Embedded Files
An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcards is the standard reference book on embroidered silk postcards. It contains references to over 2600 different cards with over 270 illustrations. The section on Regular Infantry Regiments of the Line lists 549 cards. The cards listed below are additional cards discovered since the book was published. The latest additions are shown in RED.
There were 69 Regular Infantry Regiments in the British Army in the First World War with full-time soldiers. Before the First World War, most regiments had two battalions of about 1000 men: traditionally, one was stationed at home, the other overseas in the British Empire, and then they changed over. The Rifle Brigade, the Royal Fusiliers, and the Middlesex Regiments had four battalions. In times of war, the regiments expanded by recruiting additional battalions.
The regiments had long and glorious histories as Regiments of Foot, many of which were amalgamated to form the County Regiments in 1881. They were numbered in order of precedence (known as: The Line), except for The Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade which came out of The Line in 1816. Numbering sometimes appears on cards, but usually only up to the 24th, The South Wales Borderers. The numbers are usually shown in Roman numerals. There are a few very rare cards that give the old Regiment of Foot number.
Many cards have battle honours associated with the Regiment from previous wars, especially the Napoleonic Wars and the Indian Wars, or areas where they were regularly stationed, such as Gibraltar. A few cards are known with battle honours from the First World War, which helps to date when they were first produced.
Many regiments have been formed (or re-formed) since the First World War, and this process still continues. After the war, embroidered silk postcards were becoming less popular, but a few of the new regiments did have cards. These are extremely rare as not many were produced, but they are in my listings: the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (1919) and the Royal Ulster Rifles (1920) are shown in the images below the listings.
At least 760 different embroidered silk postcards have been recorded for Infantry Regiments. A representative example of every regiment in the First World War period is shown below the listings of the newly discovered cards.
Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.
No part may be reproduced, stored, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.
The Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment
ALEXANDRA PRINCESS OF WALES'S OWN 1875
THE ALEXANDRA PRINCESS OF WALES'S OWN YORKSHIRE REGIMENT YORK
XIX ALEXANDRA PRINCESS OF WALES'S OWN YORKSHIRE REGT GREEN HOWARDS 1875
The Black Watch, The Royal Highlanders BLACK WATCH THE ROYAL HIGLANDERS (sic)
BLACK WATCH THE ROYAL HIGHLANDERS THE ROYAL HIGHLANDERS
THE BLACK WATCH EGYPT DINNA FORGET
THE BLACK WATCH ROYAL HIGHLANDERS
The Border Regiment THE BORDER REGT BEST XMAS WISHES
The Buffs, The East Kent Regiment THE BUFFS EAST KENT REGIMENT
The Cameronians, The Scottish Rifles 1916
SR
THE CAMERONIANS FRAE ANE YE KEN
THE SCOTTISH RIFLES DINNA FORGET
The Cheshire Regiment 22 CHESHIRE REGIMENT TO MY DEAR PAL
The Connaught Rangers CONNAUGHT RANGERS TCR
The Dorsetshire Regiment DORSETSHIRE MARABOUT
THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT GIBRALTAR MARABOUT
THE DORSETSHIRE REGT GIBRALTAR MARABOUT
THE DORSETSHIRE REGT MARABOUT
The Duke of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Regiment
DCO RG ALBUHERA
MIDDLESEX REGT MIDDLESEX REGT SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry CORNWALL DUKE OF CORNWALL LI
CORNWALL FRANCE 1917
DO CORNWALL'S LIGHT INFTY ONE AND ALL
The Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment
WILTSHIRE REG
The Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S WEST RIDING
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S REGT WEST RIDING HINDOOSTAN
The Durham Light Infantry DLI DLI
DLI DURHAM
DLI THE DURHAM LIGHT INFTY 1914 1916 GREETINGS FROM FRANCE
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY 68TH 106TH
THE DURHAM LIGHT INFY
The East Lancashire Regiment EAST LANCASHIRE EL EGYPT
EAST LANCASHIRE ELR EGYPT GREETINGS FROM
EAST LANCASHIRE ELR EGYPT GREETINGS FROM 1916
EAST LANCASHIRE TELR EGYPT
The East Surrey Regiment EAST SURREY REGT
EAST SURREY ESR
EAST SURREY TESR
The East Yorkshire Regiment XV THE EAST YORKSHIRE REGT
The Essex Regiment THE ESSEX REGT EGYPT HEARTY GREETINGS FROM HARROGATE
The Gloucestershire Regiment 28. GR 61.
The Gordon Highlanders THE GORDON HIGHLANDERS GORDON HIGHLANDERS
The Hampshire Regiment HAMPSHIRE REGT THE HAMPSHIRE REGT
THE HAMPSHIRE REGT THR
The Highland Light Infantry HIGHLAND LIGHT INFTY
HLI FRAE ONE YE KEN
HLI SOMEWHERE IN THE FIELD
The King's Liverpool Regiment KING'S REGT
THE KINGS
THE KING'S LIVERPOOL RT GREETINGS FROM
THE KING'S LIVERPOOL RT TO MY DEAR MOTHER
THE KING'S TK
THE KING'S 1914
The King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment THE KING'S OWN CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM
The King's Own Scottish Borderers KOSB
THE KING'S O. SCOTTISH BORDERERS
TKO SCOTTISH BORDERERS
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry KOYLI YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY GREETINGS FROM INDIA
KO YORKSHIRE LI LOVING THOUGHTS
KO YORKSHIRE LI YLI
The King's Royal Rifle Corps 60th RIFLES
KING'S R. RIFLES
KRRC ROYAL RIFLE CORPS
ROYAL RIFLE CORPS
The King's Shropshire Light Infantry KSLI SHROPSHIRE
KING'S LIGHT INFANTRY SHROPSHIRE
The Lancashire Fusiliers LANCASHIRE FUSS EGYPT
XX THE LANCASHIRE FUSILIERS
The Leicestershire Regiment XVII LEICESTERSHIRE TLR HINDOOSTAN
The Lincolnshire Regiment LINCOLNSHIRE EGYPT GREETINGS FROM FRANCE 1914 1916
X LINCOLNSHIRE REGT EGYPT WELL DONE LINCOLNS!
