profile picture

204613173

About Me

Whilst the British Army traces its heritage back to Oliver Cromwell's raising of the new Model Army, the Infantry owes its direct heritage to the Crown and the pre-Civil War period. The British Infantry traditionally has been divided into two parts - the Foot Guards and the Infantry of the Line. The oldest Regiment of the Line is the Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), who are also known as the First of Foot and were formed in 1633 when King Charles I warranted Sir John Hepburn to raise a Scottish Regiment for service in France. The Foot Guards have traditionally provided protection to the Monarch and trace themselves back to Bruges in 1656, when the Royal Regiment of Guards was raised by the exile King Charles II. This Regiment went on to become the Grenadier Guards. Thereafter Regiments were raised by prominent members of society, often in response to calls from the monarch for support to meet a particular threat. Originally most Regiments were known by their royal or distinctive title, or by the name of their Colonel. In 1751 a system of numbering was introduced, and from 1782 onwards Regiments were identified with specific territorial areas. In 1872 Cardwell produced a "localisation" plan, which divided the country into 66 areas, based on county boundaries and population centres. In each area, regular and volunteer Infantry were organised to have a Depot, 2 regular battalions would serve overseas and the other in the UK, including acting as a recruiting and training focus. The militia were trained to act as a reserve in the event of an emergency. In the twentieth century, the Infantry expanded and contracted significantly on a number of occasions. There were massive increases in the number of battalions of existing Regiments, and whole new Regiments raised, for Kitchener's volunteer Army and the later conscript Army of the First World War. Large reductions followed the end of the War, only for the whole procedure to be repeated for the Second World War. After the end of National Service there were further reductions throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s. The Infantry was contracted as part of the Options for Change after the end of the Cold War. This meant that several regiments were amalgamated to form larger regiments. These larger regiments were formed on the basis of geographical heritage (eg. The Royal Anglians) or historical role (eg. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers). The Infantry, currently comprising of 40 regular battalions and 15 territorial battalions, forms 32 Regiments. Regiments are grouped together into Divisions which share either a common history (such as the Guards and the Light Divisions) or a geographical proximity (such as the Scottish Division). A few Regiments fall outside the Divisional groupings by virtue of their special roles and organisations: the Royal Irish Regiment, the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Gurkha Rifles.The most recent Defence Review has meant further reductions to the number of battalions as the Infantry restructures into large regiments. This sees a reduction to 36 regular and 14 TA battalions, forming 17 regiments. This restructuring will take place over the next few years. Despite all the changes over these centuries, a number of the features that make the Infantry so strong have endured. The Regimental system is still critical to maintaining the links between regular and territorial soldiers, old comrades and cadets; links which reinforce esprit de corps and assist recruiting. The Regimental ethos which underpins the whole structure of the Infantry binds soldiers together, in peace and in the heat of battle; it is a great strength of the British Infantry, of which our allies and enemies are justly envious. This will continue to be the case as the Infantry undergoes its current restructuring.

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Any infantry men, or relatives of infantry soldiers. Post your crests, patches, units, pictures, to your myspace and I will copy and paste it here. Any comments also.