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Cambridgeshire was one of the first counties to raise its own Volunteer Force in 1860. In all, ten separate Rifle Volunteer Corps were raised in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, each having their own uniform, some grey and others green.
During the South African War, in response to an appeal for members of the Volunteer Force to offer themselves for active service, a contingent of 3 officers (including the Padre) and 43 Other Ranks joined the Volunteer Service Company of The Suffolk Regiment. The party saw much heavy fighting and earned the Regiment's first Battle Honour "South Africa 1900-1901".
The Volunteer Force came to an end in March 1908 and the Territorial Force was created in its stead. The 3rd (Cambridgeshire) Volunteer Battalion The Suffolk Regiment held its last parade laid up its Colours in Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge and became the 1st Battalion The Cambridgeshire Regiment.
One of the most outstanding exploits of the 1/1st Battalion was the capture of the Schwaben Redoubt in October 1916. This strong fortress dominated Thiepval and the Ancre, and successive attacks had failed to take it. It was finally gained on 15 October by 1/1st Cambridgeshires and 4/5th Black Watch after hours of bitter fighting and severe losses. The action was the subject of a special commendation by Field Marshal The Earl Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, who referred to it as 'one of the finest feats of arms in the history of the British Army'.
At the beginning of 1939, a 2nd battalion was formed. After mobilisation both battalions spent the first year of the War on defence duties along the Norfolk coast. Following a period of training, they embarked overseas arriving in January 1942.
Both battalions earned commendations for their bravery and steadfastness in battle. 24 Officers and 760 Other Ranks were killed in action or died as prisoners of war at the hands of the Japanese. Many more died within a year of returning to the United Kingdon, the majority of those who survived captivity continued to suffer mental and physical problems for the rest of their lives.
The 1st Battalion arrived in time to take part in the final battles for Singapore. Moving straight into the line, they dug in around Sime Road Camp and proceeded to hold their positions against constant attacks by superior numbers of infantry and tanks. When Singapore finally fell they had been surrounded for two days but were still unbroken.
On arrival in Singapore, the 2nd Battalion were sent to reinforce the 15th Indian Brigade at Batu Pahat. The garrison was soon surrounded. They help the town against a division of the Japanese Imperial Guards for ten days. The survivors were ordered to cut their way out to re-join the British line 30 miles to the South. Some 500 members of the Battalion fought their way back to Singapore Island.
The production of a secret radio began in June 1942. The parts were scavenged from abandoned ex-RAF equipment carelessly deposited by the Japanese outside their Guardroom at Sime Road Camp. A radio was built and hidden in the latrines with the aerial in the atap roof, and powered from the mains. Each night the News was taken down and a news bulletin prepared.
On arrival at Chungkai Camp in Thailand, the radio had to be converted to battery power. Several miniature sets were made. One set was built into a cigarette tin and was powered by batteries covertly bought from local Chinese traders. When the 2nd Battalion was moved to Bankau Camp, the radio was reconstructed in a standard issue water bottle, cleverly arranged to still contain water.
At Wan Tai Kien Camp a Japanese guard heard that the set existed but his greater interest was in acquiring Captain John Beckett’s Rolex watch and this saved the day. Each move produced its own security problems.
The radio, which received BBC World Service Bulletins, survived numerous searches by the Japanese guards and Kempetei, until the Battalion returned to the base camp at Chungkai, where a similar radio was already working.
When the Territorial Army (TA) was reformed in 1947, the battalion became a light anti-aircraft regiment and although a part of the Royal Artillery, were granted the right to retain their Colours, Drums, badges and buttons.
They were equipped with Bofors and Bristol Bofors 40mm QF guns and trained for the air defence of airfields in East Anglia. In 1954, the Regiment was selected for duty with 16 Airborne Division (TA), armed with 4.2 inch mortars. In 1956 they became, once again, 1st Battalion The Cambridgeshire Regiment (TA).
In 1971, they became part of the 6th (Volunteer) Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and remain so until the present day.
There was a general reduction in the size of the Territorial Army in 1961, and the 1st Cambridgeshires were amalgamated with the 4th Battalion The Suffolk Regiment to form the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Regiment (TAVR). They were disbanded in 1967.
The Regiment's Battle Honours are as follows:
The regimental chapel of the Cambridgeshire Regiment is St. George's Chapel in Ely Cathedral. It serves as a war memorial for the regiment and contains memorials, historical items, and the regimental colours.
After the Royal British Legion Riders completed research into every one of the 876 Cambridgeshire Regiment personnel who died in World War One, the committee who had undertaken the work were awarded the Freedom of the town by Wisbech Town Council in 2015.
The 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment predominately recruits from the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Links with the former Cambridgeshire Regiment are maintained through “D (Cambridgeshire) Company” which proudly continues the linage from 1860 to the present day.