British Army Infantry
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The British Army's Infantry is comprised of 50 battalions of Infantry, from 18 Regiments. Of these 36 battalions are part of the 'Regular' army and the remaining 14 a part of the 'Territorial' (part-time) force. The British Infantry forms a highly flexible organisation, taking on a variety of roles including armoured, mechanised, air assault and light. It has a long and proud history of proven quality across the full spectrum of warfare in all terrains - jungle, desert, urban and mountain fighting.
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[edit] Divisions of infantry
The majority of the infantry in the British Army is divided for administrative purposes into six divisions. These are not the same as the ready and regenerative divisions (see below), but are based on either the geographical recruiting areas of regiments, or the type of regiments:
- The Guards Division has the five regiments of Foot Guards.
- The Scottish Division has the remaining infantry regiment from Scotland.
- The King's Division has the regiments from the north of England.
- The Prince of Wales's Division has the regiments from the west of England and Wales.
- The Queen's Division has three of the large infantry regiments.
- The Light Division has the regiments of light infantry and rifles.
[edit] Regular army
There are further infantry units in the army that are not grouped in the various divisions:
- 1st Bn, The Royal Irish Regiment (27th Inniskillings, 83rd, 87th & The Ulster Defence Regiment)
- 2nd & 3rd Bn, The Parachute Regiment
- 1st & 2nd Bn, The Royal Gurkha Rifles
- 22nd Special Air Service Regiment
- Special Forces Support Group
- Royal Gibraltar Regiment
[edit] Territorial Army
- 3rd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
- 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
- 51st Highland Regiment (7th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland)
- 52nd Lowland Regiment (6th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland)
- 4th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment
- 4th Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
- The London Regiment
- The Rifle Volunteers
- Royal Irish Rangers
- Royal Rifle Volunteers
- 3rd Battalion, Royal Welsh
- 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
- West Midlands Regiment
- 21st SAS Regiment (Artist's)
- 23rd SAS Regiment
- In addition, there is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions, Royal Irish Regiment, which are for Home Service in Northern Ireland.
[edit] Types of infantry
Within the British Army, there are four main types of infantry:
- Armoured Infantry - armoured infantry are equipped with the Warrior armoured personnel carrier, a tracked vehicle that can deploy over all terrain.
- Mechanised Infantry - mechanised infantry are equipped with the Saxon armoured personnel carrier, a wheeled vehicle that can be deployed over rough terrain, but is primarily a road vehicle.
- Light Infantry - light infantry are not equipped with armoured vehicles, and are trained to hold an area.
- Air Assault Infantry - air assault infantry are trained to be deployed using helicopters.
The British Army currently employs a process known as arms plot, which involves an infantry battalion performing one role for a period of time (usually two and a half years), before being posted elsewhere to re-train and take up another role. As part of the re-organisation (see below), this process will be ended, with battalions being given a fixed role.
[edit] Deployments
The majority of infantry battalions are based in the UK, but there are a significant number that are based overseas:
[edit] UK battalions
- England
- Shorncliffe: Light Infantry Battalion (Gurkha) (2nd Infantry Brigade)
- Canterbury: Air Assault Battalion (16th Air Assault Brigade)
- London: 2 x Light Infantry Battalions (London District)
- Windsor: Light Infantry Battalion (London District)
- Colchester: 2 x Air Assault Infantry Battalions (16th Air Assault Brigade)
- North Luffenham: Light Infantry Battalion (2nd Infantry Brigade)
- Aldershot: 2 x Mechanised Infantry Battalions (12th Mechanised Brigade)
- Tidworth: 2 x Armoured Infantry Battalion (1st Mechanised Brigade, 12th Mechanised Brigade)
- Bulford: Mechanised Infantry Battalion (1st Mechanised Brigade)
- Pirbright: Mechanised Infantry Battalion (12th Mechanised Brigade)
- Warminster: Demonstration Infantry Battalion (Land Warfare Centre)
- Tern Hill: Light Infantry Battalion (2nd Infantry Brigade)
- Chester: Light Infantry Battalion (52nd Infantry Brigade)
- Weeton: Light Infantry Battalion (19th Light Brigade)
- Catterick: Armoured Infantry Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Battalion, Light Infantry Battalion (19th Light Brigade)
- Hereford: Special Forces Regiment (UKSF)
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
- Ballykelly: Light Infantry Battalion (8th Infantry Brigade)
- Omagh: Light Infantry Battalion (8th Infantry Brigade)
- South Armagh: Light Infantry Battalion (39th Infantry Brigade)
- Holywood: Light Infantry Battalion (39th Infantry Brigade)
[edit] Overseas battalions
There are three locations that have a permanent British infantry presence; Germany, Cyprus and Brunei. Gibraltar has its own permanently based home defence battalion. Other postings are usually roulement postings from either the UK, Germany or Cyprus.
