The 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) was a short-lived

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

from 1960 to 1964. Its lineage is continued by the

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the line regi ...

History

As a result of the

Defence Review A Defence Review is the process by which government of the United Kingdom decides upon its overall defence policy and upon the means and resources devoted to achieving its defence objectives. Such reviews can happen when political or economic facto ...

, it was announced that the 1st Battalion,

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a Line infantry, 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 oth ...

and the 1st Battalion,

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 ...

were to merge with the title 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire). On 20 August 1959 it was announced that approval had been given to include the name of

Duchess of Gloucester Duchess of Gloucester is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Gloucester. There have been five titles referring to Gloucester since the 14th century. The current duchess is Birgitt ...

in the regiment's title. The regiment was formed on 1 June 1960, at

Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. A formation parade was held on 10 July. The regiment moved to

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

, Germany, in 1961, where new colours were presented by the colonel-in-chief in the following year. On 1 September 1964 the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Regiment), 2nd and 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and 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 ...

were amalgamated to form a new "

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 a number of existing single-battalion regiments, and perpetuate the traditions of each o ...

" known as the

. The 2nd East Anglians were redesignated as the 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) of the new regiment.

Badges and dress distinctions

All battalions of the East Anglian Brigade wore a common cap badge, with each unit having a distinctive collar badge, coloured lanyard and

stable belt A stable belt is a striped coloured belt worn at times by the armed forces of the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, and a few other countries including Denmark, Brazil and Lebanon. The stripes vary by regiment ...

. The 2nd East Anglian Regiment wore a collar badge combining elements of the insignia of the two merged regiments: a

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

and the battle honour Talavera for the Royal Lincolns and Northamptons respectively. A black lanyard, inherited from the Northamptonshire Regiment, was worn. The regiment's stable belt combined the colours of those of the two predecessors, dark blue with a buff and dark red stripe. The regiment's No.1 Dress uniform was dark blue with scarlet piping and the regimental

facing colour A facing colour, also known as facings, is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where the visible inside lining (sewing), lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment i ...

was blue.

Battle honours

The 2nd East Anglians inherited the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or Military operation, operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In ...

s of its two predecessor regiments. The following were chosen to be displayed on the colours: ''Regimental Colour'' *Blenheim *Ramillies *Oudenarde *Malplaquet *Louisburg *Quebec, 1759 *Martinique, 1762 *Havannah *Martinique, 1794 *Maida *Douro *Talavera *Albuhera *Badajoz *Salamanca *Vittoria *Pyrenees *Nivelle *Orthes *Toulouse *Peninsula *Sobraon *New Zealand *Mooltan *Goojerat *Punjaub *Sevastopol *Lucknow *South Africa, 1879 *Tirah *Atbara *Khartoum *Modder River *Paardeburg *South Africa, 1899-1902 ''Queen's Colour'' *Mons *Marne, 1914 *Aisne, 1914'18 *Messines, 1914, '17, '18 *Ypres, 1914,'15,'17 *Neuve Chapelle *Loos *Somme, 1916,'18 *Arras, 1917'18 *Lys *Hindenburg Line *Epéhy *Suvla *Gaza *Dunkirk, 1940 *Normandy Landing *Fontenay le Pesnil *Antwerp-Turnhout Canal *Rhineland *North Africa 1942-43 *Salerno *Garigliano Crossing *Anzio *Cassino II *Gothic Line *Italy 1943-45 *Ngakyedauk Pass *Imphal *Myinmu Bridgehead *Burma, 1943–45 The centre badge for the regimental colours was ''Below a sprig of three maple leaves each charged with a fleur-de-lys, the Sphinx upon a plinth inscribed "Egypt" ''. The maple leaves and fleurs-de-lis were the badge of the Northamptonshire Regiment, signifying the regiment's service in Quebec in 1758-9 while the sphinx was a badge of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. In the lower two corners of the regimental colour were the cypher of the Duchess of Gloucester and the castle and key of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

with the dates 'Gibraltar 1779-83' and the motto 'Montis Insignia Calpe'.

References

External links

2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) (regiments.org)
{{Royal Anglian Regiment

East Anglian East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

Military units and formations established in 1960 Military units and formations disestablished in 1964