The Queen's Royal Regiment
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The 2nd Battalion Queen’s Royal Regiment Silver Drum This is the last remaining Silver Drum belonging to the 2nd Battalion The Queen's Royal Regiment, which disbanded in Berlin in September 1948 after 89 years service. (In fact, the 1st Battalion had been reduced to a cadre and the 2nd Battalion was restyled 1st Battalion). The set of drums and a staff were presented in 1937 by Colonel RG Clark. They were made by Henry Potter of Aldershot. The Drum was on display in the museum at Clandon before the fire in April 2015. |
The HMS Defence Gavel The Captain of HMS Defence presented the Gavel to the officers of the 1st Bn The Queen’s Royal Regiment. The inscription reads:- “Presented by the Wardroom. Made from wood of HMS Defence 1861-1904. Fourth of her name”. A copy of his letter is reproduced below. The original letter was in the archives at Clandon.
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Dear Sir
Will you allow me, on behalf of myself and the Officers of this ship, to ask you to accept the enclosed mallet as a present to the Officers’ Mess of your Regiment.
The inscription on the mallet explains itself but I might perhaps add that this present Defence is the 5th of her name; the mallet was turned and carved by the Carpenter of this ship. It is somewhat of a coincidence that while he was carving the arms of the House of Braganza that family was being turned out of Portugal.
You are probably aware of the number and names of the Officers and men of the “Queen’s” Regiment who were killed or wounded on board the Defence on the 1st of June 1794. If however you are not, they are as follows:-
| Officers | Men | ||
| Killed | Nil | Pte | Collier |
| " | North | ||
| " | Roberts | ||
| " | Hamilton | ||
| Wounded | Pte (i) | Name Unknown | |
| Ensign Boycott |
Believe Me, Yours: Very Truly
C F Dampier, Captain
HMS Defence was a Minotaur Class armoured cruiser of 14,600 tons. Built at Pembroke Dockyard, she was launched in April, 1907 and completed in February, 1909. At the battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916, she blew up while under heavy fire from the German battleship “Friedrich Der Grosse”. All of her increased war time complement of 893 men were lost - a tragic end to a gallant ship and her crew. The gavel was displayed in the Regimental Museum at Clandon, before the fire.
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