Whereabouts of Colours

The Colours in All Saints Church, Kingston-upon-Thames

In this church can be seen some of the Colours of The East Surrey Regiment and its predecessors. The Regiment was formed in 1881 from the Amalgamation of the Thirty First (Huntingdonshire). Regiment and the Seventieth (Surrey) Regiment.

The Colours of a Regiment consist of the King's (or Queen's) Colour Which is the Union Flag, and a Regimental Colour. The latter carries a Regimental badge or device, and is the same colour as the facings of the Regiment. Those of the Thirty First Regiment were buff, and the Seventieth Regiment black. The East Surrey Regiment wore white facings.

Thirty First Regiment
The Colours on the south side of the nave were received in 1865 while the Regiment was stationed at Aldershot, and were taken into use three years later on the departure of the Regiment from Ireland on foreign" service. No formal presentation of these Colours to the Regiment was ever made, and the reason for this has never been discovered. A tradition grew up in the Thirty-First that the Regiment would not see active service again while these Colours were carried. During the forty years this stand was in service, the Regiment served three short tours in Gibraltar and one period. of over nineteen years in India, but did not in fact see any action.

These Colours were laid up in the Parish Church on 13^th July 1904.

Seventieth Regiment
The Colours hanging on either side of the arch in the north aisle were presented in Dublin in 1831 by the daughter of the Commanding Officer. They accompanied the Seventieth to the Mediterranean, the West Indies and Canada, and returned to Dublin in 1845 when they were laid up in the Royal. Hospital, Kilmmainham. Here they remained for 77 years when they were handed over to the 2^nd Battalion The East Surrey Regiment, in 1922. These Colours were finally laid up in the Parish Church in November 1924.

3^rd Royal Surrey Militia
The Colours hanging high on either side of the archway leading to the Choir are those of the 3^rd Royal Surrey Militia which was raised at Kingston-upon-Thames in 1853. The Colours were presented the following year and were laid up in the Parish Church on 6^th July 1877. Four years later the 3rd Royal Surrey Militia became the 4^th Bn The East Surrey Regiment.

The East Surrey Regiment
The Colours in the Regimental Chapel are all those of The East Surrey Regiment. On the north wall hang the Colours of the Territorial Battalions, and on the pillar on the south side of the chapel those of the Service Battalions of the Regiment.

5^th Bn The East Surrey Regiment (TA)
Formerly the 2^nd Volunteer Battalion, this unit became the 5^th Bn The East Surrey Regiment in 1908. The following year His Majesty King Edward VII presented these Colours to the Battalion. During the 1914-18 War, the 1/5^th Battalion served in India and Mesopotamia. This Territorial Battalion became an Anti-Tank Regiment of the Royal Artillery in 1938. The Colours were laid up in the Regimental Chapel 1^st October 1967.

6^th Bn The East Surrey Regiment (TA)
In 1908 the 3^rd Volunteer En The East Surrey Regiment became the 6^th (Territorial) Bn The East Surrey Regiment. The 1/6^th Battalion served in India and Mesopotamia in the 1914-18 War. In 1928 these Colours were presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. They were the gift of the wives and daughters of past and present officers of the Battalion. The Battalion formed the 1/6^th and 2/6^th Battalions in 1939. Both battalions saw service in France and Belgium in 1940, and the 1/6^th also served in North Africa and Italy. These Colours were laid up in the Parish Church on 3^rd November 1963.

The Service Battalions
The three King's Colours hanging on the pillar on the south side of the Regimental Chapel are those of the three senior Service Battalions of The East Surrey Regiment - the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th. These battalions were specially raised for service in the 1914-18 War. All were formed in 1914 and were fighting in France by the summer of 1915. In recognition of their magnificent record of service during the War, these three battalions were presented with a King's Colour.

 

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