Résumé
Résumé de Les archives régimentaires de l’armée britannique
Go deeper: the whole of Les archives régimentaires de l’armée britannique
About 2 h 50 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
You will love this book if you enjoy military history, regimental badges, the stories behind old nicknames, or tracing an ancestor or a county regiment through its campaigns.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
What do the Cheeses, the Die-Hards and the Holy Boys have in common? Each is a nickname of a British regiment, and each comes with a story. The Regimental Records of the British Army gathers hundreds of them in one place.
John S. Farmer compiled this book around the year 1900. It walks through the whole army of its day, one corps after another. You learn how a title was earned, why a badge was granted, and where a joke began.
Dans ce résumé
- 1Every regiment gets the same compact entryFree
- 2The Household cavalry carry the oldest royal stories
- 3Dragoon Guards and Dragoons earned names from their horses
- 4Hussars and Lancers wear their battles on badges
- 5Guns, engineers and Guards have their own traditions
- 6County regiments grew from numbers into territorial names
- 7Nicknames preserve the best regimental stories
- 8Company regiments, riflemen and support corps complete the picture
Point clé 1 sur 8
Every regiment gets the same compact entry
The book is built on one repeating pattern. Each corps opens with its titles and the years it held them. Then come the campaigns, uniform, badge, nicknames, notes and a list of printed histories. Once you know the order, you can find any fact in seconds.
The titles tell a hidden story. A regiment often began as the personal regiment of a colonel, named for him. In 1751 many were given numbers. In 1782 counties were attached to the numbers. In 1881 the old numbers gave way to territorial titles such as the Norfolk Regiment. Reading a list of titles is like reading a regiment's passport.
The campaign lists carry a star for honors that appear on the Colors. A regiment might fight in dozens of actions, yet only some are chosen for the flag. Two tables at the back match old numbers to new titles and give the order of precedence.
One simple entry pattern turns hundreds of regiments into a book you can search, compare and enjoy.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Les archives régimentaires de l’armée britannique
About 2 h 50 min to read.Questions about Les archives régimentaires de l’armée britannique
What do the stars next to battles mean?
A star marks a battle or campaign whose honor is carried on the regiment's Colors. Battles without a star are still listed as part of the regiment's service, so you can see both what it fought and what it chose to display.
Why did so many regiments change their names in 1881?
In 1881 the old numbered foot regiments were paired as battalions of county or territorial regiments. The book's first appendix matches each former number to its new title, so you can trace a regiment across the change.
Where do nicknames like the Die-Hards and the Holy Boys come from?
They come from battles, uniforms and barracks jokes. The Die-Hards recall Albuera in 1811. The Holy Boys have two traditional explanations, and the book gives both. Many nicknames are explained in the entries for their regiments, while others are simply listed.
Is this book easy to use for family or local history?
Yes, because most regimental entries follow a common order and many end with a bibliography. You can find a county regiment quickly, see its campaigns, and use the listed histories to continue your research.
Cite this edition
Farmer, John S. The Regimental Records of the British Army. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-regimental-records-of-the-british-army.
Farmer, J. S. (2026). The regimental records of the British Army. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-regimental-records-of-the-british-army (Original work published 1901)
Farmer, John S. The Regimental Records of the British Army. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-regimental-records-of-the-british-army.
@book{farmer2026regimental,
author = {Farmer, John S.},
title = {The Regimental Records of the British Army},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-regimental-records-of-the-british-army},
note = {First published 1901}
}
