VICTORIAN / EDWARDIAN Royal Sussex Regiment Cap Badge – LUGS VERSION

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original Royal Sussex Regiment Cap Badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other Royal Sussex Regiment cap badges.

For more original cap badges for sale, click here.

The Royal Sussex Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1966. The regiment raised 23 battalions for the war all of which saw action. The regiment had a battalion in every theatre including in Russia in 1919. The regiment lost 6,800 men during the war and four Victoria Crosses were awarded to men from the regiment. The 2nd Battalion crossed the channel with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and fought through the war on the Western Front. It was during the first Battle of Ypres that the 2nd Battalion was given the unofficial title “The Iron Regiment” as an unsolicited testimonial by German prisoners captured on 1 November 1914. At Richebourg, in 1916, the 11th, 12th and 13th (Southdowns) Battalions of the Royal Sussex, made up the 116th Southdowns Brigade of the 39th Division in Kitchener’s New Army.

On 30 June 1916 they took part in the Battle of the Boar’s Head, Richebourg L’Avoue. After a bombardment of the German trenches the 12th and 13th Battalions went over the top (most for the first time) and, under heavy fire, attacked the enemy trenches, bombing and bayoneting their way in. The 11th Battalion supplied carrying parties. They succeeded in taking the German front line trench, holding it for some four hours, and even briefly took the second line trench for about half an hour, beating off repeated counterattacks, and only withdrew from the shortage of ammunition and mounting casualties. Over a period of less than five hours the three Southdowns Battalions of The Royal Sussex lost 17 officers and 349 men killed, including 12 sets of brothers, of whom three were from one family. A further 1000 men were wounded or taken prisoner. In regimental history this is known as The Day Sussex Died.

The Royal Sussex raised 14 battalions for the Second World War, although only a few saw active service during the war. The regiment was awarded one Victoria Cross during the war, that of Lionel Ernest Queripel. The 1st Battalion was based in Egypt at the outbreak of the Second World War, where it was attached to the 4th Indian Division, with whom it remained for the rest of the war. The battalion took part in the Western Desert Campaign and the Italian Campaign, where it was involved in the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino. During the battle the elements of the 1st Battalion were ordered into an attack in which they sustained over 50% casualties. In 1944 the battalion was shipped across to Greece with Scobie’s III Corps, remaining there until 1946. The 2nd Battalion was based in Ireland at the outbreak of war. They were joined with the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Regiment in the 133rd (Royal Sussex) Brigade as part of the 44th (Home Counties) Division. They were sent to France in 1940, taking part in the fighting and rapid retreat to Dunkirk where they were evacuated. The brigade was sent to North Africa in 1942 where they fought in the Battle of Alam Halfa. The 44th Division was reported to have performed badly during that battle and was disbanded afterwards, the Royal Sussex Brigade was attached to various units after this. They fought at the Battle of El Alamein.

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military badges for sale including other Royal Sussex Regiment cap badges.