This abridged history of the Regiment has been prepared by certain members of the History Committee, and edited by the Chairman.

The Chairman (Lieut.-General Sir Edward Hutton) is indebted to the following members of the Regimental History Committee:—Major-General Astley Terry, Major the Hon. C. Sackville-West, Captain Hereward Wake, and also to Colonel Horatio Mends for the contribution, wholly or in part, of Part I, Sec. 3; Part II, Secs. 4 and 5; Part III, Secs. 9 and 10; and Part III, Secs. 7 and 8 respectively.

The existing short history, written by Major-General Astley Terry and Colonel Mends and published with the Standing Orders of the Regiment, has been taken as a basis.

It has been the object of the compilers, while amplifying the short history, to form a Prelude to the large and comprehensive History of the Regiment by Captain Lewis Butler, the publication of which—from the difficulties to be overcome, the researches to be made, and the immense mass of detail to be dissected—must necessarily be further delayed.

Every effort has been made to narrate in a concise and popular form the origin, history, and world-wide services of the several battalions, so that every Rifleman may be able to learn at least the outlines of the history of his Regiment—a Corps whose battle honours are unequalled in number, and whose reputation for discipline and courage is unsurpassed in the annals of the British Army.

The gallant exploits of the Regiment are here given in no spirit of pride or self-adulation, but with the earnest hope that, profiting by the example of their predecessors, the present and future generations of Riflemen may not only successfully maintain as a sacred trust the credit and renown of The King’s Royal Rifle Corps, but may also still further add to the honours and reputation already won.
December 1st, 1911.