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{{for|other units with the same regimental number|103rd Regiment of Foot (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)
|image=103rd Regiment of Foot Cap Badge.jpg
|caption=Cap badge of the 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)
|dates=1662–1881
|country=[[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|23px]] [[East India Company]] (1662–1858) {{flag|United Kingdom}} (1858–1881)
|allegiance=
|branch=[[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|23px]] [[Bombay Army]] (1662–1862) {{army|United Kingdom}} (1862–1881)
|type=
|role=[[Infantry]]
|size=One battalion
|command_structure=
|garrison=[[Devoy Barracks|Naas Barracks]], [[County Kildare]]
|garrison_label=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=
|colors=white facings, changed to dark blue in 1861.
|colors_label=
|march=
|mascot=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=[[Seven Years' War]] [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]] [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]] [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]]
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=



|identification_symbol=
|identification_symbol_label=
|identification_symbol_2=
|identification_symbol_2_label=
|identification_symbol_3=
|identification_symbol_3_label=
}}

The '''103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)''' was a [[regiment]] raised in 1662. It transferred to the command of the [[East India Company|Honourable East India Company]] in 1668 and to the command of the [[British Army]] in 1862. Under the [[Childers Reforms]] it amalgamated with the [[102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)]] to form the [[Royal Dublin Fusiliers]] in 1881.

==History==
[[File:General Sir William Wyllie.jpg|thumb|left|General [[William Wyllie (British Army officer)|Sir William Wyllie]], colonel of the regiment in the 1870s]]

===Formation===
[[File:Clive.jpg|thumb|''Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey'', oil on canvas (Francis Hayman, c.1762]]
The regiment was originally raised in England as independent companies of European soldiers to garrison [[Bombay]] in February 1662.<ref name=regiments>{{cite web |url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/103-862.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015184802/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/103-862.htm |archive-date=15 October 2007 |title=103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers) |access-date=15 April 2007 |last=Mills |first=T.F. |work=regiments.org |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It embarked for [[India]] later that year and was transferred to the [[East India Company|Honourable East India Company]] as '''The Bombay Regiment''' in March 1668.<ref name=regiments/> In 1688 it was renamed '''The Bombay (European) Regiment''' – "European" indicating it was composed of white soldiers, not Indian [[sepoy]]s.<ref name=regiments/> The regiment saw action at the [[Battle of Plassey]] in June 1757 during the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref name=locations>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/103.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114202400/http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/103.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 November 2007|title= 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers): Locations|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=26 March 2017}}</ref> It also fought at the [[Battle of Buxar]] in October 1764 during the Oude Campaign.<ref name=locations/> It next saw action at the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1792)|siege of Seringapatam]] in February 1792 during the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]].<ref name=locations/> It fought at the [[Battle of Seedaseer]] in March 1799 and the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|siege of Seringapatam]] in April 1799 during the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]].<ref name=locations/>

===Early nineteenth century===
The regiment fought at the [[Battle of Khadki]] in November 1817 during the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]].<ref name=sumner>Sumner, p. 5, 26–28</ref> It then embarked for the [[Arabian Peninsula]] in October 1820 and saw action in operations against [[Oman]]i pirates at [[Beni Boo Alli (battle honour)|Jalan Bani Bu Ali]] in March 1821.<ref name=locations/>

===The Victorian era===
The regiment took part in the Conquest of [[Aden]] in 1839 and was then renumbered as the '''1st Bombay (European) Regiment''' later in the year (on the creation of the [[106th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Light Infantry)|2nd Bombay (European) Regiment]]), and designated the '''1st Bombay (European) Fusiliers''' in 1844.<ref name=regiments/> It took part in the [[siege of Multan]] in April 1848 and the [[Battle of Gujrat]] in February 1849 during the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]].<ref name=locations/> It also fought at various skirmishes during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]].<ref name=locations/>

After the Crown took control of the [[Presidency armies]] in the aftermath of the Mutiny, the regiment became the '''1st Bombay Fusiliers''' in November 1859 and then the '''1st Royal Bombay Fusiliers''' in May 1861.<ref name=regiments/> It was then renumbered as the '''103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)''' on transfer to the [[British Army]] in September 1862.<ref name=regiments/>{{#tag:ref|"Her Majesty's Government have expressed an anxious desire to preserve the proud recollections of distinguished service which belong especially to the older Regiments of each Presidency, and to incorporate with Her Majesty's Army, Corps which have so greatly contributed to the acquisition and maintenance of Her Majesty's Dominions in the East. Her Majesty having graciously determined to mark Her estimation of the services of Her Indian Armies, by conferring the designation of "Royal" upon three of the European Regiments, and by selecting for this honour one Regiment from each Presidency...has much gratification in announcing that the following Regiments will henceforward bear the honourable designation of "Royal" Regiments...The 1st Bombay Fusiliers. The...older Regiments in the several Presidencies will thus be converted into Regiments of Her Majesty's General Army, and will be numbered and designated as follows...The 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22514 |date=28 May 1861 |pages=2252–2253 }}</ref>|group=Note}} The regiment arrived in England in February 1871.<ref name=locations/>

