Troopships and the Regiment

Some voyages of the East Surrey Regiment

In 1702 a regiment was mustered commanded by a Colonel Villiers, this gave the regiment one of its first titles – Villiers Marines. They had been formed as marines and it was fitting that their first voyage was aboard the ships HMS Suffolk and Grafton bound for Cadiz. They sailed from Plymouth in May 1702. They returned to England and embarked again on the Suffolk and Grafton to serve in the Fleet in the Mediterranean. Near Malta their first commanding officer was drowned. Command was assumed by Colonel Alexander Luttrell giving his name to the regiment – Luttrells Marines.

In June 1867 the moved from Kilkenny, embarked at Queenstown on 1^st June and arrived in Malta on the 22^nd June.

Then on 28^th February 1873 they embarked on HMT Jumna for Gibraltar taking up quarters in Buena Vista Barracks.

In November 1803 the 70^th regiment embarked in the in the Pandour, an old 44 gun warship fitted to transport troops. On Christmas Day 1803 they arrived at Barbados, on the island of Antigua.

On the 10^th September 1884 the 2^nd Surreys moved from India, Bombay embarked on HMT Himalaya. The battalion disembarked at Suez on 26^th September and moved to Cairo. The women and children continued in the Himalaya to England.

One of the voyages undertaken during The First World War was that of 1/6^th Surreys who moved from Southampton on board the SS Grantully Castle bound for India.

In February 1948 170 reinforcements for 1^st Bn The East Surrey Regiment landed in Salonika from the SS Otranto.

1^st Surreys returned from Russia in October 1919 aboard several ships and then early in 1920 it embarked for Dublin, Ireland for a six month tour, they returned to England in June 1920 and on the 19^th November embarked at Southampton for Palestine.  However, orders were received whilst on voyage and the destination changed to Port Said where they disembarked.  1^st Surreys left Egypt for Khartoum in April 1923 aboard HMT Somersetshire.  2^nd Surreys left the UK in February 1920 bound for Egypt, however orders were received during the voyage to go on to Turkey and they disembarked at Constantinople.  After a few months the battalion re-embarked on HMT Teutonic on the 23^rd August and landed at Liverpool on 2^nd September 1920.

On 1^st September 1938 the 2^nd Battalion sailed from Southampton bound for Shanghai aboard HMT Lancashire but because of the situation in Europe they were disembarked at Singapore but later moved to Shanghai in the submarine depot ship HMS Medway.  1^st Surreys, 1/6^th and 2/6^th Surreys all served with the BEF in 1940 but no record of the ships they moved in is in the archives.  On the evacuation of France in June 1940 an unknown number of the 2/6^th Surreys were embarked on the SS Lancastria.  As the world knows now, after the Germans had bombed the ship she sank with over four thousand deaths.

SS Lancastria (credit www.britisharmedforces.org)

Lancastria medal
Corporal E John (Queen's) was a reservist at the outbreak of the Second World War.
He was aboard the ill fated Lancastria when she was bombed & sank.
On his death his medals were presented to the Regimental Museum.

Then on the 14^th October 1^st Surreys embarked on HMS Karanja which joined a large convoy forming up in the Clyde.  On the 27^th, forty-nine ships began their voyage, the spearhead of Operation ‘Torch’, the invasion of North Africa.

On the 7^th December 1945 2 Surreys embarked with 4^th Bn The Black Watch on the SS Samaria at Liverpool for Palestine.

During the First and Second World Wars, the Government had to charter ships mainly from British India and Bibby Lines to cover the Middle and Far East and Cunard to cover the North Atlantic runs.  (Point of note: British India line, their vessels mostly ended by the letter A (Nevasa, Uganda, Kenya, Dunera and Devonia) whereas the Bibby Lines ended the names ‘shire’ Lancashire, Devonshire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire).

2^nd East Surrey embarking, leaving Dublin, 17 February 1922.

2^nd East Surrey embarking, leaving Dublin, 17 February 1922.

Acknowledgements: K Petvin-Scudemore - www.britisharmedforces.org
M Tootill, auther of Memorable Ships, N Lawrance Esq for allowing us to use extractes from his excellent article.

Waving goodbye - Dublin, 17 February 1922.

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