Queen's Regiment

Queen's Regiment

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=Queen's Regiment


dates=31 December 1966 - 9 September 1992
country=United Kingdom
branch=Army
type=Line Infantry
command_structure= Queen's Division
role=1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion
4th Battalion
5th Battalion - TA Reserve
6th Battalion - TA Reserve
7th Battalion - TA Reserve
8th Battalion - TA Reserve
size=Four regular battalionsFour territorial battalions
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=Queen Elizabeth II
ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel in Chief
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
motto= Unconquered I Serve
colors=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=
identification_symbol_3=
identification_symbol_3_label=
march=Quick - "Soldiers of the Queen"
Slow - "The Caledonian"
mascot=
battles=
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=Sobraon (10 February), Albuhera (16 May), Glorious First of June, Sevastopol (8 September), Salerno (9 September), Quebec (13 September), British Battalion Day (20 December)

The Queen's Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Division. In turn, the regiment became part of Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment in a further amalgamation in 1992.

History

The regiment was formed on 31 December 1966 by the amalgamation of the four remaining regiments of the Home Counties Brigade as a consequence of further defence cuts being implemented.

The four regiments formed four battalions, retaining their previous names in the titles. These were:

*1st Battalion (Queen's Surreys) -- formerly The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment (2nd, 31st & 70th Regiments of Foot).
*2nd Battalion (Queen's Own Buffs) -- formerly The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment (3rd, 50th & 97th Regiments of Foot).
*3rd Battalion (Royal Sussex) -- formerly the Royal Sussex Regiment (35th & 107th Regiments of Foot).
*4th Battalion (Middlesex) -- formerly the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) (57th & 77th Regiments of Foot).

In 1967 the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, a TAVR II (Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve) unit, was formed to be employed for use with NATO forces in West Germany during tense times in the Cold War. The following year, on 1 July, the battalions discarded their previous regimental identification when the subtitles were omitted.

In 1971 the 6th (Volunteer) and 7th (Volunteer) Battalions were formed with headquarters at Wandsworth and Horsham respectively. On 1 April 1975 the 6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Queen's Regiment was formed by the amalgamation of 6th (Volunteer) and 7th (Volunteer) Battalions.

On 16 May 1988 the 8th (Volunteer) Battalion The Queen's Fusiliers (City of London) were formed as a composite battalion comprised of the Queen's Regiment and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. A & B Companies were badged as Queen's Regiment, C Company as RRF, and HQ Company was a mixture. Shoulder titles for all companies read Queen's Fusiliers. In 1992, the London Scottish and London Irish Rifles were removed from 1st Battalion, 51st Highland Regiment and 4th Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers and became companies of 8QF. In 1993 8QF was retitled of the London Regiment with the disbandment the existing A (Middlesex) Company.

During its existence, the deployments of the regiment's battalions were primarily to Northern Ireland (NI), especially during the more turbulent times of the 1970s and 1980s, attempting to keep the peace between the opposing Catholic and Protestant factions, and taking part in anti-terrorist operations against the numerous paramilitary organisations: the regiment lost nine men during its many tours of NI; however, its battalions did deploy to many overseas postings during the regiment's existence, including many deployments to West Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). In 1970 the 1st Battalion joined the Berlin Brigade in West Berlin, a small enclave in Communist-controlled East Germany, leaving in 1972. In October 1972 the 2nd Battalion arrived in Cyprus as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNIFICYP), a force intended to prevent conflict from breaking out between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The battalion returned to the UK in May 1973. The 4th Battalion was disbanded that year, as with every other 'junior' battalion of the new large regiments. Also that year, the 3rd Battalion arrived in Gibraltar where it remained with the garrison for almost two years. In 1977 the 2nd Battalion arrived in Gibraltar and the 3rd Battalion arrived in Belize, then a British territory, as part of the garrison there to protect it from the perceived threat of war with Guatemala, a neighbour of Belize, which was making claims that it believed Belize to be an integral part of Guatemala.

By 1975 the 1st Battalion had arrived in Werl, Germany from where they did operational tours to Derry in 1976 and West Belfast in 1978. The 1st Battalion moved to Canterbury (the regiment's home base) in 1980 [http://www.britisharmedforces.org/i_regiments/queensroyal_surrey_index.htm] . From there it undertook a six month tour of Belize before deploying in November 1982 to Omagh in Co Tyrone (the first infantry battalion in that station). It served there until January 1985 with south east Fermanagh as its primary focus. During this period all three battalions served in Ireland - 2 Queen's in Londonderry, also on a two year tour, and 3 Queen's in Belfast on a six month tour. A freedom parade was held in Belfast in 1984 at which all three battalions' Regimental Colours were paraded. In 1985 the battalion moved to Gibraltar for two years before returning to the UK (Tidworth) in 1987 where it was to remain until 1990. During this period it undertook two 6 month tours of Northern Ireland - South Armagh in 1987 and Belfast in 1989/90. In 1990 the battalion moved to Minden in Germany. Whilst there the decision to amalgamate with the Royal Hampshire Regiment was announced. During the subsequent disbandment parade the CO directed that the Colonel's Colour was to be publicly paraded in defiance of instructions that it was never to be shown outside the Officers' Mess (the only previous occasion was in 1928 in Hong Kong - an act that earned the displeasure of the War Office).

In late 1981 the 2nd Battalion deployed to Cyprus on a 6-month tour-of-duty with UN forces. In 1985 the 1st Battalion arrived in Gibraltar on a 2-year posting and the following year the 3rd Battalion was deployed to Belize on a 6-month tour-of-duty. In 1990 the 3rd Battalion arrived in Cyprus -- its last deployment abroad -- and returned to the UK in 1992. The 2nd Battalion's last deployment was to Northern Ireland in 1992 before heading to Canterbury, England, while the 1st Battalion had returned to the UK after only a year in Germany. All three battalions were now in the UK, ready to be amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, as a consequence of the Options for Change defence cuts, to form two battalions of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires). Today, the name of the Queen's Regiment is maintained by B (Queen's Regiment) Company, The London Regiment (although this is cap badged as PWRR).

Other information

*Allied Colonel-in-Chiefs:
**HM Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands
**HM Frederick IX, King of Denmark (replaced by HM Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark upon King Frederick's death in 1972)
**Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
*Alliances:
**The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) -- Canada (1966–1992)
**The South Alberta Light Horse -- Canada (1966–1992)
**The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada (1966–1992)
**The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment -- Canada (1966–1992)
**1st Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (Carleton and York) -- Canada (1966–1992)
**The Essex and Kent Scottish -- Canada (1966–1992)
**The Royal New South Wales Regiment -- Australia (1967–1992)
**The Royal Western Australia Regiment (1967–1992)
**The University of New South Wales Regiment -- Australia (1967–1992)
**2nd Battalion (Canterbury and Nelson-Marlborough, and West Coast), Royal New Zealand Infantry (1966–1992)
**5th Battalion (Wellington West Coast and Taranaki), Royal New Zealand Infantry (1966–1992)
**12th, 14th, 15th, and 17th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment -- Pakistan
**The Royal Sierra Leone Regiment, Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces (1966-?)
**The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) -- (1966–1992)

Order of Precedence

Lineage

External links

* [http://www.britisharmedforces.org/i_regiments/queensroyal_surrey_index.htm 1st Battalion - The Queens Royal Surrey Regiment (PWRR Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment) - Timeline]
* [http://www.2nd-queens.com 2nd Battalion The Queens Regiment (now PWRR) Active Site]


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