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The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the second oldest infantry regiment in the British Army, traced its origins back to 1661, and was originally formed to defend Tangier in North Africa, which Queen Catherine of Braganza had brought to Charles II as part of her dowry. Later also known as the 2nd Foot, its association with Surrey began in 1881 when the regiment was reorganised as The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment with its depot at Guildford. In 1921 it was restyled The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey).
The East Surrey Regiment, with a depot at Kingston upon Thames, was created in 1881 when the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot and the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot were amalgamated. The 31st was originally formed in 1702 as Colonel George Villiers' Regiment of Marines and its 2nd Battalion was formed into the 70th Regiment in 1758.
Click here to read about the East Surrey Regiment’s “football” charge on July 1st 1916, one of the most famous incidents to occur during the carnage of the first day of the battle of the Somme.
The records at Surrey History Centre, which span four centuries, are a wonderfully rich source for the lives and campaigns of those who served in the regiments, both with the regular battalions and in the militia, volunteer, territorial and conscript battalions. There are diaries and photographs of men serving in India and on the North West Frontier, against the Boers in South Africa, in the Far East, in the Crimea, and in northern Russia. There are the harrowing casualty returns and war diaries of battalions on the western front in the First World War, and first hand accounts of Dunkirk and the Burma Campaign. The routines of daily life in peace time are reflected in the series of battalion orders, in letters home and in photographs of sporting competitions and hunting expeditions in India.
Among the personal papers in the collection are those relating to Private Edward Cutt of the 9th (Service) Battalion, the East Surrey Regiment who was reported missing at the Battle of Loos on 26th Sep 1915, days after arriving in France. The papers belonged to Cutt's fiance Ellen Dabbs, and include her poignant diary charting the course of their brief relationship through letters sent and received and her desperate attempts to trace him after he was reported missing in action, and an edition of The Pocket Gospel of St John, inscribed 'In memory of Teddy, August 1915', and containing a lock of Cutt’s hair.
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Papers of Pte Edward Cutt, 9th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, casualty of the Battle of Loos, 26 Sep 1915
Click here to read a summary of the arrangement of the records of the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment held at the Surrey History Centre.
Click here to visit the on-line exhibition of Woking borough WWI memorials.
Click here to see the research guide 
(pdf) "Tracing military records at Surrey History Centre".
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