The 20th Century – World War 1
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the two Regular Battalions and the two Territorial Battalions (4th and 5th) were mobilized. In addition, ‘New Army’ Battalions (6th, 7th and 8th) were raised, together with a 9th Battalion, which provided reinforcements for the other Battalions, and a 10th (Garrison) Battalion. The 1st Battalion fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and then on the Somme, at Ypres, Lys and Cambrai. 2nd KOSB served with the BEF at Mons, Le Cateau and on the Aisne, and later at the 2nd and 3rd Battles of Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and the Lys. The 4th and 5th Battalions fought at Gallipoli with the 52nd Division, then in Palestine (Battle of Gaza) and France. The 6th Battalion suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, and later fought on the Somme, at Arras and at Ypres. The 7th Battalion lost about two-thirds of its strength and the 8th over one-third at the Battle of Loos, and the two Battalions were amalgamated in the spring of 1916. 7th/8th KOSB went on to fight on the Somme, at Arras, Pilckem, at Arras again during the great German Spring Offensive of 1918, and on the Marne (with the French and Americans), ending the war in Belgium.

Between the two World Wars the 1st Battalion served in India and Chanak (1922), Malta and Palestine (1936). 2nd KOSB served in Ireland, Egypt, Hong Kong and India, where it was when war broke out in September 1939.

1st KOSB embarked for France in 1939 with the BEF (3rd Infantry Division). They crossed the Belgian frontier in May 1940, from where, facing an enemy of overwhelming numerical superiority, they were at length ordered to withdraw. On the night of 31st May/1st June they were evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk. They returned to France on D-Day, 6th June 1944, landing at ‘Queen’ Beach. They fought around Caen until the town capitulated, and then advanced north through Belgium and Holland to the Rhine and Bremen. Also present in France in 1940 were the 4th and 5th (Territorial) Battalions, with the 52nd (Lowland) Division, forming part of a second BEF. Landing at St. Malo on the 13th June, the original intention to establish a bridgehead with the French Army was frustrated by the fall of France, and on the 18th June the 2nd BEF was evacuated from Cherbourg. 4th and 5th KOSB subsequently trained as mountain troops and later as air-transportable troops. In the event, they found themselves in the Low Countries in the autumn of 1944, making assault landings on Walcheren Island, at the mouth of the River Scheldt. They fought through into Germany, taking part in the capture of Bremen.

The 6th and 7th Battalions, duplicates of the 4th and 5th, were initially both in the 15th (Scottish) Division. The 6th landed with the Division on the Normandy beaches on the 15th June 1944, and soon found themselves involved in the fierce battles around Caen and the River Odon. Fighting through France, Belgium and Holland, and crossing the Siegfried Line, they advanced across the Rhine into Germany, ending the war just beyond Hamburg. 7th KOSB became glider-borne troops with the 1st Airborne Division, and in September 1944 they were flown into the dropping zones at Arnhem, where, surrounded by an enemy force superior in numbers and equipped with tanks, they fought a gallant but ultimately futile action. When the order to retreat was given on 25th September, the 740 strong Battalion had been reduced to 4 Officers and 72 men.

Having undergone jungle training in India, 2nd KOSB sailed with the 7th (Indian) Division to Burma in September 1943. They crossed into the Arakan, and took part in the critical actions at Ngakydauk Pass and in the ‘Admin Box’, where 2 COs were killed. Later they were flown to the central front at Imphal. In early 1945 they marched towards the Irrawaddy and took part in the assault that turned the Irrawaddy line. The Battalion’s last battle took place at Prome in May 1945, by which time Rangoon had fallen and the Japanese Army’s defeat in Burma was assured.

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