The 44th Foot was raised in 1741 and with the 56th became the East & West Essex in 1782. In 1881 they in turn became the 1st and 2nd Battalions The Essex Regiment.

1881.07.01 The Essex Regiment
organised as the county regiment of Essex, encompassing its Militia and Volunteer infantry [see below] and uniting two regular battalions:
1st Battalion,redesignation of 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot
2nd Battalion, redesignation of 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot

1958.06.02 amalgamated with The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, to form 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot)

-------------------------------------

The Essex wore white facings and its march was The Hampshires. The Colours are in Colchester and Chelmsford. In 1958 the Essex was almagamated with The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshires.

 

Battle Honours.WW1
The Great War [31 battalions]: Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Bapaume 1917 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Avre, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Hazebrouck, Béthune, Amiens, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Épéhy, St. Quentin Canal, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Helles, Landing at Helles, Krithia, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915-16, Rumani, Egypt 1915-17, Gaza, Jaffa, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine 1917-18

Battle Honours WW2
The Second World War: St. Omer-La Bassée, Tilly sur Seulles, Le Havre, Antwerp-Turnhout Canal, Scheldt, Zetten, Arnhem 1945, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Abyssinia 1940, Falluja, Baghdad 1941, Iraq 1941, Palmyra, Syria 1941, Tobruk 1941, Belhamed, Mersa Matruh, Defence of Alamein Line, Deir el Shein, Ruweisat, Ruweisat Ridge, El Alamein, Matmata Hills, Akarit, Enfidaville, Djebel Garci, Tunis, Ragoubet Souissi, North Africa 1941-43, Trigno, Sangro, Villa Grande, Cassino I, Castle Hill, Hangman's Hill, Italy 1943-44, Athens, Greece 1944-45, Kohima, Chindits 1944, Burma 1943-45

 

The Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford (Army Museums Ogilby Trust)

Deployment
1st Battalion

1881.07.01 1st Battalion, The Essex Regiment
1881 India
1884 Aden
1885 England: Colchester
1888 Bradford
1891 Ireland: Buttevant
1893 Fermoy
1896 England: Warley
1899.12 South Africa 18 Bde
1902 India: Bangalore
1906 Burma: Thayetmyo
1909 India: Quetta
1913 Mauritius
1913 South Africa
1914 England
1915.01 29 Div
1915.03 Gallipoli
1916.03 France and Flanders
1918.02 France and Flanders 37 Div
1919 Ireland: Kinsale
1922 England: Bordon 3 Bde
1925 Colchester
1929 Wales: Pembroke Dock
1932 England: Catterick 13 Bde
1934.12 Germany: Saar International Force supervising plebiscite (13 Bde)
1935.01 England: Catterick 13 Bde
1936 Palestine
1938 Egypt
1939.09 Egypt
1940.07.24 Abyssinia: Sudan 21 Bde
1940.10.12 Abyssinia: Sudan 29 Ind Inf Bde
1940.10.30 Abyssinia: Sudan 10 Ind Inf Bde
1940.12.22 Egypt
1941.04 Iraq Habforce
1941.08.01 Syria 5 Ind Inf Bde
1941.10 Middle East 70 Inf Div
1942.03 India 23 Inf Bde
1945.05 Burma 36 Inf Div
1945 India
1947 UK
1948 reduced to cadre
1948.11.03 amalgamated at Colchester with 2nd Battalion without change of title
1948 UK depot
1951 Germany: Minden 61 Inf Bde
1953.08 Korea 28 Commonwealth Bde
1954.08 Korea Commonwealth Contingent
1954.10 Hong Kong
1957 Germany: Dortmund 5 Bde
1958.06.02 amalgamated with 1st Bn, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, to form
1st Bn, 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot)

2nd Battalion

1881.07.01 2nd Battalion, The Essex Regiment
1881 England: Aldershot
1882 Gibraltar
1884 Egypt
1885 Sudan
1887 Malta
1889 Cyprus
1892 India: Rhaniket
1895 Lucknow
1897 Burma: Schwebo
1901.12 South Africa
1902 England: Warley
1904 Malta
1907 Ireland: Dublin
1909 Curragh
1912 Bordon
1914 England: Chatham
1914.08 France and Flanders 4 Div
1915.11 France and Flanders 36 Div
1916.02 France and Flanders 4 Div
1919 Malta
1920 Turkey Army of Occupation
1922 India: Ambala
1927 Landi Kotal
1929 Nowshera
1930 NW Frontier: Nowshera
1931 Nasirabad
1933 Bombay
1935 Sudan
1936 England: Warley
1939 UK
1940.06 UK 2 Inf Div
1944.08 NW Europe