The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment LOYAL NORTH LANCASHIRE WITH BEST LOVE
The Manchester Regiment MANCHESTER 1914 1916 GREETINGS FROM FRANCE
THE MANCHESTER REGT 1916
THE MANCHESTER REGT EGYPT SOUVENIR DE FRANCE
The Northamptonshire Regiment NORTHAMPTONSHIRE GIBRALTAR TALAVERA
NORTHAMPTON REGT NORTHAMPTONSHIRE GIBRALTAR TALAVERA
The Northumberland Fusiliers NF NF
NORTHUMBERLAND FUS NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS
NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS 1914-1916
NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS 1914-1916 GREETINGS FROM FRANCE
V T. NORTHUMBERLAND F.
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
OXFORDSHIRE & BUCKINGHAMSHIRE L. INFANTY. OXFORD AND BOX (sic)
The Prince Albert's Somerset Light Infantry PA SOMERSET JELLALABAD
PA SOMERSET LIGHT INFTY JELLALABAD
The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment, The Royal Canadians
THE LEINSTER REG CENTRAL INDIA NIAGARA S AFRICA 00-02
THE LEINSTER LEINSTER REGT ROYAL CANADIANS
The Prince of Wales's North Staffordshire Regiment
N.ST. REGT
NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE
PCE WALES NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
THE PRINCE OF WALES'S NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE
The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment
WEST YORKSHIRE W. YORKSHIRE REGT
WEST YORKSHIRE WYR
W. YORKSHIRE REGT
The Prince of Wales's Volunteers, The South Lancashire Regiment
THE PRINCE OF WALES'S VOLUNTEERS EGYPT
THE PRINCE OF WALE'S VOLUNTEERS EGYPT SOUTH LANCASHIRE
The Princess Charlotte of Wales's Royal Berkshire Regiment
ROYAL BERKSHIRE ROYAL BERKSHIRE CHINA
The Princess Louise's Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
ARGYLL & SUTHLAND HIGHLANDERS GREETINGS FROM
ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS 1916 GREETINGS FROM
The Princess Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS
The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment QUEEN'S REGIMENT
THE QUEENS EGYPT
THE QUEENS WEST SURREYS EGYPT 1 JUNE 1704
THE QUEEN'S TO YOU DEAR
The Rifle Brigade, The Prince Consort's Own
RIFLE BRIGADE RB WATERLOO PENINSULA
RIFLE BRIGADE THE RIFLE BRIGADE WATERLOO PENINSULA
THE PRINCE CONSORTS OWN RIFLE BRIGADE RB WATERLOO
THE PRINCE CONSORTS OWN RIFLE BRIGADE PENINSULA PYRENEES WATERLOO
THE RIFLE BRIGADE WATERLOO PENINSULA GREETINGS FROM
THE RIFLE BRIGADE WATERLOO PENINSULA GREETINGS FROM 1916
T-PRINCE-CONSORTS-O RIFLE BRIGADE WATERLOO PENINSULA
T PRINCE CONSORTS O THE RIFLE BRIGADE PENINSULA
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers THE ROYAL DUBLIN FUSS
The Royal Fusiliers, The City of London Regiment
(Badge only)
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIERS INNISKILLING RIF
The Royal Irish Regiment RIR THE ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT GREETINGS FROM
The Royal Irish Rifles ROYAL IRISH RIFLES GREETINGS FROM
The Royal Munster Fusiliers THE ROYAL MUNSTER FUSILIERS
The Royal Scots, The Lothian Regiment THE ROYAL SCOTS THE ROYAL SCOTS
The Royal Scots Fusiliers ROYAL SCOTCH FUSILIERS
ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS TRSF
The Royal Ulster Rifles THE ROYAL ULSTER RIFLES
The Royal Warwickshire Regiment VI (Badge only)
ROYAL WARWICKSH REG
THE ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT GREETINGS FROM RWR
THE ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT GREETINGS FROM RWR 1916
THE ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE RT
The Royal Welsh Fusiliers ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS LOVE TO ALL
ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS REMEMBER OF THE WAR EUROPEAN
The Seaforth Highlanders, The Ross Shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's
SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM
SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS GREETINGS FROM
The South Staffordshire Regiment SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE GREETINGS FROM FRANCE 1914-1916
SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE
SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE S S REGT
SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE TSSR
The Welsh Regiment ROYAL WELSH REGIMENT
THE WELCH REGIMENT
The York and Lancaster Regiment YORK & LANCASTER
YORK AND LANCASTER SOUVENIR FROM FRANCE EUROPEAN WAR 1914-1916
A representative example of an embroidered silk postcard for every British Infantry Regiment is shown below. At least 760 different cards exist in this category.
The territorial Hertfordshire Regiment was amalgamated into the regular Bedfordshire Regiment in 1919. This is the only card ever seen for the new regular army regiment.
The Buffs were the East Kent Regiment.
The full title of the regiment is: The Cameronians, The Scottish Rifles.
The Duke of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Regiment was formed from the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot in the reorganisation of the British Army in 1811. Their nickname was "The Die Hards".
The Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment
The King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment, The Royal Canadians.
The Princess of Louise's Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
The Royal Ulster Rifles was formed from the Royal Irish Rifles in 1920.
The full title of the regiment is the Duke of Albany's Seaforth Highlanders, the Ross Shire Buffs.
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