The 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment
The 13th Foot was raised in 1685 as Colonel The Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot during the rebellion of the Earl of Monmouth.
In 1751 it was numbered 13th Foot, to which 1st Somersetshire was added in 1782.
In 1822, The 13th (First Somersetshire) was converted to Light Infantry. The purpose of the Light Infantry was to move quickly in advance of the main army during active operations, the cumbersome drum giving way to the bugle.
The mural crown superscribed Jellalabad above the bugle, and the Royal title Prince Albert's Regiment of Light Infantry were conferred in 1842, in recognition of its service in the defence of Jellalabad during the First Afghan War (1839–1842). The 13th Light Infantry held Jellalabad against fifty times their number. In recognition, Queen Victoria approved Prince Albert's after the Prince Consort, to be added to the regimental title and for PA to be attached on the strings of the bugle.
On 1 July 1881, the 13th Regiment became The 1st Battalion The Prince Albert's Light Infantry (Somersetshire Regiment).
In 1920, the title changed to The Somersetshire Light Infantry (Prince Albert's).
In 1959, The Somersetshire Light Infantry merged with The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry.
The 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment
1802 1st/13th (First Somersetshire) (Ainslie's Regiment)
31 Jan 1802 The Frigates Dido and Niger arrived from Egypt with the 13th and 2nd/54th Regiments. The men suffered from dysentery and ophthalmia.
1 Mar Strength: 45 Commissioned and Warrant Officers, 65 NCOs, 527 rank and file fit for duty, 83 rank and file sick, 722 total officers and men, 912 establishment.
1 May 1802 Regimental Strength:
| Present (Offs & WOs) |
Absent (Offs & WOs) |
NCOs | Fit for Duty (R&F) |
Sick (R&F) |
Total (Offs and Men) |
Establishment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 0 | 56 | 542 | 68 | 702 | 842 |
| Returns of His Majesty's Forces Malta: 1st May 1802. 13th (Ainslie's) | ||||||
20 May Sgt Mathew Kelly, Pte Mathew O'Neil, Pte John O'Hara, Pte Patrick Langan, and Pte Cornelius O'Neil were tried by General Court Martial for the assault and rape of Grazia Pace from Floriana.1
1 Aug Strength: 26 Commissioned and Warrant Officers, 56 NCOs, 554 rank and file fit for duty, 63 rank and file sick, 699 total officers and men, 842 establishment.
A General Court Martial was held on a subaltern officer of the 27th Regiment in consequence of a dispute between himself and an officer of the 13th Regiment.
1 Nov 1802 Strength: 25 Commissioned and Warrant Officers, 56 NCOs, 539 rank and file fit for duty, 73 rank and file sick, 693 total officers and men, 843 establishment.
1803 1st/13th (First Somersetshire)
Jan 1803 The regiment was located at Barracks.
27 Feb General William Anne Villettes, commanding the Malta garrison, took measures to hasten the departure of the 13th Foot to Gibraltar.
3 Mar The 13th Foot left for Gibraltar. It was replaced by The 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment.
The 13th (1st Somersetshire) Light Infantry
1855 13th (1st Somersetshire) Light Infantry)
Burials in 1855:
- 18 June 1855 Pte Charles Nunn 13th Light Infantry, aged 19 years.
The 1st/13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
1872 13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
17 Feb 1872 The 1st/13th Regiment embarked at Gibraltar and disembarked in Malta on 22 February. It occupied Floriana Barracks.
In 1872, the 1st/13th had an average strength of 573 men. It had 562 admissions (981/1000 mean strength) into hospital with 6 deaths (10.47/1000 mean strength).
Its average strength from 30 June to 30 September was 671 men. During this third quarter of the year when fevers were prevalent, the regiment had 137 cases of simple continued fever, 38 cases of febricula and 6 of enteric fever with 4 deaths.2
Enteric fever broke out among the 13th Regiment at Floriana Barracks. The rooms in the barracks had an offensive stench in the morning with a faecal smell being perceptible in the rooms on the south-east side. Poor drainage of the Civil Hospital which overlooked the barracks on that side was blamed for much of the fever.
