It's goodbye to the glory of the Glosters
THE famous "Glorious Glosters" have been confined to the history books after the Queen gave her Royal Assent to the regiment's new title.

Defence Secretary John Reid announced in the House of Commons yesterday that Bristol's historic Army regiment would be merged and become The Rifles.

The announcement means that the Government's restructuring of the armed forces, which was announced last winter, is now set in stone.

Since the restructuring was first revealed, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment - itself created in 1994 from the Glosters and other regiments - has already become part of the Light Infantry.

Currently serving in Afghanistan, when the soldiers return in April they will begin the process of merging with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and the Green Jackets.

The Rifles super-regiment will be based in Chepstow and will have five regular battalions and two part-time Territorial Army battalions.

It means that after hundreds of years of tradition, the Glosters name will be gone forever.

The Glosters can trace their history back to 1694 and the regiment, in all its different forms, has won hundreds of battle honours.

[Source: Evening Post, Friday November 25, 2005]

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Royal Gibraltar Regiment
COLIN'S PROUD DAY WITH THE QUEEN
Major Colin Risso MC, Officer Commanding G Company The Royal Gibraltar Regiment, was yesterday at an Investiture ceremony held at Buckingham Palace in order to be presented with the Military Cross which he was awarded for his courageous actions whilst serving on operations in Afghanistan. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II personally presented Major Risso with the prestigious award.

He said at the Palace: "I'm overwhelmed and extremely honoured. I'm very proud of my regiment.''
The 35-year-old added: "Essentially, it was a large ambush and -what can I say? - we managed to get ourselves out of it. We returned
a lot of fire.

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FUTURE INFANTRY STRUCTURES

1. Her Majesty The Queen has given final approval for new titles for a number of Infantry regiments as a result of the transition to Future Infantry Structures.

KEY POINTS

This is part of the ongoing Future Army Structures work.

The majority of the new names and titles were announced by the Secretary of State on 16 December 2004.

There are no changes to the names of Regiments of Foot Guards, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, The Royal Irish Regiment, The Parachute Regiment, The Royal Gurkha Rifles and The London Regiment.

TA names and structures have been aligned with those of regular regiments.

Changes will take place at different times for each regiment rather than all at once, and will be complete by April 08.

The structures and names of the Regiments are as follows (bold type indicates changes to titles):

Current Regimental/Battalion Title-- New Regimental/Battalion Title-- Abbreviation

THE GUARDS DIVISION
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards---- 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards ---1 GREN GDS
1st Battalion Coldstream Guards-- 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards-- 1 COLDM GDS
1st Battalion Scots Guards-------- 1st Battalion Scots Guards-------- 1 SG
1st Battalion Irish Guards--------- 1st Battalion Irish Guards---------- 1 IG
1st Battalion Welsh Guards------- 1st Battalion Welsh Guards-------- 1 WG

THE SCOTTISH DIVISION
The Royal Regiment of Scotland
Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 28 Mar 06, with The Royal Scots Battalion and The King’s Own Scottish Borderers Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland merging on 1 Aug 06.
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)--From 28 Mar 06 to 1 Aug 06 becomes The Royal Scots Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland then merges to become The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland ---1 SCOTS
1st Battalion The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret’s Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment)--- The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland --2 SCOTS
1st Battalion The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, --From 28 Mar 06 to 1 Aug 06 becomes The King’s Own Scottish Borderers Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland then merges to become The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland as above-- 1 SCOTS
(as above)
1st Battalion The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland-- 3 SCOTS
1st Battalion The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland-- 4 SCOTS
1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise’s)-- The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland-- 5 SCOTS
Territorial Army Battalions
52nd Lowland Regiment 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland-- 6 SCOTS
51st Highland Regiment 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland-- 7 SCOTS

THE QUEEN’S DIVISION
The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)-- 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)-- 1 PWRR
2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)-- 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)-- 2 PWRR
Territorial Army Battalion
3rd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)-- 3rd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)-- 3 PWRR
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers --1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers --1 RRF
2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers-- 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers -2 RRF
Territorial Army Battalion
The Tyne Tees Regiment 5th Battalion --The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers --5 RRF
The Royal Anglian Regiment
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment-- 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment --1 R ANGLIAN
2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment- 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment --2 R ANGLIAN
Territorial Army Battalion
The East of England Regiment --3rd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment-- 3 R ANGLIAN

THE KING’S DIVISION
The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border)
Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 1 Jul 06 initially with 3 regular battalions reducing by 1 battalion by Mar 07.
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment --1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border)-- 1 LANCS

