Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)
Cap badge of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
Active	1 July 2006-
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Army
Type	Line Infantry
Role	1st Battalion - Light Role 2nd Battalion - Light Role 4th Battalion - TA Reserve
Size	Three battalions
Part of	King's Division
Garrison/HQ	RHQ - Preston 1st Battalion - Catterick 2nd Battalion - Weeton 4th Battalion - Preston
Nickname	Lions of England
Motto	Nec Aspera Terrent (Difficulties be Damned / No fear of difficulties) (Latin)
March	Quick -John Peel Slow - The Red Rose
Anniversaries	Ladysmith (28 February), St George's Day (23 April), Waterloo (18 June)
Commanders
Colonel in Chief	HM The Queen, Duke of Lancaster
Colonel of the Regiment	Brigadier M T Griffiths CBE ADC
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Arm Badge	Glider From King's Own Royal Border Regiment
Abbreviation	LANCS

The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army. It recruits throughout the North West of England. The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry, when it was initially to be known as the King's, Lancashire and Border Regiment. The regiment was given its new name in November 2005. Initially formed of three regular army battalions, it was eventually reduced to two regular battalions, plus a Territorial Army battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:

• The King's Own Royal Border Regiment
• The King's Regiment
• The Queen's Lancashire Regiment

The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment contained three regular battalions, with each battalion simply being renamed:

• 1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment - 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
• 1st Battalion, King's Regiment - 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
• 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment - 3rd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

However, very soon after formation the regiment gained its own character as a result of the cross-posting of individuals of the antecedent regiments.

In March 2007, the 3rd Battalion was disbanded, with its personnel dispersed to the other two, leaving the final roll of two regular battalions and one TA battalion. The 4th Battalion (Volunteers) was completed in late 2006 by adding the two King's Regiment companies from the King's and Cheshire Regiment to the battalion which had been initially formed from the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers. The 4th Battalion has its RHQ and HQ Company at Preston, A Company is at Liverpool, B (Somme) Company is at Blackburn and Blackpool, C Company is at Workington, Barrow-in-Furness,Carlisle and Lancaster. D (Inkerman) Company is at Manchester and Bury (Platoon based at Bury are Fusilers).

Private soldiers inherited the rank of Kingsman from The King's Regiment. The cap badge is a Lancaster rose in a Fontenoy laurel surmounted by a crown. At the base is a scroll with the motto Nec Aspera Terrent (Difficulties be Damned). The regiment's Colonel-in-Chief is HM The Queen, who concurrently holds the title Duke of Lancaster.

The regiment has brought forward a number of Golden Threads from its antecedents, as displays of its history and heritage:

• Lion of England - the English Lion, facing inwards as worn by the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, has been adopted as the regiment's collar badge. The Lion of England is known as the regiment's "Ancient Badge" and provides inspiration for the regimental nickname - first adopted by the 2nd Battalion in August 2009 - "Lions of England".
• Glider Flash - the glider awarded as an honour to the King's Own Royal Border Regiment is worn on the sleeve of No. 1 and No. 2 dress. The glider also forms the regiment's tactical recognition flash.
• Fleur-de-Lys - the fleur-de-lys worn by the King's Regiment is featured on the regiment's buttons.

The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment serves as the county regiment for the following counties:

• Cumbria
• Lancashire (South, East, North and North Central)
• Merseyside
• Greater Manchester

The 1st Battalion is a light infantry battalion based in Catterick Garrison, while the 2nd Battalion was initially an armoured infantry unit stationed at Catterick Garrison. However, it continues to arms plot. The 2nd Battalion converted to light infantry and moved to Cyprus in August 2008. As a resident battalion in Cyprus the 2nd Battalion completed the longest operational tour of Afghanistan in contemporary history, completing over 15 months on operations as the Theatre Reserve Battalion from August 2009 to October 2010. The 2nd Battalion moved back home to the North West in August 2011 and is now based in Weeton Barracks, near Blackpool, where it continues to train and operate in the light infantry role. The 3rd Battalion was a light infantry battalion stationed at St George's Barracks, North Luffenham in Rutland before being amalgamated with the 1st and 2nd Battalions. On 26 June 2008, the regiment was presented by the Queen as Colonel-in-Chief with its first stands of colours since formation. Both regular battalions have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan supported by officers and soldiers from the Territorial Army battalion.

