Shoulder flashes South Lancashire Regiment (set)

The South Lancashire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1958. It was formed as part of the Childers Reforms as the Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) by the amalgamation of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot and the 82nd (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) Regiment of Foot. In 1938, it was renamed the South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) and in 1958 was amalgamated with the East Lancashire Regiment to form the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers).

The 1st Battalion was shipped to France on the outbreak of war in 1939 as part of the 12th Infantry Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, British Expeditionary Force, returning to England via Dunkirk. After returning to the UK it transferred to the 8th Infantry Brigade (which included the 1st Suffolks and 2nd East Yorks) attached to 3rd Infantry Division, nicknamed Monty's Ironsides. With this division, it landed at Sword Beach on D-Day and fought its way through the Normandy, the Netherlands and later the invasion of Germany. Throughout the North West Europe Campaign the 1st Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment suffered the highest casualty rates of the 3rd Infantry Division, losing 288 officers and men killed and over 1,000 wounded.

The 2nd Battalion was in Bombay in 1939, being transported back to Britain in July 1940 to defend the home front against the expected German invasion. In 1942, attached to the 29th Independent Infantry Brigade, it was part of Force 121, which invaded Madagascar in order to prevent use of the island by the Japanese. From April 1944 until the end of the war, it fought in the recapture of Burma with the 36th Infantry Division alongside the 2nd East Lancs.

The 2/4th Battalion was raised in 1939 as a 2nd Line Territorial Army battalion duplicate of the 1st Line 4th Battalion, later redesignated the 1/4th Battalion. Both the 1/4th and 2/4th battalions were serving in the 164th Infantry Brigade, attached to 55th (West Lancashire) Division. In 1943 the 2/4th Battalion was transferred to the British Army'sairborne forces and converted to become the 13th Parachute Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, part of the 5th Parachute Brigade, which itself was part of the newly raised6th Airborne Division. The 13th Parachute Battalion saw combat during Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in the early hours of 6 June 1944, D-Day. The battalion served as normal infantrymen for the duration of the Battle of Normandy until being withdrawn, with the rest of the division, to England in September 1944. The 6th Airborne Division was then sent to Belgium in December 1944 to fight in the Ardennes offensive, the Battle of the Bulge. They were then involved in the largest airborne drop of the entire war with over 16,000 airborne troops taking part, known as Operation Varsity, with the US 17th Airborne Division.

The 5th Territorial Battalion of the regiment was transferred to the Royal Artillery before the war and converted to the 61st(South Lancashire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery. The regiment raised many other battalions for service before and during the war. However, none of these saw active service overseas and remained in the UK for the war.