56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot

Below is some genealogy information on the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot of the British army that may help searches for military ancestors.

Description: Formed in 1755 as the 58th Regiment of Foot. In 1756 they were renamed the 56th Regiment of Foot. They saw action in the Seven Years War. They saw action in the American War of Independence. They saw action in the Napoleonic war, some fighting aboard the HMS Psyche and HMS Piedmontaise. They saw action in the Crimean war, fighting at Sevastapol. In 1881 they formed the Essex Regiment by amalgamating with the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot. They saw action during the Boer Wars, fighting at Kimberley and Paardenburg. During the First World War they fought across the Western front at battles such as Mons, Le Cateau, Marne, Aisne, Messines, the 1st battle of Ypres, the 2nd battle of Ypres, , Aubers Bridge, Loos, the Somme (1916), the Hindenburg Line, Arras, Cambrai, the 1st battle of the Somme (1918), Lys, the advance in Flanders, the 2nd battle of Arras (1917), Selle, Valenciennes and Passchendaele. Over 900 men were lost at the Somme alone. In 1958 they merged with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, forming the East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot). In 1964 the East Anglian Brigade formed the Royal Anglian Regiment. Their nickname is The Pompadours.

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