- Germany
- Munster: Armoured Infantry Battalion (4th Armoured Brigade)
- Osnabruck: Armoured Infantry Battalion (4th Armoured Brigade)
- Celle: Armoured Infantry Battalion (7th Armoured Brigade)
- Fallingbostel: Armoured Infantry Battalion (7th Armoured Brigade)
- Paderborn: 2 x Armoured Infantry Battalions (20th Armoured Brigade)
- Cyprus
- Dhekelia: Light Infantry Battalion (British Forces Cyprus)
- Episkopi: Light Infantry Battalion (British Forces Cyprus)
- Brunei
- Gibraltar
- Gibraltar: Light Infantry Battalion
- Bosnia
- Light Infantry Battalion (roulement)
- Iraq
- 2 x Mechanised Infantry Battalions, 2 x Light Infantry Battalions (roulement)
- Afghanistan
- Light Infantry Battalion (roulement)
[edit] Divisions and brigades
The British Army is administered through HQ Land Command, which has responsibility for the majority of army units. Most of these are organised into a total of five divisions, each of which has a number of brigades under its command.
| 1st Division | 2nd Division | 3rd Division | 4th Division | 5th Division | HQ Northern Ireland |
| 4 (Armoured) Brigade | 15 Brigade | 1 (Mechanised) Brigade | 2 (Infantry) Brigade | 43 Brigade | |
| 7 (Armoured) Brigade | 42 Brigade | 12 (Mechanised) Brigade | 16 (Air Assault) Brigade1 | 143 (West Midlands) Brigade | 39 (Infantry) Brigade |
| 20 (Armoured) Brigade | 51 Brigade | 19 (Light) Brigade | 49 (East) Brigade | 160 (Wales) Brigade | 107 Brigade |
| 52 (Infantry) Brigade | 145 (Home Counties) Brigade | ||||
| Catterick Garrison | Aldershot Garrison | ||||
| Colchester Garrison | |||||
| London District2 |
1. 16 (Air Assault) Brigade is based at Colchester, which falls under the direction of 4 Division. However, when deployed, 16 Brigade forms part of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force.
2. London District is operationally separate from any higher formation, but for budgetary and administrative purposes comes under the remit of 4 Division.
3 (Commando) Brigade is a formation that is outside the remit of HQ Land Command, and thus not part of a division, as it is primarily formed from the Royal Marines. 3 (Commando) Brigade forms part of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force
[edit] Reorganisation
The major part of the army re-organisation announced in 2004 involved a radical restructuring of the infantry. The arms plot system would be abolished, with instead individual battalions being given fixed roles. In order to ensure that officers and men could continue to gain the variety of skills the arms plot provided, the restructuring would also see a series of amalgamations of the remaining single battalion infantry regiments into large regiments. In addition, the regular army will lose a total of four battalions. The roles will be divided up as follows:
- Armoured Infantry - 8 battalions (including Land Warfare Training Battalion)
- Mechanised Infantry - 3 battalions
- Light Role Infantry (including public duties and Gurkhas) - 20 battalions
- Air Assault Infantry - 4 battalions
- Commando Infantry - 1 battalion
- Territorial Army Infantry - 14 battalions
The reorganisation is a hybrid of the systems used to organise the regular infantry in Australia and Canada. Australia's regular infantry encompasses six battalions in a single large regiment, the Royal Australian Regiment - this system is the one undertaken by the Scottish Division and the Light Division. Canada's regular infantry has three regiments each of three battalions, which is how the King's Division and the Prince of Wales' Division will be restructured (albeit with one regiment of three battalions and one of two battalions each).
