A large regiment is a multi-

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

formation 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 ...

. First formed in the 1960s, large regiments are the result of the amalgamation of a number of existing single-battalion regiments, and perpetuate the traditions of each of the predecessor units.

Origins

Up to 1948, line infantry regiments in the British Army had two battalions, in the form that had been implemented under the 1881 Childers Reforms, which was intended to allow each regiment to have one battalion stationed in the UK, and the other stationed overseas. However, Indian independence in 1947 saw plans put in place to reduce all of the British Army's line infantry and rifles regiments to a single battalion. Although some regiments temporarily raised new battalions during the early 1950s, following the Defence Review announced in 1957, the majority of regular infantry of the British Army consisted of single-battalion regiments grouped in administrative "

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

s", consisting of anywhere from two to seven battalions. 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 The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

on 8 March, the

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

John Profumo John Dennis Profumo, CBE,( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the 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". On 16 March ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' reported that the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

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 Brigade The Green Jackets Brigade (known as O Group until 1948) was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1946 to 1968, that administered the English rifle regiments. History After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry ...

s, where regiments had been redesignated or amalgamated as the 1st,

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

and

3rd East Anglian Regiment The 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. History As a result of the 1957 Defence Review, the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment amalga ...

s and 1st,

and 3rd Green Jackets.

The first large regiments

In 1963, the first preparations for the introduction of large regiments began with the disbanding of the Forester Brigade. The

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

had transferred to the East Anglian Brigade and amalgamated with the

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

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 The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating i ...

was to be formed from the four regular battalions of the East Anglian Brigade. 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 The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). History The Royal Green Jackets was formed on 1 January 1966 by the amalgama ...

from 1 January 1966. 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 Brigade The Lancastrian Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of northwest England. After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, e ...

s were under strength. It was thought that the

Yorkshire Brigade The Yorkshire Brigade was an administrative brigade formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of Yorkshire, England. After the Second World War there were 14 infantry depots in Britai ...

and

Home Counties Brigade The Home Counties Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of the Home Counties of south east England. After the Second World War the British Army had fou ...

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 Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

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. In June 1966, it was announced that the regiments of the Home Counties Brigade had agreed to form the third large regiment. Accordingly, on 31 December, the four regiments became the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

. 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 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as the Royal Fusiliers or, simply, the Fusiliers) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st battalion, part o ...

on 23 April, the North Irish Brigade became the

Royal Irish Rangers The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal Iris ...

on 1 July and the Light Infantry Brigade became

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Brig ...

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: the decision to amalgamate a pair of regiments or to disband the junior regiment being left to the council of colonels of the brigade. *Royal Anglian Regiment - formed 1 September 1964 from: ** 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) - 1st Battalion ** 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) - 2nd Battalion ** 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) - 3rd Battalion **

The Royal Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

- 4th Battalion *Royal Green Jackets - formed 1 January 1966 from: **

1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) The 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) was an infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1958 to 1966. The regiment served in the Cyprus Emergency, Brunei Revolt, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and West Berlin. The regiment forme ...

- 1st Battalion ** 2nd Green Jackets, the King's Royal Rifle Corps - 2nd Battalion ** 3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade - 3rd Battalion *Queen's Regiment - formed 31 December 1966 from: **

The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army which existed from 1959 to 1966. In 1966, it was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regime ...

- 1st Battalion **

The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1961 to 1966. Its lineage is continued by the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires). History The regiment was formed ...

- 2nd Battalion ** The Royal Sussex Regiment - 3rd Battalion ** The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) - 4th Battalion *Royal Regiment of Fusiliers - formed 23 April 1968 from: ** The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers - 1st Battalion ** The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers - 2nd Battalion ** The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) - 3rd Battalion **

The Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, and had many different titles throughout its 28 ...

- 4th Battalion *Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) - formed 1 July 1968 from: ** The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers - 1st Battalion ** The Royal Ulster Rifles - 2nd Battalion ** The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) - 3rd Battalion *The Light Infantry - formed 10 July 1968 from: **

The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry (SCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in October 1959 by the merger of the Somerset Light Infantry and the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and was itself merged with ...

