History Books
A number of books about the Regiment have been published, and many can be purchased as shown below:
General
Historical record of The Seventeenth, or The Leicestershire Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the Regiment in 1688, and of its subsequent services to 1848, compiled by Richard Cannon.
Published in 1848 by Parker, Furnivall & Parker, Charing Cross, London
Long out of print. Sometimes available on Amazon and/or eBay.
History of the Services of the 17th (The Leicestershire) Regiment, by Lieutenant Colonel E A H Webb.
It covers the period 1688 to 1912. Original 2nd edition published in 1912; reprinted in paperback in 2005 by Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1843420811. For the period 1688-1848 it draws heavily on Cannon's Historical Record above, but is much more fulsome.
Sometimes available on Amazon and/or eBay. Price £ 24.95 plus £ 3.85 p&p = £ 28.80.
The Royal Leicestershire Regiment, a History of the Years 1928 to 1956, edited by Brig W E Underhill.
Originally published in 1958 by Underhill Press. Reprinted in 2002 by Naval and Military Press. ISBN 9781843421771.
Sometimes available on Amazon and/or eBay. Price £ 18.00 plus £ 3.85 p&p = £ 21.85.
Marching with The Tigers, by Michael Goldschmidt. Final volume of the Regimental History, covering the years 1955 to 1975 (i.e. including the Leicestershire part of the first ten years of The Royal Anglian Regiment, and operational tours in Cyprus, Germany, Hong Kong, Borneo, Aden, Malta and Libya, Bahrain and Northern Ireland). It has many maps, photographs and appendices.
ISBN 978 1 84884 035 5.
Published in 2009 by Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
While stocks last, to order, contact rta.leicester@outlook.com. Price £ 15 (incl p&p).
Fighting Tigers, by Matthew Richardson.
It covers selected epic actions and campaigns from 1899 to 1963 (Lombard’s Kop, Armentières, Hohenzollern Redoubt, Mesopotamia, Bazentin Ridge, Pontruet, Norway, Dunkirk, Crete, Salerno and Italy, Chindit operations, Normandy and the Low Countries, Korea, Borneo).
ISBN 0 85052 895 X.
Published in 2002 by Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
Sometimes available on Amazon and/or eBay.
The Royal Leicestershire Regiment - an illustrated history, by Robin Jenkins and James Ryan.
ISBN 978-0-7524-6514-2
Available at price £16.99 from:
The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland (Long Street, Wigston LE18 2AH; Telephone: 0116 2571080).
Email: recordoffice@leics.gov.uk
Boer War
The Leicestershire Militia in South Africa, by Major G H P Byrne.
An account of 3rd (Militia) Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment in South Africa April-September 1902
Published by Clark and Satchell, Leicester 1903.
Long out of print. Occasionally available at antique book auctions. A copy is held at The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Long Street, Wigston LE18 2AH.
First World War
History of the 1st and 2nd Battalions The Leicestershire Regiment in the Great War, by Colonel H C Wylly.
It covers those Battalions' activities from 1912-1928. Originally published in 1928, reprinted in 2002.
ISBN 978-1847341419. Sometimes available on Amazon and/or eBay.
With Valour and Distinction: The Actions of the 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment 1914-1918, by Nigel Atter.
ISBN-13: 9781912866243 Published in 2020 by Helion and Company
This is the first book to focus uniquely on the actions of 2nd Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment during the First World War. This new history spans 2nd Leicesters’ military operations undertaken on the Western Front 1914-1915, in Mesopotamia 1916-1917 and Palestine in 1918.
The author has undertaken extensive archival research and made use of previously unpublished primary sources from public archives, artefacts kept by direct descendants and collectors of 2nd Leicesters' memorabilia. This work is considerably enriched by the author’s access to previously unpublished photographic archives. The extensive use of Helion’s cartographer has also ensured that the maps are appropriately embedded in the text.
2nd Leicesters fought with valour and distinction winning one Victoria Cross, several DSOs, handfuls of Military Crosses, and Distinguished Conduct Medals in abundance - in actions that ranged from the Western Front, Mesopotamia and Palestine. Nigel Atter’s eye for detail focusses upon the actions of 2nd Leicesters at Neuve Chapelle, Festubert, Loos, Sheikh Sa’ad, the Dujaila Redoubt, and Sannaiyat, Meggido, Beirut and Tripoli.
Tigers along the Tigris, by E J Thompson.
It covers 2nd Battalion in Mesopotamia during the First World War.