From June to October, two-thirds of the men slept in tents in the parade ground and no one was allowed to sleep for two consecutive nights in the barracks.
Nearly half the admissions for phthisis during the year were in the 1st/13th Regiment, stationed at Floriana Barracks, but only one man of that regiment died from the disease.
1873 1st/13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
In 1873, the 1st/13th had an average strength of 658 men. It had 600 admissions (911.8/1000 mean strength) into hospital with 4 deaths (6.08/1000 mean strength). The men occupied Floriana Barracks.
1874 1st/13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
The 1st/13th Regiment had an average strength of 588 men. It had 613 admissions (1042.5/1000 mean strength) into hospital with 3 deaths (5.10 deaths/1000 mean strength). It had 18 invalids returned to England. The 1st/13th Regiment had 289 admissions/1000 mean strength for continued fevers. The men were at Isola Gate Barracks.
3 Dec 1874 The 1st/13th Foot embarked for the Cape of Good Hope where it arrived on 7 January 1875. It was relieved in Malta by the 42nd Royal Highland (The Black Watch).
The 2nd/The Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
1877 2nd/13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
27 July 1877 The 2nd/13th left Aldershot on 27 July 1877 and embarked at Portsmouth. It disembarked at Malta on 6 August 1877.
The 2nd/13th Foot had an average strength of 345 men. It had 384 admissions (1113/1000 mean strength) into hospital with 3 deaths (8.72/1000 mean strength). It had 1 invalid returned to England. Its average daily sick was 18.67 (54.11/1000 mean strength). The average sick time to each soldier was 19.75 days. The average duration of cases of sickness was 17.73 days.
In Aug 1877, the sudden arrival of the 2nd/2nd, and the 2nd/13th Regiments forced the Government to reoccupy of the Old Lazaretto Barracks and other buildings not hitherto in use. After the embarkation of the 2nd/2nd for India, the old Lazaretto Barracks on Manoel Island, which was unfit for habitation, was handed back to the Civil Government.
10 Nov 1877 Pte R. H. 2nd/13th Regiment, aged 20 years, had served at Malta for seven months when in Nov 1877, he complained of an acute inflammation of his right ankle joint. Pte R. H. was invalided to the Royal Victoria Hospital Netley where he arrived on 3 Mar 1878. He had pain and suppuration over the lower fibula which required his ankle joint to be excised under ether anaesthesia on 12 May 1878.3
1878 2nd/13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's LI)
The 2nd/13th Foot had an average strength of 108 men. It had 98 admissions (907.4/1000 mean strength) into hospital with 1 death (9.26 deaths/1000 mean strength). 10 invalids were returned to England. Its average constantly sick was 7.13 (66.02/1000 mean strength). The average sick time to each soldier was 24.10 days. The average duration of cases of sickness was 26.16 days.
21 Feb 1878 The 2nd/13th Regiment embarked for Bombay where it arrived on 14 March 1878.
The 2nd/The Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
1908 2nd/Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
12 Nov 1908 The 2nd/Somersetshire Light Infantry embarked on the Rohilla at Plymouth on 5 November. It disembarked in Malta on 12 November.
Burials in Pietà Military Cemetery in 1908:
- 30 Nov 1908 Pte William Singer aged 34 years, who died by drowning.
1909 2nd/Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
Baptisms in 1909:
- 6 June Charles Robert Frank Sampson born on 15 May 1909, son of Ada and Cpl Arthur James Leyland Sampson, of Msida Bastion Married Quarters, Floriana.
- 6 Aug James Edward Keys born on 21 July 1909, son of Ada and CSgt James Keys, of Msida Bastion Married Quarters, Floriana.