1st Battalion The King’s Regiment
1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment--2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border) --2 LANCS
Territorial Army Battalion
The Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers 4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border)-- 4 LANCS
The Yorkshire Regiment (14th / 15th, 19th and 33rd / 76th Foot)
Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 6 Jun 06.
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire-- 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales’s Own)-- 1 YORKS
1st Battalion The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own Yorkshire Regiment)-- 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) -2 YORKS
1st Battalion The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment
(West Riding)-- 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s)--3 YORKS
Territorial Army Battalion
The East and West Riding Regiment-- 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment --4 YORKS

THE PRINCE OF WALES’S DIVISION
The Mercian Regiment
Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 24 Aug 07.
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment -1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire)- 1 MERCIAN
1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (26th/45th Foot)- 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) --2 MERCIAN
1st Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales’s) --3rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Staffords) --3 MERCIAN
Territorial Army Battalion
The West Midlands Regiment --4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment-- 4 MERCIAN
The Royal Welsh
Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 1 Mar 06.
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Royal Welch Fusiliers -1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers) 1 R WELSH
1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot)- 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh (The Royal Regiment of Wales-- 2 R WELSH
Territorial Army Battalion
The Royal Welsh Regiment --3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh --3 R WELSH

THE LIGHT DIVISION
The Rifles
Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 2007.
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry
and
1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry-- 1st Battalion The Rifles-----1 RIFLES

1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets --2nd Battalion The Rifles--2 RIFLES
2nd Battalion The Light Infantry ---------3rd Battalion The Rifles--3 RIFLES
2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets --4th Battalion The Rifles--4 RIFLES
1st Battalion The Light Infantry ----------5th Battalion The Rifles --5 RIFLES
Territorial Army Battalions
The Rifle Volunteers-------------------- 6th Battalion The Rifles--- 6 RIFLES
The Royal Rifle Volunteers-------------- 7th Battalion The Rifles--- 7 RIFLES

THE ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT (27th(Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment)
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment--- 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment--- 1 R IRISH
Territorial Army Battalion
The Royal Irish Rangers----- The Royal Irish Rangers----- RANGERS

THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment---- 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment--- 1 PARA
2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment ---2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment--- 2 PARA
3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment ----3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment--- 3 PARA
Territorial Army Battalion
4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment--- 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment---- 4 PARA

THE BRIGADE OF GURKHAS
The Royal Gurkha Rifles
Regular Battalions
1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles---- 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles ----1 RGR
2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles--- 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles--- 2 RGR
THE LONDON REGIMENT
Territorial Army Battalion
The London Regiment--- The London Regiment---- LONDONS

BACKGROUND

2. CGS announced the creation of the Future Army Structure to re-balance the Army towards a mix of light, medium and heavy forces, with an expeditionary focus, supported by a fully integrated reserve. Within the Infantry this has seen the creation of single cap badge regiments of 2 or more battalions, as part of the Future Infantry Structure.

TITLES

3. The Secretary of State announced new working titles for the new regiments in his statement on 16 December 2004 which was followed by a period of consultation amongst the regiments and their wider regimental constituencies. During consultation two changes were proposed by regiments and agreed by ECAB:

a. The new regiment formed from The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, The King’s Regiment and The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment is to be titled The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border).

b. The Light Division, comprising The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry; The Light Infantry; The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry and The Royal Green Jackets have agreed upon the creation of a wholly new, large regiment to be titled The Rifles. The Regiment will comprise five regular and two TA battalions, as well as other associated TA and Cadet elements.

4. On the 16 November 2005 Her Majesty The Queen graciously approved the new titles shown above.

THE TERRITORIAL ARMY

5. In parallel with the developments within the Regular Army, there have been associated changes within the TA, which are shown in the table above. Of particular note: The 4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) and the 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment will be formed from companies drawn from The Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers, The West Midlands Regiment, The King's and Cheshire Regiment and The East of England Regiment.

FORMATION ARRANGEMENTS

6. Details of proposed mergers and formation dates, which are included in the table above, are also available on the individual regimental web sites and will be updated as plans are developed.

DRESS

7. All battalions within the new regiments will have the same base uniform, with only minor variations such as lanyards and hackles to preserve the essential elements of the ‘golden thread’ from antecedent regiments. The costs of some new uniforms, including new No 2 dress (officers and soldiers), replacement tactical recognition flashes, regimental slides and stable belts will be met from public funds or as part of the Future Army Dress Programme. As regimental proposals are endorsed by the Army Dress Committee, regimental web sites will be updated.

RECRUITING

8. The formation of new regiments will be supported by a national Infantry marketing campaign, which will also launch the new regiments in the regions. This is under the control of Commander Recruiting Group and is intended to start in January 2006.