Gough Barracks | |
---|---|
Armagh, Northern Ireland | |
Coordinates | 54°20′56″N6°38′35″W / 54.34892°N 6.64293°W |
Type | Barracks |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | British Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1773 |
In use | 1773-1960 1970-1976 |
Garrison information | |
Occupants | Royal Irish Fusiliers |
Gough Barracks was a military installation in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
The barracks were first established on the site in 1773. [1] In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the barracks became the depot for the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot and the 94th Regiment of Foot. [2] Following the Childers Reforms, the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot amalgamated to form the Royal Irish Fusiliers with its depot in the barracks in 1881. [2]
During the Second World War the barracks were used as military accommodation by the United States Army. [1] In 1954 an Irish Republican Army unit raided the barracks and seized 340 rifles, 50 Sten guns, 12 Bren guns and a number of small arms. [3] The barracks were closed as depot of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in April 1960. [1]
In 1970 Gough Barracks were re-opened as the Headquarters for 2nd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment: the battalion remained there until they moved out to more modern facilities Drumadd Barracks in 1975. [4] The premises were then vacated completely by the British Army in 1976. [5]
A nuclear bunker was established at the site during the Cold War [6] and it continues to be used as a policing base by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. [7]
The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements, their official role was the "defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage" but unlike troops from Great Britain they were never used for "crowd control or riot duties in cities". At the time the UDR was the largest infantry regiment in the British Army, formed with seven battalions plus another four added within two years.
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, County Antrim, is the headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland and its 38th (Irish) Brigade. It is home to 2nd Battalion, The Rifles.
The Royal Irish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was founded in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment. Their oldest predecessor, the 27th Regiment of Foot, was first raised in June 1689 to fight in the Williamite War in Ireland. Other notable regiments in their lineage include the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
The Royal Irish Rifles was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd Regiment of Foot and the 86th Regiment of Foot. The regiment saw service in the Second Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, and the Korean War.
The Prince of Wales's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. It merged with the Scottish Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division; at the same time the Mercian Regiment joined with the King's Division.
The 89th Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised on 3 December 1793. Under the Childers Reforms the regiment amalgamated with the 87th Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victoria's in 1881.
The Royal Irish Regiment, until 1881 the 18th Regiment of Foot, was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, first raised in 1684. Also known as the 18th Regiment of Foot and the 18th Regiment of Foot, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, its home depot in Clonmel. It saw service for two and a half centuries before being disbanded with the Partition of Ireland following establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922 when the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded.
The North Irish Brigade was a Brigade of the British Army which existed between 1948 and 1968; it consisted of the three regiments from Northern Ireland. After the Second World War there were 14 infantry depots in the United Kingdom, each bearing a letter. The depots were territorially aligned, and Infantry Depot M at Omagh was aligned with the regiments from Northern Ireland.
The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in 1881. The regiment's first title in 1881 was Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers), changed in 1920 to the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's). Between the time of its formation and Irish independence, it was one of eight Irish regiments.
The 87th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 89th Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victoria's in 1881.
The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Infantry). The 100th Foot was first raised in 1858 and the 109th was first raised in 1853. Between the time of its formation and Irish independence, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, with its Birr Barracks home depot in Birr. It was disbanded with the Partition of Ireland following establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922 when the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded.
A large regiment is a multi-battalion infantry formation of the British Army. First formed in the 1960s, large regiments are the result of the amalgamation of a number of existing single-battalion regiments, and perpetuate the traditions of each of the predecessor units.
2nd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in the Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received royal assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was, along with the rest of the regiment, amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment. It had previously been amalgamated in 1991 with the 11th Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment to form the 2nd/11th Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment.
The 11th (Craigavon) Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed from companies of the 2nd Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment and the 3rd Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment in 1972. In 1991 under the reductions planned in Options for Change by the British Army, it again amalgamated with 2 UDR to form the 2nd/11th Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment.
The regimental depot of a regiment is its home base for recruiting and training. It is also where soldiers and officers awaiting discharge or postings are based and where injured soldiers return to full fitness after discharge from hospital before returning to full duty. Normally, a variety of regimental stores will also be kept at the depot. The regimental depot is not the same as the regimental headquarters, though in practice the two will often be co-located in the same place.
Brigadier Henry Joseph Patrick Baxter was an Irish born fourth generation soldier who overcame the handicap of being blind in one eye to join the army and rose to command one of the largest and most controversial regiments in the British Army.
Drumadd Barracks is a former military installation in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. The most authoritative source for this type of information available is Ministry of Defence, Master Order of Battle, and United Kingdom Land Forces, HQ UKLF, UKLF ORBAT Review Action Plan, HQ UKLF, 1990.
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