| Peninsula Barracks | |
|---|---|
| Winchester | |
 Peninsula Barracks | |
  Peninsula Barracks Location within Winchester | |
| Coordinates | 51°03′43″N01°19′16″W / 51.06194°N 1.32111°W |
| Type | Barracks |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator |  British Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | Early 20th century |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | Early 20th century–1985 |
The Peninsula Barracks are a group of military buildings in Winchester, Hampshire.
The barracks, which were originally known as the Upper Barracks, Winchester, were built in the early 20th century on the site of King's House, an unfinished palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren for Charles II, which had been used for barracks from 1794 until it was destroyed by fire in 1894. [1] [2] Some parts of the barracks remain Grade II listed buildings in their own right including the Green Jackets Headquarters and the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum, the Gymnasium, the Main Entrance Gate Piers, the Gates and Flanking Railings and Piers, the Royal Hussars Museum (former Militia Stores), the East Block, the Guardroom, the Chapel and Schoolroom, the Mons Block, the North Block, the Weapons Training Shed and the West Block. [2] [3] The barracks became the depot of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade in 1858. [4]
The barracks went on to become the regional centre for infantry training as the Green Jackets Brigade Depot in 1960. [5] The name of the barracks was changed from Upper Barracks, Winchester to Peninsula Barracks in 1964. [4] The 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) returned to the barracks on 21 April 1964, from Bushfield Camp, near Winchester, where they had moved in 1961. [6] On 22 May 1964, General Sir Gerald Lathbury, Colonel Commandant of the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) and also Quartermaster-General to the Forces, whose responsibilities included all Army buildings, took the first passing-out parade in the rebuilt barracks. [6] Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Colonel-in-Chief, 3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade, officially opened the new barracks on 28 May 1965. [7] The barracks closed in 1985 and military training was moved to Sir John Moore Barracks. [4]
In 1994 the Ministry of Defence sold most of the barracks for private flats, retaining some space for Winchester's Military Museums, a complex of museums that are grouped but operated separately. [8] The barracks also house the Regimental Headquarters of The Rifles, [9] and the Regimental Headquarters (South) of the King's Royal Hussars. [10]
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United States as 'The French and Indian War.' Subsequently numbered the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire. In 1958, the regiment joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade in the Green Jackets Brigade and in 1966 the three regiments were formally amalgamated to become the Royal Green Jackets. The KRRC became the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets. On the disbandment of the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets in 1992, the RGJ's KRRC battalion was redesignated as the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, eventually becoming 2nd Battalion, The Rifles in 2007.
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division.
The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum is situated at Peninsula Barracks in Winchester, England. The museum is one of several regimental museums that form part of Winchester's Military Museums.
The 1st Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1958 to 1966. The regiment served in the Cyprus Emergency, Brunei Revolt, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and West Berlin. The regiment formed part of the Green Jackets Brigade and in 1963 was redesignated as a rifle regiment.
The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions. Each Regular battalion of The Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division. Since formation, the regiment has been involved in combat operations in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.
The Light Division is a light infantry division of the British Army. It was reformed in 2022, as part of Future Soldier reforms.
The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry. Duncan Sandys, the recently appointed Minister of Defence, produced the paper. The decisions were influenced by two major factors: the finances of the country and the coming of the missile age.
The Green Jackets Brigade was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1946 to 1966 , that administered the English rifle regiments.
The 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars, the 52nd were part of the Light Division, and were present at most major battles of the Peninsula campaign, becoming one of the most celebrated regiments, described by Sir William Napier as "a regiment never surpassed in arms since arms were first borne by men". They had the largest British battalion at Waterloo, 1815, where they formed part of the final charge against Napoleon's Imperial Guard. They were also involved in various campaigns in India.
Copthorne Barracks was a British Army military installation in Copthorne, a suburb of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment.
Colonel Sir Robert Andrew St George Martin was a British Army officer who was Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire from 1965 to 1989.
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.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
Fenham Barracks is a military installation in Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England.
Sir John Moore Barracks is a military installation near Winchester. It is set to close in 2026.
Colonel John Maurice Arthur Tillett was a British Army officer who had a critical role in the planning of the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges on D-Day, 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. He was one of the last surviving British Army officers to have served with the 6th Airborne Division in Operation Mallard, on 6 June 1944, and in Operation Varsity, on 24 March 1945. He later commanded the Ugandan Army.
Winchester's Military Museums are a group of six independent and related regimental museums in Peninsula Barracks and Lower Barracks in Winchester, Hampshire.
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