List of battalions of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)

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This is a list of battalions of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959.

Contents

Original composition

When the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot became the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, three pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Lancaster were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881-1908 occurred in 1900, when the 2nd Volunteer Battalion was raised, and when the 4th (Militia) Battalion disbanded in 1908. [1] [2]

BattalionFormedFormerly
Regular
1st16801st Battalion, 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot
2nd18572nd Battalion, 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot
Militia
3rd (Militia)17601st Battalion, 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own) [2] [3]
4th (Militia)18772nd Battalion, 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own) [2] [4]
Volunteers
1st Volunteer185910th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps [5]

Reorganisation

The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". Both of the volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order. [1]

BattalionFormerly
4th1st Volunteer Battalion [5]
5th2nd Volunteer Battalion [6]

First World War

The regiment fielded 17 battalions and lost 6,515 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. [7] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Battalion were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. A number of the battalions were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. The 11th, New Army "Service" battalion, was referred to as Bantam battalion because it was predominantly composed of men under the prewar height limit. [1] [8] The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918 these were linked to county regiments. [9]

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular [10]
1st1680 Western Front
2nd1857 Salonika
Special Reserve [10]
3rd (Reserve) 1760Britain, Ireland
Territorial Force [10]
1/4th1859Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/5th1900Western Front
2/4th
4th (Reserve) Battalion, from September 1916		 Blackpool, February 1915Britain, IrelandDisbanded, in ?
2/5thLancaster, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded, in 1919
3/4thJune 1915Absorbed by 2/4th Battalion upon creation
3/5th
5th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916		June 1915Absorbed by 4th (Reserve) Battalion, in September 1916
12thJanuary 1917, from 41st Provisional Battalion (Territorial Force) BritainDisbanded, in March 1918
New Army [10]
6th (Service)Lancaster, August 1914 Gallipoli, Mesopotamia Disbanded, in 1919
7th (Service)Lancaster, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded, in February 1918
8th (Service)Lancaster, October 1914Western FrontDisbanded, in 1919
9th (Service)Lancaster, October 1914Western Front, SalonikaDisbanded, in 1919
10th (Reserve) Saltash, October 1914BritainBecame the 43rd Training Reserve Battalion, 10th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916
11th (Service)Lancaster, August 1915Western Front Bantam battalion; disbanded, in February 1918
12th (Reserve)Lancaster, January 1916BritainBecame the 76th Training Reserve Battalion, 17th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916
Volunteer Training Corps [11]
13th Battalion Lancashire Volunteer Regiment
later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancashire) Regiment		Preston, LancasterDisbanded post war
14th Battalion Lancashire Volunteer Regiment
later the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancashire) Regiment		Barrow-in-FurnessDisbanded post war

Inter-War

By 1922, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft. [1]

BattalionFate
4thConverted to 56th (King's Own) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery

Second World War

The regiment’s expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. Existing battalions formed duplicates as in the First World War, while National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion. In addition to this, 5 battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment. [1] [12] These wore the 'EL' designation, the remaining 18 wearing this patch were cap-badged to other regiments. A number of Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troops were formed from the local battalions to defend specific points, such as factories. [13] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of the men in the LAA troops, the troops required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular unit. [14]

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular
1st [15] 1680 India, Iraq, North Africa, Cyprus See Post-World War II
2nd [16] 1857North Africa, Syria, Chindit Campaign See Post-World War II
Supplementary Reserve
3rdBritainSee Post-World War II
Territorial Army
5th [17] 1900 Western Front, Britain Converted to 107th Regiment (King's Own), Royal Armoured Corps
6th [18] February 1940Dunkirk, BritainDisbanded, in July 1944
7th [19] February 1940Dunkirk, Britain, Gibraltar, IndiaDisbanded, in 1947
8th [20] February 1940Dunkirk, Britain, Malta, Palestine Merge with the 1st Battalion, in January 1944
9th [21] February 1940Dunkirk, BritainConverted to 90th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, in November 1941
10th [22] September 1940BritainConverted to 151st Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps
Others
50th (Holding) [22] Lancaster, June 1940BritainBecame the 10th Battalion, in September 1940
Home Guard [23]
BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)
1stBarrowEL 12nd (North Lonsdale)UlverstonEL 2
3rdLancaster CityEL 34th (South Lonsdale)MorecambeEL 4
7thBlackpoolEL 7
Home Guard Light Anti-Aircraft units [13]
Formation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)		Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationFormation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)		Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and Designation
EL 1Barrow in Furness
Vickers Armstrong Ltd		A Troop LAAEL 4Heysham
Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd		A Troop LAA
EL 7Blackpool
Vickers Armstrong Ltd		A Troop LAAEL 7Blackpool
Brooklands Aviation Ltd		B Troop LAA

Post-World War II

In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded. [1]

BattalionFate
1stAmalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 1 April 1949, without a change in title [24]
2ndAmalgamated with 1st Battalion on the 1 April 1949 [25]
5thReconstituted from the 107th Training Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps, in January 1947 [6]

Amalgamation

The 1957 Defence White Paper stated that the King's Own Royal Regiment was due to be amalgamated with the Border Regiment, to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment on the 1 October 1959. [1]

BattalionFate
1stAmalgamated with 1st Battalion, Border Regiment, to form 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment
5thTransferred to the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, without a change in title

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Frederick, pp. 118–21.
  2. 1 2 3 Hay, pp. 242–8.
  3. ↑ Parkyn p.228
  4. ↑ "4th (Militia) Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)". Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 Westlake p143
  6. 1 2 "5th Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment [and north Lancashire infantry successors]". Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "Unit History: King's Own Royal Regiment" . Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  8. ↑ James, pp. 45–6.
  9. ↑ Westlake, Ray (2020). Guide to the Volunteer Training Corps 1914-1918. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. pp. 4–7. ISBN   9781783315390.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)" . Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Westlake pp. 120-121
  12. ↑ "The Home Guard and the Defence of Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  13. 1 2 Whittaker pp. 118-119
  14. ↑ Whittaker p. 23
  15. ↑ "7th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "2nd Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  17. ↑ "5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  18. ↑ "6th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "7th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "8th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  21. ↑ "9th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  22. 1 2 "10th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster" . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  23. ↑ "History of the Home Guard" . Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "1st Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot 1680-1881 / 1st Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment 1881-1959". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  25. ↑ "2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot 1799-1802, 1804-15, 1857-81 / 2nd Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment 1881-1949". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

Bibliography

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