ISBN 978 1846 773662
Originally published in 1919 as ‘Beyond Baghdad with The Leicestershires’, republished under revised title in 2007 by Leonaur Ltd. The full text is available at https://archive.org/stream/beyondbaghdad00thomuoft/beyondbaghdad00thomuoft_djvu.txt
Footprints of the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment, by John Milne.
It covers the period August 1914 to November 1918. Originally published in 1935, reprinted in 2002 by the Naval and Military Press .
ISBN 9781843422037
Don't Be Late in the Morning, by Dr Karen Ette.
This is a novel, based on a soldier's diary, letters, postcards, battalion diary, and parish magazines, covering the actions of 1/4th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment at the Battle of Loos on 13 October 1915.
ISBN: 978-1-911505-61-7, published by Goldcrest International. It is also available on Amazon and/or eBay.
1/5th Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment in the Great War, by J D Hills.
Covers the record of the 1/5th Battalion in the First World War 1914 to 1919. Originally published in 1919, reprinted in 2002.
ISBN 9781843422044
Product Code 6113 from the Naval and Military Press.
This book is available to read on line at Full text of "The Fifth Leicestershire"
The Tigers - 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment, by Matthew Richardson.
It is the history of those Battalions in the First World War.
ISBN 978-0850527407.
Published in 2000 by Pen & Sword Books.
Also available from Naval & Military Press.
39 Months with the Tigers 1915-1918, by D V Kelly.
Reminiscences of an officer of the 6th Leicesters who served as a staff officer at HQ 110th (Leicestershire) Brigade, at first in 37th Division and from July 1916 in 21st Division. It covers the history of the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions from 1915 to 1918.
ISBN 9781843421283
Originally published in 1931, reprinted in 2002.
Order no 5781 from the Naval and Military Press (contact details above).
Of those we loved - a Great War narrative remembered and illustrated, by I L Read.
It covers the author's experiences as a Sergeant in 8th (Service) Battalion in France 1914-17 and as a Lieutenant in The Royal Sussex Regiment 1917-18.
ISBN 978 78159 101 7
Published by The Pentland Press Ltd in 1994. Republished by Pen & Sword in 2013.
A Tiger and a Fusilier: Leicester's VC Heroes, by Derek Seaton.
It is a biography of Private William Buckingham VC (1886-1916) of The Leicestershire Regiment and Captain Robert Gee VC MC MP 1876-1984) of The Royal Fusiliers.
Published in 2001 (ISBN 9780952894827).
Come on The Tigers, by Ken Hillier.
It is a biography of Lt Col P E Bent VC DSO (1891-1917) of The Leicestershire Regiment.
Published in Oct 2017 by Ashby-de-la-Zouch Museum (ISBN 978-0-9574640-6-3).
Second World War
Tigers in Captivity - The 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment in the Malaya Campaign and as Far East Prisoners of War (1941-1945) by Ken Hewitt
Published in 2022 by Matador (an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd), Market Harborough, Leics. Price £25.
ISBN 978 1803131 283
Visit www.tigersincaptivity.co.uk or contact Ken Hewitt (kenhewitt@ntlworld.com) for further information.
Tigers at Dunkirk, by Matthew Richardson.
It covers the 1940 experiences of 2/5th Battalion during the German blitzkrieg, disastrous retreat and evacuation from Dunkirk.
ISBN: 9781848842106.
Published in 2010 by Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
Tigers Never Sleep, by Charles Raymond Pell.
It is autobiographical and covers his service in 1st Battalion in France, Belgium and The Netherlands in the Second World War.
ISBN 978 0952 465607
Published in 1994 by the author.
The British Battalion, by Chye Kooi Loong.
It covers the 1st Battalion in the Malayan Campaign, the fall of Singapore and captivity by the Japanese in the Second World War.
ISBN 967 9935 18 3
Do the birds still sing in Hell?, by Horace Beasley
It is autobiographical and covers his service in 2/5th Battalion in France in 1940 and the author's subsequent incarceration as a POW of the Germans in the Second World War.
ISBN 978-1-78219-227-5
Published in 2013 by John Blake
7th Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment 1940-1944, by F H J Wileman
Story of the 7th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment, 1940-44
Published: 1984, England. ISBN 0-950623-0-24
To the Last Round, by Austin J. Ruddy
The Leicestershire and Rutland Home Guard 1940-1945
ISBN 978-1-85983-559-3