List of army units called Guards

This is a list of past and present army units whose names include the word guard. Border Guards, Coast Guards, Home Guards, National Guards, Presidential Guards, Red Guards, Republican Guards, and Royal Guards are listed under their own articles.

Active

Australia

• The Federation Guard is tri-service ceremonial unit.

Austria

• The Austrian Land Forces Guard Battalion

Bulgaria

The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria

Canada

• Governor General's Foot Guards, The Governor General's Horse Guards and The Canadian Grenadier Guards.

China

• "The Guards Army" is the frequently used English translation for the Wuwei troop (武衛軍) organized under the Qing dynasty.

Denmark

• Royal Life Guards (Denmark)
• Guard Hussars

Estonia

• Guard Battalion

Finland

• Guard Jaeger Regiment

Germany

• Wachbataillon

India

• Brigade of the Guards

Israel

• Knesset Guard (Hebrew: Mishmar HaKnesset) responsible for the security of the Knesset building and the protection of its members (MKs).

Netherlands

• Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene
• Grenadiers' and Rifles Guard Regiment

Romania

30th Honor Guard Regiment "Mihai Viteazul"

Russia

Serbia

• Military of Serbia Guard, elite military unit of Serbian Army used for ceremonial and special duties.

Sri Lanka

• President's Guard

Singapore

• Singapore Guards, elite Singapore infantry unit used for special operations.

Sweden

• The Life Guards regiment

Switzerland

• Swiss Guard, Swiss mercenary soldiers who served as guards at foreign European courts.

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Current Guards units of the British Army are under the administrative control of the Guards Division

• Foot Guards
  • Grenadier Guards
  • Coldstream Guards
  • Scots Guards
  • Irish Guards
  • Welsh Guards

• Cavalry Guards Regiments
  • Life Guards
  • Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) .

Former

With dates Guards title carried

• 1st Regiment of Life Guards
• 2nd Regiment of Life Guards
• Royal Horse Guards - predecessor unit to the Blues and Royals

• 1st King's Dragoon Guards -1959
• 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) -1922
• 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) 1746-1922
• 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards -1922
• 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards 1788-1922
• Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) 1788-1922
• 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons -1922
• 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards -1922

• 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards 1959-
• 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) 1922-1971 (also known as "3rd/6th Dragoon Guards")
• 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards 1922-1992
• 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards 192-

• Horse Guards Regiment - a number of temporary regiments carried this name.
  • 1st Troop of Horse Guards

• Guards Machine Gun Regiment

Organizational units

• Brigade of Guards
• Guards Division (United Kingdom)
• Guards Armoured Division

• 1st Guards Brigade (United Kingdom)
• 2nd Guards Brigade (United Kingdom)
• 3rd Guards Brigade (United Kingdom)
• 4th Guards Brigade (United Kingdom)

• 5th Guards Armoured Brigade 1941-1945 (later 5th Guards Brigade)
• 6th Guards Tank Brigade (United Kingdom) 1941-1945 (later 6th Guards Brigade)

• 20th Independent Infantry Brigade (Guards)
• 22nd Guards Brigade
• 32nd Guards Infantry Brigade 1941-1945

Vietnam

• Vietnam People's Army:
  • Vietnam Border Guard: border protection
  • Vietnam Coast Guard: coast protection
• General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army:
  • 144th Guarding Brigade: protective guards of Ministry of Defense headquarter, General Staff headquarter ass well as national and international conferences ^[1]
  • Military Honor Guard Unit: honor guard during visits of foreign leaders, National Day parade, Military Memory days... ^[2]
• Ministry of Defense:
  • Command of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Guard: protection of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum ^[3]

Historical

Byzantine

• Varangian Guard, a unit of the Byzantine emperor chiefly made up of troops of Scandinavian and North West European origin.

France

• Imperial Guard of the Napoleonic era

Prussia

• Guards Corps

Cavalry

• Gardes du Corps, also known as the "Prussian Guard" a Prussian formation until 1918
• 1st (Silesian) Life Cuirassiers "Great Elector"
• 1st (Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland) Guards Dragoons
• 2nd (Empress Alexandra of Russia) Guards Dragoons
• 1st Guards Uhlans
• 2nd Guards Uhlans
• 3rd Guards Uhlans
• Life Guards Hussars

Infantry(each of the Foot Guards and four of the Guards Grenadiers would form reserve (Landwehr) units upon mobilization in August 1914)

• 1st Foot Guards
• 2nd Foot Guards
• 3rd Foot Guards
• 4th Foot Guards
• 5th Foot Guards
• 1st (Emperor Alexander) Guards Grenadiers
• 2nd (Emperor Francis) Guards Grenadiers
• 3rd (Queen Elizabeth) Guards Grenadiers
• 4th (Queen Augusta) Guards Grenadiers
• 5th Guards Grenadiers
• Guards Fusiliers
• Guards Jäger Battalion
• Palace Guards Company
• 1st Guards Machine Gun Detachment
• 2nd Guards Machine Gun Detachment

Artillery

• 1st Guards Field Artillery
• 2nd Guards Field Artillery
• 3rd Guards Field Artillery
• 4th Guards Field Artillery
• Guards Foot Artillery

Support units

• Guards Engineers
• Guards Trains

Imperial Russia

• Imperial Guard

Japan

• Imperial Guard (Japan)

Soviet Union

• Guards unit, a type of military unit of the former Soviet Union

Vietnam

• Red Guards (Tự vệ Đỏ) is the precursor force of Vietnam's today police. The Red Guards were formed by Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 - 1931, during Nghệ-Tĩnh uprising against French rule.

See also

• Royal Guard, which see for a list

Notes

References

Philip Mansel, Pillars of Monarchy: An Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards 1400-1984, ISBN 0-7043-2424-5