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88-704: The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath . In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments and named the 10th (North Lincoln) Regiment of Foot . After the Childers Reforms of 1881, it became the Lincolnshire Regiment after the county where it had been recruiting since 1781. After

176-518: A company of voltigeurs , who were expected to act as skirmishers as well being able to deploy into line. In the Russian Empire, light infantry was forming at a very fast pace; by the end of the 18th century, regiments of light infantry totaled 40,000 soldiers ( Jaeger ). The armament of light infantry was very different from the armament of linear infantry. They were armed with high-quality muskets, as well as pistols (for close combat). After

264-479: A few weeks, they were sent to garrison neutral Iceland . They trained as Alpine troops during the two years they were there. After returning to the United Kingdom in 1942, when the division gained the 70th Brigade , they were earmarked to form part of the 21st Army Group for the coming invasion of France and started training in preparation. After two years spent on home defence, the 6th Battalion left

352-670: A lieutenant-colonel in command. From this point, the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment had also provided an officer as Adjutant to the Bermuda Local Forces and Secretary to the Local Forces Board, beginning with Captain (later Major) Darby Robert Follett Houlton-Hart (according to the 13 January 1954, issue of The Bermuda Recorder newspaper, the reorganisation of the two units under a new common headquarters had begun operating unofficially since

440-547: A newly arrived Second BVRC Contingent, of one officer and 36 other ranks, who had trained in Bermuda as Vickers machine gunners . Stripped of their Vickers machine guns (which had been collected, for the new Machine Gun Corps ), the merged contingents were retrained as Lewis light machinegunners , and provided 12 gun teams to 1 Lincolns headquarters. By the end of the war, the two contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength. Forty had died on active service, one received

528-500: A pied (light infantry), one of Grenadiers and one of Carabiniers . Similar differentiations were made in the majority of European armies of the period, although English-speaking authors sometimes use the designation "line infantry" when referring to the ordinary infantry of some other countries where the exact term was not in use. The term was also used by US units during the Second World War, as shown by this quote from

616-572: A report of the 782nd Tank Battalion in late April 1945: On the 22nd of April, the Battalion moved from Oberkotzau, Germany to Wunsiedel , Germany. Here the attachment of the line companies to the Regimental Combat Teams of the 97th Division was completed. We separated, not coming together again until the war was over. Company "A" joined the 303rd at Rehau, Germany: Company "B" joined the 386th at Arzburg, Germany: and Company "C"

704-740: A short distance. In some cases, it was possible to defeat the enemy with just one volley at close range. The line was considered the fundamental battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow (consisting of four lines), unlike the pikemen's and old-style musketeers' square. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to take cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry and could not hold ground against advancing infantry columns. Line infantry provided an "anchor" for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat behind if threatened. Movement in line formation

792-435: A small part of the infantry branch of most armies, because of their vulnerability to hostile cavalry. Pikemen formed the majority of infantrymen and were known as heavy infantry. A significant part of infantry consisted of old-style musketeers, who did not use the linear tactics, instead skirmishing in open formation. However, by the middle of the 17th century, musketeers deployed in line formation already provided about half of

880-594: A war footing. The battalion left Bermuda on 14 September aboard HMCS Canada , escorted by HMCS Niobe , which had arrived in Bermuda the day before bearing the Royal Canadian Regiment , for Halifax, Nova Scotia , where they arrived on 18 September. Departing from there again to cross the Atlantic, the battalion returned to England on 3 October 1914, and was sent to the Western Front as part of

968-486: A way of instilling discipline and unit cohesion . Members of the US Army utilize the term "line company" (informally) in light infantry battalions to differentiate those companies (generally A–D) that perform the traditional infantry role from the support companies (generally F and HHC) charged with supporting the "line companies". The Marine Corps does the same for all its infantry units. In this vein, officers assigned to

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1056-723: The 138th Brigade in the 46th (North Midland) Division in March 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 2/4th Battalion and 2/5th Battalion moved to Ireland as part of the 177th Brigade in the 59th (2nd North Midland) Division and took part in the response to the Easter Rising before landing in France in February 1917 for service on the Western Front. The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli as part of

1144-834: The 25th Brigade in the 8th Division soon after, arriving in France on 5 November 1914. McAndrew was killed on 10 March 1915. Major engagements included the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915 where the battalion incurred heavy losses and the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916 where the second-in-command of the battalion, Major F. W. Greatwood, was injured. A contingent from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps composed of Captain Richard Tucker and 88 other ranks

