NAM.1964-09-15-4

Notice to Ens Kenrick Verulam Bacon, 2nd Regiment Jaegers of the British German Legion of the termination of his services on 30 Nov 1856. Associated with the Crimean War (1854-1856). In 1855, Great Britain raised a British German Legion (BGL) of two regiments of light dragoons, three Jäger Corps, and six regiments of light infantry. The BGL had at the outset been reasonably well-disciplined: 40% of its personnel had prior military training and many of its officers were experienced. However, the BGL only started to leave for the East in October 1855 and had got no further than Constantinople by the time peace was declared. Upon its return to England, the BGL got into a series of fights with British troops; the Legion’s officers, told that there services were to be dispensed with, proved unwilling to impose order, claiming that promises to employ them for between three and five years had been reneged upon. The Government, however, was now more eager than ever to disband the BGL, and Ensign Bacon received notification of the termination of his employment in November 1856. Many of the BGL’s rank and file went to Cape Colony as military settlers.

Crimean War (1854-1856)