Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Cap badge of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, c1898-c1921.
NAM. 2008-10-17-2

Introduction

Bombay became a British possession in 1661 as part of Catherine of Braganza's marriage dowry to Charles II. A year later he raised four independent companies to garrison it and when in 1668 he transferred Bombay to the East India Company these companies were turned into the Bombay Regiment and put under Company control.

Over 70 years later, in 1742, another regiment of European troops was raised for the Company, the Madras Europeans. Both these regiments were transferred to British government control after the Indian Mutiny and in 1862 they were added to the line infantry order of precedence as the 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) and 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers).

20 years later, in the 1881 army reforms, these two former Company regiments were merged to form the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, with each regiment becoming a battalion in the new unit. It also included the territorial battalions for four Irish counties, including County Dublin itself, but it was not always based there. Indeed, the new 1st Battalion was in Ceylon at the time of the Fusiliers' formation, only coming to Britain five years later.

Cardinal Francis Bourne, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, addressing the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on the Western Front, 27 October 1917.
NAM. 1999-11-70-20

The new unit was soon deployed to the Boer War. A detachment from it was escorting an armoured train carrying the young war correspondent for the 'Morning Post', Winston Churchill, when it was ambushed on 15 November 1899. The train eventually managed to escape but Churchill and the detachment were captured. The unit also took part in the siege of Ladysmith and the battles at Colenso and Tugela Heights. It raised six battalions for the First World War, in which it won three Victoria Crosses and fought in Gallipoli and Palestine as well as on the Western Front.

The regiment also became entangled in the Easter Rising back in Dublin in 1916, when three of its battalions were sent to attack the Irish nationalists. The post-war period saw the 1st Battalion become part of the British army of occupation in Germany, whilst the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Turkey, India and then England.

In 1922 the British Dominion of the Irish Free State was established and so the five line infantry regiments that traditionally recruited in southern Ireland were disbanded. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was one of these regiments and on 12 June that year its colours were laid up at Windsor Castle.

Key facts

Motto:

• 'Spectemur Agendo' (meaning 'Let Us Be Judged By Our Actions')

Nicknames:

• The Blue Caps
• The Dubs
• The Old Toughs (after their long hard service in India)
• The Lambs

Titles to date:

• Bombay Regiment
• Bombay (European) Regiment
• 1st Bombay (European) Regiment
• 1st Bombay (European) Fusiliers
• 1st Bombay Fusiliers
• 1st Royal Bombay Fusiliers
• 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)
• Madras Europeans
• 1st Madras Europeans
• Madras European Regiment
• 1st Madras (European) Regiment
• 1st Madras (European) Fusiliers
• 1st Madras Fusiliers
• 1st Royal Madras Fusiliers
• 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)
• Royal Dublin Fusiliers

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