Books published by Naval & Military Press Ltd

This is a great history, one of the best of its kind. Just look at the wealth of information contained in the appendices: the nominal roll of all officers and other ranks who served 1914-1919, identifying those who died (1,227); list of officers of 1/15th who embarked for France in March 1915; casualty details in tabular form showing separately monthly figures for the first line and second line battalions and those attached to other units and distinguishing between killed in action, died of wounds, missing presumed dead, died of illness and died as PoW; list of decorations and awards; staff list showing all COs, adjutants and RSMs from 1860 to 1920 ; list of those who served in the S African War; annual strength states from 1860 to 1914 and even an appendix on the Regimental Plate with photo and identification of the various trophies. This is the heart of a regiment. The narrative is as good and informative as the appendices and is arranged in three parts, each by a different member of the Regiment. The first part traces in considerable detail the pre-1914 history from the early days of 1859 to the eve of war by which time the title had become "the 15th (County of London) Battalion the London Regiment. The second part is concerned with the first line battalion, 1/15th, which landed in France on 17th March 1915 with the 4th London Brigade, 2nd London Division (in May these became 140th Brigade 47th Division). It was at Festubert, in May, that the battalion first became acquainted with the realities of war, even though the men were employed throughout in holding the line. The story is based not only on the War Diary but also on the Regimental Diary which contained all the "personal gossip" in the unit as well as accounts of tours in the line. The latter was discontinued early in 1918 but the CO decided that to make up for this the War Diary should contain every item of interest to the battalion, not just operational matters. The 2/15th was formed in September 1914 and assigned to 179th Brigade 60th Division and went to France in June 1916; the list of officers, WOs and CQMS's embarking is given. After four months in the line north of Arras the division was shipped out to the Macedonian theatre, arriving at Salonika in December 1916. Six months later the division moved again, this time to Palestine to join Allenby's EEF. After a year's campaigning in Palestine the battalion was one of seven taken from the division and sent back to France where the situation was critical in the wake of the German offensive.

This volume of the history (concerned only with the 92nd Foot) was first published in 1901 and the preface to that edition is incorporated in this 2nd edition. The author explains that it was his object, in matters of general history, merely to give the reason for the various expeditions in which the regiment was involved, and in describing the operations to confine himself to the part played by it. He has attached importance to the interior economy and discipline of a Highland regiment with many fascinating details on such subjects as nationality, dress, messing, and recruiting and other regimental matters. The regiment was raised by the Duke of Gordon, embodied in June 1794 in Aberdeen (which became the Regimental Depot), and on the first muster roll all the Highland Clans were represented, the greatest number being MacDonalds followed by Camerons. They didn't hang about in those days, on 5th September (less than three months after embodiment) they embarked for Gibraltar where they arrived on 26th - 25 officers781 rank and file. The names of the officers and their service records are given as well as the names of the sergeants and where they had come from. The Regiment began life as the 100th Foot, changed to 92nd in 1798. In 1799 it won its first Battle Honour at Egmont-op-Zee in Holland, fighting Napoleon's troops, and the chapter describing this action gives a list of those killed or died of wounds with their parish and county; the officers' list includes wounded. In 1802 a 2nd Battalion, 92nd Foot, was formed but eleven years later it was disbanded without going on active service. The original battalion saw plenty of active service in the Napoleonic wars - in Egypt, Denmark, the Peninsula, including the awful retreat to Corunna, and at Waterloo; descriptions of the fighting include casualty rolls. But the great strength of this history is in what might be called domestic details, the life of the regiment as it is aptly titled, which is a wonderful comment on the life of a soldier in a Highland regiment. For instance we are given details of the rank and file from the returns of March 1807: in a battalion total of 892 43 were 6ft and over, 529 were between 5ft 5 and 5ft 8 while there were 177 under 5ft 5, including two sergeants; one private was over 55 (he had got more than 30 years service in - QM's storeman?), but the majority (555) were aged between 20 and 30. 252 had between 12 and 14 years service and 229 between three and four years. One of the appendices list all the officers as at 1st January 1813 (some seventy in all) giving residence or family, county and career details as far as known. A fascinating regimental record!

This history covers the period from the formation of the regiment in 1741 to its linking with the West Essex (56th Foot) in 1881, when it became the 1st Battalion the Essex Regiment. The East Essex began life as 55th Foot but in 1748 it was renumbered 44th, and this history is presented as a chronology, a year-by-year record of the regiment's services. There are no chapters; the list of contents form a diary showing principal events in each year, some years far more eventful than others. The narrative shows in the margin of each page the year in which the events being described took place, beginning with 1741 and the raising of the regiment, and finishing in 1881. In 1803 a second battalion was formed but disbanded in 1816 after Waterloo in which battle it fought as well as in several battles of the Peninsular War. The 1st Battalion, meanwhile, was fighting on the other side of the Atlantic in the war against the United States.There is plenty of detail in this history, one incident at Waterloo making unpleasant reading. Ensign Christie (not long promoted from Sergeant-Major) was carrying one of the colours when he was charged by a French lancer and severely wounded by a lance thrust which entered his left eye and penetrated to the lower jaw; despite the agony of his wound he still managed to frustrate the Frenchman's efforts to make off with the colour. From time to time names of officers present for duty are listed and the other rank strength. The regiment took part in the Crimean War, in the campaigns in Burma and in Afghanistan (1841/42) where, in the retreat from Kabul the regiment lost 22 officers and 632 other ranks killed (out of a total of 684); it also took part in the China War 1860 (Taku Forts). Of the sixty years from 1822 to 1881 the regiment was abroad for fifty!Appendices list the succession of Colonels of the regiment and commanding officers, in the latter case giving brief notes on service details. They also provide the number, rank and name of all those soldiers who served in the trenches before Sebastopol throughout the siege, of those who were in the Crimea the whole time, and those who distinguished themselves in the Crimea and in China.