The Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers was a Territorial Army unit 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 ...

. It was formed on 1 July 1999 following the

Strategic Defence Review Strategic Defence Review may refer to several different British policy documents: * Strategic Defence Review (1998) *Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 *Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 The National Security Strategy and Strategic ...

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, Dover, Connaught ...

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 ...

. 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 ti ...

History

Initial structure

This initial structure of the regiment, upon creation, was as follows: *Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers Regimental Headquarters, at Kimberley Barracks, Preston **HQ (Quebec) Company, at Kimberley Barracks, 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 and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

and

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

''(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 town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

''(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 in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

and

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

''(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 River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

and Bury
''(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 ...

, 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 168 ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

''(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 Ardwick Green Barracks is a former military installation in Ardwick, Manchester. History The barracks were designed by Lawrence Booth as the headquarters of the 5th (Ardwick) Volunteer Battalion, The Manchester Regiment; they were completed in 18 ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

''(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 Delivery may refer to: Biology and medicine *Childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vagi ...

, 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 ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, with sub-units dispersed throughout all four counties.

Current Structure

The current battalion structure is as follows: *Battalion Headquarters, at Kimberley Barracks, Preston *Headquarters Company, at Kimberley Barracks, Preston *A (Ladysmith) Company, in

**3 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 unfin ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

*B (Somme) Company, at Somme Barracks,

**5 Platoon, at Kimberley Barracks, Preston **Rifle Platoon, at Alexandra Barracks,

**Mortar Platoon, in

*C (Kohima) Company, in

**8 Platoon, in

Carlisle Castle Carlisle Castle is a stone keep medieval fortress located in the city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1092 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over 930 yea ...

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

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

**Machine Gun Platoon (Fusiliers), at

Castle Armoury The Castle Armoury is a military installation in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. History The armoury was designed as the headquarters of the 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps and built on the remains of Bury Castle in 1868. An extension e ...

, Bury

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