1232-597: The 33rd Brigade in the 11th (Northern) Division in August 1915 and, having been evacuated at the end of the year, moved to Egypt in January 1916 and then to France in July 1916 for service on the Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne as part of the 51st Brigade in the 17th (Northern) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 8th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne as part of

1320-549: The 46th Infantry Division , in April 1940; both served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and managed to return from Dunkirk after the battles of France and Belgium . After returning to England, both battalions spent years in the United Kingdom on home defence anticipating a possible German invasion of the United Kingdom . The 2nd Battalion, remaining with the same brigade and division throughout

1408-602: The 63rd Brigade in the 21st Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 10th (Service) Battalion (Grimsby, often known as the Grimsby Chums , landed in France as part of the 101st Brigade in the 34th Division in January 1916 also for service on the Western Front and saw action at the First day on the Somme in July 1916 and the Battle of Passchendaele in Autumn 1917. The Second World War

1496-497: The American Civil War . The Austro-Prussian War in 1866 showed that breech-loading rifles , which gave the individual shooter a greatly increased rate of fire as well as the capability to reload from a prone position, were greatly superior to muzzle loaded rifles. In the 1860s, most German states and Russia converted their line infantry and riflemen into 'united' infantry, which used rifles and skirmish tactics. After

1584-716: The American Revolutionary War , fighting at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, the New York Campaign in winter 1776, the Battle of Germantown in October 1777, the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 and the Battle of Rhode Island in August 1778. In 1778, the 10th returned home to England after 19 years service overseas. In 1782, the regiment

1672-460: The Battle of Castalla in April 1813 and the Siege of Tarragona in June 1813. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Booth, KH , JP , a Peninsular War veteran and the last of his ancient family to be seated at Killingholme , served as commanding officer from 1830 until his death in 1841. In 1842, the 10th Foot was sent to India and was involved in the bloody Battle of Sobraon in February 1846 during

1760-734: The Battle of Omdurman in September 1898 during the Mahdist War . It was then stationed in British India , where it was in Bangalore until late 1902 when it transferred to Secunderabad . The 2nd Battalion embarked for South Africa in January 1900 and saw action during the Second Boer War . The 3rd ( Militia ) battalion, formed from the Royal North Lincoln Militia in 1881, was a reserve battalion. It

1848-754: The First Anglo-Sikh War . The 10th would also see action at the Relief of Multan in January 1849 and the Battle of Gujrat in February 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh War . In 1857, at the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion , the Regiment was stationed at Dinapore , taking part in the failed first relief of the Siege of Arrah and going on to play an important role in the relief of Lucknow where Private Denis Dempsey won

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1936-655: The Franco-Prussian War , both the German Empire and the French Third Republic did the same. However, Great Britain retained the name "line infantry", although it used rifled muskets from 1853 and breech loading rifles from 1867, and switched from closed lines to extended order during the Boer wars . The growing accuracy, range, and rate of fire of rifles, together with the invention of

2024-759: The House of Guelph , of which the House of Hanover was a branch. Since Hanover and the United Kingdom shared a monarch until 1837, the order was frequently bestowed upon British subjects . Until 1837 the order was frequently awarded to officers in the British Navy and Army , although it was still classed as a foreign order, with British members of the order not entitled to style themselves as "Sir" unless they were also created Knights Bachelor , as many were. The British link ended in 1837 when Hanover 's royal union with Great Britain ended, with Ernest Augustus becoming King of Hanover and Queen Victoria ascending

2112-630: The Maxim machine gun in 1883, meant that close order line infantry would suffer heavy losses before being able to close with the enemy, while the defensive advantages given to line infantry against cavalry became irrelevant with the effective removal of offensive cavalry from the battlefield in the face of the improved weaponry. With the turn of the 20th century, this slowly led to infantry increasingly adopting skirmish style light infantry tactics in battle, while retaining line infantry drill for training. Although linear battle tactics had become obsolete by

2200-672: The Northamptonshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) which was later amalgamated with the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) , 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment in September 1964 to form the Royal Anglian Regiment . The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment's paternal relationship to

2288-697: The O.B.E , and six the Military Medal . Sixteen enlisted men from the two contingents were commissioned, including the Sergeant Major of the First Contingent, Colour-Sergeant R.C. Earl, who would become Commanding Officer of the BVRC after the War (some of those commissioned moved to other units in the process, including flying ace Arthur Rowe Spurling and Henry J. Watlington, who both went to

