3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment
| 3rd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Battalion Flag | |
| Active | April 2006- |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Role | Light Role Infantry |
| Size | Five Companies |
| Part of | Queen's Division |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ - The Keep, Bury St Edmunds BHQ - Blenheim Camp, Bury St Edmunds |
| March | Quick - Rule Britannia/Speed the Plough Slow - The Northamptonshire |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Lieutenant Colonel M Googe |
| Colonel in Chief | HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO |
| Colonel of the Regiment | Major-General John Christopher Blake Sutherell, CBE, ADC |
| Notable commanders | General Michael Walker GCB, CMG, CBE |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
The 3rd battalion Royal Anglian Regiment is the Territorial Army unit of the Royal Anglian Regiment and is made up of volunteers who train in their spare time as soldiers. It was established on the 1st of 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.
Organisation
The battalion headquarters is located in Bury St Edmunds just up the road from the Regimental headquarters at the keep. The company locations are as follows:
- A (Norfolk & Suffolk) Company - Norwich and Lowestoft
- B (Lincolnshire) Company - Lincoln and Grimsby
- C (Leicestershire & Northamptonshire) Company - Leicester and Northampton
- E (Essex & Hertfordshire) Company - Chelmsford and Hertford
- HQ (Suffolk & Cambridgeshire) Company - Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge
Roles
The battalion is primeraly an infantry unit who's 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:
- AGC (Pay and admin)
- Chef's
- CIS (Communication, Information and Security)
- Medics
- MT (Motor Transport)
- REME
- Rifle Platoon
- Stores
But also has a number of specialist/support platoons, these are:
- Anti-Tank - Based at B company
- Assault Pioneers - Based at C company
- Int Cell (Intelligence Cell) - Based at HQ company
- Machine Guns - Based at E company
- Mortars - Based at A Company
- Psy Ops (Psychological Operations) - Based at HQ company
Experience
Although only a part time unit and having only been established in 2006 the battalion has already accumulated a wealth of operational experience. Most members of the battalion have deployed at least once and many members have deployed multiple times. Here are some of the theatre's members of 3rd battalion have served in:
- Afghanistan
- Bosnia
- Cyprus
- Iraq
- Kosovo
- Northern Ireland
Nickname
The 3rd battalion stands out from it's regular counterparts as it is currently without a nickname. It was at one point thought that the old 5 Royal Anglian nickname, "The Steelbacks" was to be used, this is however no longer the case as it is currently used by another unit that had previously been 5 Royal Anglian. The old 3 Royal Anglian (which was a regular battalion until it was disbanded in 1992) had been known as the "Pompadours" and it is understood that this name is being considered to rise from the ashes to once again become the nickname of 3 Royal Anglian but conformation of this is not forthcoming.