List of battalions of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)

This is a list of battalions of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959.

Original composition

When the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot became the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, three pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Lancaster were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881-1908 occurred in 1900, when the 2nd Volunteer Battalion was raised, and when the 4th (Militia) Battalion disbanded in 1908.[1][2]

Battalion Formed Formerly
Regular
1st 1680 1st Battalion, 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot
2nd 1857 2nd Battalion, 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot
Militia
3rd (Militia) 1760 1st Battalion, 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own)[2][3]
4th (Militia) 1877 2nd Battalion, 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own)[2][4]
Volunteers
1st Volunteer 1859 10th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps[5]

Reorganisation

The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". Both of the volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order.[1]

Battalion Formerly
4th 1st Volunteer Battalion[5]
5th 2nd Volunteer Battalion[6]

First World War

The regiment fielded 17 battalions and lost 6,515 officers and other ranks during the course of the war.[7] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Battalion were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. A number of the battalions were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. The 11th, New Army "Service" battalion, was referred to as Bantam battalion because it was predominantly composed of men under the prewar height limit.[1][8]

Battalion Formed Served Fate
Regular[9]
1st 1680 Western Front
2nd 1857 Salonika
Special Reserve[9]
3rd (Reserve) 1760 Britain, Ireland
Territorial Force[9]
1/4th 1859 Western Front See Inter-War
1/5th 1900 Western Front
2/4th
4th (Reserve) Battalion, from September 1916
Blackpool, February 1915 Britain, Ireland Disbanded, in ?
2/5th Lancaster, September 1914 Western Front Disbanded, in 1919
3/4th June 1915 Absorbed by 2/4th Battalion upon creation
3/5th
5th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916
June 1915 Absorbed by 4th (Reserve) Battalion, in September 1916
12th January 1917, from the 41st Provisional Battalion Britain Disbanded, in March 1918
New Army[9]
6th (Service) Lancaster, August 1914 Gallipoli, Mesopotamia Disbanded, in 1919
7th (Service) Lancaster, September 1914 Western Front Disbanded, in February 1918
8th (Service) Lancaster, October 1914 Western Front Disbanded, in 1919
9th (Service) Lancaster, October 1914 Western Front, Salonika Disbanded, in 1919
10th (Reserve) Saltash, October 1914 Britain Became the 43rd Training Reserve Battalion, 10th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916
11th (Service) Lancaster, August 1915 Western Front Disbanded, in February 1918
12th (Reserve) Lancaster, January 1916 Britain Became the 76th Training Reserve Battalion, 17th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916

Inter-War

By 1922, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft.[1]

Battalion Fate
4th Converted to 56th (King's Own) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery

Second World War

The regiment’s expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. Existing battalions formed duplicates as in the First World War, while National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion. In addition to this, 5 battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment.[1][10]

Battalion Formed Served Fate
Regular
1st[11] 1680 India, Iraq, North Africa, Cyprus See Post-World War II
2nd[12] 1857 North Africa, Syria, Chindit Campaign See Post-World War II
Supplementary Reserve
3rd Britain See Post-World War II
Territorial Army
5th[13] 1900 Western Front, Britain Converted to 107th Regiment (King's Own), Royal Armoured Corps
6th[14] February 1940 Dunkirk, Britain Disbanded, in July 1944
7th[15] February 1940 Dunkirk, Britain, Gibraltar, India Disbanded, in 1947
8th[16] February 1940 Dunkirk, Britain, Malta, Palestine Merge with the 1st Battalion, in January 1944
9th[17] February 1940 Dunkirk, Britain Converted to 90th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, in November 1941
10th[18] September 1940 Britain Converted to 151st Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps
Others
50th (Holding)[18] Lancaster, June 1940 Britain Became the 10th Battalion, in September 1940

Post-World War II

In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded.[1]

Battalion Fate
1st Amalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 1 April 1949, without a change in title[19]
2nd Amalgamated with 1st Battalion on the 1 April 1949[20]
5th Reconstituted from the 107th Training Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps, in January 1947[6]

Amalgamation

The 1957 Defence White Paper stated that the King's Own Royal Regiment was due to be amalgamated with the Border Regiment, to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment on the 1 October 1959.[1]

Battalion Fate
1st Amalgamated with 1st Battalion, Border Regiment, to form 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment
5th Transferred to the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, without a change in title

References

  1. Frederick, pp. 118–21.
  2. Hay, pp. 242–8.
  3. Parkyn p.228
  4. "4th (Militia) Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)". Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  5. Westlake p143
  6. "5th Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment [and north Lancashire infantry successors]". Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  7. "Unit History: King's Own Royal Regiment". Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  8. James, pp. 45–6.
  9. "King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)". Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. "The Home Guard and the Defence of Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  11. "7th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  12. "2nd Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  13. "5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  14. "6th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  15. "7th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  16. "8th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  17. "9th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  18. "10th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  19. "1st Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot 1680-1881 / 1st Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment 1881-1959". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  20. "2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot 1799-1802, 1804-15, 1857-81 / 2nd Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment 1881-1949". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

Bibliography

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