2376-630: The Royal Anglian Regiment . 'A' Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglians continues the traditions of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. The regiment was raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath . Prior to the Glorious Revolution , it formed the garrison of Plymouth and defected to William III shortly after his landing at Torbay on 5 November 1688. After

2464-792: The Royal Artillery ) had been re-tasked as a company of infantry on the closure of St. David's Battery in 1953, it had been grouped with the Bermuda Rifles under a battalion-level headquarters company titled Headquarters Bermuda Local Forces (not to be confused with the Command Headquarters of the Bermuda Garrison , to which it was subsidiary, with Governor of Bermuda Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hood serving as Commander-in-Chief and Brigadier J.C. Smith, Royal Artillery, as Officer Commanding Troops) with

2552-542: The Royal Flying Corps ). Those surviving contingent members who had not already been sent home as invalids or transferred to other units were returned to Bermuda in several parties over the summer of 1919. At the end of the war in 1918, the 1st Lincolns, under Frederick Spring , and the 3rd Lincolns were sent to Ireland to deal with the troubles in the unrecognised Irish Republic . The 1/4th Battalion and 1/5th Battalion landed as landed at Le Havre as part of

2640-536: The Royal Fusiliers ), Lance-Corporal Louis William Morris, and Private Farrier. Wailes was repeatedly wounded and returned to Bermuda an invalid in April 1915. Morris was killed in action on 7 December 1914. Although commanders at the Regimental Depot had wanted to break the contingent apart, re-enlist its members as Lincolns, and distribute them throughout the Regiment as replacements, a letter from

2728-581: The Second World War , it became the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment , before being amalgamated in 1960 with the Northamptonshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) which was later amalgamated with the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) , 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form

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2816-667: The Victoria Cross . The 1st Battalion, 10th Foot served in Japan from 1868 through 1871. The battalion was charged with protecting the small foreign community in Yokohama . The leader of the battalion's military band, John William Fenton , is honoured in Japan as "the first bandmaster in Japan" and as "the father of band music in Japan". He is also credited for initiating the slow process in which Kimi ga Yo came to be accepted as

2904-733: The Volturno Line and fought on the Winter Line and in the Battle of Monte Cassino in January 1944. The battalion returned to Egypt to refit in March 1944, by which time it had suffered heavy casualties and lost 518 killed, wounded or missing. It returned to the Italian Front in July 1944 and, after more hard fighting throughout the summer during the Battles for the Gothic Line , it sailed for Greece in December to help

2992-408: The matchlock muskets of some line infantry were equipped with bayonets . Bayonets were attached to the muzzles and were used when line troops entered melee combat. They also helped to defend against cavalry. At the end of the 17th century, a solution was sought to a flaw within the design of matchlock muskets. Since the matchlock musket used a slow burning piece of twine known as a slow match ,

3080-617: The national anthem of Japan. The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at the " old barracks " in Lincoln from 1873. The regiment moved to the " new barracks " further north on Burton Road in 1880. Nor was the regiment affected by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under

3168-853: The new system had been tried during the Big Three Conference last month when all troops were under the command of Lt.-Col. J. R. Johnson of the Royal Welch Fusiliers ) posted to Bermuda from 1953 to 1957. In addition to serving as the Bermuda Command Adjutant and the Bermuda Local Forces Adjutant, Captain Houlton-Hart was also the adjutant of the Bermuda Cadet Corps. In 1960, the regiment amalgamated with

3256-589: The 1701 to 1714 War of the Spanish Succession , the regiment fought at Blenheim in August 1704, Ramillies in May 1706, and Malplaquet in September 1709. Following the 1751 reforms, when all British regiments were identified by numbers rather than their Colonel's name, it became the 10th Regiment of Foot . It then took part in the 1759–60 action to repel Thurot at Carrickfergus during the Seven Years' War . The regiment would next see action in

3344-434: The 2nd Lincolns on Garrison in Bermuda , and the 3rd in Lincoln. The 4th and 5th Battalions were the Territorial battalions, based throughout Lincolnshire. The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 9th Brigade in the 3rd Division for service on the Western Front in August 1914. Notable engagements included the First Battle of Ypres in autumn 1914 and the Battle of Bellewaarde in May 1915, during which

