Army battalions affected by defence cuts
The Army is to lose 17 major units as it cuts 20,000 regular soldiers by 2020. Four infantry battalions are being abolished and one is being downgraded under the government's plans to reduce the size of the Army by a fifth. All have an illustrious heritage as part of regiments which have served in major campaigns over the last 300 years.
2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is a light role infantry battalion based in Celle, northern Germany. It is part of a regiment formed in April 1968 which can trace its heritage back to the time of King James II. Over the last 44 years, the 2nd Battalion has seen service in Cyprus, Germany, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the British Army website, A Company was involved in the longest defensive battle since the Korean War during fighting in Helmand Province in 2007.
2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards)
2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment is a light infantry battalion and part of 19 (Light) Brigade based in Cyprus ahead of a deployment to Afghanistan. The battalion's headquarters are at Richmond, North Yorkshire, and it recruits in the county and Teesside. Formed in 1688, the battalion was amalgamated into The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and The Duke of Wellington's Regiment in June 2006. It took on the nickname The Green Howards in 1744 from the colour of its facings and the name of its Regimental Colonel, Charles Howard. The Regiment first saw active service in 1690 at the Battle of the Boyne and also took part in the Crimean campaign as well as World World I and World War II.
3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment (Staffords)
3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment is the armoured infantry component of the 7th (Armoured) Brigade and currently based in Bad Fallingbostel, Germany. The regiment was formerly The Staffordshire Regiment and continues to recruit soldiers from Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Birmingham, with headquarters in Lichfield. The first of the regiments to form the Staffords can trace its history back to 1705 and spent its early years defending the British empire. After World War II, it saw deployments in Hong Kong, Egypt and Cyprus. More recently, the 3rd Battalion deployed to Afghanistan between March and October 2011.
2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh
2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh is an armoured infantry battalion, based at Lucknow Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire. The battalion returned from a tour in Iraq in December 2007 and went on to provide armoured support to operations in Afghanistan. The Royal Welsh was formed in March 2006 from three former regiments and retains strong links with Wales through its recruitment. Its parent regiments were first mustered in March 1689 when King William III called for a force to serve in Ireland and later fought in the Crimea, at Memetz Wood in World War I and took the city of s-Hertogenbosch in Holland from the Nazis in 1944.
5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders)
5th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland is to be reduced to a public duties company. It is currently an Air Assault Infantry battalion based at Howe Barracks in Canterbury, Kent. Part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, the battalion returned from Helmand Province, Afghanistan in May 2011. The battalion was formed in 1891 from two Highland Regiments, the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders and the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders and in 2004, as part of a previous restructuring, became part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment, with headquarters in Edinburgh, has a history dating back to 1794.