Royal Anglian Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1 September 1964 – present |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Line infantry |
Role | 1st Battalion - Light Infantry 2nd Battalion – Light Infantry 3rd Battalion – Army Reserve |
Size | Three battalions |
Part of | Queen's Division |
Garrison/HQ | Regimental Headquarters - Bury St Edmunds 1st Battalion – Cyprus 2nd Battalion – Cottesmore 3rd Battalion – Bury St Edmunds |
Nickname(s) | The Vikings (1st Battalion) The Poachers (2nd Battalion) The Steelbacks (3rd Battalion) |
Motto(s) | Regimental Motto: honi soit qui mal y pense 1st Battalion Motto: Stabilis |
March | Quick - Rule Britannia/Speed the Plough Slow – The Northamptonshire |
Anniversaries | 1 August - Minden Day 1 September – Regimental Formation Day |
Website | www |
Commanders | |
Colonel-in-Chief | The Duke of Gloucester |
Colonel of the Regiment | Major General Dominic James Stead Biddick [1] |
Insignia | |
Tactical Recognition Flashes | |
Arm Badge | Salamanca Eagle From the Essex Regiment |
Abbreviation | R ANGLIAN |
The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating in the British Army, and can trace its history back to 1685. The regiment was the first of the large infantry regiments and is one of the three regiments of the Queen's Division.
The regiment was formed on 1 September 1964 as the first of the new large infantry regiments, through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the East Anglian Brigade: [2]
The Royal Anglian Regiment was established to serve as the county regiment for the following counties:
Initially formed of seven battalions (four regular and three Territorial Army), the regiment was reduced in 1975 with the loss of the 4th (Leicestershire) Battalion to three regular battalions and three TA. The regiment was reduced again in 1992 to two regular and two TA battalions with the loss of the 3rd (16th/44th Foot) and 5th Battalions. [3]
The remaining Territorial battalion of the regiment, the East of England Regiment was re-designated on 1 April 2006 as the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment as part of the reforms. [3]
The regiment carried out a series of tours-of-duty throughout "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. [4]
During the Yugoslav Wars, the 2nd Battalion was deployed to Bosnia in April 1994 as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force UNPROFOR. [5] During the tour, Corporal Andrew Rainey became one of the first ever non-officers to win the Military Cross, for his actions during a heavy contact between 3 Platoon, A Company and a Bosnian Serb Army unit on the confrontation line in the north of the Maglaj Finger. [6]
In 1995 the 1st Battalion was sent to Croatia as part of 24 Airmobile Brigade between July and October of that year. The Vikings returned to the UK having suffered no casualties. [7]
Shortly after British forces intervened in Sierra Leone during its civil war, the 2nd Battalion briefly joined the IMATT force in June 2000 to help train the Sierra Leonean armed forces. [8]
In March 2002, a majority of the 1st Battalion were sent to Afghanistan as part of Operation Fingal which involved military leadership and the provision of a 2,000-strong contingent to coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Battalion was based in the capital Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The following 2 February Battalion's A Company were posted to Kabul and were replaced by C Company in June. [9]
From March to September 2007, as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade, 1st Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 6. This deployment was the subject of the Sky One documentary Ross Kemp in Afghanistan , broadcast in January/February 2008. A book has also been written by a former commanding officer about the battalion on this tour, Attack State Red , published by Penguin. They were stationed in Helmand Province. The fighting attracted much media attention due to the ferocity of the combat, with soldiers often having to resort to using bayonets. The battalion suffered nine casualties during its tour, five from attacks and four accidental. [10] [11]
In a reported friendly fire incident, on 23 August 2007, one of a pair United States Air Force F-15E fighter aircraft called in to support a patrol of the 1st Battalion in Afghanistan dropped a bomb on the same patrol, killing three men, and severely injured two others. It was later revealed that the British forward air controller who called in the strike had not been issued a noise-cancelling headset, and in the confusion and stress of the battle incorrectly confirmed one wrong digit of the co-ordinates mistakenly repeated by the pilot, and the bomb landed on the British position 1,000 metres away from the enemy. The coroner at the soldiers' inquest stated that the incident was due to "flawed application of procedures" rather than individual errors or "recklessness". [12]
With very little notice the 1st Battalion would deploy again to Helmand Province in late 2009 where soldiers from 1st Battalion saw action guarding checkpoints in the Nad-e-Ali area, in central Helmand province later in the year. [13] Deploying alongside them were elements of the sister 3rd Battalion, who deployed to Afghanistan as part of 11 Light Brigade in October 2009. [14]
The 1st Battalion and elements of 3rd Battalion again deployed to Afghanistan as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade in March 2012 as part of Operation Herrick 16 in the closing stages of the conflict. [15]
In 2005, 1st Battalion undertook a tour in Iraq as part of Operation Telic 6 where the battle group was responsible for the Basra Rural South area of operations. C (Essex) Company was detached to act as a Brigade Operations Company and was involved in several high-profile arrest operations. [16]
In Spring 2006, 2nd Battalion deployed to Iraq as part of Op Telic 8 and formed Basra City South Battlegroup. C (Northamptonshire) company was detached to operate as part of Force Reserve and was involved in many high-profile arrest and strike operations. During the tour the regiment mourned the loss of two soldiers; on 13 May 2006 Privates Joseva Lewaicei and Adam Morris died as a result of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb attack in Basra. A third soldier was badly injured. [17]
In autumn 2017 the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment deployed to Cyprus, assuming the role of Regional Standby Battalion and was held at very high readiness to deploy anywhere in the world. [18] It returned to Kendrew Barracks in August 2019. [19]
