Victorian Era

The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment was on garrison duty in Baluchistan in 1839 at the start of the First Afghan War. It was to form part of the force that attacked the previously-impregnable city of Ghazni, successfully capturing the city by storm because the army lacked siege equipment, which provided an open route to Kabul. The regiment returned to India in November 1839, storming the city of Khelat en route, and avoiding destruction along with the rest of Elphinstone's army.

The Queen’s were shipped to the Cape Colony during the Eighth Kaffir War in 1851. On February 25th 1852 a draft of 51 men under the command of Ensign Boyland were aboard HMS Birkenhead travelling from Simon's Bay to Port Elizabeth when the ship struck rocks. The troops were assembled on deck and remained at attention to afford the embarked women and children time to take their place in the lifeboats. Shortly after this the ship broke up and the vast majority of the troops on board were either drowned or fell victim to sharks. The bravery of the troops, made up of cadres from ten different regiments, lead to the naming of Birkenhead Drill.

The regiment once again returned to full strength when the 2nd Battalion was reformed in 1857, and were posted to China in 1860 at the time of the Second Opium War, fighting at the Third Battle of Taku Forts and the capture of Beijing. In 1897–98, they took part in the Tirah Expedition on the North-West Frontier. The 2nd Battalion fought in the Third Anglo-Burmese War from 1886 to 1888 and in South Africa from 1899 to 1904 in the Second Boer War.

In 1909, many years after the event, the Regiment was granted the Battle Honour of "Tangier 1662-80", the oldest in the British Army. The Honour is still held by its successor, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

Battle honours:

Namur 1695, Ushant, Egypt, Vimiera, Corunna, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Toulouse, Peninsula, Ghuznee 1839, Khelat, Affghanistan 1839, South Africa 1851-2-3, Taku Forts, Pekin 1860, Burma 1885-87, Tirah, Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902