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In 1688 the inhabitants of Inniskillen , Ireland , organized a town militia to fight against James II . The millitia fought with such success that it was later incorporated into the army of William III as the "Inniskilling Regiment" with its first Colonel being Zachariah Tiffin. After the Irish War came to an end the regiment was stationed around the world in roughly half a century in the West Indies , Minorca and Spain . In 1745 it participated in the Battle Of Falkirk and the Battle Of Culloden . In 1751 the "Inniskilling Regiment" was renamed the "Twenty-seventh Regiment" due to new military standards. The former name of "Inniskillen" stuck however and even in official correspondance the regiment was known as the "Twenty-seventh Inniskillings". During the Seven Year War (1756-63) the Regiment fought against the French in North America and the West Indies . In 1778 it returned to North America to take part in the War Of Independence , but as the result of the alliance formed by the French with the American colonists, it again found itself involved in numerous expeditions against the French West Indian possessions. Its travels during the next few years included the Low Countries and Egypt where it formed part of Sir Ralph Abercromby's force that fought the Battle Of Alexandria against the French in 1801, while the Second Battalion, which had been raised in 1800 formed part of the garrison of that city after its capture. The regiment participated in the Battle Of Waterloo as the only Irish regiment at the time. It was at this battle the regiment earned its most famed honours when Duke Of Wellington commented that the regiment had been a vital part of the centre. Between 1837 and 1847 it was engaged in several of the numerous native wars in South Africa that occurred during those years. From 1854 and 1868 it served in India taking part in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny and helping to preserve law and order in North-west India. In 1881 the "Twenty-Seventh" became the First Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. In the years following the regiment saw action in the British colonies in Africa and fought in the Pathan uprising and the Second Boer War . In 1914 the Great War broke out and the Regiment first fought in the Battle Of Le Cateau and later participated in the landing at Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915. Most of the war the regiment spent in battle on the western front and the regiment was awarded a total of 9 Victoria Crosses . Between the first and second world war the regiment was stationed in India, Iraq, Shanghai and Singapore, During the second world war the regiment was among those that were Evacuated From Dunkirk . In 1942 the First Battalion was flown to Burma to help stem the Japanese advance and in 1943 took part in the operations in the Arakan peninsula. After re-fitting, the Second Battalion as part of the Fifth Division, left England in 1942 on a journey that was to include Syria, Persia, India and Madagascar, and eventually arrived in the Mediterranean in time to do its share in the conquest of Sicily . As the war drew to end the regiment spend most of the time in Italy as an occupying force. After the war the First Battalion returned to India from Burma and after a stay in Hong Kong was engaged for many months hunting terrorists in the jungles of Malaya . In 1949 after a brief spell at home it went to the West Indies returning to the United Kingdom in April 1951. In 1952 it was presented with the Freedom of Enniskillen, the town of its birth and later in the same year went abroad to the Suez Canal Zone and afterwards to Kenya where it helped to suppress the Mau Mau terror; while in the latter country it received the Freedom of Nairobi in perpetuity, the first and so far the only time that a British Regiment has been so honoured by a colonial city. The First Battalion returned to England in 1955 and after two years at the School of Infantry went to Germany, being stationed in Berlin and Wuppertal. In 1960 half of the Battalion was back in Kenya with a detachment in Bahrein. In 1961 the Battalion flew into Kuwait when the Sheikdom was threatened by Iraq. The Battalion returned to England in 1962 being stationed at Gravesend. In April 1968 the 1st Battalion had its final operational deployment when Tactical Headquarters and B Company were ordered at short notice to Bermuda with trouble brewing on the Island due to a tense political situation. Following a peaceful election the detachment returned to Worcester in preparation along with the remainder of the Battalion for the final Regimental Chapter and at midnight on 30th June 1968, following a nostalgic ceremony the Regimental Flag was lowered for the last time. On 1st July 1968, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, The Royal Ulster Rifles and The Royal Irish Fusiliers became The Royal Irish Rangers (27th Inniskilling, 83rd and 87th). The Royal Irish Rangers was later to amalgamate with The Ulster Defence Regiment and on the 1st July 1992 became The Royal Irish Regiment. EXTERNAL LINKS
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