[edit] Guards Division
For various reasons, the five single battalion regiments of the Guards Division will not be amalgamated - however, each battalion will be given a fixed role:
- Armoured Infantry (1 SG) - 1
- Light Role (1 GREN GDS, 1 IG)- 2
- Public Duties (1 COLDM GDS, 1 WG) - 2
[edit] Scottish Division
The six battalions of the Scottish Division will be amalgamated into a single five battalion regiment to be called the Royal Regiment of Scotland. This will see the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers also amalgamate into a single battalion.
- Armoured Infantry (4 SCOTS) - 1
- Light Role (1 SCOTS, 2 SCOTS, 3 SCOTS) - 3
- Air Assault/Light Role (4 SCOTS) - 1
[edit] King's Division
The six battalions of the King's Division will amalgamate into two regiments;
- Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border) - this will be a two battalion regiment formed from the amalgamation of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, King's Regiment and Queen's Lancashire Regiment.
- Mechanised Infantry (1 LANCS) - 1
- Light Role (2 LANCS) - 1
- Yorkshire Regiment - this will be a three battalion regiment formed from the amalgamation of the Green Howards, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and Duke of Wellington's Regiment.
[edit] Prince of Wales's Division
The original seven battalions of the Prince of Wales's Division have been reduced to five with the transfer of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment to the Light Division. The five remaining battalions will amalgamate into two regiments;
- Royal Welsh - this will be a two battalion regiment formed from the amalgamation of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Wales.
- Mercian Regiment - this will be a three battalion regiment formed from the amalgamation of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment and Staffordshire Regiment.
[edit] Queen's Division
The three existing large regiments of the Queen's Division remain unaffected by the restructuring.
- Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
- Armoured Infantry (1 PWRR) - 1
- Light Role (2 PWRR) - 1
- Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
- Armoured Infantry (1 RRF) - 1
- Light Role (2 RRF) - 1
- Royal Anglian Regiment
- Mechanised Infantry (1 R ANGLIAN) - 1
- Light Role (2 R ANGLIAN) - 1
[edit] Light Division
The four current battalions of the Light Division in two regiments have been added to by two battalions from the Prince of Wales's Division. These two will be amalgamated into a single battalion and become a new battalion of the Light Infantry. This enlarged regiment will then amalgamate with the Royal Green Jackets to form a new five battalion regiment, to be called The Rifles. Upon its formation, the Light Division title will no longer be used [1].
- Armoured Infantry (5 RIFLES) - 1
- Light Role (2 RIFLES, 3 RIFLES) - 2
- Mechanised Infantry (4 RIFLES) - 1
- Commando (1 RIFLES) - 1
[edit] Other infantry Regiments
[edit] Royal Irish Regiment
The single regular battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment will remain unamalgamated to "retain an infantry footprint in Northern Ireland".
- Air Assault/Light Role (1 R IRISH) - 1
[edit] Royal Gurkha Rifles
The Royal Gurkha Rifles will remain unaffected by the restructuring. However, the regiment will be regularised, with the UK based battalion integrating more fully with the rest of the infantry. As a consequence, the UK based RGR battalion will be trained in the air assault role.
- Air Assault/Light Role (2 RGR) - 1
- Light Role (1 RGR) - 1
[edit] Parachute Regiment
One battalion of the Parachute Regiment will be re-roled as a "special forces support battalion", while the other two remain unaffected.
