Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment, have commemorated Minden Day at Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore, continuing a tradition that stretches back more than 260 years.
Minden Day marks the Battle of Minden, fought on 1 August 1759, when six British battalions defeated French and Saxon forces in northern Germany. Among them was the 12th Regiment of Foot, later the Suffolk Regiment, one of the Royal Anglian Regiment’s predecessor regiments.
The battle is also known as The Battle of the Roses, after soldiers are said to have picked wildflowers from the surrounding hedgerows and worn them in their headdress on the morning of the fighting.
The 12th Regiment of Foot was awarded the battle honour “Minden”, alongside the five other British battalions that took part in the battle. Today, soldiers of the modern-day 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, known as “The Vikings”, wear red and yellow roses in their headdress on Minden Day in remembrance of those who fought. The word “Minden” is embroidered on the Battalion’s Colours and Battle Honours.
The tradition was strongly upheld by the Suffolk Regiment before passing to the 1st East Anglian Regiment and, later, to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, which continues to mark the occasion with pride wherever its soldiers are serving.
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