Book Description

On 1st July 1881, the 53rd Shropshire Regt and the 85th King s Light Infantry amalgamated to become the 1st and 2nd Battalions respectively of the King s Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI); the Shropshire Militia became the 3rd Special Reserve (SR) Battalion. On the outbreak of war in 1914 the regiment consisted of four battalions: the 1st (Ireland), 2nd (India), the 3rd and the 4th (Territorial) were in Shrewsbury. During the course of the war the establishment of the regiment was raised to thirteen battalions, eight of them (1st, 2nd, 1/4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th) went on active service, between them in France and Flanders, Mesopotamia and Palestine while the remainder furnished drafts and took part in home defence. Fifty-two battle honours and one VC were awarded; 4,710 died. Covering eight battalions in one book does not allow for much detail, in fact descriptions of actions and operations tend to be summaries. However, there are plenty of names in the text, officers and other ranks. The contents are arranged in eleven chapters, one for each of the eight front line battalions, each with a map covering its areas of operation; one for the Depot; one for the reserve battalions and a final one describing activities at home. Appendices provide the roll of honour of officers, roll of honour of other ranks listed by battalion, British and Foreign awards, mentions in despatches and mentions in the Press and awards of brevet rank. Finally there is an index.