Brief History of Kings Regiment
The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was a regiment of the British Army. Having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th in 1751, the regiment was one of the oldest in the army. As the city regiment of Liverpool, the King's was one of only three regiments affiliated to a city in the British Army (the others being the Royal Fusiliers and the Manchester Regiment). After 273 years of continuous existence, the regiment was amalgamated with the Manchesters in 1958.
It notably saw active service in the Second Boer War, the two World Wars, and the Korean War. Nine Victoria Crosses (VC) were awarded to the regiment, the first in 1900 and the last in 1918. An additional two VCs were awarded to Royal Army Medical Corps officer Noel Godfrey Chavasse, who was attached to the Liverpool Scottish during the First World War.
The regiment was referred to variously as L'POOL R, the Liverpools, KLR and the King's. The usage of "L'POOL R" and "the Liverpools" was most prevalent from the 1880s to the 1920s.
In 1881, under the Cardwell-Childers reforms, the British Army's structure was substantially reorganised: most regiments were amalgamated, given city or county affiliation and the regular, militia, and volunteer battalions were integrated into one regimental structure. Thus, on 1 July, the two battalions of the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot became the 1st and 2nd Battalions, The King's (Liverpool Regiment). The 8th King's had been associated with Liverpool since 1873, when the regiment was allocated to the 13th Brigade Depot in Liverpool. Many of the non-regular militia and volunteer battalions that existed in Lancashire and the Isle of Man became reserve battalions of the regiment. By 1908, the regiment was one of the largest in the British Army. Some of the battalions maintained individual distinctions, such as unique titles, cap badges, uniforms, and honorary colonels.
The 1st King's were based in North West England during the period of the army's reforms — its time there was not entirely peaceful. While based in Salford Barracks, Manchester, the battalion was subject to a bomb attack by "Fenians". The barracks sustained some structural damage as a result of the explosion, which killed a child and badly wounded its mother.[1] The battalion was also called upon to help quell riots that broke out following a mineworkers' strike. In 1882, the battalion was posted to Ireland, based in the Curragh. Though the posting was overall uneventful, the battalion did help reestablish order during four riots in Belfast following the defeat of the 1886 Home Rule Bill in the British Parliament. About fifty people died during the disturbances. The battalion returned to England three years later.
on the 1 July 2006 the Kings were amalgamated with the KORB & QLR to make the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment see web site
www.army.mod.uk/lancs/index.htm