3432-498: The 387th at Waldsassen, Germany. The British Army retains the traditional distinction between "Guards", "Line Infantry" and "the Rifles" on ceremonial occasions for historical reasons. It is linked to the order of precedence within the British Army and regimental pride, so for example Colonel Patrick Crowley states in the "introduction" in A Brief History of The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (2015): The examples of valour, adherence to duty, and fortitude, continue to inspire

3520-429: The 4th to create the 4th/6th Battalion. On 28 October 1948, the 2nd Battalion was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion. Between 1955–1957 the regiment fought in the Malayan Emergency . The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment and its successors maintained its relationship with the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (renamed the Bermuda Rifles in 1949) after the Second World War. When the Bermuda Militia Artillery (a reserve sub-unit of

3608-406: The 7th becoming 102nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery on 1 December 1941 and the 8th becoming the 101st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps again provided two drafts; one in June 1940, and a full company in 1944. Four Bermudians who served with the Lincolns during the war (three from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps) reached the rank of Major with

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3696-436: The American Civil War, both Union and Confederate armies had only a few line regiments equipped with the old-style smooth-bore muskets. However, France, due to Napoleon III, who admired Napoleon I, had 300 line battalions (comprising an overwhelming majority) even in 1870. Although the French line infantry received Chassepot rifles in 1866, it was still being trained in the use of close formations (line, column and square), which

3784-441: The Austrian army abandoned their pikes. In 1703, the French army did the same, in 1704 the British and 1708 the Dutch. In 1699–1721, Peter I converted almost all Russian foot-regiments to line infantry. The abandonment of the pike, together with the faster firing rate made possible by the introduction of the new flintlock musket and paper cartridge , resulted in the replacement of the deeper formations of troops more suitable for

3872-415: The Bermuda Rifles and the Bermuda Local Forces was continued by the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) and the Royal Anglian Regiment until the three Bermudian company-sized units amalgamated in 1965 to form the Bermuda Regiment (from 2015 the Royal Bermuda Regiment ), with the relationship maintained since then between the Royal Anglian Regiment and

3960-497: The British area of occupation. Among other members of the 1940 contingent from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was Bernard John Abbott, a school teacher and pre-war Bermuda Cadet Corps officer re-commissioned into the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps’ Emergency Reserve of officers with the rank of Second-Lieutenant (Acting Major) in accordance with a War Office cable of the 4 May 1939, who joined 50th Holding Battalion, in Norfolk, which became 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. He ended

4048-437: The British throne. When Hanover was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866, the order continued as a house order to be awarded by the Royal House of Hanover. Today, its current Sovereign is the Hanoverian head of the house, Ernst August, Prince of Hanover . The insignia was based on the white horse on Hanover's arms. The Order includes two divisions, Civil and Military, the latter indicated by crossed swords on both

4136-604: The German Jäger ), armed with rifled carbines and trained in aimed shooting and use of defilades . In Britain, much of the light infantry was armed with smooth-bore muskets, only a few regiments used rifled muskets. In France, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , the division into the Guard, line infantry and light infantry formally continued to exist, line and "light" regiments had identical weaponry (smooth-bore fusils) and tactics. (Napoleon preferred smooth-bore weaponry for their faster reload speeds.) However, each battalion in both line and "light" regiments included

4224-584: The Lincolnshires during the two world wars are displayed in the Bermuda Maritime Museum (part of the British Overseas Territory's territorial museum ) in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda . The regiment's battle honours are as follows: Victoria Crosses awarded to men of the Regiment were: 1888–1902: F.M. Prince William Augustus Edward of Saxe-Weimar , KP, GCB, GCVO Colonels of the regiment were: Regimental titles in italics indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881. Line infantry Line infantry mainly used three formations in its battles:

4312-403: The Royal Bermuda Regiment. Currently, 674 Squadron Army Air Corps uses the sphinx as an emblem within its crest in honour of its local connections with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment and Lincolnshire Yeomanry collections are displayed in Lincoln's Museum of Lincolnshire Life . Artefacts concerning the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps contingents that served with

4400-400: The Russian light infantry were equipped with the M1854 rifle, the remainder retaining smoothbore percussion muskets. In the second half of the 19th century, the development of mass production and new technologies, such as the Minié ball , allowed European armies to gradually equip all their infantrymen with rifled weapons, and the percentage of line infantry equipped with muskets fell. In

