Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) | |
---|---|
Active | 1539–present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Field Engineers |
Size | Regiment 515 personnel [1] |
Part of | 25 (Close Support) Engineer Group |
Regimental HQ | Monmouth Castle, Monmouth |
March | Ap Jenkyn (Regimental Quick March) |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Royal Honorary Colonel | Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester |
Honorary Colonel | Colonel Ian Thompson |
Insignia | |
Arm Badge | Militia Flash |
The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) is the most senior regiment of the British Army Reserve. [2] The regiment was formed in 1539 during the reign of by King Henry VIII. The R Mon RE (M) became a militia unit in 1660 and then became a part of the Royal Engineers in 1877. [3]
The regiment was formed as a posse comitatus in 1539 during the reign of by King Henry VIII; it went on to become a trained band and then a militia unit in 1660. [4] It is unique in having the word 'Royal' appear twice in its name. It gained the first Royal in 1804 when it was the Monmouth and Brecon Militia. The second was acquired in 1877 when the regiment transferred from an infantry unit into a Special Reserve section of the expanding Royal Engineers. [5]
On 1 April 1967, the existing regiment absorbed 43rd Wessex Division RE (TA), 48th South Midland Division RE (TA) and 53rd Welsh Division RE (TA). [6]
The records of the Honorable Artillery Company (HAC) indicate that it was formed two years prior to the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia). However, in 1930 the Army Council (Army Board from 1964) reviewed the Army's precedence table and King George V agreed that, on account of its status as a militia unit, the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) were the senior regiment. [2] In 1957 the matter was investigated further and Queen Elizabeth II also agreed that the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) were the senior regiment: [2]
From:-Lieut.-Colonel The Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Adeane, K.C.B., K.C.V.O . Private Secretary to the Queen,Buckingham Palace, S.W.1.12th March, 1957.
My dear Playfair,Thank you for your letter of 8th March which I have laid before The Queen and which Her Majesty has read with interest.I am to say that the recommendation of the Honours and Distinctions Committee with regard to the relative precedence of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers and the Honourable ArtiIlery Company meets with the Queen's approval.
Yours sincerely,
The Jersey Militia were brought under the command of the R Mon RE (M) in 2007. The Jersey Militia was formed in 1337 when Edward III ordered "all his faithful peoples of the islands" to be prepared - by forming a militia - for possible war with France. [7] The militia defended the island against several pirate raids, and in 1549 against a French invasion attempt. [8] The militia played a role in the Battle of Jersey, for which its actions gained it the 'Royal' title. [9]
Militia historically were regarded as light infantry regiments. [10] In recognition of its Light Infantry ancestry the regiment was afforded the right to wear the Militia flash in 1943. [11] A small, light infantry green rectangle, often referred to as the snooker table; worn at the top of the left arm. Soldiers of the regiment are Sappers but also militiamen and wear the militia flash in perpetuity, as observed by Brigadier John Henry Ridge CBE when inspecting troops during the Sapper 300 celebrations in 2016. [12] [13]
The current organisation of the regiment is as follows: [14]
The regimental museum of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers is in Monmouth Castle. [22]
The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) Charitable Trust is a wholly voluntary charity that supports the wider life of the Regiment. It was registered in 2002 and is registered (Number 1093105) with the Charity Commission. [23]
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH[RC]) is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and is Canada’s only tank regiment. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. Members of the regiment are commonly called Strathconas or Strats as a short form. It was one of the last regiments in the British Empire to be created and raised by a private individual, Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.
John Williams was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The 32nd Signal Regiment is a British Army Reserve Regiment of the Royal Corps of Signals. The regiment forms part of 1st Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations.
Monmouth Castle is a castle close to the centre of the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, on a hill above the River Monnow in south-east Wales.
The British Militia was the principal military reserve force of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Militia units were repeatedly raised in Great Britain during the Victorian and Edwardian eras for internal security duties and to defend against external invasions. The British Militia was transformed into the Special Reserve under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, which integrated all militia formations into the British Army.
