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Queen’s Lancashire Regiment

The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King’s Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through the amalgamation of the two remaining Lancashire infantry regiments, the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) and the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire).

History

Since formation, the Queen’s Lancashires have served on operations in Northern Ireland in 1970, 1971–1972, 1975 – 1976 (resident), 1977, 1980–1981, 1987, 1990–1992, 1997 – 1999 (resident) and 2001 during the course of which eight soldiers were killed in action.

The 1st Battalion undertook two tours with BAOR in the mechanised role. The first of which was with 12 Mechanised Brigade in Osnabrück from 1970 to 1974. The second was with 33 Armoured Brigade in Paderborn from 1984 – 1990. The 1st Battalion also had the honour of being the last British battalion to serve in Berlin prior to the final withdrawal in 1994.

Overseas service saw the 1st Battalion posted to Cyprus from 1978 – 1980 as the Western Sovereign Base Area Resident Battalion, and again in 1983, where they saw service with the United Nations. A company was dispatched to the Falkland Islands in the aftermath of the 1982 war. The 1st Battalion returned to Cyprus as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area Resident Battalion from 2004–2005, again dispatching a company to the Falkland Islands.

In 1996 the 1st Battalion served as part of IFOR in Bosnia operating in the area known as “The Anvil”.

The regiment’s 1st Battalion saw service in Iraq in the months immediately following Operation Telic, from June to November 2003. Given responsibility for Iraq’s second city, Basra, it gained much praise for its efforts to restore security and civil order, but also suffered casualties of one dead and 32 injured sufficiently seriously to require medical evacuation to the United Kingdom.

The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is one of the new large infantry regiments of the British Army. The regiment’s formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry, when it was initially to be known as the King’s, Lancashire and Border Regiment. The regiment was given its new name in November 2005. Initially formed of three regular army battalions, it was eventually reduced to two regular battalions, plus a Territorial Army battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:

• The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment
• The King’s Regiment
• The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment

The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment contained three regular battalions, with each battalion simply being renamed:

• 1st Battalion, Queen’s Lancashire Regiment – 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border)
• 1st Battalion, King’s Regiment – 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border)
• 1st Battalion, King’s Own Royal Border Regiment – 3rd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border)

Yorkshire Regiment

The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (Abbreviated: YORKS) is one of the largest infantry regiments of the British Army. The regiment is the only line infantry or rifles unit to represent a single geographical county in the new infantry structure, serving as the county regiment of Yorkshire covering the historical areas of the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Riding of Yorkshire and West Riding of Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and the current county areas of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. Its northern border is the historic Yorkshire boundary of the River Tees, which today includes the majority of Redcar and Cleveland and the south westerly part of County Durham. The regiment’s antecedent units also recruited in areas that are now part of Northumberland, Cumbria, Lancashire and Tameside. The 3rd Battalion (Duke of Wellington’s) (formerly the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment) was given the Freedom of Mossley in Tameside on 8 July 1967 when Mossley was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Formation

The regiment’s formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry – it was formed from the merger of three regular battalions, plus a TA battalion:

• 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) (previously: 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire)
• 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) (previously: 1st Battalion, Green Howards)
• 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s) (previously: 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding))
• 4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (previously: Prince of Wales’s Own company of The East and West Riding Regiment, Green Howards company from the Tyne-Tees Regiment and two companies of The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment from The East and West Riding Regiment), all formerly titled and known as The Yorkshire Volunteers.

The regiment was officially formed on the 6 June 2006. The TA battalion re-badged in TA Centres on the same day, but later paraded publicly to re-badge in York on Saturday 10 June in the Museum Gardens, York. That same afternoon representatives of the affiliated Army Cadet Forces and Combined Cadet Forces detachments (approx 50) rebadged in Imphal Barracks, York.

Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires) (PWRR, known as ‘The Tigers’) is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen’s Division. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of The Queen’s Regiment and The Royal Hampshire Regiment and holds the earliest battle honour in the British Army (Tangier, 1662) which was not awarded until 1784. Through its ancestry via the Queen’s Regiment to the Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the PWRR is the most senior English line infantry regiment. The current regiment was named in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Upon its creation, HRH The Princess of Wales and HM The Queen of Denmark were Allied Colonels-in-Chief of the PWRR. When the Princess divorced HRH The Prince of Wales, she resigned as Colonel-in-chief and the Queen of Denmark has remained its Colonel-in-Chief since.

Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment

The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.

It was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of two English regiments.

• The Gloucestershire Regiment
• The Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire)

The regiment was unique in the British Army in that it was permitted to wear the United States Distinguished Unit Citation, which it inherited from the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment which was awarded for their defence of Gloster Hill during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the Korean War.