Battle honours

Infantry regiments are permitted to display 43 battle honours from the two world wars on the Queen's Colour and 46 honours from other conflicts on the Regimental Colour. Upon amalgamation, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment had to choose from the total list of honours of its three antecedents which honours would be displayed on its new colours. The chosen honours were:

• Queen's Colour
  • Mons; Retreat from Mons; Marne 1914, 18; Aisne 1914, 18; Messines 1914, 17, 18; Ypres 1914, 15, 17, 18; Neuve Chapelle; Loos; Somme 1916, 18; Arras 1917, 18; Scarpe 1917, 18; Cambrai 1917, 18; Lys; Hindenburg Line; Vittorio Veneto; Macedonia 1915-18; Sari Bair; Gallipoli 1915-16; Megiddo; Kut al Amara 1917; Baghdad; Kilimanjaro; Dunkirk; Normandy Landing; Falaise; Arnhem 1944; Lower Maas; Ourthe; Reichswald; Defence of Habbaniya; Tobruk 1941; Madagascar; Gueriat el Atach Ridge; Landing in Sicily; Anzio; Cassino II; Malta 1940-42; Singapore Island; Chindits 1943; North Arakan; Chindits 1944; Imphal; Kohima; Nyaungu Bridgehead; Burma 1943-45
• Regimental Colour
  • Namur 1695; Gibraltar 1704-5; Blenheim; Ramillies; Oudenarde; Malplaquet; Dettingen; Louisburg; Guadeloupe 1759; Quebec 1759; Maida; Monte Video; Vimiera; Corunna; Arroyo dos Molinos; Tarifa; Badajoz; Salamanca; Vittoria; St Sebastian; Pyrenees; Nivelle; Nive; Guadeloupe 1810; Java; Bladensburg; Niagara; Waterloo; Bhurtpore; Candahar 1842; Cabool 1842; Maharajpore; New Zealand 1845-47; Alma; Inkerman; Sevastopol; Canton; Delhi 1857; Lucknow; New Zealand 1860-68; Abyssinia; Ahmad Khel; Afghanistan 1878-80; Defence of Kimberley; Defence of Ladysmith; Relief of Ladysmith; Afghanistan 1919; Korea 1952-53; The Hook 1953

In addition to the displayed honours, the regimental colour will also display four emblems from the antecedents regiments:

• Lion of England - displayed top left; from the King's Own Royal Border Regiment
• White Horse of Hanover - displayed top right; from the King's Regiment
• Red Rose charged with the Prince of Wales's feathers - displayed bottom left; from the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
• Red Rose charged with the Royal Crest - displayed bottom right; from the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)

In addition, the Regimental Colour also features a Sphinx to distinguish the battle honour "Egypt" and a Dragon for the honour "China".

Alliances

•  Canada - The Royal Regiment of Canada
•  Canada - The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC)
•  Australia - The Royal Queensland Regiment
•  Pakistan - 1st and 15th Battalions, The Frontier Force Regiment
•  Canada - The Royal Regiment of Canada
•  Australia - The Royal South Australia Regiment
•  New Zealand - The Otago and Southland Regiment
•  India - 5th Battalion, The Sikh Regiment
•  Canada - The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment
•  Canada - The West Nova Scotia Regiment
•  Canada - The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)
•  Australia - The Royal Tasmania Regiment
•  New Zealand - The Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment
•  Pakistan - 8th and 14th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment
•  Malaysia - 2nd Battalion, The Royal Malay Regiment
•  South Africa - The Kimberley Regiment
• Royal Navy - HMS Cumberland
• Royal Navy - HMS Liverpool
• Royal Navy - HMS Manchester
• Royal Navy - HMS Lancaster

Order of precedence

Preceded by Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)

Infantry Order of Precedence

Succeeded by Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

Lineage

Lineage
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)	The King's Own Royal Border Regiment	The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
		The Border Regiment	The 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot
			The 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot
	The King's Regiment	The King's Regiment (Liverpool)
		The Manchester Regiment	The 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot
			The 96th Regiment of Foot
	The Queen's Lancashire Regiment	The Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)	The East Lancashire Regiment	The 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot
				The 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
			The South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers)	The 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
				The 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
		The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)	The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot
			The 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers)

External links

• Official website

SOURCES

• MOD Press Release Nov 2005
• Donnelly, P. "The King's Own Royal Regiment Museum (Lancaster)". www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com. http://www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com. Retrieved 30 November 2007.  The official website of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum, Lancaster, United Kingdom.

References