The 57th gained the name during the Peninsular War when, at the Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811 their commander Colonel Inglis had his horse shot from under him.

The 10th Battalion was formed by a nucleus of 300 officers and men from the disbanded 2nd (South Middlesex) Volunteer Rifle Corps.

The regiment was also permitted to bear the coronet and cypher of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge on its colours and badges.

[9] The regiment had earlier been granted the plumes and motto of the Prince of Wales in 1810 for twenty years service in India.

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899, the 2nd battalion embarked for active service in South Africa in December 1899 and took part in the storming of Alleman's Nek in June 1900.

760 men of the 5th battalion (formerly the Royal Elthorne Light Infantry) was reported to return home on the SS Assaye in September 1902, after the war had ended.

[17] The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre, as line of communication troops, in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.

[18] The 2nd Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 23rd Brigade in the 8th Division in November 1914 also for service on the Western Front.

[18] The 3rd Battalion landed at Le Havre aspart of the 85th Brigade in the 28th Division in January 1915 for service on the Western Front before moving to Egypt in October 1915 and to Salonika in December 1915.

[18] The 4th Battalion land at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 8th Brigade in 3rd Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.

[18] In October 1966 the regiment paid a then record sum of £900 for the Victoria Cross awarded to Private Robert Edward Ryder, of the 12th (Service) Battalion, for bravery during the Battle of the Somme.

[21] The 1916 introduction of conscription saw the 30th and 31st (Works) battalions raised to accommodate British citizens who were the sons of enemy aliens.

From 1917 to 1918 eight independent companies of the Middlesex Regiment were additionally raised to provide labourers for service in France.

[29] The 1st Battalion was part of an allied force which held out against overwhelming odds for 17 days during the Battle of Hong Kong before surrendering to the Imperial Japanese Army in December 1941.