Durham Light Infantry

The 68th Regiment was raised in 1758 and converted to Light Infantry in 1808 and fought in the Peninsula, Crimea and New Zealand. In 1881, the 68th was merged with the 106th Bombay Light Infantry, part of the old East India Company which had seen service in Persia and the Indian Mutiny, to form the 1st and 2nd Battalions Durham Light Infantry. The DLI fought in Egypt in 1885, South Africa 1899-1901, the First and Second World Wars, Korea and finally in Borneo. The Regiment became part of modern The Light Infantry in 1968.

The 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry with an all ranks strength of 950, left England in October 1899 for South Africa to serve with the relief force as part of Major-General Lyttleton’s 4th Light Brigade. They took part in the Battles of Colenso, Vaalkrantz, Breakthrough and the Train Disaster, remaining in South Africa until 1902.

Casualties during this period were 110 deaths in action or from disease.

See Angloboerwar site for an in depth look at the regiment