Image left - East Surrey Regiment Courtesy of cigcardpix on Flikr; Badges above from left 31st Foot (Huntingdonshire); 70th Foot (The Surrey Regiment); The East Surrey Regiment (Courtesy of British Miltary Badges).

The East Surrey Regiment

British Army - Infantry

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

Including

(Reflecting historic name changes)

1st Royal Surrey Regiment

2nd Marines

3rd Royal Surrey Militia

31st Foot, 2nd Battalion

31st Regiment of Foot

31st (The Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot

70th (Glasgow Lowland) Regiment of Foot

70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot

70th (The Surrey) Regiment of Foot

Old Surrey Miltia

The Royal Surrey

The Surrey Regiment of Militia

Villier's Regiment of Marines

Please link profiles of those who served in the The East Surrey Regiment (including those in the "included" list above), to this project regardless of rank, conflict or nationality. People of note can be individually listed in Alphabetical Order below.
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Regiments and Corps of the British Army

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

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The East Surrey Regiment

The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army active from 1881 to 1959. formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms from the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot, the 1st Royal Surrey Militia and the 3rd Royal Surrey Militia.

Active - 1881-1959

Motto -

Uniform -

Corps March -

• Quick: A Southerly Wind and a Cloudy Sky
• Slow: Lord Charles Montague's The Huntingdonshire March

Nick-names -

• 1st Battalion: The Young Buffs
• 2nd Battalion: The Glasgow Greys

Ancestry

8.2.1.1.2 The East Surrey Regiment

1881 - formed under the Childers Reforms from the amalgamation of

* 8.2.1.1.2.1 - the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot,

and

* 8.2.1.1.2.2 - the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot,

also incorporated ...

* 8.2.1.1.2.3 1st Royal Surrey Militia

and

* 8.2.1.1.2.33rd Royal Surrey Militia.

Timeline

8.2.1.1.2.1 - the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot

1702 - raised as Villier's Regiment of Marines. Known as 2nd Marines until 1714

Also known by colonels' names

1703 - Alexander Lutterell
1706 - Joshua Churchill
1711 - Sir Harry Goring
1716 - Lord John Kerr
1728 - Charles Cathcart
1730 - William Hargrave
1737 - Brigadier William Handaysd
1745 - Lord henry Beauclerk
1749 - Henry Holmes

1743 - Ranked as 31st Regiment of Foot

1751 - Formally named 31st Regiment of Foot

1782 - Re-designated 31st (The Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot

1881 - the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot (See timeline below), forming 1st and 2nd Battalions of The East Surrey Regiment

Timeline

8.2.1.1.2.2 the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot,

1756 Raised as 2nd Battalion, 31st Foot

1758 - Re-designated 70th (Glasgow Lowland) Regiment of Foot

1782 - Re-designated 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot

1812 - Re-designated 70th (Glasgow Lowland) Regiment of Foot

1825 - Re-desgnated 70th (The Surrey) Regiment of Foot

1881 - as 70th Foot (The Surrey Regiment)

amalgamated with '''31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot'' to form 1st and 2nd Battalions of '''The  East Surrey Regiment'''

Also included -

• 1st Royal Surrey Militiaand the 3rd Royal Surrey Militia.
  

The Surrey Militia was formed in 1759, as the latest war against the French developed; initially, 800 men were appointed to be raised in Surrey under their first Colonel, Richard Lord Onslow, the Lord Lieutenant. Up to 1798, Surrey had one militia Regiment known as The Royal Surrey, The Surrey Regiment of Militia or the Old Surrey Militia. Eventually, the Surrey contingent was expanded to the 1st Royal Surrey Regiment at Richmond, the 2nd (or 1st Supplementary Battalion) at Guildford and the 3rd (or 2nd Supplementary Battalion) at Kingston. The 3rd, however, was soon reduced to a nominal title.
3rd Royal Surrey Militia - raised in 1852, became the 4th Battalion the East Surreys, in 1881. As an Extra Reserve battalion it was responsible for training and dispatching 4,732 reinforcements mainly to East Surrey battalions on the Western Front in the years 1914-1918. It was disembodied in 1919 and disbanded in 1953.

After 1898 - Badge Introduced

After 1901 - Crown change to badge

Battle honours

Colours, in All Saints church, Kingston

• From 31st Regiment of Foot: Talavera, Albuhera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Peninsula, Cabool 1842, Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, Sobraon, Sevastopol, Taku Forts, Gibraltar 1704-05 (awarded 1909), Dettingen (awarded 1882)
• From 70th Regiment of Foot: Guadeloupe 1810, New Zealand, Afghanistan 1878-79, Martinique 1794 (awarded 1909)
• Suakin 1885, Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902
• The Great War (18 battalions): Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Armentières 1914, Hill 60, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Avre, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Italy 1917-18, Struma, Doiran 1918, Macedonia 1915-18, Egypt 1915, Aden, Mesopotamia 1917-18, Murman 1919
• The Second World War: Defence of Escaut, Dunkirk 1940, North-West Europe 1940, Tebourba, Fort McGregor, Oued Zarga, Djebel Ang, Djebel Djaffa Pass, Medjez Plain, Longstop Hill 1943, Tunis, Montarnaud, North Africa 1942-43, Adrano, Centuripe, Sicily 1943, Trigno, Sangro, Cassino4, Capture of Forli, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943-45, Greece 1944-45, Kampar, Malaya 1941-42
• 

Notable Personnel

Names with Bold links are to Geni profiles. Other links take you to external biographical web pages.

Victoria Cross recipients

• Private (later Sergeant) Albert Edward Curtis, Second Boer War WIKI
• Lieutenant (later Brigadier) George Rowland Patrick Roupell, Great War
• Second Lieutenant (later Major) Benjamin Handley Geary, Great War
• Private (later Corporal) Edward Dwyer, Great War WIKI
• Second Lieutenant (later Captain) Arthur James Terence Fleming-Sandes, Great War WIKI
• Corporal Edward Foster, Great War WIKI
• Sergeant (later Captain) Harry Cator VC MM, Great War WIKI
• Corporal John McNamara, Great War WIKI
• Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Colonel) Eric Charles Twelves Wilson, Second World War WIKI

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Sources, References and Further Reading

• Brereton, J M A Guide to the regiments and Corps of the British Army on the Regular Establishment (Bodley Head) 1985
• Griffin, P D Encyclopedia of Modern British Army Regiments (Sutton Publishers) 2006
• Lumley, Goff Amalgamations in the British Army 1660-2008 (Partizan Press 2009)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Surrey_Regiment
• http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/1661to1966/militia1/militia1.html

this project is in History Link