It was also the only regiment in the British Army whose members were permitted to wear a cap badge on both the front and the rear of their headdress. The back badge was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801 when the regiment fought on whilst completely surrounded by the enemy. During the Battle of the Imjin River, during the Korean War, the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (the Glorious Glosters), and their mortar battery — numbering perhaps 750 men in total — again fought on when surrounded on Gloster Hill by at least one Chinese division of 10,000 men.

On 16 December 2004, it was announced that the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment was to be disbanded – the Gloucestershire element, along with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment was to be merged with the Light Infantry, while the Berkshire and Wiltshire elements would have merged with the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. In March 2005, it was further announced that the de-amalgamation of the regiment would not take place; instead it would merge completely with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment as 1st Battalion, Light Infantry. In preparation for this, the regiment was moved from the Prince of Wales’ Division to the Light Division and renamed the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry in July 2005.

On 24 November 2005, the Ministry of Defence announced further changes to the amalgamations. The regiment would still merge with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment resulting in a single battalion, however, they were now to join a new large regiment created by the amalgamation of The Light Infantry and the Royal Green Jackets. This new regiment was to be called The Rifles and would be formed by the end of 2007. The battalion that will result from the merger of the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment will be designated 1st Battalion, The Rifles. On becoming part of a rifle regiment, the RGBW will no longer carry its colours; the Colours of the 1st. Battalion will be laid up at The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, Gloucester and the Colours of the 2nd Battalion will be laid up at the Wardrobe, home of The Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum, Salisbury.

Mercian Regiment

The Mercian Regiment (MERCIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of four existing regiments in 2007.

The regiment was formed on September 1, 2007 at Tamworth Castle.^[1] It is called the Mercian Regiment as it is generally located within the ancient English kingdom of Mercia.

Formation

The regiment’s formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry – it consists of three regular battalions, plus a TA battalion, and was created through the merger of three single battalion regiments:

• Cheshire Regiment – 1st Battalion
• Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment – 2nd Battalion
• Staffordshire Regiment – 3rd Battalion
• West Midlands Regiment, elements of The King’s and Cheshire Regiment and East of England Regiment – 4th (V) Battalion

The regiment formed on September 1, 2007; at this point, 1 CHESHIRE (by this time the only remaining line infantry regiment never to have been amalgamated in its history) moved to Catterick as part of 4 Mechanised Brigade, becoming 1 MERCIAN. At the same time, 1 WFR became 2 MERCIAN while part of London District (although the battalion was in Afghanistan at the time of re-badging), and 1 STAFFORDS became 3 MERCIAN at Tidworth. The 4th Battalion retained a multi-badge structure, with E Company (Light Infantry) West Midlands Regiment being badged as Rifles and A Company badged as Fusilliers.

• 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment (Cheshire) – Light role Infantry based at Catterick.
• 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) – Light role Infantry based at Holywood, Northern Ireland
• 3rd Battalion, Mercian Regiment (Staffords) – Armoured Infantry role based at Fallingbostel, Germany.
• 4th Battalion (V), Mercian Regiment – A Territorial Army Light Role Infantry battalion created from the West Midlands Regiment and the King’s and Cheshire Regiment and a company from the East of England Regiment

The Rifles (RIFLES) is a regiment of the British Army. It consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, plus a number of companies in other TA battalions, making it the second largest regiment in the infantry (the largest being the Royal Regiment of Scotland, third being the Guards Division followed by the Parachute Regiment). Each battalion of the Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division (with the exception of the 1st Battalion, which is an amalgamation of two individual regiments).

History

The Rifles was created as a result of the Future Army Structure. Under the original announcement, the Light Division would have remained essentially unchanged, with the exception of the Light Infantry gaining a new battalion through the amalgamation of two other regiments, and both gaining a TA battalion. However, on 24 November 2005, it was announced by the Ministry of Defence that the four regiments would amalgamate into a single five-battalion regiment. The Rifles was formed on 1 February 2007 by the amalgamation of the four Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments of the Light Division:

• The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry
• The Light Infantry
• The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry
• The Royal Green Jackets

The two existing battalions each of the Light Infantry and the Royal Green Jackets were renamed, while the single battalions of the DDLI and the RGBWLI were merged into one battalion. This brought the whole of the Light Division under a single cap badge

Kings Own Yorkshire Yeomanry (Light Infantry)

Options for Change meant some reorganisation of the Yeomanry. Two regiments merged, and a completely new one was formed. Few years later a new new regiment was formed, when a infantry battalion converted. Also an Armoured Replacement Regiment started to form.
However, the latest additions proved to be shortlived, as they were disbanded when the Strategic Defence Review took effect in 1999. The structure of the regiments also changed, as the HQ Squadrons were converted to sabre squadrons, envisaging the new role of the Territorial Army. It should be noted that besides the Yeomanry titles and traditions preserved in the Yeomanry itself, quite a few survive in other Corps.

