Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that saw active service from 1881 to 1958 . Members of the regiment were recruited from across Essex county . Its lineage is continued by the Royal Anglian Regiment . Origins . The Essex Regiment was formed in 1881 following the union of the 44th ( East Essex ) Regiment of Foot and the 56th ( West Essex ) Regiment of Foot . The merger was part of Childers Reforms of the British Army . The new regiment was designated The Essex Regiment . The Old 44th became the 1st Battalion of the new regiment and the Old 56th became the 2nd Battalion . For history of the regiment prior to 1881 see : Second Anglo - Boer War ( 1899 - 1902 ) . The 1st Battalion and the 2nd Battalion both served in South Africa during the Second Anglo - Boer War . Notably , the regiment participated in the Relief of Kimberley and the Battle of Paardeberg . First World War ( 1914 - 1918 ) . During World War I the Essex Regiment provided 30 infantry battalions to the British Army . The 3rd ( Special Reserve ) ( formerly Militia ) battalion was mobilised to supply drafts to the two Regular battalions . On the outbreak of war , the Territorial battalions ( 4th - 7th , and 8th ( Cyclist ) Bns ) all formed second line ( 2 / 4 - 2 / 8th ) and eventually third line ( 3 / 4th - 3 / 8th ) battalions . Three service battalions ( 9th - 11th ) and one reserve battalion ( 12th ) were formed from volunteers in 1914 as part of Kitchener ' s Army , and a further service battalion ( 13th ( West Ham ) ) was raised by the Mayor and Borough of West Ham . Reserve battalions created as the war progressed included the 14th ( from the depot companies of the 13th ) , 15th - 17th ( from provisional battalions ) , 18th ( Home Service ) and 1st and 2nd Garrison Bns . The regiment ' s battle honours for the First World War include Le Cateau , Ypres , Loos , Somme , Cambrai , Gallipoli and Gaza . Battle of the Somme . 1st Battalion took part in the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916 . The battalion ( comprising W , X , Y , and Z companies ) took up position in the British trenches at 3 : 30 am . At 8 : 40 am , the battalion received orders to advance and clear the German first - line trenches . The battalion was delayed by heavy enemy fire and congestion in the communication trenches . The Newfoundland Regiment advancing to the left of the Essex battalion was almost entirely wiped out as they advanced towards German lines . At 10 : 50 am , the Essex companies were in position and received orders to go " over the top " . Companies came under heavy artillery and MG barrage immediately they appeared over the parapet , causing heavy losses . The attack became bogged down in no man ' s land . The battalion received orders from 88th Brigade headquarters to recommence the attack for 12 : 30 pm , but at 12 : 20 pm the battalion commander advised brigade HQ that " owing to casualties and disorganisation " , it was impossible to renew the attack . The survivors of the battalion received orders to hold their position along the line of Mary Redan – New Trench – Regent Street . Thiepval Memorial . The names of 949 members of the Essex Regiment are recorded on the Thiepval Memorial , commemorating the officers and men of the regiment who died on the Somme and have no known grave . Irish War of Independence ( 1919 - 1921 ) . 1st Battalion was stationed in Kinsale in County Cork during the Irish War of Independence . Major Percival . From 1920 , Major Arthur Ernest Percival ( later a Lieutenant General ) served as a company commander then as the battalion ' s intelligence officer . Percival later volunteered to serve with the Royal Irish Constabulary during the IRA campaign for Irish independence . Through him large numbers of Essex regiment veterans joined the RIC . Percival ' s First World War experience quickly got him seconded toward intelligence , counter - intelligence , and counter - insurgency operations . As such he and his fellow Essex regimental veterans were trained in counter - insurgency tactics . Combining both intelligence and rapid response teams in mobile squads , Percival and his Essex veterans staged numerous operations to break the back of the IRA . Consequently , he and his fellow Essex veterans were regarded by Royalist as an efficient counter - terrorist officer . This effectiveness appears seconded by the Republicans who came to regard Percival and the Essex men as one of its primary foes . As the IRA guerrilla war intensified and IRA assassinations were met with death squads , a large bounty was placed on the death of Percival and Essex men . Eventually , the IRA increased its bounty on Percival to £1000 , a significant sum of money for the period . Although numerous Essex men and several of their wives and children were murdered by the IRA , all attempts to assassinate Percival failed . In July 1920 the Essex Regiment captured Tom Hales , commander of the IRA 3rd Cork Brigade , and Patrick Harte , quartermaster of the West Cork Brigade . Both men were severely beaten during interrogation - Harte was subsequently sent to Broadmoor . Crossbarry . As a result of the intelligence gained by captured IRA leaders such as Harte and Hales , headquarters at the Dublin Castle took over command of the Cork area of operations from Percival , hoping to use a combined Royal Irish Army and RIC force to smash the IRA . The Castle ' s general goal was to use a series of interlocking regular military positions to