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REGIMENTAL
HISTORY
Introduction
The Manchester Regiment (63rd and 96th
Regiments of Foot) amalgamated in 1958 with the
King's Liverpool Regiment (8th of Foot) to form the King's
Regiment. This year, 2003,
the Regiment is 318 years old. The soldiers come mainly
from those two great industrial
Lancashire ports, just 30 miles apart at each end of the great
River Mersey. The recent
history of the King's, Difficulties be Damned! By Patrick
Mileham (ISBN 0 1873907 10-9)
describes the men of the regiments as 'the true
repositories of Englishness with those
virtues of English character - tolerance, individuality
and humour.' Today, the 1st Battalion
King's Regiment is an armoured infantry battalion equipped
with Warrior infantry combat
vehicles and based in Catterick Garrison.
The 1914-18 Great War
During the Great War, the two regiments raised a
phenomenal 87 battalions and suffered
over 100,000 casualties in hundreds of battles and
engagements. The Manchester
Regiment raised 45 battalions of which 29 served overseas. They
won nearly 80 battle
honours on the Western Front, Gallipoli, Italy, Palestine,
Mesopotamia and in other
theatres and earned 11 Victoria Crosses (see Victoria Crosses
page). The Regiment lost
nearly 14,000 men killed as follows:
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1st (Regular) Battalion
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868
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12th (Service) Battalion (K2)
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2nd (Regular) Battalion
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1,095
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13th (Service) Battalion (K3)
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3rd (Regular) Battalion
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82
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14th (Service) Battalion (K3)
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4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
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21
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15th Battalion (no record that it was raised)
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1/5th (TF) Battalion
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475
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16th (Service) (1st City Pals)
Battalion
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2/5th (TF) Battalion
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248
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17th (Service) (2nd City Pals)
Battalion
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3/5th (Reserve TF) Battalion
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13
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18th (Service) (3rd City Pals)
Battalion
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1/6th (TF) Battalion
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617
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19th (Service) (4th City Pals)
Battalion
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2/6th (TF) Battalion
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259
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20th (Service) (5th City Pals)
Battalion
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3/6th (Reserve TF) Battalion
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7
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21st (Service) (6th City Pals)
Battalion
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1/7th (TF) Battalion
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548
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22nd (Service) (7th City Pals)
Battalion
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2/7th (TF) Battalion
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323
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23rd (Service) (8th City Pals) (Bantams)
Battalion
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3/7th (Reserve TF) Battalion
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3
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24th (Service) (Oldham Pals) Battalion
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1/8th (Ardwick) (TF) Battalion
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544
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25th (Reserve) Battalion
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2/8th (Ardwick) (TF) Battalion
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125
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26th (Reserve) Battalion
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3/8th (Ardwick) (Reserve TF) Battalion
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32
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27th (Reserve) Battalion
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1/9th (TF) Battalion
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439
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28th (TF) Battalion
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2/9th (TF) Battalion
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231
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29th Battalion
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3/9th (Reserve TF) Battalion
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10
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1st Garrison Battalion
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1/10th (TF) Battalion
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447
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2nd (Home Service) (Garrison) Battalion
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2/10th (TF) Battalion
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120
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51st (Graduated) Battalion
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3/10th (Reserve TF) Battalion
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10
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52nd (Graduated) Battalion
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11th (Service) Battalion (K1)
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681
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53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion
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