Inniskillings recalled urgently to Tientsin

Detail from Regimental Silver ©

The 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was placed under orders to proceed from North China to India, and on 26 October, embarked at Chin-Wang-Pao, the port of Tientsin (nowTianjin).

When the political situation suddenly became threatening, the Inniskillings were recalled in such haste to Tientsin that their warm winter clothing was left buried in the hold of the ship. It was a mishap which caused all ranks no little inconvenience and hardship during the severe Chinese winter.

However, the Battalion saw no action until February 1912 when a detachment was sent to Wei-hai-wei to support the police in maintaining order. At the end of February, Chinese troops in Peking began to burn and plunder and on 2 March, arson and looting broke out in Tientsin. The Battalion was next ordered to deal with mutinous deserters from the Peking garrison at Feng-tai, an important junction on the Tientsin-Peking railway. The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hancocks, negotiated a peaceful conclusion and when the senior Chinese officer withdrew his soldiers, the Battalion returned to Tientsin, less a guard left to protect the railway station.

There the Battalion would remain until November 1912 when it embarked for India.