| Unit Name: | Royal Anglian Regiment |
| Dates: | 1 September 1964 – present |
| Allegiance: |  United Kingdom |
| Type: | Line infantry |
| Role: | 1st Battalion - Light Infantry 2nd Battalion – Light Mechanised Infantry 3rd Battalion – Army Reserve |
| Size: | Three battalions |
| Command Structure: | Queen's Division |
| Garrison: | Regimental Headquarters - Bury St Edmunds 1st Battalion – Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore, Rutland 2nd Battalion – Kendrew Barracks 3rd Battalion – Bury St Edmunds |
| Nickname: | The Vikings (1st Battalion) The Poachers (2nd Battalion) The Steelbacks (3rd Battalion) |
| Motto: | Regimental Motto: Honi soit qui mal y pense 1st Battalion Motto: Stabilis |
| March: | Quick – Rule Britannia/Speed the Plough Slow – The Northamptonshire |
| Anniversaries: | 1 August – Minden Day 1 September – Regimental Formation Day |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Tactical Recognition Flashes |
| Identification Symbol 2: | Salamanca Eagle From the Essex Regiment |
| Identification Symbol 3: | R ANGLIAN |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | Arm Badge |
| Identification Symbol 3 Label: | Abbreviation |
| Ceremonial Chief: | The Duke of Gloucester |
| Ceremonial Chief Label: | Colonel-in-Chief |
| Colonel Of The Regiment: | Major General Dominic James Stead Biddick |
The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the line regiments now operating in the British Army, and can trace its history back to 1685. The regiment was the first of the large infantry regiments and is one of the three regiments of the Queen's Division.
The regiment was formed on 1 September 1964 as the first of the new large infantry regiments, through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the East Anglian Brigade:[1]
The Royal Anglian Regiment was established to serve as the county regiment for the following counties:
Initially formed of seven battalions (four regular and three Territorial Army), the regiment was reduced in 1975 with the loss of the 4th (Leicestershire) Battalion to three regular battalions and three TA. The regiment was reduced again in 1992 to two regular and two TA battalions with the loss of the 3rd (16th/44th Foot) and 5th Battalions.[2]
The remaining Territorial battalion of the regiment, the East of England Regiment was re-designated on 1 April 2006 as the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment as part of the reforms.
The regiment carried out a series of tours-of-duty throughout "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland.[3]
During the Yugoslav Wars, the 2nd Battalion was deployed to Bosnia in April 1994 as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force UNPROFOR.[4] During the tour, Corporal Andrew Rainey became one of the first ever non-officers to be awarded the Military Cross, for his actions during a heavy contact between 3 Platoon, A Company and a Bosnian Serb Army unit on the confrontation line in the north of the Maglaj Finger.[5]
In 1995 the 1st Battalion was sent to Croatia as part of 24 Airmobile Brigade between July and October of that year. The Vikings returned to the UK having suffered no casualties.[6]
Shortly after British forces intervened in Sierra Leone during its civil war, the 2nd Battalion briefly joined the IMATT force in June 2000 to help train the Sierra Leonean armed forces.[7]
In March 2002, a majority of the 1st Battalion were sent to Afghanistan as part of Operation Fingal which involved military leadership and the provision of a 2,000-strong contingent to coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Battalion was based in the capital Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The following February, the 2nd Battalion's A Company were posted to Kabul and were replaced by C Company in June.[8]
From March to September 2007, as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade, 1st Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 6. They were stationed in Helmand Province. This deployment was the subject of the Sky One documentary Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, broadcast in January/February 2008. A book, Attack State Red, published by Penguin in 2009, was written by Richard Kemp, a former commanding officer, about the battalion on this tour. The fighting attracted much media attention due to the ferocity of the combat, with soldiers often having to resort to using bayonets. The battalion suffered nine casualties during its tour, five from attacks and four accidental.[9] [10]
In a reported friendly fire incident, on 23 August 2007, one of a pair United States Air Force F-15E fighter aircraft called in to support a patrol of the 1st Battalion in Afghanistan dropped a bomb on the same patrol, killing three men, and severely injured two others. It was later revealed that the British forward air controller who called in the strike had not been issued a noise-cancelling headset, and in the confusion and stress of the battle incorrectly confirmed one wrong digit of the co-ordinates mistakenly repeated by the pilot, and the bomb landed on the British position 1,000 metres away from the enemy. The coroner at the soldiers' inquest stated that the incident was due to "flawed application of procedures" rather than individual errors or "recklessness".[11]
With very little notice the 1st Battalion would deploy again to Helmand Province in late 2009 where soldiers from 1st Battalion saw action guarding checkpoints in the Nad-e-Ali area, in central Helmand province later in the year.[12] Deploying alongside them were elements of the sister 3rd Battalion, who deployed to Afghanistan as part of 11 Light Brigade in October 2009.[13]
The 1st Battalion and elements of 3rd Battalion again deployed to Afghanistan as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade in March 2012 as part of Operation Herrick 16 in the closing stages of the conflict.[14]
In 2005, 1st Battalion undertook a tour in Iraq as part of Operation Telic 6 where the battle group was responsible for the Basra Rural South area of operations. C (Essex) Company was detached to act as a Brigade Operations Company and was involved in several high-profile arrest operations.[15]
In Spring 2006, 2nd Battalion deployed to Iraq as part of Op Telic 8 and formed Basra City South Battlegroup. C (Northamptonshire) company was detached to operate as part of Force Reserve and was involved in many high-profile arrest and strike operations. During the tour the regiment mourned the loss of two soldiers; on 13 May 2006 Privates Joseva Lewaicei and Adam Morris died as a result of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb attack in Basra. A third soldier was badly injured.[16]
In autumn 2017 the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment deployed to Cyprus, assuming the role of Regional Standby Battalion and was held at very high readiness to deploy anywhere in the world.[17] In August 2019 it returned to Kendrew Barracks in Rutland.[18]
In summer 2021 the 1st Battalion deployed to Cyprus and, as with the 2nd Battalion in the years before, assumed the role of Regional Standby Battalion to be ready to deploy anywhere in the world. Elements of the battalion were deployed at short notice on Operation Pitting, helping to recover British nationals and Afghan refugees following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.[19]
On 9 October 2019, 100 men from C and D companies marched through Haverhill and received the freedom of the town. The battalion was led by their commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Moxey MBE.[20] In 2020 during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, members of the regiment helped assist the NHS for testing of COVID-19 patients, and provided checkpoints throughout London in collaboration with the Grenadier Guards.[21] 1 Royal Anglian also helped build NHS Nightingale London, a temporary critical care hospital.[22]
The Royal Anglian Regiment Museum is based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire.[23]
The regimental ethos is as follows:[24]
In 1995, each battalion renamed its companies in order to perpetuate its lineage from the old county regiments.[25] The current structure is as follows:
1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment 'The Vikings'
Following the Future Soldier announcements, the 1st Battalion moved to Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore, Rutland, as part of 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade and re-roled to a Security Force Assistance (SFA) role.[26] This move saw the 1st and 2nd Battalions based together for the first time.
