Middlesex Day is on the 16th May – the date of the Battle of Albuerra in which the Middlesex Regiment, known as the Die-hards, distinguished themselves.
The Middlesex Regiment was part of the British forces fighting under the Duke of Wellington against Napoleon, entrusted to stop the advance of the French into Portugal to avoid being trapped at the village of Albuhera on the Spanish/Portyguese border. The commanding officer of the young Middlesaxon fighters reportedly yelled at the height of battle “Die hard my men , die hard”. The Middlesex men fought ferociously to keep the seemingly overwhelming French forces at bay and the regiment consequently became known as “the Diehards”.