- 1st Battalion **

The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

- 2nd Battalion ** The King's Shropshire Light Infantry - 3rd Battalion ** The Durham Light Infantry - 4th Battalion 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. 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 The Queen's Division is a British Army training and administrative apparatus for infantry regiments from the east and south of England and the remaining regiment of Fusiliers. Formation The Queen's Division was formed in 1968 with the regime ...

, 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 King's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for infantry regiments in the North of England. History The King's Division was formed in 1968 with the union of the Lancastrian Brigade, Yorkshi ...

. The remaining three were the Guards Division (the five regiments of foot guards), the

Scottish Division The Scottish Division was a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units. It merged with the Prince of Wales' Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division in ...

(the remaining Scottish line infantry regiments), and the

Prince of Wales' Division The Prince of Wales's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. It merged with the Scottish Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish D ...

(regiments from Wales and the West of England).

Options for Change

Under the

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

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, two existing large regiments were further amalgamated, and the four single battalion infantry regiments of the Brigade of Gurkhas became a large regiment. * The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment) - formed 1 July 1992 from: **The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) ** The Ulster Defence Regiment * The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) - formed 9 September 1992 from: **The

** The Royal Hampshire Regiment *

The Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

- formed 1 July 1994 from: **

2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India's independence in 1947. The 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Ba ...

6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army following India's independence. Originally raised in 1817 as part of the army of the British East India Compa ...

** 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles **

10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, (abbreviated to 10 GR), was originally a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1890, taking its lineage from a police unit and over the course of its existence it had ...

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.

Future Infantry Structure

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. 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; this would continue to allow soldiers the ability to undertake different roles through transferring between battalions of their regiment. 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

was to lose one battalion, the

two and the Prince of Wales's Division one. Each division was to consider one of two options: *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

formed a single "large/large" regiment of five battalions, The

Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the senior and only Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (formerly five) and two reserve battalions, plus an incremental company, each formerly an indiv ...

, on 28 March 2006 from: * The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) * The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) - 2nd Battalion * The King's Own Scottish Borderers * The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) - 3rd Battalion *

The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Prior to 28 March 2006, the Highlanders was an infantry regiment in its own right; The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordon ...

- 4th Battalion * The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) - 5th Battalion The

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

also adopted the "small/large" option: *The

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 ...

was formed on 1 July 2006 (initially of three battalions, reduced to two in March 2007) from: ** The King's Own Royal Border Regiment - 3rd Battalion **

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 ...

- 2nd Battalion ** The Queen's Lancashire Regiment - 1st Battalion *The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) was formed on 6 June 2006 from: **

The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was created in 1958 by the amalgamation of the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) and the Ea ...

- 1st Battalion ** The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) - 2nd Battalion **

The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

- 3rd Battalion The

formed two "small/large" regiments: *The

Royal Welsh The Royal Welsh (R WELSH) ( cy, Y Cymry Brenhinol) is an armoured infantry regiment of the British Army. It was established in 2006 from the Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) and the Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot). History The ...

was formed on 1 March 2006 from: ** The Royal Welch Fusiliers - 1st Battalion ** The Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot) - 2nd Battalion *The

Mercian Regiment The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, which is recruited from five of the counties that formed the ancient kingdom of Mercia. Known as 'The Heart of England's Infant ...

formed with 3 regular battalions on 1 September 2007 from: ** The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment - 1st Battalion ** The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot) - 2nd Battalion ** The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's) - 3rd Battalion *In addition the

Devonshire and Dorset Regiment The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment (11th, 39th and 54th), usually just known as the Devon and Dorsets, was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1958 by the amalgamation of two county regiments, the Devonshire Regiment and the Dorset ...

and

Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment was a short-lived infantry regiment of the British Army. History The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Re ...

were converted to

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

in 2005 and transferred to the Light Division. The Light Division was initially going to follow the "small/large" route, with the

retaining two battalions, and

gaining a third by amalgamating with the

and the

. However, the four regiments then took the decision to form a single five-battalion "large/large" regiment,

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerl ...

on 1 February 2007: * The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry *

