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 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 "brigades", consisting of anywhere from two to eight battalions.
Infantry prior to the 1957 Defence ReviewGuards BrigadeLowland BrigadeHighland BrigadeHome Counties BrigadeEast Anglian BrigadeGrenadier GuardsThe Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)The Royal Norfolk RegimentColdstream GuardsThe Royal Scots FusiliersThe Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)The Suffolk RegimentScots GuardsThe King's Own Scottish BorderersThe Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's)The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire RegimentIrish GuardsThe Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)The Gordon HighlandersThe East Surrey RegimentThe Essex RegimentWelsh GuardsThe Queen's Own Cameron HighlandersThe Queen's Own Royal West Kent RegimentThe Royal Sussex RegimentThe Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)The Northamptonshire RegimentMidland BrigadeMercian BrigadeWelsh BrigadeWessex BrigadeLancastrian BrigadeThe Royal Warwickshire RegimentThe Cheshire RegimentThe Royal Welch FusiliersThe Devonshire RegimentThe King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)The Royal Lincolnshire RegimentThe Worcestershire RegimentThe South Wales BorderersThe Gloucestershire RegimentThe King's Regiment (Liverpool)The Royal Leicestershire RegimentThe South Staffordshire RegimentThe Welch RegimentThe Royal Hampshire RegimentThe Lancashire FusiliersThe Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)The Dorset RegimentThe East Lancashire RegimentThe Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)The Border RegimentThe Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's)The South Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)The Manchester RegimentYorkshire and Northumberland BrigadeNorth Irish BrigadeLight Infantry BrigadeGreen Jackets BrigadeBrigade of GurkhasThe Royal Northumberland FusiliersThe Royal Inniskilling FusiliersThe Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)The King's Royal Rifle Corps2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles(The Sirmoor Rifles)The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own)The Royal Ulster RiflesThe Duke of Cornwall's Light infantryThe Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha RiflesThe East Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of York's Own)The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's)The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha RiflesThe Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire)The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha RiflesThe Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)The King's Shropshire Light InfantryGlider Pilot and Parachute CorpsThe York and Lancaster RegimentThe Durham Light InfantryThe Parachute Regiment
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. Royal Scots FusiliersRoyal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgowand Ayrshire Regiment)Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons)Queen's Own Cameron HighlandersQueen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)Queen's Royal Surrey RegimentEast Surrey RegimentThe Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent RegimentQueen's Own Royal West Kent RegimentRoyal Norfolk Regiment1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk)Suffolk RegimentRoyal Lincolnshire Regiment2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own RoyalLincolnshire and Northamptonshire)Northamptonshire RegimentBedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot)Essex RegimentSouth Staffordshire RegimentStaffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's)North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)Devonshire RegimentDevonshire and Dorset RegimentDorset RegimentRoyal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire)Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's)East Lancashire RegimentLancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)South Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)King's Regiment (Liverpool)King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool)Manchester RegimentKing's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)King's Own Royal Border RegimentBorder RegimentWest Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of YorkshireEast Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of York's Own)Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)Somerset and Cornwall Light InfantryDuke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
Genesis of the large regiment The idea of the "large regiment" originated in 1962. Speaking in the House of Commons on 8 March, the Minister of War, John 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".More adaptations forecast in the Army: study of "large regiment" basis for infantry, The Times, 9 March 1962
On 16 March The Times reported that the War Office 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 Brigades, where regiments had been redesignated or amalgamated as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd East Anglian Regiments and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Green Jackets.Bigger infantry regiments planned by War Office, The Times, 16 March 1962
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 had transferred to the East Anglian Brigade and amalgamated with the Northamptonshire Regiment 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, with the Royal Anglian Regiment to be formed from the four regular battalions of the East Anglian Brigade.First of new large regiments, The Times, 25 February 1964 The new 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 from 1 January 1966.New Green Jackets Regiment, The Times, 29 May 1965
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 Brigades were under strength. It was thought that the Yorkshire Brigade and Home Counties Brigade 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 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.Infantry may be reshaped, The Times, 30 September 1965
In June 1966, it was announced that the regiments of the Home Counties Brigade had agreed to form the third large regiment.New Home Counties large regiment, The Times, 1 July 1966 Accordingly, on 31 December, the four regiments became the Queen's Regiment. 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 on 23 April, the North Irish Brigade became the Royal Irish Rangers on 1 July and the Light Infantry Brigade became The Light Infantry 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.Defence White Paper: sweeping changes in Britain's forces, The Times, 19 July 1967
The 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 – 4th Battalion The Royal Green Jackets – formed 1 January 1966 from: 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) – 1st Battalion 2nd Green Jackets, The King's Royal Rifle Corps – 2nd Battalion 3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade – 3rd Battalion The Queen's Regiment – formed 31 December 1966 from: The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment – 1st Battalion The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment – 2nd Battalion The Royal Sussex Regiment – 3rd Battalion The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) – 4th Battalion The 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 – 4th Battalion The 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