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|ceremonial_chief=[[Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester|HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO]]
|ceremonial_chief=[[Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester|HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO]]
|ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel in Chief
|ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel in Chief
|colonel_of_the_regiment= Major-General John Christopher Blake Sutherell, CBE, ADC
|colonel_of_the_regiment= Lieutenatnt General JC McColl CBE DSO
|nickname=''The Vikings'' (1st Battalion)<br>''The Poachers'' (2nd Battalion)
|nickname=''The Vikings'' (1st Battalion)<br>''The Poachers'' (2nd Battalion)
|motto=
|motto=

Revision as of 00:21, 19 July 2007

Royal Anglian Regiment
File:R ANGLIAN Regiment Cap Badge.PNG
Cap Badge of the Royal Anglian Regiment
ActiveSeptember 1964-
CountryUnited Kingdom
BranchArmy
TypeLine Infantry
Role1st Battalion - Mechanised
2nd Battalion - Light Role
3rd Battalion - TA Reserve
SizeThree battalions
Part ofQueen's Division
Garrison/HQRHQ - Bury St Edmunds
1st Battalion - Pirbright
2nd Battalion - Tern Hill
3rd Battalion - Bury St Edmunds
Nickname(s)The Vikings (1st Battalion)
The Poachers (2nd Battalion)
MarchQuick - Rule Britannia/Speed the Plough
Slow - The Northamptonshire
Anniversaries1 August - Minden
1 September - Formation Day
Commanders
Colonel in ChiefHRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO
Colonel of
the Regiment		Lieutenatnt General JC McColl CBE DSO
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flashes
Arm BadgeSalamanca Eagle
From Essex Regiment

The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division.

The regiment was formed in 1964 as one of the new large infantry regiments, through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the East Anglian Brigade.

The Royal Anglian Regiment serves as the county regiment for the following counties:

History

Initially formed of seven battalions (four regular and three TA), the regiment was reduced in 1975 with the loss of the 4th (Leicestershire) Battalion to three regular battalions and three TA. The regiment was reduced again in 1992 to two regular and two TA battalions with the loss of the 3rd (16th/44th Foot) and 5th Battalions. As one of the existing large regiments, the Royal Anglian Regiment is unaffected by the restructuring of the infantry that was announced in 2004. The remaining Territorial battalion of the regiment, the East of England Regiment will be re-designated as the 3rd Battalion as part of the reforms.

The two battalions have the nicknames the Vikings (1st Bn) and the Poachers (2nd Bn). The old 3rd Battalion was nicknamed the Pompadours.

In 1995, each battalion renamed its companies in order to perpetuate its lineage from the old County regiments:

All regular battalions of the regiment have carried out tours-of-duty throughout "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The most costly time for the regiment in NI occurred in the 1970s and 1980s when they lost eighteen soldiers, the last in 1989. Despite violence in Northern Ireland having largely subsided, the regiment continues to be posted there. When in Northern Ireland, the R ANGLIANs, like the rest of the Army, is primarily used to provide support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

A Permanent Staff Instructor (PSI) of the RAR with senior Non-Commissioned Officers of the Bermuda Regiment. The PSI wear a Bermuda Regiment cap badge on an RAR khaki beret. The RAR provides a PSI to each of the Bermuda Regiment's companies, as well as to the companies of its own Territorial Army battalions.

Throughout the 1960s, the regiment served in Aden, where they operated against guerillas fighting against the British presence such as in the Radfan. They also garrisoned Malta, the Persian Gulf, and Cyprus. The regiment has continued to carry out tours of Cyprus into recent times; the last was carried out by 2 R ANGLIAN in 1998.

The 1st battalion also served in Northern Ireland between Aug 89 to Jan 90 (South Armagh), Apr to Oct 91 (Fermanargh) and Dec 93 to June 94 (Co Tyrone). They also did short tours of Cyprus (1992) and the U.S. (Fort Lewis) in 1995. Also in 1995 the 1st Battalion was sent to Croatia during the time UN soldiers were being taken hostage by local militia. As part of 24 Airmobile Brigade they were sent there between July and Oct of that year.

During the crisis in the Balkans in the early 1990s, 2 R ANGLIAN was deployed to Bosnia in April 1994 as part of the UN peacekeeping force UNPROFOR. The battalion left later in the year, having suffered a single loss by a landmine. Shortly after British forces intervened in Sierra Leone during its civil war, the 2nd Battalion briefly joined the IMATT force in June 2000 to help train the Sierra Leonean armed forces.

In 1996 C Company (1st Bn) was sent with the Parachute Brigade that was taking part in the biggest Airborne exercise since the Second World War in South Carolina, U.S. During this exercise WOII "Boogie" Boulton was killed in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA).