- Special Forces Support (1 PARA) - 1
- Air Assault/Light Role (2 PARA, 3 PARA) - 2
[edit] Territorial Army
With the exception of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, every infantry regiment will gain at least one TA battalion (the Royal Regiment of Scotland and The Rifles will have two). This will include the Guards Division, which for the first time will have an affiliated TA battalion. Both this, and the affiliated battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, will be separately named (The London Regiment and The Royal Irish Rangers).
[edit] New structure
| Guards Division | Scottish Division | King's Division | Prince of Wales' Division | Queen's Division | Light Division |
| 1st Bn, Grenadier Guards | 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th(V) & 7th(V) Bn, Royal Regiment of Scotland | 1st, 2nd & 4th(V) Bn, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border) | 1st, 2nd & 3rd(V) Bn, Royal Welsh | 1st, 2nd & 3rd(V) Bn Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queens and Royal Hampshires) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th(V) & 7th(V) Bn, The Rifles |
| 1st Bn, Coldstream Guards | 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th(V) Bn, Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th(V) Bn, Mercian Regiment | 1st, 2nd & 5th(V) Bn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers | ||
| 1st Bn, Scots Guards | 1st, 2nd & 3rd(V) Bn, Royal Anglian Regiment | ||||
| 1st Bn, Irish Guards | |||||
| 1st Bn, Welsh Guards | |||||
| London Regiment(V) |
- 1st Bn, Royal Irish Regiment, Royal Irish Rangers(V)
- 1st & 2nd Bn, Royal Gurkha Rifles
- Special Forces Support Group
- 2nd, 3rd & 4th(V) Bn, Parachute Regiment
- 21st SAS Regiment(V), 22nd SAS Regiment, 23rd SAS Regiment(V)
- Royal Gibraltar Regiment
[edit] Future deployments
As part of the reorganisation, there will be a realignment of postings, due to be completed in 2009[2]:
- 52 Infantry Brigade will transfer from 2nd Division to 3rd (UK) Division.
- The Land Warfare Centre battalion role will rotate between 3 YORKS at Warminster, and 1 RRF and 2 R WELSH at Tidworth.
- 1 SCOTS and 2 SCOTS will rotate between 19 Light Brigade and 52 Infantry Brigade, with the battalion in 52 Bde responsible for public duties in Edinburgh.
- Foot Guards battalions on public duties in London/Windsor (1 COLDM GDS, 1 WG) will rotate with light role battalions in Aldershot (1 GREN GDS, 1 IG) every 2-3 years.
- 5 SCOTS, 1 R IRISH and 2 RGR will rotate between 16 Air Assault Brigade and 52 Infantry Brigade.
- Battalions in London District (2 RRF), British Forces Cyprus (2 LANCS, 2 PWRR) and 52 Infantry Brigade (2 YORKS, 1 R WELSH) will rotate between each other every 2-3 years.
