Lancashire Regiment

The Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army that had a very short existence.

The regiment was formed, as a consequence of defence cuts implemented in the late 1950s, by the amalgamation of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment and the 1st Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) on 1 July 1958.

The regiment was first based in Hong Kong where both of its predecessor regiments had been based when they amalgamated. In 1961 the regiment arrived in Hilden, West Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine. The regiment arrived in Swaziland in late 1964, shortly after Swaziland's first-ever elections. The regiment remained in that country until early the following year when it returned to Britain, being based in Catterick.

In 1967 the Lancashires arrived in Aden in the Middle East a number of months before Aden gained independence from the British Empire. The regiment saw active involvement in the efforts to quell the numerous guerillas, some of which were Egyptian-backed, and sustained a number of casualties in the process. During their tour of Aden the regiment accumulated the largest amount of operational awards given to units that participated in the Aden Crisis. The regiment left Aden two months before it gained its independence on 30 November. In 1968 the regiment was posted to the garrison in Malta. The following year the Lancashires again returned home to the United Kingdom.

On 25 March 1970, after a relatively brief existence, the regiment was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion, Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire), to form the 1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment.^[1]

Other information

• Alliances:
  • The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment — Canada (1958-1970)
  • The West Nova Scotia Regiment — Canada (1958-1970)
  • 40th Infantry Battalion (The Derwent Regiment) — Australia (1958-1960)
  • The Royal Tasmania Regiment — Australia (1967-1970)
  • The Hawkes Bay Regiment — New Zealand
  • 8th Battalion, The Punjab Regiment — Pakistan

References