Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

"PWRR" redirects here. For the railroad with these reporting marks, see Portland and Western Railroad."

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)


caption=Cap Badge of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
dates=9 September 1992-Present
country=United Kingdom
branch=Army
type=Line Infantry
command_structure= Queen's Division
role= 1st Battalion — Armoured Infantry
2nd Battalion — Light Role
3rd Battalion — TA Reserve
size= Three battalions
current_commander=
garrison= RHQ - Canterbury
1st Battalion - Paderborn, Germany
2nd Battalion - Dhekelia, Cyprus
3rd Battalion - Canterbury
ceremonial_chief=HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel in Chief
colonel_of_the_regiment=Major General P R Newton CBE MPhil
nickname="The Tigers"
march=Quick - "The Farmer's Boy/Soldiers of the Queen"
Slow - "The Minden Rose"
colors=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=Tactical Recognition Flash
identification_symbol_2=Tiger
From Royal Hampshire Regiment
identification_symbol_2_label=Arm Badge
identification_symbol_3=PWRR
identification_symbol_3_label=Abbreviation
motto=
mascot=
battles=
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) (PWRR) is the senior English infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments and holds the oldest battle honour in the British Army (Tangier, 1662):

*The Queen's Regiment
*The Royal Hampshire Regiment

Through its ancestry via the Queen's Regiment to the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the PWRR is the most senior English line infantry regiment. The current regiment was named in honour of The Princess of Wales.

The PWRR is the county regiment of the following (it also recruits in London):
*Surrey
*Kent
*Sussex
*Hampshire
*Middlesex
*Isle of Wight
*Channel Islands

Upon its creation, HRH The Princess of Wales and HM The Queen of Denmark were Allied Colonels-in-Chief of the PWRR. When the Princess divorced HRH The Prince of Wales, she resigned as Colonel-in-chief and the Queen of Denmark has remained its Colonel-in-Chief since.

The regimental headquarters (RHQ) is in Canterbury, whilst the regiment itself comprisesthree battalions:
*1st Battalion — Armoured Infantry (20th Armoured Brigade)
*2nd Battalion — Light Role (British Forces Cyprus)
*3rd Battalion — Territorial Army Infantry.

There is also a single Territorial Army company, B (Queen's) Company of the London Regiment. Surrey Army Cadet Force and Kent Army Cadet Force is affiliated with the regiment and members wear the regiment's cap badge. Also some Combined Cadet Force contingents including Kingston Grammar School, Brighton College, Wilson's School, Chichester High School, Hampton School, Wimbledon College, Tonbridge School and Alleyn's School are affiliated and wear the cap badge and stable belt.

Recent and future postings

The regiment's 1st Battalion served a six-month tour of Iraq in 2004 with a second tour following in 2006. Many of the operations carried out by the Battalion during the first tour were named after stations on the London Underground.Sniper One by Sgt Dan Mills, August 2007 ISBN 978-0-718-14994-9] The regiment's 2nd Battalion is currently stationed in Alexander Barracks, Cyprus, as from March 2008, and was stationed in Iraq from February to September 2005. [ [http://www.army.mod.uk/pwrr/2rd_battalion.htm 2nd_battalion ] ]

With the end of the arms plot in 2009, the regiment's two regular battalions will be based in Germany (1st Bn) and Cyprus as Theatre Reserve (2nd Bn). The 2nd Bn will rotate this posting with public duties in London, following a deployment to Afghanistan in 2008, and then to a Germany posting. They were the last unit to deploy to Northern Ireland in support of Operation Banner, and closed down bases previously used. Upon leaving, Shackleton Barracks in Ballykelly became surplus to requirements.

The 1st Bn, as part of 20 Armoured Brigade, will deploy to Iraq in October 2008.

Victoria Cross and other decorations

A total of thirty seven medals and awards were awarded to the regiments 1st Battalion for their service during operations in Iraq in 2004 including a Victoria Cross, two CGCs, ten Military Crosses, and seventeen Mentioned in Despatches, making them the most highly decorated serving regiment in the British Army.

Private Johnson Beharry of the 1st Battalion, PWRR was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during his unit's deployment to Al-Amarah, near Basrah. This was the first award of the VC since 1982.

Whilst attached to the 1st Battalion, Michelle Norris of the Royal Army Medical Corps became the first woman to be awarded the Military Cross following her actions on June 11 2006.

Danish connection

The PWRR is one of only two regiments in the British Army that has a foreign monarch as its Colonel-in-Chief (the other is The Light Dragoons). Queen Margrethe II was previously the Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen's Regiment, continuing a tradition in her family dating back to the appointment of King Frederick VIII as the Colonel-in-Chief of The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), one of the ancestor regiments of the PWRR, in 1906.

Battle honours

*(combined battle honours of The Queen's Regiment, and The Royal Hampshire Regiment, with the following emblazoned:)
**The Regimental Colours¹: Tangier 1662-80, Namur 1695, Gibraltar 1704-5, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Minden, Louisburg, Guadeloupe 1759, Quebec 1759, Belleisle, Tournay, Barrosa, Martinique 1762, Seringapatam, Maida, Corunna, Talavera, Albuhera, Almaraz, Vittoria, Peninsula, Punniar, Moodkee, Sobraon, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Lucknow, Taku Forts, Pekin 1860, New Zealand, Afghanistan 1879-80, Nile 1884-85, Burma 1885-87, Relief of Ladysmith, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899-1902, Korea 1950-51
**The Queen's Colours: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Aisne 1914, Ypres 1914 '15 '17 '18, Hill 60, Festubert 1915, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Cambrai 1917 '18, Hindenburg Line, Italy 1917-18, Doiran 1917-18, Landing at Helles, Gaza, Jerusalem, Palestine 1917-18, Kut al Amara 1915 '17, Mesopotamia 1915-18, North West Frontier India 1915 1916-17, Dunkirk 1940, Normandy Landing, Caen, Rhine, North-West Europe 190 '44-45, Abyssinia 1941, El Alamein, Tebourba Gap, Hunt's Gap, Longstop Hill 1943, North Africa 1940-43, Sicily 1943, Salerno, Anzio, Cassino, Gothic Line, Italy 1943-45, Malta 1940-42, Malaya 1941-42, Hong Kong, Defence of Kohima, Burma 1943-45

*1. also emblazoned:
**The Naval Crown superscribed "1st June 1794" - from the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
**The Sphinx superscribed "Egypt" - from the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) & Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
**The Royal Tiger superscribed "India" - from the Royal Hampshire Regiment

Order of precedence

Lineage

Alliances

*CAN - The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment)
*CAN - The South Alberta Light Horse
*CAN - 49th (Sault Ste Marie) Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
*CAN - The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
*CAN - The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
*CAN - 1st Battalion, Royal New Brunswick Regiment (Carleton and York)
*CAN - The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment

*AUS - The Royal New South Wales Regiment
*AUS - The Royal Western Australia Regiment
*AUS - The University of New South Wales Regiment
*NZL - The Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Regiment
*NZL - The Wellington West Coast and Taranaki Regiment
*PAK - 12th, 14th, 15th, and 17th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment

*RN - HMS "Excellent"
*RN - HMS "Southampton"

*FRA - Le 35e Régiment d'Infanterie - Bond of Friendship
*DEN - Den Kongelige Livgarde - Bond of Friendship

ee also

*Victor McLaglen

References

External links

* [http://www.army.mod.uk/pwrr/ Regimental Website]