* The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry * The Royal Green Jackets Additionally, The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment), as a result of the end of the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

's armed campaign in 2005, saw its three Home Service battalions disbanded in July 2007, leaving just the single regular general service battalion. 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 The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Force ...

to form the core element of the tri-service Special Forces Support Group. Each regiment within the new structure also gained at least one Territorial Army (TA) battalion through amalgamating with its local multi-cap badge TA regiment. The two large/large regiments gained two TA battalions. The Guards Division 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 a single battalion each, while the other "small/large" regiments were all reduced to two battalions, with each retaining their existing

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

battalions. *The Royal Regiment of Scotland was reduced from five battalions to four, with the reduction of the 5th Battalion to a single company. *The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) had its 2nd Battalion disbanded, reducing it to two battalions *The Mercian Regiment had its 3rd Battalion disbanded, reducing it to two battalions *The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was reduced to a single battalion *The Royal Welsh was reduced to a single battalion Two regiments, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Rifles, each received an additional reserve battalion. The

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

, as part of an overall expansion of the Brigade of Gurkhas, was to raise a third battalion

Future Soldier

In March 2021, the government published a new defence review, entitled ''

Defence in a Competitive Age ''Defence in a Competitive Age'' is a Ministry of Defence command paper which was released on 22 March 2021. It provided details on changes to the armed forces to meet the requirements of the Integrated Review which was published before it on 16 ...

'', that was undertaken as part of the larger

Integrated Review The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, often known as the Integrated Review, and titled as ''Global Britain in a Competitive Age'', was a review carried out by the British government led by Boris Johnson into th ...

into the UK's foreign, defence and security policies. This would entail a reorganisation of the infantry's divisional administrative structure, as part of which, another of the large regiments originally formed under Future Infantry Structure in 2007, the Mercian Regiment, was reduced to a single regular battalion. Further changes were announced relating to the so-called "specialised infantry" battalions formed under the 2015 SDSR, with their operational formation, the

Specialised Infantry Group The Army Special Operations Brigade (Army Spec Ops Bde) (previously called the Specialised Infantry Group) is a formation of the British Army, initially created as a result of the Army 2020 Refine reorganisation, intended to train foreign force ...

, to be regimented as a new large regiment, dubbed the "Ranger Regiment", initially intended to be formed in August 2021 as part of a new "Special Operations Brigade": On 25 November 2021, the new plan for the restructuring of the Army, which was entitled ''

Future Soldier Future Soldier was a multi-nation military project by the United States and its allies launched in the late 1990s. Set-up Superiority to enemy ground forces will be achieved by equipping the average ground-based combat soldier with an integ ...

'', was announced. The most significant announcement was the formation of the planned new regiment, The Rangers, from four of the five battalions of the Specialised Infantry Group: *The Rangers - formed 1 December 2021 from: **

The Royal Scots Borderers The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS) was an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The battalion formed on 1 August 2006 when its antecedent regiments - the Royal Scots and the King's O ...

, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland - 1st Battalion **2nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) - 2nd Battalion **2nd Battalion,

The 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, Lancashire, Preston, it recruits throughout the North Wes ...

- 3rd Battalion **4th Battalion,

- 4th Battalion The reformation of the fifth battalion in the Specialised Infantry Group, 3rd Battalion, the

, was cancelled, leaving the regiment with two battalions. Instead, individual company sized units were formed intended to operate across the army, including attached to The Rangers. Following the original announcement in March that the Mercian Regiment would be reduced to a single regular battalion, the formation of The Rangers, a brand new regiment with its own cap badge, saw a further two large regiments, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, also reduced in size to a single regular battalion, while the Royal Regiment of Scotland was reduced to three regular battalions and The Rifles to four. In addition, although the Foot Guards battalion assigned to the "Security Force Assistance" role was reduced in size, its excess manpower was used to generate two additional public duties companies. The first battalion to be so formed was 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, which generated No 9 Company and No 12 Company for public duties. These two companies will be used to represent the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards, which was originally placed in suspended animation in 1947.

Notes

References

{{Reflist Infantry regiments of the British Army Regiments of the United Kingdom Royal Regiment of Fusiliers