encircle the area and then using reinforced RIC patrols to search and flush the IRA from within its community . In March 1921 at Crossbarry in County Cork the Essex regiment encircled the IRA " West Cork Flying Column " with 1 , 200 troops and soon managed to flush out a company sized element of the IRA . The IRA flying column , under the command of Tom Barry , numbered 104 volunteers . However , rather than attempting to immediately destroy this IRA element which had been met in contact , Percival , RIC and the Essex regiment were ordered to link with the larger regular forces in an attempt to encircle the entire 1 , 200 IRA force . However , the delay in tempo needed to carry out this encirclement and lack of communications between RIC mobile teams and the Regulars resulted in pressure being taken off of Barry ' s IRA force . This allowed the IRA force to attack and overwhelm a number of isolated army positions , which appeared to create an opening out of the encirclement . Foreseeing a break - out , Percival ordered his Essex and RIC mobile team to regroup and lay an ambush outside of the opening . Simultaneously , the larger regular force misunderstood Percival ' s objective and thought it saw an opportunity created to destroy the entire IRA in Cork . Consequently , it abandoned most of its encircling positions and regrouped the regulars for a single large attack on the ambush site . Meanwhile , believing his column had little chance of escaping , Barry ordered his IRA to break out in small groups as best they could throughout the encirclement . Thus , in a stroke of luck , most of Barry ' s IRA column simply passed through the abandoned encircling army posts . A small IRA detachment did attempt to break out through the British ambush site . However , as the RIC and Essex group were about to spring their ambush , an Irish regular force racing to the ambush site ran into the IRA detachment and was quickly engaged . In the resulting firefight , the IRA detachment disrupted the Royal column and then melted out of the ambush site . In total , the Royal Army stationed 12 , 500 troops in County Cork during the conflict , while Barry ' s men numbered no more than 110 soldiers and a few hundred supporters , suppliers , and armorers . The British Army failed to subdue the IRA flying column , and Barry ' s tactics made West Cork ungovernable for the British . In Tom Barry ' s book " Guerrilla Days In Ireland " written in 1949 , Tom Barry gives first - hand account on the Essex collision with his flying column . Turkey ( 1922 ) . At the conclusion of the First World War Britain maintained a garrison at Constantinople to ensure free passage of the sea lanes between Aegean and Black Sea . The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and its transformation into the Turkish Republic coincided with the rise of Greek nationalism , resulting in the Greco - Turkish War . British Prime Minister David Lloyd George increased the size of the British garrison - which included 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment . The garrison was withdrawn in 1923 . Saar Plebiscite ( 1935 ) . As part of the Treaty of Versailles , the Saarland province , on the border of France and Germany , was put under French control . In 1935 , by the terms of the treaty , the people of the Saarland were to determine whether to remain as part of France , or to become German . The British government sent 13th Brigade as a supervisory force to the Saarland , which comprised 1st Battalion , the Essex Regiment , 1st Battalion , the East Lancashire Regiment , and 16th / 5th Lancers . The result of the plebiscite was 90 . 3 % voting to join Germany ( then under Nazi government ) . Palestine ( 1936 - 1939 ) . From Germany , the 1st Battalion moved to Catterick in 1935 and thence to Palestine in 1936 where it took part in putting down the Arab revolt . India ( 1922 - 1935 ) . The 2nd Battalion spent the 13 - year period 1922 to 1935 as part of the British garrison in India . During this lengthy period of overseas service the 2nd Battalion was stationed at Ambala ( 1922 – 1927 ) , Landi Kotal ( 1927 – 1929 ) , Nowshera ( 1929 – 1931 ) , Nasirabad ( 1931 – 1933 ) , and Bombay ( 1933 – 1935 ) . The 2nd Battalion spent an additional year overseas in Sudan ( 1935 – 1936 ) , before finally returning to Britain and the regimental depot at Warley . Between the Wars . The 8th ( Cyclist ) Battalion was disbanded in 1920 , and in 1935 the 7th was converted into 59 ( The Essex Regiment ) Heavy Anti - Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery . Second World War ( 1939 - 1945 ) . Of the Regulars , the 1st Battalion served in British and Indian Infantry Brigades in Sudan , Egypt , Libya , Syria and Burma . The battalion served in 23 Infantry Brigade for a few months at the beginning of the war and rejoined in October 1941 and remained with it until mid 1945 when they joined 29 Infantry Brigade . They served at Tobruk , in the campaign in Syria , before moving to India with 70 Infantry Division , which became the core of the Special Force . In September 1943 the brigade ' s role changed to Long Range Penetration and the 1st Battalion formed 44 and 56 Columns of the Chindits and operated in the Japanese rear during the battles of Imphal - Kohima . The battalion had the rare achievement of fighting against the Italians , Germans , French and Japanese . The 2nd Battalion was part of the independent 56th Infantry Brigade . This brigade was landed on Gold Beach on D - Day from roughly 1 . 