The Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers was a Territorial Army unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. It was formed on 1 July 1999 following the

Strategic Defence Review The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a British policy document produced in July 1998 by the Labour Government that had gained power a year previously. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of t ...

by the amalgamation of the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion,

Queen's Lancashire Regiment The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through ...

and the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion,

King's Own Royal Border Regiment The King's Own Royal Border Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1959 until 2006, and was part of the King's Division. It was formed at Barnard Castle on 1 October 1959 through the amalgamation of the King's Ow ...

. On 1 July 2006, the regiment was re-designated as the 4th Battalion,

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Duk ...

History

Initial Structure

This initial structure of the regiment, upon creation, was as follows: *Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers Regimental Headquarters, at

Kimberley Barracks Kimberley Barracks is a military installation on Deepdale Road in Preston in Lancashire, England PR1 6PR. Naming The name of the barracks is based on the battle honour won by the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) when it was besieged by Boer ...

, Preston **HQ (Quebec) Company, at

, Preston
''(from HQ Company, 4th Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment)'' **A (Tobruk) (King's Own Royal Border Regiment) Company, at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

and Lancaster
''(from HQ and C Companies, 4th Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment)'' **B (Somme) (Queen's Lancashire Regiment) Company, at Preston and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

''(from HQ and B Companies, 4th Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment)'' **C (Sicily) (King's Own Royal Border Regiment) Company, at

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

and

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

''(from A and D Company, 4th Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment)'' **D (Waterloo) (Queen's Lancashire Regiment) Company, at

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

''(from A and C Companies, 4th Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment)''

Prior to re-designation

Three months prior to re-designation as a battalion of the

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Du ...

, the

King's Regiment The King's Regiment, officially abbreviated as KINGS, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 1 September 1958 by the amalgamation of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) which had been raised in 1685 ...

companies of the

King's and Cheshire Regiment The King's and Cheshire Regiment was a regiment of the British Territorial Army, with headquarters in Warrington, Cheshire. History The regiment was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of the 5th/8th (Volunteer) Battalion of the King's Regiment a ...

were integrated into the structure of the regiment, in order to ease the process of re-designation. *HQ Company, at

, Preston *A (King's Regiment) Company, at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

''(from A (King's) Company, King's and Cheshire Regiment)'' *B (Queen's Lancashire Regiment) Company, at Blackburn and Blackpool
''(from B and D Companies)'' *C (King's Own Royal Border Regiment) Company, at Workington, Carlisle, and Barrow-in-Furness
''(from A and C Companies)'' *D (King's Regiment) Company, at Ardwick Green Barracks,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

''(from C (King's) Company, King's and Cheshire Regiment)''

4th Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

In July 2006, as part of

Delivering Security in a Changing World The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled ''Delivering Security in a Changing World'', set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to t ...

, the regiment was transferred to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, and designated as the 4th Battalion. It now acts as the reserve infantry battalion for

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, with sub-units dispersed throughout all four counties.

Current Structure

The current battalion structure is as follows: *Battalion Headquarters, at

, Preston *Headquarters Company, at Kimberley Barracks, Preston *A (Ladysmith) Company, in

**Rifle Platoon, at

Peninsula Barracks The Peninsula Barracks are a group of military buildings in Winchester, Hampshire. History The barracks, which were originally known as the Upper Barracks, Winchester, were built in the early 20th century on the site of King's House, an unfini ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

*B (Somme) Company, at Somme Barracks,

**5 Platoon, at Kimberley Barracks, Preston **Rifle Platoon, at Alexandra Barracks, Lancaster **Mortar Platoon, in

*C (Kohima) Company, in

**8 Platoon, in

Carlisle Castle Carlisle Castle is a medieval stone keep castle that stands within the English city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1093 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over ...

**Assault Pioneer Platoon (Corps of Drums), in

***Detachment, at Alexandra Barracks, Lancaster *D (Inkerman) Company, in

**Machine Gun Platoon (Fusiliers), at Castle Armoury,

References

{{Duke of Lancaster's Regiment Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1999 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom