66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot

The 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1758 and amalgamated into The Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Berkshire Regiment) in 1881.

It took part in the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. The bravery of the English soldiers astounded the Afghans. The British had almost lost the battle and only 11 men were left. An Afghan officer described their end. "These men charged from the shelter of a garden and died with their faces to the enemy, fighting to the death. So fierce was their charge, and so brave their actions, no Afghan dared to approach to cut them down. So, standing in the open, back to back, firing steadily, every shot counting, surrounded by thousands, these British soldiers died. It was not until the last man was shot down that the Afghans dared to advance on them. The behaviour of those last eleven was the wonder of all who saw it"

Officiers who died in the last stand in the garden included: Captain Walter Roberts, Lieutenant Maurice Edward Rayner, Lieutenant Richard Trevor Chute, Second Lieutenant Walter Rice Olivey and Second Lieutenant Arthur Honywood.

William McGonagall wrote of the battle in his poem The Last Berkshire Eleven: The Heroes of Maiwand, which includes mention of Bobbie, the Regimental pet dog, who survived the battle:

And they broke from the enclosure, and followed by the little dog,

And with excitement it was barking savagely, and leaping like a frog;

And from the field the last eleven refused to retire,

And with fixed bayonets they charged on the enemy in that sea of fire.

The regiment was raised by the redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, 19th Regiment of Foot in April 1758, ranked as the 66th Regiment of Foot. In 1782 they took a county title as the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot. In fiction Dr. John Watson, narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was wounded while attached to the regiment at the Battle of Maiwand. He was on attachment from his own regiment, the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers.