103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)

The 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers), "the Old Toughs", was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1862 to 1881, when it was amalgamated into the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.^{[1] [2]}

The regiment was originally raised in England in 1662 as independent companies of European soldiers to garrison Bombay, newly ceded to the British crown, and were transferred to the Honourable East India Company, under the title The Bombay Regiment, when they leased Bombay in 1668. They were numbered the 1st Bombay (European) Regiment on the foundation of a second European regiment in 1839, and designated the 1st Bombay (European) Fusiliers in 1844.^{[2] [1]} As with all other "European" units of the Company, they were placed under the command of the Crown in 1858, and formally moved into the British Army in 1861, ranked as the 103rd Foot, at the same receiving the honorary designation of "royal".^[3]

As part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, the regiment was amalgamated with the 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) to form the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.^{[1] [2]}

Badges and battle honours

The regiment received the following battle honours granted by the Honourable East India Company:^[4][5]

• Kirkee: awarded in 1823 for the Battle of Khadki in the Third Anglo-Maratha War 1817-18.
• Beni Boo Ali: awarded in 1831 for the 1821 punitive expedition in Arabia.
• Aden: awarded in 1841 for participation in the Aden Expedition of 1839.
• Mooltan: awarded in 1852 for the Siege of Multan of 1848-49.
• Goojerat: awarded in 1853 for the 1849 Battle of Gujrat.
• Punjaub: awarded in 1853 for the Punjab Campaign of the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848-49.

In 1844 the regiment was granted a number of honorary distinctions recording its past service. The awards were made by the Governor General of India on 6 November 1844 in the following terms:

With the approval of the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India in Council, the Honourable the Governor in Council is pleased to direct, that the honorary distinctions specified below be borne upon the Colours and appointments of the 1st Bombay European Regiment, "Fusiliers".

• The Royal Tiger, superscribed Plassey and Buxar, for services in the Presidency of Bengal, during 1757, 1764-5, especially at the battles of Plassey and Buxar the sieges of Chandernagore, Chunar, and Allahabad.
• The Elephant superscribed Carnatic and Mysore, for services on the Coromandel Coast, in the Carnatic and Mysore, during the years 1747-8-9; 1754-5, 1760, 1764 and 1788, especially as having shared in the defence of Cuddalore (Fort St David), 16th June 1748, the operations under Admiral Boscawen, and the siege of Davi Cottah, the latter part of this and the beginning of the following year; the action with the French Army under Monsieur Maisin, between the Sugar Loaf and French Rocks on the 16th August 1754, the sieges of Pondicherry and Mihie 1760-1; the sieges of Madura and Palamcottah in 1764; the storming of the Bednore Ghauts and Capture of Bednore in 1783, and the expedition in the first campaign against Seringapatam in 1790-1-2.
• Guzerat for service at several different periods; especially throughout the whole of General Goddard's Campaign, with the Bengal Brigade in 1780, and the storming of Ahmedabad, 15th January 1780.

By order of the Hon'ble the Governor in Council.
(Sd.) P. M. Melvill, Lt Colonel,
Secretary to Government.^[6]

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the Regiment were: ^[7]

• 1862–1873: Lt-Gen. Joseph Hale
• 1873–1881: Gen. Sir William Wyllie, GCB

References

• Mainwaring, Arthur (1911). Crown and Company. The Historical Records of the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers, formerly the 1st Bombay European Regiment, 1662-1911. London: Arthur L Humphreys.