The 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment "The Steelbacks" is the Army Reserve unit of 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 ...

and is made up of volunteers who train in their spare time as soldiers. It was established on 1 April 2006, it was formed from five of the six companies of the East of England Regiment with A, B, C, E and HQ companies (all Royal Anglian cap badge) going to 3 Royal Anglian and D Company ( Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters cap badge) going to the 4th (V) Battalion, Mercian Regiment. In 2021, under the Future Soldier it was announced that the 19th Brigade would be re-formed with its headquarters in York. The brigade will be tasked with home defence and home 'resilience' duties. The brigade re-formed on 23 July 2022 under command of 1st (United Kingdom) Division. Their Brigade Flash will no longer be the Desert Rat, it will be replaced with a Black Panther Head.

Organisation

The battalion headquarters is located in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

just up the road from the Regimental headquarters at the keep. The company locations are as follows: * 1 (Norfolk & Suffolk) Company –

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

* 2 (Leicestershire & Northamptonshire) Company –

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Corby Corby is a town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, northeast of Northampton. In 2021 it had a population of 68,164. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

* 3 (Essex & Hertfordshire) Company –

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

and

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

* 4 (Lincolnshire) Company – Lincoln and

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

* 5 (Suffolk & Cambridgeshire) HQ Company –

Roles

The battalion is primarily an

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 ...

unit whose role is to provide formed units on operations and to provide individual replacements to their regular counterparts as and when they are needed. The battalion has a number of generalised departments which are based at each company location, these are: * Adjudant General's Corps (Pay and admin) * CIS, providing Communication, Information and Security *

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

* MT Platoon, providing motor transport *

Chefs A chef is a professional cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the director or head of a kitchen. Chefs can receive f ...

, providing catering support *

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

maintaining the battalions vehicles * Rifle Platoon * Stores But also has a number of specialist/support platoons, these are: * Military Intelligence Cell – Based at 5 company * Psy Ops (Psychological Operations) – Based at 5 company *

Mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

– Based at A Company *

Anti-Tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

– Based at B company * Assault Pioneers – Based at C company * Machine Guns – Based at E company

Experience

Since its establishment in 2006 the battalion has deployed to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cyprus, Iraq, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. The first deployment as a battalion was in 2011 as part of the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. It deployed to Spain in 2022 to conduct Exercise Iberian Star alongside the Spanish Army.

Nickname

The 3rd battalion's nickname of "The Steelbacks" is taken from one of its former regiments, the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot who earned the nickname for their stoicism when being flogged with the cat-o'-nine tails ("Not a whimper under the lash"), a routine method of administering punishment in the Army in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

References

External links

1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment (The Vikings)

2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment (The Poachers)

3rd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment

Royal Anglian Museum
* {{usurped,
Grimsby Branch, The Royal Lincolnshire & Royal Anglian Regimental Association.
} Royal Anglian Regiment 003 Military units and formations established in 2006 Royal Anglian Regiment