4488-403: The Sixth Coalition , the training of regular French line infantry recruits was limited due to the relentless attack of the Coalition Forces. A recruit was trained by firing only two cartridges and four blanks. There was also light training of forming several formations. However, training large quantities of elite line infantry was generally a complicated process. In the middle of the 16th century,

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4576-423: The United Kingdom, still as part of the 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade in the 46th Infantry Division, in January 1943 to participate in the final stages of the Tunisia Campaign . In September 1943, the battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Yates , took part in the landings at Salerno in Italy as part of Mark Clark 's U.S. Fifth Army , suffering heavy losses and later captured Naples , crossed

4664-412: The War Office ensured that the BVRC contingent remained together as a unit, under its own badge. The contingent arrived in France with 1 Lincolns on 23 June 1915, the first colonial volunteer unit to reach the Western Front. The Contingent was withered away by casualties over the following year. 50% of its remaining strength was lost at Gueudecourt on 25 September 1916. The dozen survivors were merged with

4752-436: The arrival in the colony on 17 November, of the command's new Adjutant, Captain D. R. F. Houlton-Hart, M.C., of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. The make-up of the new command is as follows:- Col. Astwood, Commanding Officer; Captain D. R. F. Houlton-Hart, Adjutant, one Regimental Sergeant-Major, one Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, a Sergeant instructor for each unit and two medical officers . The same article also recorded that

4840-461: The badge and star. It originally had three classes, but with several reorganisations since 1841, as house order today it has four classes and an additional Cross of Merit. In descending order of seniority the classes are: Holders of the respective degrees of the order in Britain were entitled to be post-nominally addressed with the initials, which stand for Knight Grand Cross of Hanover, Knight Commander of Hanover and Knight of Hanover. The initial GCG

4928-478: The best shooting soldiers fight in loose ranks and cover their battalions from the enemy skirmishers. The total number of light infantry reached 40% of the entire field infantry. The sharp increase in the number of light infantry greatly influenced their quality of training and equipment. The Russian infantry of 1854 comprised 108 regiments, of which 42 were line infantry. The remainder were specialized or elite units such as Guards, Grenadiers and Jägers. Only part of

5016-435: The civil authorities to keep order during the Greek Civil War . In April 1945, the 6th Lincolns returned to Italy for the final offensive but did not participate in any fighting and then moved into Austria for occupation duties. The Lincolnshire Regiment also raised two other battalions for hostilities-only, the 7th and 8th, created in June and July 1940 respectively. However, both were converted into other arms of service,

5104-400: The command of officers, but in practice this happened only in the first minutes of the battle. After one or two volleys, each soldier charged his musket and fired at his own discretion, without hearing the commands of the officers. This disrupted the system, while the gunsmoke prevented accurate shooting. Such a shootout in clouds of smoke could occur for an extended period of time and the result

5192-408: The commanding officer of the battalion, Major H. E. R. Boxer, was killed. The Commanding Officer of 2nd Lincolns, Lieutenant-Colonel George Bunbury McAndrew, found himself acting Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial fortress of Bermuda in the absence of the Governor and General Officer Commanding, Lieutenant-General Sir George Bullock , and oversaw that colony's placement onto

5280-480: The current officers and soldiers of the modern Regiment, who are proud to belong to the most senior English Regiment of the Line. The Canadian Army also retained these traditional distinctions, and its infantry regiments were organized, titled, and uniformed in full dress as foot guards , fusiliers , light infantry, line infantry, rifles, and kilted infantry regiments. The infantry of most 21st-century armies are still trained in formation manoeuvre and drill , as

5368-399: The foot troops in most Western European armies. Maurice of Nassau was noted as the first large scale user of linear tactic in Europe, introducing the 'counter-march' to enable his formations of musketeers to maintain a continuous fire. After the invention of the bayonet, musketeers could finally defend themselves from the enemy's horsemen, and the percentage of pikemen fell gradually. In 1699,

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5456-406: The home country, line infantry forces were often raised from the local population, with the British East India Company 's sepoys perhaps being the most historically significant example. Line tactics required strict discipline and simple movements practiced to the point where they became second-nature. During training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used. During 1814, in the War of

5544-458: The line, the square, and the column. With the universal adoption of small arms (firearms that could be carried by hand, as opposed to cannon) in infantry units from the mid-17th century, the battlefield was dominated by linear tactics , according to which the infantry was aligned into long thin lines, shoulder to shoulder, and fired volleys . A line consisted of two, three, or four ranks of soldiers. The soldiers were expected to fire volleys at