- 14 Nov Percival Charles Watts born on 11 October 1909, son of Emma and Pte John Henry Charles Watts, of Married Quarters, Floriana.
- 5 Dec Edith Mary Joyner Russell born on 5 November 1909, daughter of Edith Mary Joyner and Sgt Samuel Albert Russell, of Msida Bastion, Floriana.
1910 2nd/Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
18 July 1910 William Alfred Percival born on 8 February 1889 enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 7 August 1907. He served with his regiment in Malta from 10 September 1909 to 16 September 1911 and left Malta for China on 17 September 1911.
On 1 September 1913, he transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps serving with the BEF in France on the outbreak of the Great War. He was back in Malta with the RAMC from 25 September 1921 to 16 April 1927 during which time he deployed to the Dardanelles from 21 September 1922 to 1 September 1923.
Baptisms in 1910:
- 17 Apr Charles Albert Ward born on 4 January 1910, son of Edith Amelia and Cpl Charles Herbert Ward, of Msida Bastion Married Quarters, Floriana.
- 23 Oct Joyce MacDonald born on 31 August 1910, daughter of Doris May and Bandmaster Alexander Campbell MacDonald of Floriana.
Burials in 1910:
- 18 July 1910 Arthur Ford son of Sgt and Mrs R Ford died 18 July 1910 at Ghajn Tuffieha aged 6 mths.
1911 2nd/Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
17 Sep The 2nd/Somersetshire Light Infantry embarked on the Somali for Ching Wang Tao, China where it arrived on 23/25 October 1911.
Baptisms in 1911:
- 5 Mar Gilbert Arthur Hawker born on 22 January 1911, son of Emily and Pte Alick Robert Hawker, of No 36, Strada Mensia, St Julians.
- 30 Apr Phyllis Edith Small born on 9 March 1911, daughter of Beatrice Branchflower and Sgt Frederick Small, of No 1 B, Married Quarters, St Andrews Barracks, Pembroke Camp.
- 30 Apr John Leslie Galbraith born on 12 April 1911, son of Beatrice Maud and CSgt John Samuel Galbraith, of No 12 C, Married Quarters, St Andrews Barracks, Pembroke Camp.
- 9 July Vera Emily Maud Membry born on 13 June 1911, daughter of Maud Edith and CSgt Arthur Membry, of Married Quarters, St Andrews Barracks, Pembroke Camp.
- 9 July John Robert Donnelly born on 16 June 1911, son of Rosetta Emily Elizabeth and Sgt Edwin James Donnelly, of Married Quarters, St Andrews Barracks, Pembroke Camp.
Burials in 1911:
- 12 July 1911 Connie May Woodman died aged 8 mths and was buried at Pembroke Military Cemetery, St Andrews
The 2nd/The Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
1956 2nd/Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
16 Aug 1956 The 2nd Battalion enplaned for Malta. It moved in a summer camp at Ghadira Bay Mellieha in preparation for Egypt.
During the Suez Crises only the anti-tank platoon deployed, while the rest of the regiment remained in Malta.
11 Nov The 2nd Battalion embarked for Cyprus on HMS Ocean in a peace keeping role.
Bibliography
- Whitehead K., 1961. History of the Somerset Light Infantry 1946 – 1960, William Clowes and Sons Ltd.
- Badges of H M Services. Briggs and Co Ltd, Manchester.
- 1TNA:CO 158/6: 20 May 1802, Fox to Hobart re trial of a sergeant and 4 privates of The 13th Regiment for assault and rape.
- 2Army Medical Department, Statistical, Sanitary, and Medical Report for 1872, Vol XIV; London 1874.
- 3Porter J.H., Excision of the right ankle joint for caries Br Med J. (1878), 2; 1136: 791 (Published 30 November 1878).
- TNA:WO 379/11. Stations of Regiments 1859–1900.
- TNA:WO 379/15. Stations of Regiments 1901–1920.
- TNA:WO 156/113. Register of burials September 1853 to June 1862.