Royal Dragoon Guards

The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. The Regiment currently serves in the armoured role, equipped with the Challenger 2 main battle tank and Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (tracked) Scimitar and is based in Catterick, North Yorkshire.  The Regiment recruits soldiers from the North of England and Ireland but predominately from Yorkshire.

Queen’s Royal Hussars

The Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish) (QRH) is the senior United Kingdom light cavalry regiment. It was formed on 1 September 1993 from the amalgamation of The Queen’s Own Hussars and The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars. The regiment traces its roots back to 1685 and during the past 320 years has been awarded 172 Battle Honours and 8 Victoria Crosses

King’s Royal Hussars

The King’s Royal Hussars (KRH) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and was formed on 4 December 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments:

• The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own) an amalgamation of the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own), and 11th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own)
• 14th/20th King’s Hussars an amalgamation of the 14th King’s Hussars and the 20th Hussars.

The regiment currently serves in the armoured role, equipped with Challenger 2 tanks, and is based in Tidworth, Wiltshire. Until recently Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster served as an officer in the regiment.

Light Dragoons

The Light Dragoons (LD) is a cavalry regiment in the British Army. It was formed in 1992 from the amalgamation of two regiments, the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary’s Own) and the 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars becoming the first dragoon regiment in the British Army for over twenty years.

Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry

The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom‘s Territorial Army. It currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.

The regiment was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of The Queen’s Own Mercian Yeomanry and The Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry as part of the Options for Change. In 1999 it absorbed a squadron from The Queen’s Own Yeomanry, bringing it to a strength of four squadrons plus the headquarters squadron.^[1]

The RMLY consists of a Recce Troop, and Command Troop (Within the Det. based in Hereford) and four sabre squadrons. Each of the sabre squadrons perpetuates a historic Yeomanry regiment, which is reflected in their subtitles:

• A (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron
• B (Shropshire Yeomanry) Squadron
• C (Cheshire Yeomanry) Squadron
• D (Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry) Squadron
• H-Det (Hereford) – The Herefordshire (Light Infantry) Detachment

In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. This incorporates the Mercian Eagle from the Queen’s Own Mercian Yeomanry with the Red Rose from the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry. This is also the point at which H-Det joined the regiment, to provide a Recce troop.

The Band of the King’s Division was formed on 12 May 2006 as result of the restructuring of Army Bands in 2006.  The Band is an amalgamation of the former King’s Division Bands (Normandy and Waterloo) and is based at Weeton Barracks, Preston.  It is one of 23 regular Army bands within the Corps of Army Music whose primary role is to provide musical support to the Army.

It comprises of 35 instrumentalists who have all undergone musical training at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall.  In addition to their musical duties, in time of conflict or emergency they would mobilize in support of the Army Medical Services.

The versatility of the musicians enables the band to provide musical backing and entertainment for almost any occasion; from small chamber ensembles and groups to full concert, marching and display bands.  Both military and civilian engagements plot the Band’s course across the British Isles and many other countries around the world.

The King’s Division comprises two regiments, the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border), and the Yorkshire Regiment.  Both were formed in 2006 bringing the biggest facelift to the King’s Division since its creation in the late 1960s.  The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment has two Regular and one TA Battalion, and was created from the merger of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, the King’s Regiment and the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment. the Yorkshire Regiment, comprising three Regular and one TA Battalion, was created from the merger of the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire, the Green Howards and the Duke of Wellingtons Regiment.  Headquartered in Preston and York respectively, these two larger multi battalion regiments really reflect the regions from which they were raised, west and east of the Pennines.

The Minden Band of The Queen’s Division

The Band was formed on 1 August 1994 as part of ‘Options for Change’.  This was a reduction of the British Army and led to the formation of 2 bands within The Queen’s Division; The Normandy Band based in Catterick and the Minden Band based at Bassingbourn.

A further reduction on the number of bands in the Corps of Army Music in 2006 led to the demise of the Normandy Band thus leaving the Minden Band as the sole survivor supporting The Queen’s Division.

The Minden Band is named after the Battle of Minden, a common battle honour to all 3 Regiments of the Queens Division and proudly carried on each of their Colours.

The Battle of Minden was fought on 1 August 1759. In the space of just a few hours, nine battalions of infantry defeated a numerically superior French Force of eleven Cavalry squadrons and seventeen infantry regiments. Marshal Contates, the French commander, saw his forces dissipated, largely because and against all the odds, the British advanced towards the French through the cross-fire of some sixty enemy cannons.

Royal Logistic Corps

The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army, comprising around 17% of its strength. The RLC flag is dark blue with the Corps Badge emblazoned on the centre.
The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on Monday 5 April 1993, by the union of the following British Army corps:

• Royal Corps of Transport
• Royal Army Ordnance Corps
• Royal Pioneer Corps
• Army Catering Corps
• Royal Engineers Postal and Courier Service

The RLC comprises both Regular and Territorial Army units.