Below is some genealogy information on the 1st Foot Guards and Grenadier Guards regiment of the British army that may help searches for military ancestors.

Theatres of War, Army Regiments, Naval Detachments, RAF

Description: Formed in 1656 as Lord Wentworth's Regiment as part of Charles II's bodyguard in Belgium. In 1665 they merged with John Russell's Regiment of Guards and renamed the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. They saw action in the War of Spanish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. They saw action during the Napoleonic Wars, fighting at the battle of Waterloo. In 1815 they were given the title Grenadiers, having defeated the French grenadiers in that battle. During the Crimean War they fought at Alma, Inkerman and Sevastapol. They saw action during the Boer Wars, fighting at the battle of Modder River and Belmont and Graspan. During the First World War they fought at Mons, Marne, Aisne, the 1st battle of Ypres, Loos, the Hindenburg Line, Somme (1916), Cambrai, and Arras, having been transferred the newly created Guards Division in 1915. During the Second World War they served across the Western and African fronts, with some battalions temporarily becoming armoured. They were involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk and the invasion of Italy. Their nickname is The Bill Browns, The Coal Heavers, Old Eyes or The Sandbags.

Military actions:

• Boer war: Belmont and Graspan
• Boer war: Magersfontein
• Boer war: Modder River
• Crimean war: Alma
• Crimean war: Balaclava
• Crimean war: Inkerman
• Crimean: Siege of Sevastapol
• Napoleonic war: Waterloo
• WWI: Loos
• WWI: Somme (1916)
• WWI: 3rd battle of Ypres

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