[1] The Childers reforms also affiliated Militia and Volunteer battalions with their local county regiments, giving the Royal West Kents the following organisation:[2][3] Regulars Militia Volunteers The 1st Battalion fought at the second battle at Kassassin on 9 September 1882 and at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir a few days later during Anglo-Egyptian War.

It then spent two years on garrison duty in Cyprus before being transferred to Sudan, where it fought at the Battle of Ginnis during the Mahdist War.

The matter was initially covered up by military authorities, but when the viceroy, Lord Curzon, upon learning of the affair, dismissed many of the men involved and punished the regiment by sending it to Aden for two years without any leave.

After only six months, they returned to the United Kingdom in March 1900,[7] to mobilize into a new 8th Division going to South Africa which was in the middle of the Second Boer War.

It stayed in South Africa until early November 1902, when it left Cape Town for Ceylon,[9] then served in Hong Kong, Singapore, Peshawar and Multan before the outbreak of the First World War.

In October, the battalion made a heroic stand at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle; being the only unit not to fall back.

It was unveiled on 30 July 1921 by Major General Sir Edmund Leach, colonel of the regiment, and dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

[23][24][25] Despite transfer to the RE, the battalion continued to wear its Kentish White Horse cap badge and 20th Londons buttons.

It remained in the United Kingdom, mainly engaged in anti-invasion duties, coastal defence, and training for future combat operations until February 1943, where the battalion left for French North Africa, arriving in Algeria in March, to take part in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign.

[27] In December 1944, the battalion was transferred to Greece to help maintain order after the German withdrawal and the subsequent break out of the Greek Civil War.

[27] Some of the prisoners were transported in cattle trucks from Greece to Wernigerode, in the Harz Mountains, where they were forced to work in support of the German war effort.

Others were transported by cattle train from Greece through the Balkans, to Stalag IV-B in Mühlburg, the largest prisoner of war camp in Germany.

In July 1944, the new 2nd Battalion was assigned to the 184th Infantry Brigade attached to the 61st Division, with which it remained for the rest of the war on home defence duties.

In August 1945, the battalion – as well as the division – was preparing to be sent to the Far East, but the move was cancelled when Imperial Japan surrendered ending the war.

The 4th Battalion was then transferred to the 161st Indian Infantry Brigade (alongside 1/1st Punjab Regiment and 4/7th Rajput Regiment), part of the 5th Indian Infantry Division, and fought in the 1944 Burma Campaign, where the battalion played a major role in the Battle of the Tennis Court, part of the larger Battle of Kohima, against the Imperial Japanese Army.

The battalion fought in the Moro River Campaign and later the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Gothic Line and the final offensive.

With the division, the 6th Royal West Kents landed in North Africa during Operation Torch and were involved in the Run for Tunis.

[30] Shortly Afterwards, the 6th Battalion, commanded by a future politician for the Conservative Party, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Bryan, landed in Italy on 24 September 1943.

[33] At the same time, the Luftwaffe was so short of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted.

[2] The 9th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was created in June 1940, consisting mainly of large numbers of conscripts.

[30] The 50th (Holding) Battalion was raised in late May 1940, with the role of 'holding' men who were homeless, unfit, awaiting orders of returning from abroad.

The battalion remained in the United Kingdom for its existence, mainly on home defence and anti-invasion duties, or guarding airfields for the Royal Air Force.

[40] After the end of the Second World War and with Indian independence in 1948, all infantry regiments in the British Army were reduced to only a single regular battalion.

In March 1949 it was redesignated 569 (The Queen's Own) (Mixed) Light Anti-Aircraft/Searchlight Regiment, reflecting a partially changed role and the inclusion of members of the Women's Royal Army Corps (hence the designation 'Mixed').

[45] The Home Guard platoon in the BBC series Dad's Army wore the cap badge of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

[46] The battle honours were as follows:[2] As the 97th Foot the regiment wore sky-blue facings on the standard red coats of the British line infantry.

This colour, which was unusual in the British Army, was obtained from the Order of Saint Patrick decoration and led to the "Celestials" nickname.

The 50th Foot (the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment) had black facings until 1831 and subsequently dark blue.