The South Lancashire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958.

The regiment, which recruited, as its title suggests, primarily from the South Lancashire area, was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 as the Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) by the amalgamation of the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot and the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers). It was deployed to Aden in 1884 and returned to the United Kingdom in 1886, where it remained until 1899. The 1st Battalion lost 41 men during the Battle of Spion Kop in February 1900, but then captured Green Hill at the Battle of the Tugela Heights later that month during the Second Boer War.

At the same time as the 40th and 82nd regiments amalgamated to form the South Lancashire Regiment, the 4th Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own Light Infantry) became the new regiment's 3rd Battalion.

In 1881, the local units of the Volunteer Force were affiliated to the regiment. In 1886, the 9th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps at Warrington and Newton, and the 21st Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps at St Helens and Widnes became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions of the regiment.

The 2nd Battalion spent most of the first 30 years of its existence overseas, while the 3rd Battalion was embodied specifically for service in the Second Boer War. In addition, the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions raised a service company to reinforce the 1st Battalion in the field.

Following the end of the war in South Africa in 1902, the 1st battalion was sent to British India, where they replaced the 2nd battalion in Jubbulpore in Bengal. The 2nd battalion returned home, for the first times since 1884.

In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve battalion and two Territorial battalions.

The First World War

thumb|left|Grave of 31097 Private W. Jaundrell buried at Locre No.10 Cemetery, [[Loker]]

Regular Army

The 1st Battalion spent the war on garrison duty in Quetta, Baluchistan, on the North-West Frontier. The 2nd Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 7th Brigade in the 3rd Division in August 1914 and spent the entire war on the Western Front. but went on to become prime minister. The battalion was evacuated from Gallipoli and went to Egypt in December 1915 before moving on to Mesopotamia in February 1916.

After the Armistice with Germany the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion went to Ireland and in 1919 it was stationed in Dublin carrying out duties in support of the civil power during the Partition crisis. It returned to England to be disembodied later in the year. After returning to the United Kingdom, it was transferred to the 8th Infantry Brigade (which included the 1st Suffolk Regiment and 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment) attached to the 3rd Infantry Division, nicknamed Monty's Ironsides. With this division, it landed at Sword Beach on D-Day and fought its way through the Normandy, the Netherlands and later the invasion of Germany.

Territorial Army

The 2/4th Battalion was raised in 1939 as a 2nd Line Territorial Army battalion duplicate of the 1st Line 4th Battalion, later redesignated the 1/4th Battalion. Both the 1/4th and 2/4th battalions served in the 164th Infantry Brigade, part of the 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division. In 1943, the 2/4th Battalion was transferred to the British Army's airborne forces and converted to become the 13th Parachute Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, part of the 5th Parachute Brigade, which itself was part of the newly raised 6th Airborne Division. The 13th Parachute Battalion saw combat during Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in the early hours of 6 June 1944, D-Day. The battalion served as normal infantrymen for the duration of the Battle of Normandy until being withdrawn, with the rest of the division, to England in September 1944. The 6th Airborne Division was then sent to Belgium in December 1944 to fight in the Ardennes offensive, the Battle of the Bulge. They were then involved in the largest airborne drop of the entire war with over 16,000 airborne troops taking part, known as Operation Varsity, with the US 17th Airborne Division.

thumb|left|British paratroopers of the 13th Parachute Battalion in Normandy

The 5th Territorial Battalion of the regiment was transferred to the Royal Artillery before the war and converted into the 61st (South Lancashire) Searchlight Regiment. It served in North West England, in Orkney, and in Kent against V-1 flying bombs. In late 1944, it became the 61st (South Lancashire Regiment) Garrison Regiment, Royal Artillery. In early 1945, due to a severe shortage of infantrymen in the 21st Army Group, the regiment was converted into the 612th (South Lancashire Regiment) Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery and joined the 306th Infantry Brigade, thereby releasing trained infantrymen for frontline service.

Hostilities-only

The regiment raised many other battalions for service before and during the war but most were disbanded before the war's end. The 6th (Home Defence) Battalion was raised in 1939 and, in 1941, was redesignated the 30th Battalion. It was disbanded in January 1943.

The 7th and 8th battalions were both raised in 1940 and joined the 204th Infantry Brigade. On 1 September 1942, the brigade was redesignated the 185th Infantry Brigade and the 7th Battalion was sent to India, where it remained until disbandment in 1946, as a training battalion with the 52nd Brigade. The battalion's role was training British infantry replacements in jungle warfare for the British Fourteenth Army.

The 50th (Holding) Battalion was raised in 1940. That October, it was redesignated as the 9th Battalion and joined the 225th Infantry Brigade and then the 207th Infantry Brigade. The battalion remained in the United Kingdom for the war and was later transferred to the 164th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1/4th Battalion, and supplied replacements to units overseas. It was apparently disbanded in July 1944, but another source claims it was disbanded in 1946.

Peace and amalgamation

Immediately after the war, the 1st Battalion served in Egypt and Palestine before being reduced to a cadre and amalgamated with the 2nd Battalion at Trieste in 1948. The surviving 1st Battalion saw further service in the Sudan, Britain, Berlin and Hong Kong where, in 1958, it was amalgamated with 1st Battalion, the East Lancashire Regiment, to form 1st Battalion, the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) which was later amalgamated with the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) to form the Queen's Lancashire Regiment which was, however, merged with the King's Regiment (Liverpool and Manchester), the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, in 2007, to form the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border).

Battle honours

thumb|right|Grave of a South Lancashire private killed in 1918, in the [[Bar-le-Duc Cemetery.]]

The regiment was awarded the following battle honours:

  • Private William Ratcliffe, 2nd Battalion, Great War
  • 2nd Lieutenant (later Captain), 3rd Battalion, Gabriel George Coury, Great War
  • Private (later Sergeant) John Readitt, 6th (Service) Battalion, Great War
  • Corporal (later Captain) John Thomas Davies, 11th (Service) Battalion, Great War

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were: