Large regiment

A large regiment is a multi-battalion infantry formation of the British Army. First formed in the 1960s, large regiments are the result of the amalgamation of three or more existing single-battalion regiments, and perpetuate the traditions of each of the predecessor units.

Origins

Following the Defence Review announced in 1957, the majority of regular infantry of the British Army consisted of single-battalion regiments grouped in administrative "brigades", consisting of anywhere from two to seven battalions.[note 1]

Infantry prior to the 1957 Defence Review
Guards Brigade[note 2]Lowland BrigadeHighland BrigadeHome Counties BrigadeFusilier Brigade
Grenadier GuardsRoyal Scots (The Royal Regiment)Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
Coldstream GuardsRoyal Scots FusiliersHighland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow
Regiment)		The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
Scots GuardsKing's Own Scottish BorderersSeaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs,
The Duke of Albany's)		East Surrey RegimentLancashire Fusiliers
Irish GuardsThe Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)Gordon HighlandersRoyal Sussex Regiment
Welsh GuardsQueen's Own Cameron HighlandersQueen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
(Princess Louise's)		Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
East Anglian BrigadeForester BrigadeMercian BrigadeWelsh BrigadeWessex Brigade
Royal Norfolk RegimentRoyal Warwickshire RegimentCheshire RegimentRoyal Welch FusiliersDevonshire Regiment
Suffolk RegimentRoyal Lincolnshire RegimentWorcestershire RegimentSouth Wales BorderersGloucestershire Regiment
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire RegimentRoyal Leicestershire RegimentSouth Staffordshire RegimentWelch RegimentRoyal Hampshire Regiment
Essex RegimentSherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire Regiment)		North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince
of Wales's)		Dorset Regiment
Northamptonshire RegimentRoyal Berkshire Regiment (Princess
Charlotte of Wales's)
Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's)
Lancastrian BrigadeYorkshire BrigadeNorth Irish BrigadeLight Infantry BrigadeGreen Jackets Brigade
King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of
Wales's Own)		Royal Inniskilling FusiliersSomerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Regiment (Liverpool)East Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of York's Own)Royal Ulster RiflesDuke of Cornwall's Light InfantryRifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
East Lancashire RegimentGreen Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's
Own Regiment of Yorkshire)		Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's)Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light InfantryBrigade of Gurkhas
Border RegimentDuke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)Glider Pilot and Parachute CorpsKing's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles
(The Sirmoor Rifles)
South Lancashire Regiment (Prince
of Wales's Volunteers)		York and Lancaster RegimentParachute RegimentKing's Shropshire Light Infantry6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)Durham Light Infantry7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles
Manchester Regiment10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles

Although the battalions in a brigade (with the exception of the Guards and Gurkha brigades) shared a common depot and cap badge, they maintained a separate regimental identity. Reductions in troop numbers following the 1957 review had necessitated the amalgamation of pairs of regiments within the brigades from 1958 to 1961, a process that sometimes proved controversial.

Genesis of the large regiment

The idea of the "large regiment" originated in 1962. Speaking in the House of Commons on 8 March, the Minister of War, John Profumo, stated that there was not going to be a further extensive reorganisation of army units. However, talking of the need to increase flexibility in the services, he noted that the regimental system of the infantry could be said to "stand in the way of change". He stated that the transition from the regimental to the brigade system "had on the whole been going well" and it was now time to see if there were "tangible advantages from the point of view of recruiting and flexibility" to be gained from a "large regiment system".[1]

On 16 March The Times reported that the War Office were in the early stages of planning for the creation of large regiments. The plan involved the conversion of the existing brigades into regiments, with each of the regiments forming a numbered battalion of the large regiment. The creation of the multi-battalion regiments would allow the infantry to be expanded or reduced as needed. This could be done by the increase or decrease in the number of battalions of each regiment, rather than by the emotive process of merging or disbanding historic single-battalion regiments. The report noted that this process had effectively already begun in the East Anglian and Green Jackets Brigades, where regiments had been redesignated or amalgamated as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd East Anglian Regiments and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Green Jackets.[2]

The first large regiments
The Royal Anglian Regiment was the first 'large' regiment to be created, through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the East Anglian Brigade

In 1963, the first preparations for the introduction of large regiments began with the disbanding of the Forester Brigade. The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment had transferred to the East Anglian Brigade and amalgamated with the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1958. Five years later, the three remaining battalions were also moved, with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment moving to the Fusilier Brigade (and being renamed as the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers); the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to the East Anglian Brigade; and the Sherwood Foresters to the Mercian Brigade.

In February 1964, approval for the creation of the first large regiment was given. The Royal Anglian Regiment was to be formed from the four regular battalions of the East Anglian Brigade.[3] The regiment was formed on 1 September. In May 1965 it was announced that the regiments of the Green Jackets Brigade were to become the three-battalion Royal Green Jackets from 1 January 1966.[4]

In September 1965, figures showed that the new large regiments were recruiting more successfully than the remaining single-battalion regiments, some of which were only at rifle company strength. In particular the Welsh, North Irish and Lancastrian Brigades were under strength. It was thought that the Yorkshire Brigade and Home Counties Brigade were likely to form large regiments in the near future, while plans to merge the battalions of the Highland Brigade were only being delayed by failure to agree on a common tartan to be worn. While the Army Board could not compel regiments to amalgamate, it was their stated "wish and intention" that they should. The survival of the weaker brigades was under doubt, while a feasibility study into the formation of a single "Corps of Infantry" was initiated.[5]

In June 1966, it was announced that the regiments of the Home Counties Brigade had agreed to form the third large regiment.[6] Accordingly, on 31 December, the four regiments became The Queen's Regiment.

By July 1967, three more Brigades had opted to become large regiments. All three mergers occurred in 1968: the Fusilier Brigade became the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on 23 April, the North Irish Brigade became the Royal Irish Rangers on 1 July and the Light Infantry Brigade became The Light Infantry on 10 July.

The Defence White Paper of 1967 reduced the number of infantry battalions, with the large regiments all losing one battalion in 1968. The six brigades that had chosen not to form large regiments were also to lose a battalion:[note 3] the decision to amalgamate a pair of regiments or to disband the junior regiment being left to the council of colonels of the brigade.[7][note 4]

On 1 July 1968, the brigade system was abandoned, with the infantry being grouped in six administrative "divisions" instead. Individual regimental cap badges were reintroduced and the creation of large regiments effectively ceased. Following a change of government in 1970, a policy of retaining single-battalion regiments was implemented.[note 11][note 12]

The majority of the new large regiments formed between 1964 and 1968 were grouped together into two of the new administrative divisions - the Queen's Regiment, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and Royal Anglian Regiment together formed the Queen's Division, while the Light Infantry and Royal Green Jackets made up the new Light Division. The Royal Irish Rangers was allocated, along with the single battalion regiments from the North of England, to the King's Division. The remaining three were the Guards Division (the five regiments of foot guards), the Scottish Division (the remaining Scottish line infantry regiments), and the Prince of Wales' Division (regiments from Wales and the West of England).

Options for Change

Under the Options for Change defence cuts announced in 1990, the number of infantry battalions was to be reduced. While some of the reductions were effected by the merger of pairs of single-battalion regiments,[note 13] two existing large regiments were further amalgamated, and the four single battalion infantry regiments of the Brigade of Gurkhas became a large regiment.[note 14]

Subsequent to amalgamation, both the Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Gurkha Rifles had battalions disbanded, while seven more multi-battalion regiments also lost a battalion.[note 18][note 19]

Future Infantry Structure
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (top) and The Rifles (bottom) were two of six brand new large regiments to be formed between March 2006 and September 2007

In 2004, the Army Board announced the ending of the "Arms Plot" system, where individual battalions changed role and moved station every 2 to 6 years.[10] The Board argued that the existing system led to seven or eight battalions being unavailable at any time due to retraining while changing roles. The lack of stability for the families of soldiers due to constant moving of locations was also cited as a disadvantage. In the future, battalions would retain the same role and largely the same location. As part of this process, all infantry would be organised as large single cap badge regiments of two or more battalions. At the same time, there was to be a reduction in the number of battalions, with amalgamations to take place within the administrative divisions created in 1968: The Scottish Division was to lose one battalion, the King's Division two and the Prince of Wales's Division one. Each division was to consider one of two options:[11]

  • The "small/large" option of two (three in the case of the Queen's Division) regiments, each of two or three battalions.
  • The "large/large" option of one regiment of four or more battalions.

The results of the reorganisation, which were completed in September 2007, were:

The Scottish Division formed a single "large/large" regiment of five battalions, The Royal Regiment of Scotland,[note 20] on 28 March 2006 from:

The Queen's Division adopted the "small/large" option, retaining the three existing regiments with two regular battalions each:

  • The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)
  • The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
  • The Royal Anglian Regiment

The King's Division also adopted the "small/large" option:

The Prince of Wales' Division formed two "small/large" regiments:

The Light Division was initially going to follow the "small/large" route, with the Royal Green Jackets retaining two battalions, and The Light Infantry gaining a third by amalgamating with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment.[12] However, the four regiments then took the decision to form a single five-battalion "large/large" regiment, The Rifles on 1 February 2007:

Additionally, The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment), as a result of the end of the Provisional IRA's armed campaign in 2005, saw its three Home Service battalions disbanded in July 2007, leaving just the single regular general service battalion.[note 26] The Parachute Regiment, although ostensibly unaffected by the reforms, saw its 1st Battalion removed from the infantry order of battle and transferred to the control of the United Kingdom Special Forces to form the core element of the tri-service Special Forces Support Group.[note 27]

The Territorial Army has also been reorganised so that each large regiment has one or more TA battalions.

