London Guards

The London Guards is an administrative formation within the British Army comprising the reserve companies of the British Army's Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots and Irish Guards. On formation these companies drew their personnel from the London Regiment and it traces its history back to the formation of that regiment in 1908 when 26 separate Volunteer Force battalions were brought together.[1]

1st Battalion London Guards
Badge of 1st Battalion London Guards
Active1908[1]–2022 (as London Regiment)[2]
2022–present (as London Guards)
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
RoleLight Role Infantry
SizeOne Battalion (450 personnel)[3]
Part ofLondon District
Garrison/HQSt John's Hill, London[4]
EngagementsIraq War
Operation Herrick
Websitearmy.mod.uk/london-guards/
Commanders
Colonel of the RegimentThe Duke of Edinburgh
Regimental Lieutenant ColonelMaj Gen Marc Overton
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Abbreviation1 LONDON GDS

Under the Integrated Review published in March 2021 it was announced the London Regiment would lose its regimental status and re-designate as 1st Battalion London Guards. The former companies of the London Regiment became reserve companies of the four senior foot guard regiments with soldiers previously in the London Regiment transferred to foot guards regiments.[2] The London Guards is not a regiment, the companies wear the uniform, and follow the traditions, of their foot guards regiment.[5]

History
Badge of the former London Regiment
Pipes & drums of A and D Companies and the Corps of Drums of C Company at the Lord Mayor's Show in 2006

The London Regiment was reformed in 1993 through the re-regimentation of some of the remaining successors of the original regiment (not including, for example, the Artists Rifles or Kensington Regiment (Princess Louise's)), which were part of a number of different TA infantry units:[6]

In 1992, the London Scottish, which formed G Company 1/51 HIGHLAND, and the London Irish Rifles, who were D Company 4 R IRISH, were both transferred to 8QF in preparation for its conversion in 1993 to the London Regiment. Upon the regiment's formation, one of the original companies of the former Queen's Regiment, A Company, was disbanded, leaving the new regiment's order of battle as:[6][7][8]

Two companies of the Royal Green Jackets, F Company and G Company, formed part of the regiment between 1998 and 2004.[8]

In 2004 elements of the London Regiment were deployed to Iraq.[9]

Following the restructuring of the British Army in 2004, it was announced that the Guards Division would gain a Territorial Army battalion. This saw the London Regiment retaining its name and multi-badge structure, while transferring from the Queen's Division to the Guards Division. The two Royal Green Jackets companies were transferred to the Royal Rifle Volunteers in preparation for the formation of The Rifles in 2007.[10]

In July 2017 B Company transferred to the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment to become B Company, 4th Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment;[11] and C Company transferred to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers to become C Company, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.[12] To replace these two sub-units, F Company, 7th Battalion The Rifles returned to the London Regiment, while a new G Company was raised.[13] In addition to the regimental re-structuring, the regiment was moved under command of the 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East and was to be known as the 'Guards reserve battalion'.[14][15] In 2020 a FOI answer stated it also fell under HQ London District.[16]

In 2021, under the Future Soldier part of the Integrated Review published on 16 March, it was announced that the London Regiment would be re-designated as 1st Battalion London Guards by February 2024.[19] For the 2023 Trooping the Colour the London Guards provided street liners to allow for a bigger parade than in recent years.[20]

Conversion to foot guards

In April 2022, the London Regiment was re-designated 1st Battalion London Guards and ceased to be a regiment in its own right, with its companies transitioning to become reserve companies of the four senior foot guards regiments.[2] The companies do not form a regiment; reservists being members of a foot guards regiment.[5][21]

Deputy Honorary Colonels for the existing companies (representing on the London Regiment's Regimental Council the regimental identities that the companies derived from) were to continue in post to provide continuity for one year, thereafter, they would be replaced by senior representatives of the respective foot guard regiments.[5] The administrative Headquarters is at St John's Hill[14] with the reserve foot guards companies at:

While most officers and soldiers wear the uniform of their regiments, three individuals; the Colonel, the Lieutenant Colonel and the Commanding Officer, wear a London Guards uniform, exhibiting the London Guards stars on the collar, and the buttons of all five regiments of foot guards on the front of the tunic and the cuffs.[22]

On 9 July 2023 the 1st Battalion London Guards were presented with new Colours by the Regimental Colonel HRH Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.[23]

Order of precedence

Whilst it existed, the London Regiment fell after the Parachute Regiment in precedence.

References
  1. "London Guards | The British Army".
  2. "Letter From: Lieutenant General C R V Walker DSO, Regimental Lieutenant Colonel regarding the Integrated Review" (PDF).
  3. "Army – Question for Ministry of Defence". p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  4. "West of St John's Road" (PDF). English Heritage. p. 27. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. "Minutes of an Annual General Meeting of the London Regiment Association held on Monday 28 February 2022 at 100 hours at Battalion Headquarters of the London Regiment, 27 St John's Hill, London SW11 1TT" (PDF).
  6. "Queen's Regiment" (PDF). Queen's Regimental Association. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  7. "History of the Regiment". The London Scottish Regiment. Archived from the original on 12 June 2003. Retrieved 27 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. "London Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  9. "A (London Scottish) Company, the London Regiment in Iraq". The London Scottish Regiment. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. "The Rifles". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  11. "Tigers come to Edgware". The Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association for Greater London. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  12. "First camp for the enhanced and expanded Fifth Fusiliers". The Fusiliers. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  13. "The Guards come to Kingston". The Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association for Greater London. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  14. "London Regiment". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  15. "London Regiment, the Army 2020 Refine". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  16. "London District". whatdotheyknow.com. Whatdotheyknow. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020. The London Regiment
  17. "Sometimes you just can't wait to be invited in". facebook.com. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  18. "Great weekend with more LONDONS recruits passing Phase 1 Training at Pirbright". www.facebook.com. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  19. "Future Soldier" (PDF) (Press release). London: Ministry of Defence. British Army. 25 November 2021. p. 93. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  20. Ward, Victoria (12 June 2023). "What to expect from this year's Trooping the Colour" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  21. ""Scots Guards: Uniforms", Question for Ministry of Defence". UK Parliament. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  22. Elderton, Clive (February 2023). "The London Regiment 1993 to 2022" (PDF). Bulletin of the Military Historical Society. 73 (291): 116–118. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  23. "First Battalion London Guards receive their Colours at Buckingham Palace ceremony". www.army.mod.uk/.
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