettingenBattle of Fontenoy1745 RisingBattle of Falkirk MuirBattle of CullodenBattle of Lauffeld1748 Treaty of Aix-la-ChapelleSeven Years' WarWest IndiesMartiniqueGuadeloupecapture of Belle ÎlePortugalBattle of Valencia de AlcántaraThe Battle of AlbueraWilliam Barnes WollenBattle of AlbueraPeninsular WarFrench Revolutionary Warscapture of Grenadaof Saint Vincentcapture of TrinidadSir John MooreBattle of CorunnaBattle of TalaveraBattle of BussacoLines of Torres VedrasBattle of VitoriaBattle of the PyreneesBattle of NivelleBattle of the NiveBattle of OrthezBattle of Toulousecolony of New South WalesSydneyHobartPort DalrympleParramattaLiverpoolNewcastlePort MacquarieBathurstCalcuttaNew South Walessiege of SevastopolCrimean WarTaku FortsSecond Opium WarPerak WarAnglo-Zulu WarCardwell ReformsCanterbury Barracksrifle volunteer corpsSpion KopAnglo-Egyptian WarShweboSecond Boer War11th Infantry BrigadeEdward WoodgateBattle of Spion KopCape TownTerritorial ForceSpecial ReserveFermoy16th Brigade6th DivisionCambridgeMadras85th Brigade28th Division230th Brigade