The Guards Division[note 28] and the Royal Gurkha Rifles were left unreformed.

Army 2020

As part of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the British Army would be restructured and reduced in size, including the reduction of the infantry by a total of two battalions. One of the results of this was that two of the existing large regiments were reduced to two battalions each, while the other "small/large" regiments were all reduced to three battalions.[13]

  • The Royal Regiment of Scotland was reduced from seven regular battalions to six, with the reduction of the 5th Battalion to a single company.[note 19]
  • The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) had its 2nd Battalion disbanded, reducing it to three battalions[note 29]
  • The Mercian Regiment had its 3rd Battalion disbanded, reducing it to three battalions[note 30]
  • The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was reduced to two battalions
  • The Royal Welsh was reduced to two battalions

However a number of battalions increased in size:

  • The Royal Gurkha Rifles raised a third battalion[14][15]
  • The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment raised a fourth battalion
  • The Rifles raised an eighth battalion

Upon formation, the individual battalions of the English and Welsh regiments that came about as a result of the 2003 reforms retained their former regimental names as subtitles, as had occurred with the original large regiments formed in the 1960s. With some of these battalions being disbanded, this practice was ended.

The Prince of Wales's Division was disbanded, with the Mercian Regiment transferred to the King's Division, and the Royal Welsh and Royal Irish Regiment joined the Royal Regiment of Scotland in the new Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division.

As of January 2021, the make up of the infantry is as follows:

Guards DivisionScottish, Welsh and Irish DivisionKing's DivisionQueen's DivisionOther regiments
Grenadier Guards
(1 battalion)
(1 reinforced company)		Royal Regiment of Scotland
(4+2 battalions)
(1 reinforced company)		Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
(2+1 battalions)		Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
(2+2 battalions)		Parachute Regiment
(3+1 battalions)[note 31]
Coldstream Guards
(1 battalion)
(1 reinforced company)		Royal Welsh
(1+1 battalion)		Yorkshire Regiment
(2+1 battalions)		Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
(1+1 battalion)		Royal Gurkha Rifles
(3 battalions)
Scots Guards
(1 battalion)
(1 reinforced company)		Royal Irish Regiment
(1+1 battalion)		Mercian Regiment
(2+1 battalions)		Royal Anglian Regiment
(2+1 battalions)		The Rifles
(5+3 battalions)
Irish Guards
(1 battalion)		Royal Gibraltar Regiment
(1 battalion)[note 32]
Welsh Guards
(1 battalion)