00 pm and immediately set off inland . Taking part in the battle of Le Havre , elements of the regiment discovered the German payroll for the Le Havre garrison in the basement of the hospital . On the approach of war the two remaining Territorial battalions once again raised duplicate battalions , and all four ( 1 / 4th , 2 / 4th , 1 / 5th and 2 / 5th ) began the war in 161st Infantry Brigade , but 2 / 4th was immediately detached to help form 163rd Infantry Brigade as a duplicate of 161 Bde . Both brigades were part of 54th ( East Anglian ) Infantry Division , but in January 1941 , 161 Bde was sent by sea to Sierra Leone in West Africa . In June that year it was sent round by sea to join Middle East Command , where it was transferred to the Indian Army . 1 / 4th Bn served with 4th Indian Division and 1 / 5th and 2 / 5th ( merged to form 5th Bn ) served with 8th Indian Division . Both saw service in Palestine , North Africa and Italy , with 4th Indian Division in action at the Second Battle of El Alamein . 2 / 4th Bn remained in the UK throughout the war . A 7th ( Home Defence ) Battalion was formed in 1939 but disappeared in 1941 . The 8th Battalion , raised in 1940 , was converted to armour in 1941 , becoming 153rd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps , but continued to wear their Essex cap badge on the black beret of the RAC . During the conversion , surplus personnel were formed into ' R ' Company Essex Regiment , which soon afterwards was designated V Corps HQ Defence Company . 153 RAC fought in Normandy . New 9th and 10th Battalions were also formed in 1940 , and served in various home defence brigades before being disbanded in 1941 and 1942 respectively , the 10th Battalion forming the bulk of the 9th ( Eastern and Home Counties ) Parachute Battalion . A 19th Battalion was also formed , which carried out line of communication duties in the Middle East and Eritrea . After defending Essex during the Battle of Britain and Blitz , 59 ( The Essex Regiment ) HAA Regiment landed in North Africa with First Army in November 1942 , and later saw service with Eighth Army in Italy . Post - 1945 . The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1948 . In 1951 - 53 the Regiment was stationed in Luneburg , Germany , as part of the B . A . O . R . In mid 1953 the regiment sailed on the Troopship " Asturias " for a year in Korea . The next move was in 1954 to be part of the Hong Kong Garrison . The 1st Battalion merged with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment in 1958 to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment ( 16th / 44th Foot ) . In 1964 the regiments of the East Anglian Brigade formed the new Royal Anglian Regiment . The Essex heritage continued in the regiment ' s 3rd Battalion ( also known as ' The Pompadours ' ) . In 1992 , the 3rd Battalion was disbanded and the old Essex connection ceased . However , infantry recruits from Essex county are assigned to companies in the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment if they wish to serve with others from their county . C ( Essex ) Company , 1st Battalion , Royal Anglian Regiment continues the Essex link . Territorial Army . The " Essex " tradition also continues in the Territorial Army . The Essex infantry reservists are represented by E ( Essex and Hertford ) Company , The East of England Regiment . Under recent changes the East of England Regiment was retitled 3rd Battalion , Royal Anglian Regiment . The drums of the former 4 / 5th Battalion are still carried by the Corps of Drums of King Edward VI Grammar School , Chelmsford . who also wear the Regiment ' s full dress of scarlet tunic and Pompadour purple facings . The King Edward VI Grammar School Corps of Drums is currently led by Drum Major Christopher Nisbett . The Corps has approximately 25 members with the older drummers passing on the skills to the junior drummers and new recruits . Every year the Corps of Drums plays at Warley Barracks , Brentwood to the veterans of the Essex Regiment at the Essex Regiment Reunion . Recipients of the Victoria Cross . The following members of the Essex Regiment have been awarded the Victoria Cross The Essex Regiment Museum : Essex Regiment Chapel . The Essex Regiment Chapel is located in Eagle Way , Warley , in Essex ( ) . The chapel was built in 1857 and is a Grade II listed building . It was originally built for the British East India Company , but with the establishment of the Essex Regiment Depot at Warley , the chapel became the regiment ' s " home " church . The chapel ' s interior contains displays of regimental history , memorials , heraldry , and old regimental colours . The chapel is open by appointment , and on regimental heritage days . The chapel is near to the Warley ( Brentwood ) Territorial Army drill hall , which is the headquarters of 124 Petroleum Squadron , part of 151 ( London ) Transport Regiment of the Royal Logistics Corps . The site of the old regimental depot and barracks at Warley is now the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company in the UK . Most of the barracks have been demolished and only the chapel , the officer ' s mess ( now Marillac Nursing Home ) and one of the regimental gyms ( Keys Hall ) remain . Essex Regiment Museum . The Essex Regiment Museum is part of the Chelmsford Museums and is located in Oaklands Park , Moulsham Street , Chelmsford ( ) . It has been redeveloped and re - opened in early 2010 .