Early history

The Dorsetshire Regiment was established in the Regular Army in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot and the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot.^[3][4] The 1st Battalion was stationed in Malta from 1888, in Egypt from 1889, and in British India from 1893, where it took part in operations in the Tirah Campaign on the North West Frontier in 1897–98.^[5]

The 2nd Battalion was stationed in Ireland from 1893 to 1897, then in Malta from 1899. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, they were sent to South Africa, participating in the Relief of Ladysmith.^[6] The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which ended in June 1902 with the Peace of Vereeniging. Four months later 300 officers and men left Cape Town on the SS German in late September 1902, and arrived at Southampton in late October, when they were posted to Portland.^[7]

In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve;^[8] the regiment now had one Reserve battalion and one Territorial battalion.^{[lower-alpha 1][3][9]}

First World War

Troops of the Dorsetshire Regiment resting and cleaning rifles in the ruins of a farm near Langemarcke, 17 October 1917.

Graves of three soldiers of the Dorsetshire Regiment who died at Epinoy, France on 1 October 1918.

The Dorset Memorial to Authuille.

During the First World War, nine hostilities-only battalions were formed, six battalions serving overseas. The 1st Battalion and 6th (Service) battalion served on the Western Front throughout most of the war. Additional battalions (1/4th Battalion, 2/4th Battalion and 3/4th Battalion) were formed as part of the Territorial Force to meet the demand for troops on the Western Front.^[3][10][11]

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion was in Belfast when war broke out: it landed at Le Havre in August 1914 forming part of the 15th Brigade in the 5th Division.^[11] It transferred to 95th Brigade in the 32nd Division in December 1915 and to the 14th Brigade in the same Division in January 1916.^[10][11]

British Army recruiting poster : "4th Batt. Dorset Regiment. Men Of Dorset ! Your King And Country Need You. Join Your County Battalion".

The 2nd Battalion was in Poona, India, when war broke out and was shipped, as part of the 16th Indian Brigade, to Mesopotamia, where it was trapped in the Siege of Kut and captured by the Turks. (Of the 350 men of the battalion captured, only 70 survived their captivity.) During the siege, returning sick and wounded, and the few replacements who had been sent out, were unable to re-join their battalion, so they, and similar drafts of the 2nd Norfolk Regiment, were amalgamated into a scratch battalion forming part of the force attempting to relieve Kut.^[12] This battalion was formally titled the Composite English Battalion, but was more commonly known as The Norsets; it was broken up in July 1916, when the 2nd Dorsets was re-constituted.^[11] The battalion then served in Egypt as part of 9th Indian Brigade in the 3rd Indian Division.^[10][11]

After First World War and Anglo-Irish War

The 3/4th (Reserve) Battalion was moved to Ebrington Barracks in Derry in April 1918.^[10][11] The 3rd (Reserve) Battalion also served in Ireland, at Derry from March 1919, absorbing the 3/4th Bn as postwar demobilisation progressed. The remaining personnel were drafted to the 1st Battalion in August 1919.^[3][14]

In April 1920, during the Anglo-Irish War, soldiers from the regiment fired into a protesting crowd on Bridge Street, leading to riots and skirmishes which saw it fight alongside the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and (later) Ulster Volunteers (UVF) against the Irish Republican Army (IRA).^[15][16] Sporadic violence in the city continued until another large engagement in June, when the Dorsets and the UVF attacked the Bogside area of the city. A large IRA counter-offensive from the west ended the disturbances, which had seen 40 people killed since April.^[17][18] Some RIC officers threatened to resign over the Dorsets' fraternisation and co-operation with the UVF.^[18]

On 7 February 1920 4th Battalion was reformed in the TF (soon afterwards reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA))with its headquarters in Dorchester and four companies (A–D).^[2]

Malabar Campaign

Memorial for the Officers and Men of the Dorset Regiment, who lost their lives in the Moplah Revolt, at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore

In Summer 1921, the 2nd Battalion served under the command of Major-General John Burnett-Stuart, General Officer Commanding Madras District in India,^[19] where he was involved in the suppression of the Moplah Rebellion at Malabar between 1921 and 1922. The riots that they quashed were inspired by 10,000 guerrillas and led to 2,300 executions.^[20]

The Officers and Men from the Dorset Regiment who lost their lives while taking part in the suppression of the revolt are commemorated in a brass tablet at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore.^[21]

Second World War

In the Second World War, the regiment expanded to eight battalions.^{[lower-alpha 2][3][9]}

The 1st Battalion was a regular army unit and part of the 231st Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1st Hampshires and 2nd Devonshires, for the duration of the war, fighting in Malta between 1940 and 1942, Sicily in August 1943, and Italy in September 1943. The 1st Dorsets landed on Gold Beach on D-Day in June 1944 as a part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and fought with the division in the Battle of Normandy and North-West Europe, until the division was withdrawn in late 1944 and used as a training division. The battalion had troops 327 killed and 1,029 wounded.^[22]

The 2nd Battalion was also a regular army unit and was part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, throughout the war, participating in the Battle of France and the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. In 1944, it took part in the Battle of Kohima during the Burma Campaign of 1944–1945, still with the 2nd Division.^[23]

King Peter II of Yugoslavia inspecting the Guard of Honour of a battalion of the Dorset Regiment in England.

The 4th Battalion was an original 1st Line TA unit and, in 1939, raised a 2nd Line duplicate, the 5th Battalion, when the Territorial Army was doubled in size prior to the commencement of the war.^[3] The 4th and 5th Battalions were both part of 130th Infantry Brigade in the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, participating in the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden and the Rhine Crossing.^[24]

Men of the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment climb into a Buffalo in preparation for crossing the Rhine, Germany, 28 March 1945.

The 30th Battalion, previously the 6th (Home Defence) Battalion, was with the 43rd Infantry Brigade in North Africa and the invasion of Sicily, after which it spent the rest of the war in Gibraltar.^[3][25]

The 7th Battalion, which was raised in 1940, was later converted to the 110th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. The regiment served with the 43rd (Wessex) Division in North-West Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.^[3][26]

The 8th Battalion, which was also raised in 1940 as 50th (Holding) Battalion, was initially assigned to the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) and was on home defence. Later, the battalion converted to the 105th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. The regiment was sent to North Africa in late 1942 and fought with the British First Army, It later served in the Italian Campaign supporting US Fifth Army.^{[3] [26]}

Post war and amalgamation

In 1958, the regiment amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.^[3][27]