In summer 2021 the 1st Battalion deployed to Cyprus and, as with the 2nd Battalion in the years before, assumed the role of Regional Standby Battalion to be ready to deploy anywhere in the world. Elements of the battalion were deployed at short notice on Operation PITTING, helping to recover British nationals and Afghan refugees following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. [20]
On 9 October 2019, 100 men from C and D companies marched through Haverhill and received the freedom of the town. The battalion was led by their commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Moxey MBE. [21] In 2020 during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, members of the regiment helped assist the NHS for testing of COVID-19 patients, and provided checkpoints throughout London in collaboration with the Grenadier Guards. [22] 1 Royal Anglian also helped build NHS Nightingale London, a temporary critical care hospital. [23]
The Royal Anglian Regiment Museum is based at Duxford in Cambridgeshire. [24]
The regimental ethos is as follows: [25]
We are a county based Regiment bound together by a closely-knit family spirit. Our approach is classless, based on mutual respect and trust, where developing and believing in our soldiers is paramount. We are a forward looking, self-starting and welcoming team for whom the mission remains key.
In 1995, each battalion renamed its companies in order to perpetuate its lineage from the old county regiments. [26] The current structure is as follows:
1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment 'The Vikings'
The 1st Battalion operates in the light infantry role as part of British Forces Cyprus and is based in Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia, Cyprus. Following the Future Soldier announcements, the 1st Battalion will move to Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore as part of 11th Security Force Assistance (SFA) Brigade and re-role to a Security Force Assistance (SFA) role. [27] This move will see the 1st and 2nd Battalions based together for the first time in the Regiment's history.
2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment 'The Poachers'
The 2nd Battalion operates in the Light Mechanised Infantry role, as part of 7th Infantry Brigade, and is currently based at Kendrew Barracks. [19]
3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment "The Steelbacks"
The 3rd Battalion operates in the light infantry role under 7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East and is based at Bury St Edmunds. [29]
Under the new rotations announced in Future soldier the 2nd Battalion will continue to rotate as a resident unit of British Forces Cyprus. [30]
The battalion nicknames are as follows:
The Vikings – 1st Battalion
The nickname stems from the late 1960s when the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, The 1st East Anglian Regiment Lt Col A F Campbell, MC said it described the Nordic influence on the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The nickname stuck, was adopted by the 1st Battalion on formation, and is still widely used today. [31]
The Poachers – 2nd Battalion
This stems from the Regimental March, The Lincolnshire Poacher , of one of their predecessors, the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. [32]
The Steelbacks – 3rd Battalion
This was the nickname of the 58th Regiment of Foot, later the 2nd Battalion the Northamptonshire Regiment. It was subsequently the nickname of the former 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment. It stems from Private Hovenden of the 58th being described as a 'Steelback' after a flogging in 1813. [33]
The regimental marches are as follows: [34]
The regimental days are as follows: [34]
The Regiment
The 1st Battalion
The 2nd Battalion
Celebrated by the individual battalions (in date order)
Uniforms are as follows: [34]
The first trace of a band within the Northamptonshire Regiment was recorded in 1798, during which a "German bandmaster was engaged". Military bands have continued in this regiment over the years after Territorial Army battalions of the former regiments were affiliated were merged. In 1986, the first women were recruited into the band from the Women's Royal Army Corps. In 1996, the 5th Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment was reorganized with the regimental Council electing to keep the band, under the name of the Band of the Royal Anglian regiment following the amalgamation of the Regular Royal Anglian bands into the Bands of the Queen's Division. [36]
The regiment's alliances are as follows:
The Royal Anglian Regiment has a unique relationship with the Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), a Territorial battalion of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda (which was designated an Imperial fortress until the 1950s, [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] with the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda reduced to a base in 1951, the naval Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station abolished with the station in 1956, [53] and the Bermuda Command Headquarters and all regular units and detachments of the garrison withdrawn in 1957). [54] [55] Although the Royal Bermuda Regiment is usually described as an affiliated regiment, its relationship to the Regiment is more akin to that of one of Royal Anglian's own TA battalions. The Royal Bermuda Regiment sent troops to the Western Front, to support the Lincolnshire Regiment in June, 1915, during the First World War. From the 1990s, senior NCOs were loaned to the Royal Bermuda Regiment for the duration of its annual recruit camps, with one attached to each platoon of its training company. [56]
In 1989, the Band and fifty members of the old 3rd Battalion were featured in the opening and closing sequences of BBC historical sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth with the band, men and actors Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny dressed in World War I period uniforms marching to "The British Grenadiers" and the Blackadder theme song. It was shot on location at the former Colchester Cavalry Barracks. [57]
The 54th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. The division was disbanded after the war but reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920. During the Second World War it was a home service division and did not see any combat service abroad and was disbanded in late 1943 but many of its component units went to see service in the Normandy Campaign and North-western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 44th Regiment of Foot and the 56th Regiment of Foot.