2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment 'The Poachers'
The 2nd Battalion operates in the Light Mechanised Infantry role, as part of 7th Infantry Brigade, and is currently based at Kendrew Barracks.[18]
3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment "The Steelbacks"
The 3rd Battalion operates in the light infantry role under 7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East and is based at Bury St Edmunds.[28]
Under the new rotations announced in Future Soldier the 2nd Battalion continued to rotate as a resident unit of British Forces Cyprus.[29]
The battalion nicknames are as follows:
The Vikings – 1st Battalion
The nickname stems from the late 1960s when the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, The 1st East Anglian Regiment Lt Col A F Campbell, MC said it described the Nordic influence on the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The nickname stuck, was adopted by the 1st Battalion on formation, and is still widely used today.[30]
The Poachers – 2nd Battalion
This stems from the Regimental March, The Lincolnshire Poacher, of one of their predecessors, the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment.[31]
The Steelbacks – 3rd Battalion
This was the nickname of the 58th Regiment of Foot, later the 2nd Battalion the Northamptonshire Regiment. It was subsequently the nickname of the former 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment. It stems from Private Hovenden of the 58th being described as a 'Steelback' after a flogging in 1813.[32]
The Pompadours – Disbanded 3rd Battalion
This was the nickname of the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot, an infantry regiment in the British Army, active from 1755 to 1881. The regiment was originally uniformed with a deep crimson facing colour, which in 1764 was changed to purple. During the 18th century the fugitive nature of the dye required to produce this unusual military colour produced varying shades.[33] [34] The colour was often called "pompadour", from which the regiment's nickname of "The Pompadours" came.[35] The reasons for the name of the colour are unclear; it is often said that the shade was Madame de Pompadour's favourite colour. Some soldiers of the regiment preferred to claim that it was the colour of her underwear.[36]
The Tigers – Disbanded 4th Battalion
This was the nickname of the Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946), a line infantry regiment with a history going back to 1688. In 1804 the regiment moved to India,[37] and remained there until 1823. In 1825 the regiment was granted the badge of a "royal tiger" to recall their long service in the sub-continent.
The regimental marches are as follows:[38]
The regimental days are as follows:[38]
The Regiment
The 1st Battalion
The 2nd Battalion
Celebrated by the individual battalions (in date order)
Uniforms are as follows:[38]
The first trace of a band within the Northamptonshire Regiment was recorded in 1798, during which a "German bandmaster was engaged". Military bands have continued in this regiment over the years after Territorial Army battalions of the former regiments were affiliated were merged. In 1986, the first women were recruited into the band from the Women's Royal Army Corps. In 1996, the 5th Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment was reorganized with the regimental Council electing to keep the band, under the name of the Band of the Royal Anglian Regiment following the amalgamation of the Regular Royal Anglian bands into the Bands of the Queen's Division.[40]
The regiment's alliances are as follows:
The Royal Anglian Regiment has a unique relationship with the Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), a Territorial battalion of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda (which was designated an Imperial fortress until the 1950s,[42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] with the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda reduced to a base in 1951, the naval Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station abolished with the station in 1956,[57] and the Bermuda Command Headquarters and all regular units and detachments of the garrison withdrawn in 1957).[58] [59] Although the Royal Bermuda Regiment is usually described as an affiliated regiment, its relationship to the Regiment is more akin to that of one of Royal Anglian's own TA battalions. The Royal Bermuda Regiment sent troops to the Western Front, to support the Lincolnshire Regiment in June, 1915, during the First World War. From the 1990s, senior NCOs were loaned to the Royal Bermuda Regiment for the duration of its annual recruit camps, with one attached to each platoon of its training company.[60]
In 1989, the Band and fifty members of the 3rd Battalion were featured in the opening and closing sequences of BBC historical sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth with the band, men and actors Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny dressed in First World War period uniforms marching to "The British Grenadiers" and the Blackadder theme song. It was shot on location at the former Colchester Cavalry Barracks.[61] [62]