page_title: Royal Norfolk Regiment
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Norfolk Regiment / History / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of John Neil Randle, awarded the Victoria Cross: India, 6 May 1944.
context_page_description: The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named the 9th Regiment of Foot.
  It was formed as the Norfolk Regiment in 1881 under the Childers Reforms of the British Army as the county regiment of Norfolk by merging the 9th Regiment of Foot with the local Militia and Rifle Volunteers battalions.
  The Norfolk Regiment fought in the Great War on the Western Front and in the Middle East. After the war, the regiment became the Royal Norfolk Regiment on 3 June 1935. The regiment fought with distinction in the Second World War, in action in the Battle of France and Belgium, the Far East, and then in the invasion of, and subsequent operations in, North-west Europe.
context_section_description: The regiment was renamed to the Royal Norfolk Regiment on 3 June 1935 to celebrate 250 years since the regiment was first raised and also to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. In 1940, the first decorations for gallantry awarded to the British Expeditionary Force in France were gained by men of the 2nd Battalion. Captain Frank Peter Barclay, was awarded the Military Cross, and Lance-Corporal Davis the Military Medal. Captain F.P. Barclay would later lead the 1st Battalion in the North West Europe Campaign towards the end of the war. Five members of the Royal Norfolks, the highest number of any British Army regiment during the Second World War, were awarded the Victoria Cross:
  David Auldjo Jamieson
  John Niel Randle
  George Gristock
  Sidney Bates
  George Arthur Knowland
caption: John Niel Randle VC
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