The 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) was an infantry regiment of the British Army.
The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named the 9th Regiment of Foot.
The East of England Regiment (EER) was the infantry unit of the Territorial Army of the East Midlands and East Anglia from 1 July 1999 to 1 April 2006. Upon the re-organisation of the infantry in 2006, the regiment became 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment.
The 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team is a formation in the British Army with a direct lineage to 7th Armoured Brigade and a history that stretches back to the Napoleonic Wars. It saw active service in the Crimean War, the Second Boer War and both the First and the Second World Wars. In 2014, the 7th Armoured Brigade was re-designated as 7th Infantry Brigade, thereby ensuring that the famed "Desert Rats" continue in the British Army's Order of battle.
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments and named the 10th Regiment of Foot. After the Childers Reforms of 1881, it became the Lincolnshire Regiment after the county where it had been recruiting since 1781.
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 Leicestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both World War I and World War II, before being amalgamated, in September 1964, with the 1st East Anglian Regiment, the 2nd East Anglian Regiment and the 3rd East Anglian Regiment to form the present day Royal Anglian Regiment, of which B Company of the 2nd Battalion continues the lineage of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.
The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before being amalgamated with the Royal Norfolk Regiment to form the 1st East Anglian Regiment in 1959 which, in 1964, was further amalgamated with the 2nd East Anglian Regiment, the 3rd East Anglian Regiment and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to create the present Royal Anglian Regiment.
The East Anglian Brigade was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1946 to 1968, that administered the regiments with recruiting grounds in East Anglia, and the East of England.
The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment, which was amalgamated with the 1st East Anglian Regiment, the 3rd East Anglian Regiment and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the present Royal Anglian Regiment.
The 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) was a short-lived infantry regiment of the British Army from 1960 to 1964. Its lineage is continued by the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment "The Steelbacks" is the Army Reserve unit of the Royal Anglian Regiment and is made up of volunteers who train in their spare time as soldiers. It was established on 1 April 2006, it was formed from five of the six companies of the East of England Regiment with A, B, C, E and HQ companies going to 3 Royal Anglian and D Company going to the 4th (V) Battalion, Mercian Regiment. In 2021, under the Future Soldier it was announced that the 19th Brigade would be re-formed with its headquarters in York. The brigade will be tasked with home defence and home 'resilience' duties. The brigade re-formed on 23 July 2022) under command of 1st Division. Their Brigade Flash will no longer be the Desert Rat, it will be replaced with a Black Panther Head.
The East Midland Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, it commanded infantry battalions recruited in the East Midlands of England: Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The brigade was an integral part of the East Anglian Division.
The 222nd Infantry Brigade was a Home Service formation of the British Army that existed under various short-lived titles in both the First and Second World Wars
The 223rd Brigade was a Home Defence formation of the British Army in the First and the Second World Wars. It existed under several variations of the 223 Brigade title, and was eventually converted into an airborne formation.
The 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers were a unit of the British Army raised from 1859 onwards as a group of originally separate Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). They later became the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and saw action in the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns during the First World War. Converted into a searchlight unit between the wars, they served in the defence of the United Kingdom and as an infantry regiment in liberated Norway during the Second World War. Postwar they continued in the air defence role until 1961 when they reverted to infantry as part of the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The 1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force raised in the County of Norfolk in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. It became part of the Territorial Force in 1908 and served under various designations as field artillery in Palestine during World War I, and as heavy anti-aircraft artillery in North Africa and Italy during World War II. It disappeared in a merger in 1955.
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