[edit] UK battalions
- England
- Aldershot: 2 x Light Infantry Battalions (1 GREN GDS, 1 IG) (1st Mechanised Brigade, 12th Mechanised Brigade)
- Bulford: 2 x Mechanised Infantry Battalion (1 R ANGLIAN, 4 RIFLES) (1st Mechanised Brigade, 12th Mechanised Brigade)
- Canterbury: Air Assault Battalion (5 SCOTS) (16th Air Assault Brigade)
- Catterick: Armoured Infantry Battalion (1 SG), Mechanised Infantry Battalion (1 LANCS), Light Infantry Battalion (1 MERCIAN) (4th Mechanised Brigade)
- Chester: Light Infantry Battalion (1 R WELSH) (52nd Infantry Brigade)
- Colchester: 2 x Air Assault Battalions (2 PARA, 3 PARA) (16th Air Assault Brigade)
- Hereford: Special Forces Regiment (22 SAS) (UK Special Forces)
- London: 2 x Light Infantry Battalions (1 WG, 2 RRF) (London District)
- Shorncliffe: Light Infantry Battalion (2 RGR) (52nd Infantry Brigade)
- Tern Hill: Air Assault Battalion (1 R IRISH) (16th Air Assault Brigade)
- Tidworth: Armoured Infantry Battalion (1 RRF), Demonstration Infantry Battalion (2 R WELSH) (12th Mechanised Brigade, Land Warfare Training Centre)
- Warminster: Armoured Infantry Battalion (3 YORKS) (1st Mechanised Brigade)
- Weeton: Light Infantry Battalion (2 YORKS) (52nd Infantry Brigade)
- Windsor: Light Infantry Battalion (1 COLDM GDS) (London District)
- Scotland
- Edinburgh: 3 x Light Infantry Battalions (1 SCOTS, 2 SCOTS, 3 RIFLES) (19th Light Brigade, 52nd Infantry Brigade)
- Inverness: Light Infantry Battalion (3 SCOTS) (19th Light Brigade)
- Wales
- Chepstow: Light Infantry Battalion (1 RIFLES) (3rd Commando Brigade)
- St Athan: Special Forces Support Battalion (1 PARA/SFSG) (UK Special Forces)
- Northern Ireland
- Ballykinler: Light Infantry Battalion (2 RIFLES) (19th Light Brigade)
- Holywood: Light Infantry Battalion (2 MERCIAN)(19th Light Brigade)
[edit] Overseas battalions
There are four locations that have a permanent British infantry presence; Germany, Cyprus and Brunei are home to battalions from the regular army, while Gibraltar has its own permanent home defence battalion. Other postings are usually roulement postings from either the UK, Germany or Cyprus.
- Brunei
- Cyprus
- Dhekelia: Light Infantry Battalion (2 PWRR) (British Forces Cyprus)
- Episkopi: Light Infantry Battalion (2 LANCS) (British Forces Cyprus)
- Germany
- Celle: Light Infantry Battalion (2 R ANGLIAN) (7th Armoured Brigade)
- Fallingbostel: 2 x Armoured Infantry Battalion (4 SCOTS, 3 MERCIAN) (7th Armoured Brigade)
- Osnabrück: Light Infantry Battalion (1 YORKS) (20th Armoured Brigade)
- Paderborn: 2 x Armoured Infantry Battalions (1 PWRR, 5 RIFLES) (20th Armoured Brigade)
- Gibraltar
- Gibraltar: Light Infantry Battalion (RG) (British Forces Gibraltar)
[edit] Defunct regiments
Over time, a handful of infantry regiments have disappeared from the roll through disbandment rather than amalgamation. In the 20th Century, seven regiments disappeared like this:
- In 1922, following cuts to the size of the armed forces after the First World War and the establishment of the Irish Free State, the five infantry regiments solely from the south of Ireland were disbanded:
- Connaught Rangers
- Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
- Royal Dublin Fusiliers
- Royal Irish Regiment
- Royal Munster Fusiliers
- In 1968, after a re-organisation of the army, two regiments opted to be placed in suspended animation rather than amalgamate, and were eventually disbanded in 1987:
[edit] Fictional regiments
In recent years, there have been many depictions of the British Army of various periods in fiction. Two notable ones depicting the modern British Army have been Spearhead from the period of the late 1970s, and Soldier Soldier from the early to mid 1990s. Both are seen as reasonably accurate depictions of life in the army at those times, and both are centred on a fictional infantry regiment.
The Loamshire Regiment is used by the British Army as the placeholder name in the provision of examples for its procedures, for example in the method of addressing letters to members of the forces produced by the British Forces Post Office.
[edit] Order of precedence
| Preceded by: Foot Guards |
Order of precedence | Succeeded by: Army Air Corps |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The Rifles - March 2006 situation report 2
- ^ Information obtained from the MOD under Freedom of Information Act 2000
[edit] See also
| British Infantry Depots |
| Guards Division | Scottish Division | King's Division Queen's Division | Prince of Wales' Division | Light Division |
| Royal Irish Regiment | Parachute Regiment | Brigade of Gurkhas |