5632-486: The main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting, and manoeuvre. Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries. Musketeers and grenadiers , formerly elite troops , gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics. Over time the use of line infantry tactics spread outside of Europe, often as a result of European imperialism. In European colonies and settlements with small populations from

5720-497: The melee-oriented pikemen with shallower lines that maximized the firepower of an infantry formation. Besides regular line infantry, there were elite troops (royal guards and other designated elite regiments) and the light infantry . Light infantry operated in extended order (also known as skirmish formation) as opposed to the close order (tight formations) used by line infantry. Since the late 18th century, light infantry in most European countries mostly consisted of riflemen (such as

5808-467: The movement of units. In Russia, Great Britain, France, Prussia, and some other states, linear tactics and formation discipline were maintained into the late 19th century. With the invention of new weaponry, the concept of line infantry began to wane. The Minié ball , an improved rifle ammunition, allowed individual infantrymen to shoot more accurately and over greatly increased range. Men walking in formation line-abreast became easy targets, as evidenced in

5896-412: The new fusils retained the name "musket". Both muskets and fusils were smoothbore , which lessened their accuracy and range, but made for faster loading, lesser amount of bore fouling and more robust, less complicated firearms. The accuracy of smooth-bore muskets was in the range of 300–400 yd (270–370 m) against a line of infantry or cavalry. Against a single enemy, however, the effective range

5984-490: The outbreak of the Nine Years War in 1689, the regiment remained in Plymouth until the end of 1691, when it embarked for Ostend and saw action at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692, suffering 50 dead or wounded. During the 1693 campaign, it was detached from the main Allied force prior to the Battle of Landen in July, then served at the Siege of Namur in July 1695 before returning to England in 1696. It escaped disbandment in 1698 by being posted to Ireland . During

6072-425: The reforms, the regiment became The Lincolnshire Regiment on 1 July 1881. The Royal North Lincolnshire and Royal South Lincolnshire Militia regiments became the 3rd and 4th Battalions, and the 1st and 2nd Lincolnshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions (a 3rd Volunteer Battalion was added in 1900). The 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment was posted at Malta from 1895, and took part in

6160-430: The regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve) at Lincoln, with the 4th Battalion (TF) at Broadgate in Lincoln and the 5th Battalion (TF) at Doughty Road in Grimsby (since demolished). The regiment started the First World War with two regular battalions, one militia battalion and two territorial battalions. The 1st Lincolns were stationed in Portsmouth,

6248-474: The regiment: Major General Glyn Gilbert (later of the Parachute Regiment ), Lieutenant Colonel John Brownlow Tucker (the first Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment , amalgamated from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Artillery in 1965), Major Anthony Smith (killed-in-action at Venrai, in 1944, and subject of an award-winning film, In The Hour of Victory ), and Major Patrick Purcell, responsible for administering German newspapers in

6336-583: The rifle companies are referred to as "line officers" while billeted to positions such as Platoon Leaders and Commanding and Executive Officers. Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order ( German : Königlicher Guelphen-Orden ), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order , is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV ). It takes its name from

6424-580: The second half of the nineteenth century, regiments in several European armies retained the "line infantry" (or cavalry) title. This designation had come to mean an army's regular or numbered regiments, as opposed to specialist or elite formations. Accordingly, the distinction had become a traditional title or classification without significance regarding armament or tactics. For example, the Belgian Army order of battle in 1914 comprised 14 regiments of Infanterie de Ligne (line infantry), three of Chasseurs

6512-451: The twine sometimes would accidentally set fire to the gunpowder reservoir in the musket prematurely setting off the gunpowder, resulting in serious injury or death to the operator. For this reason and others, matchlock muskets began to be replaced by lighter and cheaper infantry fusils with flintlocks , weighing 5 kg (11 lb) with a caliber of 17.5 mm (0.69 in), first in France and then in other countries. In many countries,

6600-477: The unsuccessful army reforms of Paul I, the number of light infantry in the Russian army was significantly reduced and made up only 8% of the entire field infantry. However, the Russian army soon returned to the trend of increasing the number of light infantry, begun in the 18th century. By 1811, 50 light infantry regiments were formed in the Russian army. In addition, each linear battalion was required to have 100 of

