Queen's Lancashire Regiment
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment | |
---|---|
TA Reserve | |
Size | One battalion |
Part of | King's Division |
Garrison/HQ | RHQ - Fulwood Barracks, Preston 1st Battalion - Osnabrück, Germany |
Motto(s) | Loyally I Serve |
March | Quick - L'Attaque/The Red Rose Slow - Long Live Elizabeth |
Anniversaries | Waterloo(18 June) Quebec(13 September) |
Insignia | |
Tactical Recognition Flash |
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through the amalgamation of the two remaining Lancashire infantry regiments, the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) and the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire). In July 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with two other Northern infantry regiments to form the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.
History
The 1st Battalion served on operations in Northern Ireland in 1970, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76 (resident), 1977, 1980–81, 1987, 1990–92, 1997–99 (resident) and 2001.[1]
The 1st Battalion undertook two tours with
Overseas service saw the 1st Battalion posted to Cyprus from 1978 to 1980 as the Western Sovereign Base Area Resident Battalion, and again in 1983, where they saw service with the United Nations. A company was dispatched to the Falkland Islands in the aftermath of the 1982 war.[3] The 1st Battalion returned to Cyprus as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area Resident Battalion from 2004 to 2005.[3]
In 1996 the 1st Battalion served as part of
The regiment's 1st Battalion saw service in
On 16 December 2004, it was announced that the Queen's Lancashire Regiment would be merged with the King's Regiment and the King's Own Royal Border Regiment into the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border). On 1 July 2006, the 1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment became the 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.[4]
Territorials
As well as the regular 1st Battalion, the regiment also had a
Abuses In Iraq
Some months after returning from Iraq the battalion was at the centre of the first serious accusations of abuse against Iraqi prisoners levelled at British soldiers. These accusations were illustrated on the front pages of the Daily Mirror by photographs which the regiment immediately denounced as staged fakes. The regiment then ran a successful campaign, believed to be unique for an active unit of the British Armed Forces, to prove that the pictures were false. After two weeks, the Mirror was forced to admit that it had found "sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax." Editor Piers Morgan was forced to resign when he refused to apologise.[6]
There has however been at least one case of true abuse; Corporal
On 19 July 2005, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith announced that Payne was being charged with manslaughter, perverting the course of justice and inhumane treatment of persons under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. On the same day, another ten soldiers were also charged with similar crimes, six relating to the death of Mousa and four relating to the death of another Iraqi, Ahmed Jabber Kareem Ali, on 8 May 2003.[10]
The court martial was held in Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, after an investigation by the Royal Military Police. It convened in the autumn of 2006, and concluded six months later in April 2007, being the most expensive Court Martial in modern British military history [11]
During the court martial, Corporal Payne admitted he "enjoyed" hearing Iraqis call out during torture, describing their cries of pain as "the choir".[12] He was cleared of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. Six other soldiers were cleared of any charges.[12]
After earlier pleading guilty to the offence of inhuman treatment of persons protected under the Geneva Conventions, Corporal Donald Payne was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, reduced to the ranks, and dismissed from Her Majesty's Armed Forces, on 30 April 2007.[13][14]
Regimental museum
The Lancashire Infantry Museum is based at Fulwood Barracks in Preston.[15]
Battle honours
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment's battle honours were as follows:
- Pre-War:
- Gibraltar 1704-5, Louisberg, Afghanistan 1878–80, Chitral, Siege of Kimberley, Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899–02.
- Gibraltar 1704-5, Louisberg,
- The Great War 1914–18:
- Mons, Le Cateau, East Africa 1914–16.
- Mons, Le Cateau,
- Inter-War:
- Baluchistan 1918. Afghanistan 1919.
- The Second World War 1939–45:
- Defence of Escaut, Burma 1943–45.
- Defence of Escaut,
Colonel-in-Chief
The Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment was
Regimental Colonels
Colonels of the regiment have been:[16]
- 1970–1978 Maj-Gen. Hon. Miles Francis Fitzalan Howard, KCVO, CB, CBE, MC
- 1978–1983 Maj-Gen. Peter Aldcroft Downward, CB, DSO, DFC
- 1983–1993 Maj-Gen. David Houston, CBE
- 1993–1999 Lt-Gen. Scott Carnegie Grant, CB
- 1999–2001 Brig. Alex Frederick Birtwistle, OBE, ADC
- 2001–2006 Brig. Geoffrey Paul Sheldon
- 2006 The regiment was amalgamated with The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)
Alliances
- The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment
- The West Nova Scotia Regiment
- The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)
- Australia - The Royal Tasmania Regiment
- New Zealand - The Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment
- Pakistan - 8th and 14th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment
- Malaysia - 2nd Battalion, The Royal Malay Regiment
- South Africa - The Kimberley Regiment
- Royal Navy - HMS Lancaster
Freedom Towns
- Germany - Spandau (16 August 1993)
- United Kingdom - Blackburn
- United Kingdom - Burnley
- Fylde
- United Kingdom - Hyndburn (29 June 2002).[17]
- United Kingdom - Pendle (2001).[18]
- United Kingdom - Preston
- United Kingdom - Rossendale (Haslingden)
- United Kingdom - Warrington
- United Kingdom - Chorley
See also
References
- ^ "Queen's Lancashire Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ a b c "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: Regimental History" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. p. 22. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ a b "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: Regimental History" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. p. 21. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment". Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Lancastrian Volunteers". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ "Mirror editor sacked over hoax". The Guardian. 15 May 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ "UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse". BBC. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ Whitaker, Raymond (18 March 2007). "The victims of war: 93 injuries, one killing, no justice". The Independent. London. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "Baha Mousa soldiers should be brought to justice, says father". The Guardian. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ "UK soldiers face war crimes trial". BBC News. 20 July 2005. Retrieved 23 September 2006.
- ^ "Q&A: Baha Mousa inquiry". BBC News. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ a b "UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse". BBC News. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ^ "UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse". Channel 4. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ^ "Defence Policy and Business news article". Ministry of Defence. 30 April 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ "Official site". Lancashire Infantry Museum. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ^ "The Queen's Lancashire Regiment". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Queen's Lancashire Regiment Freedom of the Borough (Accrington Pals)". War Memorials Online. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ Spencer, Andrew (14 May 2015). "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment parade through Colne". Pendle Today. Retrieved 18 July 2021.