ANNALS OF THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS

The third in the excellent five-volume history of the K.R.R.C. takes the story from the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars in the 1830s to 1873. The 19th c. K.R.R.C. was the creation of Col. Robert Beaufoy Hawley who adapted its early principles to mid-19th century military conditions. The early chapters detail the unit''s service in Ireland and the Mediterranean recounting such hazards as the capture of officers by Balkan brigands shipwrecks and an outbreak of yellow fever in Jamaica which carried off a Col. A. F. Ellis MP. Serving in South Africa and India the Corps took part in the 2nd Sikh War under Sir Charles Napier the siege of Mooltan and camapaigns against the Afghan tribes. The book describes the discontent which led to the Indian Mutiny and the Mutiny itself in which the Corps took part in the siege and storming of Delhi - winning no fewer than seven VCs in the action. The Corps took part in the ''Opium Wars'' in China helping to capture Peking (Beijing). Later in the...