Royal Anglian Regiment - History

History

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. As one of the existing large regiments, the Royal Anglian Regiment was unaffected by the restructuring of the infantry announced in 2004. However, 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 two regular battalions have the nicknames the Vikings (1st Bn) and the Poachers (2nd Bn). The old regular 3rd Battalion was nicknamed the Pompadours, and the fourth the Tigers.

In 1995, each battalion renamed its companies in order to perpetuate its lineage from the old County regiments:

• 1st Battalion 'The Vikings'
  • A (Royal Norfolk) Company (after the Royal Norfolk Regiment)
  • B (Suffolk) Company (after the Suffolk Regiment)
  • C (Essex) Company (after the Essex Regiment)
  • D (Cambridgeshire) Company (after the Cambridgeshire Regiment)

• 2nd Battalion 'The Poachers'
  • A (Royal Lincolnshire) Company
  • B (Royal Leicestershire) Company
  • C (Northamptonshire) Company
  • D (Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire) Company

• 3rd (V) Battalion 'The Steelbacks'
  • A (Norfolk) Company
  • B (Lincolnshire) Company
  • C (Leicestershire & Northamptonshire) Company
  • E (Essex & Hertfordshire) Company
  • HQ (Suffolk & Cambridgeshire) Company

All regular battalions of the regiment have carried out tours-of-duty throughout "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The most costly time for the regiment in NI occurred in the 1970s and 1980s when they lost eighteen soldiers, the last in 1989. Despite violence in Northern Ireland having largely subsided, the regiment continues to be posted there. When in Northern Ireland, the Royal Anglian Regiment, like the rest of the Army, is primarily used to provide support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Throughout the 1960s, the regiment served in Aden, where they operated against guerrillas fighting against the British presence such as in the Radfan. They also garrisoned Malta, the Persian Gulf, and Cyprus. The regiment has continued to carry out tours of Cyprus into recent times; the last was carried out by 2 R ANGLIAN in 1998.

The 1st battalion also served in Northern Ireland between 89 Aug to 90 Jan (South Armagh), Apr to 91 Oct (Fermanargh) and Dec 93 to 94 June (Co Tyrone). They also did short tours of Cyprus (1992) and the U.S. (Fort Lewis) in 1995. Also in 1995 the 1st Battalion was sent to Croatia during the time UN soldiers were being taken hostage by local militia. As part of 24 Airmobile Brigade they were sent there between July and October of that year.

During the crisis in the Balkans in the early 1990s, 2 R ANGLIAN was deployed to Bosnia in April 1994 as part of the UN peacekeeping force UNPROFOR. During the tour, Corporal Andrew Rainey became one of the first ever other ranks to win the Military Cross, for his actions during a heavy contact between 3 Platoon, A Company and a Bosnian Serb military unit on the confrontation line in the north of the Maglaj Finger. The battalion left later in the year, having suffered a single loss by a land mine. 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.

In 1996 C Company (1st Bn) was sent with the Parachute Brigade that was taking part in the biggest Airborne exercise since the Second World War in South Carolina, U.S. During this exercise WOII "Boogie" Boulton was killed in a traffic accident.

In March 2002, 1 R ANGLIAN was sent to Afghanistan, where it was based in the capital Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The battalion often patrolled the more dangerous parts of the capital to maintain order in a city under constant fear of attack by Al Qaida and the Taliban. The ISAF force at that time was commanded by Major-General John McColl, a former officer with both 1st and 2nd Battalions; he commanded the latter between 1992–1994. The battalion left in June, having suffered a single loss due to an accident. The following February, A company of 2 R ANGLIAN was posted to Kabul in June 2003. They were replaced by C Company in June.

In 2005 1 R ANGLIAN had a successful 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 including the arrest in Basra of 14 insurgents.

In Spring 2006 2 R ANGLIAN 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 Private 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.

From March to September 2007 as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade 1 R ANGLIAN was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 6. This deployment was the subject of the Sky One documentary Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, broadcast in January/February 2008. A book has also been written by a former commanding officer about the battalion on this tour, Attack State Red, published by Penguin. They were stationed in the infamous Helmand Province and faced some of the fiercest fighting since the Korean War. 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 9 casualties during its tour, 5 hostile and 4 accidental.

1 R ANGLIAN (as of 2007) is part of 12th Mechanised Brigade, based in Pirbright. The battalion now operates in the light infantry role and is expected to move to Bulford in the summer of 2011.

2 R ANGLIAN is TRB and was based in Dhekelia, Cyprus. The battalion operates in the light infantry role. The 2nd Battalion moved to Kendrew Barracks in Rutland in 2012.