The Staffordshire Rangers was a volunteer unit of the British Army from the 'Potteries' area around Stoke-on-Trent. It fought on the Western Front in World War I as the 5th Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment. In World War II it served as a Royal Artillery searchlight regiment in Home Defence and was the first complete searchlight unit to land in North-Western Europe after the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. Its successors continue to serve in the Army Reserve as part of the Mercian Regiment.
46th Division memorial at Vermelles, starting point for the division's attack on 13 October 1915
46th (North Midland) Division's memorial at Cité de Madagascar, site of the Hohenzollern Redoubt.
90 cm Projector Anti-Aircraft, displayed at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth
North Staffordshire Regiment
The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Regiment of Foot. In 1881, under the Childers Reforms, the 64th Regiment of Foot was merged with the 98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot (originally raised in 1824) to form the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment). In 1921 the regimental title was altered to the North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's).
Cap badge of the North Staffordshire Regiment.
Officers of the 2nd Battalion, India 1908
Officers of the 1st Battalion, photographed in Cambridge in August 1914, shortly before embarking for France on 8 September. Of those who sailed, only five would still be with the battalion by the end of January 1915, most of the remainder having been killed or wounded. Those pictured include Lieut.-Colonel V. W. de Falbe, D.S.O., Battalion Commanding Officer (seated row, centre); and junior subaltern 2nd Lieut. Vyvyan Pope, who later commanded the battalion June 1917–March 1918 (back row, third from left).
137th Brigade (including 1/6th Battalion North Staffs) at the Riqueval Bridge on the St Quentin Canal, October 1918