Thiepval Barracks | |
---|---|
Lisburn | |
Coordinates | 54°31′27″N06°3′6″W / 54.52417°N 6.05167°W |
Type | Barracks |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | British Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1940 |
Built for | War Office |
In use | 1940-Present |
Garrison information | |
Occupants | Headquarters, 38th (Irish) Brigade Headquarters, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion, The Rifles |
Thiepval Barracks is a British Army barracks and headquarters in Lisburn, County Antrim. It is located near to the Harmony Hill area in Lisburn , a predominately Unionist area.
It is also the site of the stone frigate HMS Hibernia, of the Royal Navy Reserve in Northern Ireland.
The barracks were built in 1940. [1] They are named after the village of Thiepval in northern France, an important site in the Battle of the Somme and site of the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. [2]
From 1954, the barracks contained the operational headquarters of No 31 Belfast Group Royal Observer Corps (ROC) who operated from a protected nuclear bunker on Knox Road within Thiepval Barracks. Converted from a 1940s anti-aircraft operations room (AAOR), the bunker would support over one hundred ROC volunteers and a ten-man United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation warning team, responsible for the famous four-minute warning in the event of a nuclear strike on the UK. The ROC would also detect radioactive fallout from the nuclear bursts and warn the public of approaching fallout. The two organisations were stood down at the end of the Cold War. [3]
In early 1970, the barracks also became home to 39 Infantry Brigade [4] and provided the headquarters for the Ulster Defence Regiment. [5] The brigade, as 39 Airportable Brigade, was involved in The Troubles in Northern Ireland, eventually taking on responsibility under HQ Northern Ireland for an area including Belfast and the eastern side of the province, but excluding the South Armagh border region. For most of the conflict, signals support for the brigade was provided by 213 Signal Squadron. [6] From September 1970, the brigade was commanded by (then) Brigadier Frank Kitson. [7]
On 7 October 1996 the Provisional Irish Republican Army penetrated the heavily fortified base to detonate two car bombs. The first detonated at 15:35 GMT followed by the second around ten minutes later close to the base's medical facilities where victims were gathering. Warrant Officer James Bradwell (43) was killed and 21 soldiers and 10 civilians were injured. This bombing was the first major attack on a military base in Northern Ireland since the ending of the IRA's ceasefire with the 1996 Docklands bombing. [8] [9]
The 39 Infantry Brigade took on some units from 3 Brigade when that brigade was disbanded on 1 September 2004. The HQ 8 Infantry Brigade, based in Shackleton Barracks, Ballykelly, County Londonderry, was disbanded and handed over responsibility to HQ 39 Infantry Brigade at Thiepval Barracks on 1 September 2006. [4]
On 1 August 2007, the brigade was amalgamated with 107 (Ulster) Brigade when the new non-deployable brigade HQ, the 38 (Irish) Brigade, was formed in the province. [10]
Since 2009, Thiepval Barracks has been home to the stone frigate HMS Hibernia, Northern Ireland's only Royal Naval Reserve unit. The unit numbers approximately 100 officers and ratings, and is also home to University Royal Naval Unit (URNU) Belfast. [11] [12]
The barracks remain home to:
The Royal Irish Regiment is a light 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 Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment served as the county regiment for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire.
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 38th (Irish) Brigade, is a brigade formation of the British Army that served in the Second World War. It was composed of North Irish line infantry regiments and served with distinction in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns. Following the end of the war, the brigade was disbanded, but was reformed in sixty years later in 2007 and remains the regional formation for Northern Ireland.
The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ South East. Prior to the Army 2020 changes in 2013, the brigade was temporarily activated for deployment to Afghanistan. Originally formed in the Second Boer War, the brigade was engaged during both World Wars.
The 19th Light Brigade is an Army Reserve formation of the British Army. As the 19th Infantry Brigade, it fought in the First and Second World War.
The 8th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars, before being disbanded and reactivated in the 1960s. The brigade was finally being disbanded in 2006. It was formed before the First World War as part of the 3rd Division. As part of that division it spent the entire war on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 in the First World War. The brigade was also active during the Second World War.
The 39th Infantry Brigade was a military formation of the British Army that was first established during the First World War and reformed in the 1950s.
HQ Northern Ireland was the formation responsible for the British Army in and around Northern Ireland. It was established in 1922 and disbanded, replaced by a brigade-level Army Reserve formation, 38 (Irish) Brigade, in 2009.
The 107th Brigade, later 107th (Ulster) Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army which saw service in the First World War. The brigade was later reformed during the Cold War and finally disbanded in 2006, following the drawdown of Operation Banner.
HMS Hibernia is the name given to a shore establishment of the Royal Navy, which serves as the headquarters of the Royal Naval Reserve in Northern Ireland. Commissioned in 2009 to replace the C-class cruiser HMS Caroline as the training establishment for the RNR in Northern Ireland, Hibernia is located as part of Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, County Antrim. The unit numbers approximately 100 officers and ratings.
On 15 June 1988 an unmarked military van carrying six British Army soldiers was blown up by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) at Market Place in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The explosion took place at the end of a charity marathon run in which the soldiers had participated. All six soldiers were killed in the attack – four outright, one on his way to hospital and another later on in hospital.
Regional Command, formerly Support Command until 2015, is a two-star command of the British Army. It is the Army's HQ for the UK, Nepal and Brunei. It delivers Real Life Support to the Army and controls the UK Stations and Garrisons. It is also responsible for engagement with the civilian community and acts as the proponent for UK Operations.
Shackleton Barracks is a former British military installation at Ballykelly in Northern Ireland.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
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.
The 15th Signal Regiment is military communications unit of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals.
Equipment Support, Theatre Troops was an ad-hoc group of maintenance and equipment support units of the British Army's Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
The 1st Regiment, Royal Military Police is a military policing unit of the British Army which was formed during the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, but disbanded in 1985 following cuts to the RMP in the region. The regiment was then reformed in 1996 following the Options for Change, and since 2014 has been an integral part of the 1st Military Police Brigade and just one of the two remaining RMP regiments since 2019.