[2] The regiment was part of the amphibious expedition to the Caribbean and participated in the disastrous British defeat at the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in March 1741 during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

[4] It was also part of the amphibious expedition against, or descent on, the coast of France and participated in the disastrous British defeat at the Battle of Saint Cast in September 1758.

[5] In June 1776 the regiment was sent to Quebec where it subsequently fought American rebels who had invaded the province during their War of Independence.

The regiment was part of the 5,000 British and Hessian force, under the command of General John Burgoyne, that surrendered to the American rebels in the Saratoga campaign in summer 1777 and remained imprisoned until 1783.

The British had pitched camp at Isandlwana and not established any fortifications due to the sheer size of the force, the hard ground and a shortage of entrenching tools.

[10] During the battle Lieutenant-Colonel Pulleine ordered Lieutenants Coghill and Melvill to save the Queen's Colour—the Regimental Colour was located at Helpmekaar with G Company.

The two Lieutenants attempted to escape by crossing the Buffalo River where the Colour fell and was lost downstream, later being recovered.

[12] After the battle of Isandlwana, some 4,000 to 5,000 Zulus headed for Rorke's Drift, a small missionary post garrisoned by a company of the 2nd Battalion of the 24th Foot, a few native levies, and others under the command of Lieutenant Chard, Royal Engineers.

Two Boer cavalry officers, Lieutenants Adendorff and Vane, arrived to inform the garrison of the defeat at Isandlwana.

The Acting Assistant Commissary James Dalton persuaded Bromhead and Chard to stay and the small garrison frantically prepared rudimentary fortifications.

At one point the Zulus entered the hospital, which was stoutly defended by the wounded inside until it was set alight and eventually burnt down.

The garrison had suffered 15 killed during the battle (two died later) and 11 defenders were awarded the Victoria Cross for their distinguished defence of the post, seven going to soldiers of the 24th Foot.

[23] 2nd Battalion arrived in Cape Colony in early February 1900[24] and saw action at the Battle of Elands River in September 1901 during the Second Boer War.

[26] The 3rd (Militia) Battalion was embodied in January 1900, and the following month embarked for service in South Africa, arriving in Cape Town on the SS Cheshire in early March 1900.

[28] In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally (the Haldane Reforms), with the former becoming the Territorial Force (TF) and the latter the Special Reserve (SR).

[1][17][30] The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 3rd Brigade in the 1st Division with the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.

It remained in garrison at Mhow until October 1919, supplying reinforcement drafts to the 4th (Service) Bn, SWB, in Mesopotamia and to the units involved in the Third Anglo-Afghan War.

[35] Company-sized detachments would also serve in the nearby settlements of Navan, Nobber, Kells and Oldcastle, County Meath.

[22] Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion was sent overseas to Barrackpore in India in 1919, being present in Jhansi in 1921,[37] redeploying to Delhi in 1925, Aden in 1927 then returning to garrison Portsmouth in February 1929.

[38] The 2nd Battalion's next tour of duty overseas was Malta in September 1935, followed by Palestine in 1936, returning home at the end of the year.

The battalion sustained enormous casualties in Libya near Tobruk when they lost around 500 officers and men captured or killed during a general retreat.

[40] The battalion found itself cut off when the German forces outflanked them, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Matthews, decided to attempt to escape around the enemy and break through to British lines.

[41] In April 1940 the battalion was again transferred to the newly created 24th Guards Brigade (Rupertforce), and took part in the Norwegian Campaign, and were among the first British troops to see action against the German Army in the Second World War.

In October, shortly after the failure of Operation Market Garden, the division was sent to garrison the "Island", as the area of land between Arnhem and Nijmegen was known, where it remained throughout the northern winter of 1944/45.

[46] It then transferred to the Royal Artillery on 15 November 1941 as 90th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment,[47] seeing service in Tunisia and Italy with 1st Infantry Division.

[49] The regiment deployed to the Sudan in March 1949 and became part of the occupation force in Eritrea, a former Italian colony that was ruled by a British military administration, in January 1950.