As part of the [[Cardwell Reforms]] of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 103rd was linked with the [[102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)]], and assigned to district no. 66 at [[Devoy Barracks|Naas Barracks]] in [[County Kildare]].<ref name=training>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210172841/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 February 2006|title=Training Depots|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> On 1 July 1881 the [[Childers Reforms]] came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) to form the [[Royal Dublin Fusiliers]].<ref name=regiments/>

==Battle honours==
The regiment received the following battle honours granted by the Honourable East India Company:<ref name=sumner/>
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
*[[Battle of Khadki|Kirkee]]
*[[Beni Boo Alli (battle honour)|Beni Boo Ali]]
*[[Aden Expedition|Aden]]
*[[Siege of Multan|Mooltan]]
*[[Battle of Gujrat|Goojerat]]
*[[Second Anglo-Sikh War|Punjaub]]
}}

==Distinctions==
In 1844 the regiment was granted a number of honorary distinctions recording its past service. The awards were made by the [[Governor-General of India]] on 6 November 1844 in the following terms: "With the approval of the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India in Council, the Honourable the Governor in Council is pleased to direct, that the honorary distinctions specified below be borne upon the Colours and appointments of the 1st Bombay European Regiment, Fusiliers":<ref>Mainwaring (1911), p. 376</ref>
*The '''Royal Tiger''', superscribed ''Plassey'' and ''Buxar'', for services in the Presidency of Bengal, during 1757 and 1764-1765, especially at the battles of [[Battle of Plassey|Plassey]] and [[Battle of Buxar|Buxar]] and the sieges of [[Chandannagar|Chandernagore]], [[Chunar]], and [[Allahabad]].
*The '''Elephant''' superscribed ''Carnatic'' and ''Mysore'', for services on the Coromandel Coast, in the Carnatic and Mysore, during the years 1747-8-9; 1754-5, 1760, 1764 and 1788, especially as having shared in the defence of [[Cuddalore]] (Fort St David), 16 June 1748, the operations under [[Edward Boscawen|Admiral Boscawen]], and the siege of Davi Cottah, the latter part of this and the beginning of the following year; the action with the French Army under Monsieur Maisin, between the Sugar Loaf and French Rocks on 16 August 1754, the sieges of [[Siege of Pondicherry (1760)|Pondicherry]] and Mihie 1760-1; the sieges of Madura and [[Palayamkottai|Palamcottah]] in 1764; the storming of the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War|Bednore Ghauts and Capture of Bednore]] in 1783, and the expedition in the first campaign against [[Siege of Seringapatam (1792)|Seringapatam]] in 1790-1-2.
* '''Guzerat''' for service at several different periods; especially throughout the whole of General Goddard's Campaign, with the Bengal Brigade in 1780, and the storming of [[Ahmedabad]], 15 January 1780.

==Regimental colonels==
Colonels of the Regiment were:<ref name=regiments/>

*1862–1873: Lt-Gen. Joseph Hale
*1873–1881: Gen. Sir [[William Wyllie (British Army officer)|William Wyllie]], GCB

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last=Mainwaring|first=Arthur|title=Crown and Company. The Historical Records of the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers, formerly the 1st Bombay European Regiment, 1662-1911|year=1911|publisher=Arthur L Humphreys|location=London}}
*{{cite book |last=Sumner |first=Ian |title=British Colours & Standards 1747–1881 (2) Infantry |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-84176-201-2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Norman |first=C B |title=Battle Honours of the British Army |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.30712 |location=London |year=1911 |publisher=John Murray}}
*{{Cite book |last=Swinson |first=Arthur|title=A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army |year=1972 |publisher=The Archive Press |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-85591-000-3 |page=205}}

{{Regiments of Foot}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:103rd Regiment Of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)}}

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|keywords=Infantry regiments of the British Army, Honourable East India Company regiments, 1662 establishments in England, Military units and formations disestablished in 1881, Military units and formations established in the 1660s
|description=The 103rd Regiment of Foot was a regiment raised in 1662. It transferred to the command of the Honourable East India Company in 1668 and to the ...
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[[Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army]]
[[Category:Honourable East India Company regiments]]
[[Category:1662 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1881]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in the 1660s]]

103rd Regiment of Foot Royal Bombay Fusiliers - Revision history

MetaBOT at 17:07, 15 July 2023