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.
{{Infobox military unit |unit_name=Glamorgan Yeomanry |abbreviation= |image= |caption=Glamorgan Yeomanry cap badge |dates= 1797–1831
1861–1873
1901–present |country = Kingdom of Great Britain (1794–1800)
United Kingdom (1801–Present) |allegiance= |branch= Territorial Army |type=Yeomanry |role= |size= Regiment |command_structure= |equipment= |Past Commanders= |ceremonial_chief= |colonel_of_the_regiment= |notable_commanders=Col Windham Wyndham-Quin |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_2= |nickname= |patron= |motto= |colors= |march= |mascot= |battles=* Merthyr Rising
131 Commando Squadron Royal Engineers is an Army Reserve unit and part of 24 Commando Regiment Royal Engineers. It provides engineering support to UK Commando Force. and is the largest Army Reserve Commando unit. The squadron has deployed worldwide to provide combat engineer support to the UKCF, often deploying in small sub-units. 131 was first raised in 1947 as an airborne engineer regiment, and reached a strength of over 1,000 trained parachute engineers by the early 1960s. Between 1 April 1978 and 1 October 2015, the unit was an independent Commando squadron under operational command of HQ 3 Cdo Bde RM. On 2 October 2015, it formally became the third squadron of 24 Commando Engineer Regiment.
75 Engineer Regiment is a Royal Engineers regiment, part of the British Army's Army Reserve.
The Battle of Broekhuizen, a Dutch village near the Meuse, was a small but bloody battle which took place late in 1944 as part of the Allied campaign to liberate the left bank of the Meuse in the Netherlands.
Formed in 1337, the Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey can claim to be the oldest sub-unit of the British Army, although, because it is not a regiment, and was disbanded for decades in the late 20th century, it is not the most senior.
Great Castle House is a former town house built on the site of part of Monmouth Castle in Wales. Amongst the town's most significant buildings, it has a Grade I listing and is one of 24 sites on the Monmouth Heritage Trail. The house is located on Castle Hill, off Agincourt Square in Monmouth town centre.
Vauxhall Fields, also known as Vauxhall Meadows, are water meadows to the northwest of Monmouth town centre, Wales. The River Monnow borders the meadows on two sides. The meadows have generally remained free of development. The area has been prone to flooding on many occasions over the years.
The War Memorial of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers commemorates the soldiers who died in World War I and World War II.
The Monmouth Regimental Museum is located on Castle Hill in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. The museum is in a wing of Great Castle House, a listed building on the Monmouth Heritage Trail. The focus of most of the museum's exhibits is the most senior regiment in the British Territorial Army, the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers. Great Castle House is home to the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, and the museum maintains the records of the regiment.
The Monmouthshire Regiment was a Territorial infantry regiment of the British Army. Originating in units of rifle volunteers formed in Monmouthshire in 1859, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and both World War I and World War II before losing its separate identity in 1967.
This is a list of units of the British Army's Royal Engineers.
The 29 Group, formerly 29 Engineer Brigade, is an engineer formation of the British Army responsible for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search. Its headquarters were at Aldershot, now at Didcot.
He was born on May 24, 1857, at Abergavenny. His father was a gardener who moved to Cwmbran when John was five... He was an adventurous spirit, and he joined the Monmouthshire Militia in 1877, when 20 years of age. After three months with the Militia, he joined the 24th Foot, and to do so ran away from home and gave the name of Williams. He served in the Kaffir and Zulu Wars of 1877-8-9 and later in India until 1883, when, time expired he returned to his home at Cwmbran. But he did not give up his military associations, and joined the 3rd Volunteer Battalion of the South Wales Borderers, in which he held the rank of Sergeant. His eldest son, Tom Fielding, was also a soldier... He was killed on September 26, 1914.