Battle honours of the British and Imperial Armies
The following battle honours were awarded to units of the British Army and the armies of British India and the Dominions of the British Empire.[1] From their institution until the end of the Second World War, awards were made by, or in consultation with, the British government,[2] but, since 1945, the individual countries of the former British Empire have awarded battle honours to their forces independently.
The Boer War[edit]
The Second Boer War came as an unpleasant surprise to a British military establishment that had stagnated for decades under the command of the hidebound and reactionary Duke of Cambridge.[44] As Lord Kitchener observed, 'The Boers are not like the Sudanese who stood up to a fair fight. They are always running away on their little ponies',[45] and the disasters of Black Week demonstrated that the Regular army was numerically, technologically and tactically ill-prepared to face a militarily competent and well-equipped adversary. Among the responses of the British government to these setbacks were the formation of the Imperial Yeomanry and the embodiment of the Militia and Volunteer battalions of the infantry regiments for overseas service. Many more corps, therefore, became eligible for campaign honours than had been the case in any previous war: including the Regular Army, Yeomanry, Militia and Volunteers, a total of 196 British regiments were awarded South Africa with appropriate year dates between 1899 and 1902.[46] The award was also made to a further 22 Canadian, 37 Australian, 23 New Zealand and 12 South African regiments. As pointed out above, the awards made to the Militia battalions lapsed when the Militia was disbanded.
It was at this time that the rule was instituted that, for a cavalry regiment or infantry battalion to be eligible for an award, the Headquarters and fifty per cent or more of its strength must have been present. Exception was made for the Yeomanry regiments, which had contributed company-sized contingents to the Imperial Yeomanry, but not their individual regimental headquarters. These regiments were considered to be eligible if parties of 20 or more had been present. These principles (presence of a unit's headquarters and fifty per cent or more of its strength) were continued by General Ewart's and subsequent Battle Honours committees, but, again, numerous exceptions were made.
The World Wars[edit]
The sheer scale of the Great War led to a previously unheard of number of honours being awarded and it was simply impractical to emblazon every one of them on the Regimental Colour.[47] It was at first ordered, in September 1922, that regiments should select up to 10 honours to be emblazoned on their Regimental Colours along with previous awards, up to a total of 24.[48] This led to a storm of protest, since many regiments would have had to remove previous honours. The order was, therefore, amended the following December to allow each infantry regiment to select up to 10 honours to be emblazoned on its King's Colour, honours from other conflicts continuing to be displayed on the Regimental Colour.[49] After the Second World War, a further 10 honours from that conflict were added to the King's Colour. Owing to amalgamations, more than the total of 20 First and Second World War awards may be found on the Queen's Colour of modern regiments.[50] Cavalry regiments emblazoned honours from the World Wars on the reverse side of their standards and guidons.
Battle honours of the Great War were almost invariably only awarded for engagements specifically named by the Battles Nomenclature Committee.[51][52] A particularly poignant exception to this rule is that of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment which applied for the honour Beaumont Hamel in memory of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, when the regiment was virtually wiped out.[53] The award was declined by the Battle Honours Committee because there was no official battle of that name.[54] After considerable correspondence between the Colonial Office and the government of Newfoundland, a compromise was reached whereby the regiment would be awarded the honour Albert (Beaumont Hamel) 1916, but only with the personal approval of the King. Needless to say, the King approved the award without hesitation.
The procedures after the Second World War were similar to those following the First. The re-formed Battles Nomenclature Committee made every effort to avoid using names that had been used by the Great War committee but, if this was not practicable, the awards were differenced by year date (e.g. Baghdad, Baghdad 1941).[55] If two separate engagements took place at the same location in the same year, they were differenced by Roman numerals (e.g. Cassino I, Cassino II). In several instances, the Battles Nomenclature Committee felt it was desirable to indicate the aim or nature of the operation, particularly when two separate operations took place at the same location (e.g. Capture of Tobruk, Defence of Tobruk).
Territorial Army honorary distinctions of the Second World War[edit]
During the Second World War, a number of Territorial Army infantry battalions and Yeomanry regiments were temporarily re-roled to other arms (particularly artillery, signals and reconnaissance) for the duration of the conflict and resumed their normal function at its end. It was decided that such units were not eligible for battle honours per se, but could apply for Honorary Distinctions commemorating service in actions and theatres that would, had they taken part in their normal roles, have entitled them to battle honours.[56] (Units whose conversion to the new arm was permanent were awarded battle honours appropriate to their new arm.) In the case of infantry battalions, these distinctions were awarded solely to the battalion concerned and were not borne by the other battalions of the regiment, and, unlike actual battle honours from the World Wars, were carried on the Regimental Colour. It appears that this decision was poorly received by the units concerned, particularly the Yeomanry,[57] and relatively few applications were made.[58]
![Badge of an elephant for the Second and Third Mysore Wars.[60]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/IndiaElephantBadge.png/120px-IndiaElephantBadge.png)
![A tiger badge awarded for service in India.[61]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/IndiaTigerBadge.png/120px-IndiaTigerBadge.png)
![Naval crowns could be awarded to infantry battalions that took part in naval battles.[62]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/NavalCrownBadge.png/120px-NavalCrownBadge.png)
A mural crown, uniquely awarded to the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment (Light Infantry), later the Somerset Light Infantry, for the defence of Jellalabad.
An example of an Honorary Distinction awarded to a Territorial Army battalion re-rôled during the Second World War as an armoured regiment.[63]
![An example of an Honorary Distinction awarded to a Territorial Army battalion re-rôled during the Second World War as an armoured regiment.[63]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/RTR_Distinction.png/120px-RTR_Distinction.png)
Another Honorary Distinction from the Second World War, here awarded to the Shropshire Yeomanry for service as a Royal Artillery regiment.[64]
![Another Honorary Distinction from the Second World War, here awarded to the Shropshire Yeomanry for service as a Royal Artillery regiment.[64]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/RA_Distinction.png/120px-RA_Distinction.png)
The majority of battle honours are displayed simply as the name of the award inscribed on a decorative scroll.[59] A number of honours, particularly those which were considered to be of particular significance, were awarded with a badge that in some way represented the engagement or theatre. Early examples were the castle and key for Gibraltar, mentioned above, and the sphinx for Egypt. Tiger and elephant badges were frequently awarded for engagements on the Indian sub-continent. Different badges might be awarded to different units for the same battle or campaign: the award Hindoostan, for example, was awarded without a badge to some regiments, with a tiger to others, and with an elephant to yet others.