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This is a list of battalions of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959.
When the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot became the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, three pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Lancaster were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881-1908 occurred in 1900, when the 2nd Volunteer Battalion was raised, and when the 4th (Militia) Battalion disbanded in 1908.[1][2]
| Battalion | Formed | Formerly | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | ||||
| 1st | 1680 | 1st Battalion, 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot | ||
| 2nd | 1857 | 2nd Battalion, 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot | ||
| Militia | ||||
| 3rd (Militia) | 1760 | 1st Battalion, 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own)[2][3] | ||
| 4th (Militia) | 1877 | 2nd Battalion, 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own)[2][4] | ||
| Volunteers | ||||
| 1st Volunteer | 1859 | 10th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps[5] | ||
The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". Both of the volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order.[1]
The regiment fielded 17 battalions and lost 6,515 officers and other ranks during the course of the war.[7] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Battalion were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. A number of the battalions were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. The 11th, New Army "Service" battalion, was referred to as Bantam battalion because it was predominantly composed of men under the prewar height limit.[1][8] The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918 these were linked to county regiments.[9]
| Battalion | Formed | Served | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular[10] | ||||
| 1st | 1680 | Western Front | ||
| 2nd | 1857 | Salonika | ||
| Special Reserve[10] | ||||
| 3rd (Reserve) | 1760 | Britain, Ireland | ||
| Territorial Force[10] | ||||
| 1/4th | 1859 | Western Front | See Inter-War | |
| 1/5th | 1900 | Western Front | ||
| 2/4th 4th (Reserve) Battalion, from September 1916 |
Blackpool, February 1915 | Britain, Ireland | Disbanded, in ? | |
| 2/5th | Lancaster, September 1914 | Western Front | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 3/4th | June 1915 | Absorbed by 2/4th Battalion upon creation | ||
| 3/5th 5th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916 |
June 1915 | Absorbed by 4th (Reserve) Battalion, in September 1916 | ||
| 12th | January 1917, from 41st Provisional Battalion (Territorial Force) | Britain | Disbanded, in March 1918 | |
| New Army[10] | ||||
| 6th (Service) | Lancaster, August 1914 | Gallipoli, Mesopotamia | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 7th (Service) | Lancaster, September 1914 | Western Front | Disbanded, in February 1918 | |
| 8th (Service) | Lancaster, October 1914 | Western Front | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 9th (Service) | Lancaster, October 1914 | Western Front, Salonika | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 10th (Reserve) | Saltash, October 1914 | Britain | Became the 43rd Training Reserve Battalion, 10th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916 | |
| 11th (Service) | Lancaster, August 1915 | Western Front | Bantam battalion; disbanded, in February 1918 | |
| 12th (Reserve) | Lancaster, January 1916 | Britain | Became the 76th Training Reserve Battalion, 17th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916 | |
| Volunteer Training Corps[11] | ||||
| 13th Battalion Lancashire Volunteer Regiment later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancashire) Regiment | Preston, Lancaster | Disbanded post war | ||
| 14th Battalion Lancashire Volunteer Regiment later the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancashire) Regiment | Barrow-in-Furness | Disbanded post war | ||
By 1922, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft.[1]
| Battalion | Fate |
|---|---|
| 4th | Converted to 56th (King's Own) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery |
The regiment’s expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. Existing battalions formed duplicates as in the First World War, while National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion. In addition to this, 5 battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment.[1][12] These wore the 'EL' designation, the remaining 18 wearing this patch were cap-badged to other regiments. A number of Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troops were formed from the local battalions to defend specific points, such as factories.[13] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of the men in the LAA troops, the troops required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular unit.[14]
| Battalion | Formed | Served | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | ||||
| 1st[15] | 1680 | India, Iraq, North Africa, Cyprus | See Post-World War II | |
| 2nd[16] | 1857 | North Africa, Syria, Chindit Campaign | See Post-World War II | |
| Supplementary Reserve | ||||
| 3rd | Britain | See Post-World War II | ||
| Territorial Army | ||||
| 5th[17] | 1900 | Western Front, Britain | Converted to 107th Regiment (King's Own), Royal Armoured Corps | |
| 6th[18] | February 1940 | Dunkirk, Britain | Disbanded, in July 1944 | |
| 7th[19] | February 1940 | Dunkirk, Britain, Gibraltar, India | Disbanded, in 1947 | |
| 8th[20] | February 1940 | Dunkirk, Britain, Malta, Palestine | Merge with the 1st Battalion, in January 1944 | |
| 9th[21] | February 1940 | Dunkirk, Britain | Converted to 90th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, in November 1941 | |
| 10th[22] | September 1940 | Britain | Converted to 151st Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps | |
| Others | ||||
| 50th (Holding)[22] | Lancaster, June 1940 | Britain | Became the 10th Battalion, in September 1940 | |
| Home Guard[23] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battalion | Headquarters | Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) | Battalion | Headquarters | Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) |
| 1st | Barrow | EL 1 | 2nd (North Lonsdale) | Ulverston | EL 2 |
| 3rd | Lancaster City | EL 3 | 4th (South Lonsdale) | Morecambe | EL 4 |
| 7th | Blackpool | EL 7 | |||
| Home Guard Light Anti-Aircraft units[13] | |||||
| Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) | Headquarters or Location | AA Formation and Designation | Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) | Headquarters or Location | AA Formation and Designation |
| EL 1 | Barrow in Furness Vickers Armstrong Ltd | A Troop LAA | EL 4 | Heysham Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd | A Troop LAA |
| EL 7 | Blackpool Vickers Armstrong Ltd | A Troop LAA | EL 7 | Blackpool Brooklands Aviation Ltd | B Troop LAA |
In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded.[1]
The 1957 Defence White Paper stated that the King's Own Royal Regiment was due to be amalgamated with the Border Regiment, to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment on the 1 October 1959.[1]
| Battalion | Fate |
|---|---|
| 1st | Amalgamated with 1st Battalion, Border Regiment, to form 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment |
| 5th | Transferred to the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, without a change in title |
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