In March 2002, 1 R ANGLIAN was sent to Afghanistan, where it was based in the capital Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The battalion often patrolled the more dangerous parts of the capital to maintain order in a city under constant fear of attack by Al Qaida and the Taliban. The ISAF force at that time was commanded by Major-General John McColl, a former officer with 1 R ANGLIAN and 2 R ANGLIAN; he commanded the latter between 1992-1994. The battalion left in June, having suffered a single loss due to an accident. The following February, A company of 2 R ANGLIAN was posted to Kabul in June 2003. They were replaced by C Company in June.

In 2005 1 R ANGLIAN had a successful tour in Iraq as part of Op TELIC 6 where the battle group was responsible the Basra Rural South area of operations. C (Essex) Company was detached to act as a Brigade Operations Company and was involved in several high profile arrest operations including the arrest in Basra of 14 insurgents.

In spring 2006 2 R ANGLIAN deployed to Iraq as part of Op TELIC 8 and formed Basrah City South Battlegroup. C (Northamptonshire) company was detached to operate as part of Force Reserve and was involved in many high profile arrest and strike operations. During the tour the Regiment mourned the loss of two soldiers; On 13 May 2006 Private Joseva Lewaicei and Adam Morris died as a result of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb attack in Basra. A third soldier was badly injured.

1 R ANGLIAN (as of 2006) is part of 12th Mechanised Brigade, based in Pirbright. As mechanised infantry the battalion primarily operates the Saxon. By the end of the arms plot in 2009, the 1st Battalion will be permanently based at Bulford

2 R ANGLIAN (as of 2006) is part of the 2 Infantry Brigade, based in Tern Hill. The battalion operates in the light infantry role, primarily operating the Land Rover. By the end of the arms plot in 2009, the 2nd Battalion will be based at Celle in Germany as part of 7 Armoured Brigade 'The Desert Rats'.

The Bermuda Regiment

The RAR has a unique relationship with the Bermuda Regiment, a Territorial battalion of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. Although the Bermuda Regiment is usually described as an affiliated regiment, its relationship to the RAR is more akin to that of one of RAR's own TA battalions. The Bermuda Regiment is an amalgam of the old Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC, which had been renamed the Bermuda Rifles). During the Great War, the latter unit had sent two drafts to serve as part of the 1 Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, one of RAR's predecessors, on the Western Front. The affiliation of the Lincolns and the BVRC was made official after the War, with the Lincolns adopting the same role it fulfilled to its own TA battalions: providing seconded Permanent Staff Instructors and officers. The BVRC sent two more drafts to the Lincolns during the Second World War. When the BVRC was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965, the RAR, as successor to the Royal Lincolns, continued the paternal relationship. In addition to providing a PSI to each of the Bermuda Regiment's companies, many other Royal Anglian Regiment personnel have been seconded or loaned to the Bermuda Regiment over the years. The Bermuda Regiment's first nine Adjutants (from 1965 to 1984) were all RAR officers. Three of its past Regimental Sergeant Majors were seconded from the RAR. In 1992, the Bermuda Regiment had two serving Lieutenant-Colonels, as its Staff Officer, an RAR Major, was promoted to the same rank as its Commanding Officer (CO). In 1996, the Bermuda Regiment's Second-In-Command, Staff Officer, and Adjutant were all on secondment from the RAR. Additionally, senior NCOs are loaned to the Bermuda Regiment for the duration of its annual Recruit Camps, with one attached to each platoon of its Training Company.

The Junior NCOs (Corporals and Lance-Corporals) of the Bermuda Regiment attend Skill-At-Arms courses at the RAR depot, and many Bermuda Regiment officers and NCOs have served on attachment with the RAR. During the 1980s, the entire cadre of officers, warrant officers, and NCOs of the Bermuda Regiment was briefly attached to a battalion of RAR deployed to Belize.

Future Army Structure

Although there was some doubt, the Regiment has continued unchanged after the reorganisation as part of the Queen's Division. However the Regiment is expected to regain its third battalion as successors to the East of England Regiment. The new battalion will be called the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment and will be composed of the local Territorial soldiers.

Traditions

  • Regimental Quick March: "Rule Britannia and Speed the Plough"
  • Regimental Slow March: "The Northamptonshire"

Regimental Days

Celebrated by the individual battalions (in date order)

Order of Precedence

Preceded by Infantry Order of Precedence Succeeded by

Lineage

Lineage
The Royal Anglian Regiment The 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) The Royal Norfolk Regiment
The Suffolk Regiment
The 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
The Northamptonshire Regiment The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot
The 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot
The 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
The Essex Regiment The 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot
The 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot
The Royal Leicestershire Regiment

Associated Cadet Forces

The Army sections of several contingents of the Combined Cadet Force are associated with the Regiment. Approximate numbers are as follows:

The Army Cadet Force also has many detachments that are associated with the regiment such as:

  • 33 Company
  • 32 Company

Alliances

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