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In the summer of 1854, the Inniskillings boarded four Transports bound for Calcutta, India. There were 227 souls aboard the transport Charlotte, including 16 women and 28 children.
The Inniskillings had returned to Ireland from the war on the continent, landing in Belfast in February 1748. They would remain in Ireland until 1757. The Regiment resumed its peacetime manning when it was reduced by four companies. The remaining companies were manned by two sergeants, two corporals, one drummer and twenty-nine private soldiers.
In 1943, there were two Inniskilling battalions in General Montgomery's Eighth Army. The 2nd Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was in 13 Infantry Brigade and its sister battalion, the 6th Inniskillings, was part of 38 (Irish) Brigade as the Allies advanced from Sicily to continue the liberation of the Italian mainland. The 2nd Inniskillings landed on the 'toe' of Italy just north of Reggio on 3 September, and then on 6 September was again at sea aboard landing crafts as it jumped forward to land some 15 miles north of the Straits of Messina.
The 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was placed under orders to proceed from North China to India, and on 26 October, embarked at Chin-Wang-Pao, the port of Tientsin (nowTianjin).
When the political situation suddenly became threatening, the Inniskillings were recalled in such haste to Tientsin that their warm winter clothing was left buried in the hold of the ship. It was a mishap which caused all ranks no little inconvenience and hardship during the severe Chinese winter.
The 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was the only regiment to have been awarded the 'Freedom of the City' where the city was the capital of a British colony. The Inniskillings were stationed in Kenya when the Battalion received the Freedom of Nairobi.
To read more about the Inniskillings' tours in Kenya click on Kenya.
On 2 February, after a visit by the Fifth (US) Army Commander, General Mark Clark, the 2nd Inniskillings were given one week of rest and recuperation. The Battalion retired south of the River Garigliano and went to the town of Falciano.
On 14 January 1795, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the French army crossed the River Waal and attacked along the line of British posts. Unable to stop them, the Duke of York ordered the army, which included the Inniskillings, to withdraw to the villages of Amersfoot and Deventer, as a prelude to the retreat through Holland and Westphalia to Bremen.
Since May 1835, the 27th Inniskilling Regiment had served in South Africa and was ordered home in early 1848. Departing from Cape Town on the Troubadour, the Regiment arrived at Gravesend, Kent on 18 April 1848. However, the Battle Honour for actions during this period was eventually granted when General Order Number 252, issued on 1 September 1882, granted permission for the Regiment to bear the distinction SOUTH AFRICA 1835,’46-47 as borne on today’s Regimental Colours of The Royal Irish Regiment.
Following the Battle of Colenso, in which the 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers suffered so many casualties* that the Battalion, while it slowly recovered its strength, remained on garrison duty in Ladysmith until August. For five months the Battalion feared that the Boer War might end before it had the opportunity of further active service.
Following a period of pre-deployment leave, the 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers reassembled in Gravesend on 3 September 1965, to prepare for the main body move by air to West Berlin Garrison in October. At the end of the Berlin tour, the Battalion moved from Brooke Barracks, Spandau to Norton Barracks Worcester, England in October 1967.
