My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
On 16 December 2004 my predecessor announced to the House (Official Report, Commons, cols. 1795–1800) plans to rebalance the Army and reduce the infantry from 40 to 36 battalions, with associated changes to the titles of the infantry battalions and regiments.
Since the announcement, significant further planning and consultation has been undertaken. This has seen detailed and extensive work, which has included a period of local consultation led by the regiments and divisions. As a result, and with the full approval of Her Majesty the Queen, I am happy to announce the new titles of the regular and TA infantry regiments and battalions as follows.
| Current Regimental/Battalion Title |
New Regimental/Battalion Titles |
Abbreviation |
| The Guards Division |
| 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 by the end of March 06, with The Royal Scots and The King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalions of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, amalgamating on 1 August 06. |
| Regular Battalions |
| 1st Battalion The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) |
Amalgamates 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 |
Amalgamates 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 Regiment1 |
5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers |
5 RRF |
| The King's Division |
|
| The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) |
|
| Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 1 July 06. |
| 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 LANCS3 |
| The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) |
|
|
| Formation Arrangements: Regimental formation 6 Jun 06. |
| Regular Battalions |
| 1st Battalion 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: The Mercian Regiment will form on 24 August 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. |
| 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: Formed in 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 Rifles4 |
7 RIFLES |
| The Parachute Regiment |
|
| Regular Battalions |
|
| 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment6 |
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 Chief of the General Staff (General Sir Mike Jackson) has written to the Infantry Colonels Commandant informing them of these changes."¹ Currently within the King's Division and not part of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers."² Currently not part of the Royal Anglian Regiment.
³ On formation in Jul 06 the new regiment will have three regular Bns with the TA Bn known as 4 LANCS. The three regular battalions will merge to form 1 LANCS and 2 LANCS in March 07. This is a change to the title announced in December 04; this is at the regiment's own request.&4sup; Formed from Bn HQ and 2 x Coys of RRV with 2 x Coys of LONDONS.&5sup; Not included are the Home-Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment who have not been subject to FAS.&6sup; As announced on 16 December 2004, 1 PARA will be the core of the new Tri-Service Special Forces Support Group, and will be removed from the infantry structure.&7sup; Currently within the Queen's Division.