6688-456: The war as a staff officer in the Far East, and The London Gazette of 25 December 1945 recorded “War Subs. Maj. H. J. ABBOTT .(108051) relinquishes his commn., 26th Dec. 1945, and is granted the hon. rank of Lt.-Col.”. After the war, the 4th and 6th battalions were placed in 'suspended animation' in 1946 but were both reformed on 1 January 1947. However, on 1 July 1950, the 6th was merged with

6776-804: The war, then spent the next four years training in various parts of the United Kingdom before taking part in the D-Day landings in June 1944. The battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Welby-Everard was then engaged throughout the Normandy Campaign , taking part in Operation Charnwood , Operation Goodwood , and throughout the rest of the Northwest Europe Campaign until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945. The 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment

6864-467: Was changed only after the dethronement of Napoleon III. This was common practice in all conventional Western armies until the late 19th century, as infantry tactics and military thinking had yet to catch up with technological developments. In the years after the Napoleonic Wars, line infantry continued to be deployed as the main battle force, while light infantry provided fire support and covered

6952-404: Was declared on Sunday, 3 September 1939 and the two Territorial Army battalions, the 4th and the 6th (a duplicate of the 4th), were called-up immediately. The 2nd Battalion embarked for France with the 9th Infantry Brigade attached to the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Major-General Bernard Montgomery in October 1939. They were followed by the 6th Battalion, part of 138th Brigade with

7040-481: Was detached in December 1914 to train for the Western Front. It was hoped this could join 2nd Lincolns, but 1 Lincolns' need for reinforcement was greater and it was attached to that battalion organised as two extra platoons of D Company (the 2nd Lincolns had recruited three Bermudians before it left the colony, including two Constables from the Bermuda Police , Corporal G. C. Wailes (who had previously served in

7128-856: Was embodied in May 1900, disembodied in July the following year, and later re-embodied for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. 17 officers and 519 men returned aboard Cestrian , arriving in Southampton on 5 October 1902. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised under the Haldane Reforms , with the former becoming the Territorial Force (TF) and the latter the Special Reserve ;

7216-548: Was linked to the county of Lincolnshire for recruiting. The regiment embarked for Egypt in 1800 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars and took part in the Battle of Alexandria in March 1801. The 2nd battalion then took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809. Meanwhile, the 1st battalion embarked for Spain in 1812 for service in the Peninsular War and took part in

7304-468: Was no more than 50–100 yd (46–91 m). It should be borne in mind that ordinary linear infantrymen were poorly trained in aimed shooting, due to the expense of gunpowder and lead (modern reenactors achieve much better results by firing smooth-bore muskets). Line infantrymen were trained in rapid reloading. The recruit was expected to load 3 rounds a minute, while an experienced soldier could load 4–6 rounds per minute. In battle conditions, this number

7392-547: Was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross , the only one to be awarded to the Lincolnshire Regiment during the Second World War. The Territorials of the 4th Battalion, part of 146th Brigade attached to 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division , were sent to Norway and were among the first British soldiers to come into contact against an advancing enemy in the field in the Second World War. Ill-equipped and without air support, they soon had to be evacuated. Within

7480-485: Was reduced and after the first few minutes of combat, no more than 2 rounds per minute could be expected even from well trained troops. The bulk of the line infantry had no protective equipment, as armor that could provide protection from musket fire were considered too expensive and heavy. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, the copper mitre caps of grenadiers. Initially, soldiers equipped with firearms formed only

7568-419: Was slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was assured, especially in uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, the line was mostly used as a firing formation, with troops moving in column formations and then deploying to the line at their destination. Usually, columns would be adopted for movement and melee attacks. Line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions,

7656-812: Was stationed in British India and saw no active service until 1942. They remained in India and the Far East throughout the war and were assigned to the 71st Indian Infantry Brigade , part of 26th Indian Infantry Division , in 1942. fighting the Imperial Japanese Army in the Burma Campaign and during the Battle of the Admin Box , the first major victory against the Japanese in the campaign, in early 1944 where Major Charles Ferguson Hoey

7744-439: Was unpredictable. In addition, at the time of the “hot” shootout, the soldiers were so engaged and focused on shooting that they were not watching out for an attack of cavalry from the flank. For these reasons, experienced officers tried to avoid such uncertain exchanges and restrained their soldiers from premature firing in order to get as close to the enemy’s line as possible so that they could deliver several devastating volleys at

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