Notes
  1. The Parachute Regiment, consisting of three battalions, always existed outside the brigade structure as part of an independent unit, the Glider Pilot and Parachute Corps (disbanded 1957), while the Brigade of Gurkhas, the overall administrative formation for Gurkhas in the British Army, consisted of four two-battalion infantry regiments plus engineers, signals and provost units
  2. At the time, the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards and Scots Guards, had multiple battalions. The Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards each had three battalions, while the Scots Guards had two. By 1961, the 3rd Battalions of the two senior regiments had been placed in "suspended animation"
  3. The four infantry regiments of the Brigade of Gurkhas were also scheduled to each lose a battalion.
  4. In the end, three new single battalion regiments were created out of this process - the South Wales Borderers and the Welch Regiment united to form the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969, while the Lancashire Regiment and the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) amalgamated into the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, and the Worcestershire Regiment and the Sherwood Foresters were united as the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, both in 1970. A further amalgamation was planned between the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Royal Hampshire Regiment. Two further regiments, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and the York and Lancaster Regiment, chose to disband rather than amalgamate, while a third, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was also intended to be disbanded.
  5. 4th Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment was reduced to a single company (Tiger Company) in 1968, before being disbanded in 1975
  6. 3rd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets was reduced to a single company (R Company) in 1970, before being reformed in 1972
  7. 4th Battalion, Queen's Regiment was reduced to a single company (Albuhera Company) in 1971, before being disbanded in 1973
  8. 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was disbanded on 1 November 1969
  9. 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers was disbanded on 23 November 1968, with the 3rd Battalion concurrently renumbered as the 1st Battalion
  10. 4th Battalion, The Light Infantry was disbanded on 31 March 1969
  11. The change in policy regarding single battalion regiments saw a reversal of the planned amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment and Royal Hampshire Regiment, as well as the disbanding of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - the Royal Hampshire Regiment and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, along with three battalions from the new large regiments, one from the Scots Guards, and one from the Brigade of Gurkhas were retained as single companies. Five of the seven independent companies were subsequently reformed as full battalions.
  12. Although the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards was placed in suspended animation, with a single company retaining its independent status, two further companies were also retained; F Company reinforced the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards in Hong Kong, and S Company, following a tour of British Honduras, went to reinforce the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards. The 2nd Battalion was eventually reformed in January 1972.[8]
  13. The Queen's Own Highlanders and Gordon Highlanders were amalgamated into the single-battalion Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons), while the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment and Gloucestershire Regiment became the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, again with a single battalion. Similar mergers between the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers, and the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment and Staffordshire Regiment, were cancelled.[9]
  14. In 1972, the Brigade of Gurkhas stood at five infantry battalions, with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles having two, and the remaining three regiments retaining one each. In 1982, the 7th Gurkha Rifles reformed its 2nd Battalion, which was retained for five years until being disbanded in 1987. In September 1992, the two battalions of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles were amalgamated into a single battalion.
  15. Upon its formation, the Royal Irish Regiment was the largest in the army with a total of nine regular battalions. Of these, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were the general service battalions of the Royal Irish Rangers, while the 3rd to 9th Battalions were the home defence battalions of the Ulster Defence Regiment. The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in April 1993
  16. The four battalions of the Queen's Regiment and Royal Hampshire Regiment effectively ceased to exist upon the merger of the two, with the personnel of the two regiments distributed equally between the two newly constituted battalions of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
  17. The four Gurkha regiments were amalgamated into three battalions of the Royal Gurkha Rifles; the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles and 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles were renamed as the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, while the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles and 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles were amalgamated as the 1st Battalion. The 3rd Battalion was disbanded in November 1996
  18. The Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards and Scots Guards lost their second battalions, while the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Royal Anglian Regiment, Light Infantry and Royal Green Jackets were reduced to two battalions
  19. The colours and traditions of the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, 2nd Battalion Scots Guards and 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland are each perpetuated by a reinforced infantry company serving as a permanent public duties unit
  20. The amalgamation of the Scottish regiments proved an emotive issue, and led to the compromise of the names of the amalgamated regiments becoming the title of the new battalions, with each battalion's number being the subtitle - for example the full title of the 1st Battalion is "The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland", as opposed to "1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Royal Scots Borderers)", the pattern adopted by the English and Welsh regiments.
  21. The Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers were amalgamated to form a single battalion, named as the Royal Scots Borderers and ranked as the 1st Battalion, which had been the original intention under Options for Change
  22. 3rd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was disbanded on 31 March 2007
  23. The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry, and Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry amalgamated to form the single 1st Battalion
  24. 1st and 2nd Battalions, The Light Infantry were renamed as the 5th and 3rd Battalions respectively
  25. 1st and 2nd Battalions, Royal Green Jackets were renamed as 2nd and 4th Battalions respectively
  26. The original seven Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment when it was formed in 1992 had been reduced by amalgamations to three by 2003
  27. While the majority of the personnel within the SFSG come from 1 PARA, the unit also features personnel from the Royal Marines and the RAF Regiment.
  28. Although the five regiments of foot guards were left unreformed as single battalions, the Guards Division did receive for the first time a TA unit in the form of the London Regiment
  29. The remaining two battalions were renumbered, with the 1st Battalion becoming the 2nd Battalion, and the 3rd Battalion assuming its place as the 1st Battalion
  30. The 3rd Battalion had been the former Staffordshire Regiment. To perpetuate the Staffords name, the Mercian Regiment's name was changed to Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters & Foresters, and Staffords)
  31. This includes 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, which is assigned to UKSF as part of the Special Forces Support Group
  32. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is the resident home defence battalion for Gibraltar, and is a dual regular/reserve unit under the administration of the Queen's Division

References
  1. More adaptations forecast in the Army: study of "large regiment" basis for infantry, The Times, 9 March 1962
  2. Bigger infantry regiments planned by War Office, The Times, 16 March 1962
  3. First of new large regiments, The Times, 25 February 1964
  4. New Green Jackets Regiment, The Times, 29 May 1965
  5. Infantry may be reshaped, The Times, 30 September 1965
  6. New Home Counties large regiment, The Times, 1 July 1966
  7. Defence White Paper: sweeping changes in Britain's forces, The Times, 19 July 1967
  8. "History". Scots Guards Association. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  9. Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Defence (3 February 1993). "Army Manpower". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 322.
  10. "Select Committee on Defence Fourth Report". UK Parliament. 17 March 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  11. Future Infantry Structure, (Ministry of Defence), accessed 21 August 2007 Archived 1 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "RGBW The Future". RGBW Regimental Association. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  13. "Army 2020: Defining the Future of the British Army". Ministry of Defence. UK Government. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  14. Ripley, Tim (18 July 2018). "UK to recruit more Gurkha soldiers". Jane's 360. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  15. "3rd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles reformation parade". The Gurkha Brigade Association. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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