Somerset Light Infantry

13th Regiment of Foot
Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)
Regimental cap badge of the Somerset Light Infantry.
Active1685–1959
Country Kingdom of England (to 1707)

 Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800)

 United Kingdom (1801–1959)
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
RoleLight infantry
Size1–2 regular battalions
1–2 militia and special reserve battalions
1–3 volunteer and territorial battalions
Up to 13 hostilities-only battalions
Garrison/HQJellalabad Barracks, Taunton
Nickname(s)The Bleeders
The Illustrious Garrison
The Jellalabad Heroes[1]
ColorsYellow facings until 1842, blue thereafter[2]
MarchPrince Albert's March[3]
EngagementsNine Years War
War of the Spanish Succession
War of 1812
First Anglo-Afghan War
Second Boer War
World War I
World War II
Malayan Emergency
Suez Crisis

The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry which was again amalgamated, in 1968, with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and the Durham Light Infantry to form The Light Infantry. In 2007, however, The Light Infantry was amalgamated further with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the Royal Green Jackets to form The Rifles.[2][4]

  1. ^ Farmer, John S. (1984). The Regimental Records of the British Army. Bristol: Crecy Books. p. 103. ISBN 0 947554 03 3.
  2. ^ a b Farmer, John S. (1901). The Regimental Records of the British Army : a historical résumé chronologically arranged of titles, campaigns, honours, uniforms, facings, badges, nicknames, etc. London: Grant Richards. pp. 102–103.
  3. ^ Wickes, H. L. (1974). Regiments of Foot: A History of the Foot Regiments of the British Army. Reading, Berkshire: Osprey Publishing. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-85045-220-1.
  4. ^ Swinson, Arthur (1972). A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army. London: The Archive Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-85591-000-3.