| The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) | |
|---|---|
 Cap badge of the regiment | |
| Active | 1 July 2006 – present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Role | 1st Battalion –Infantry 4th Battalion –Army Reserve |
| Size | Two battalions |
| Part of | Queen's Division |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ –Preston 1st Battalion –Preston 4th Battalion –Preston |
| Nickname | Lions of England |
| Motto | "Nec Aspera Terrent" (Latin)"Difficulties be Damned"[1] |
| March | Quick –John Peel Slow –The Red Rose |
| Anniversaries | Ladysmith (28 February), St George's Day (23 April), Waterloo (18 June), Arroyo (28 October) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-Chief | King Charles III |
| Colonel of the Regiment | Brigadier Robert J. Singleton |
| Insignia | |
| Arm Badge | Glider From King's Own Royal Border Regiment |
| Abbreviation | LANCS |
TheDuke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is aninfantryregiment of the line within theBritish Army, part of theKing's Division. Headquartered inPreston, it recruits throughout theNorth West of England. The title ofDuke of Lancaster merged with the Crown on the accession ofHenry V in 1413 and remains dormant, subject to any future revival. Customarily, however, theSovereign (whether male or female) is referred to as the Duke of Lancaster within Lancashire and in relation to the Duchy of Lancaster, and is the regiment's Colonel in Chief. The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment is the county regiment forCumbria,Lancashire,Greater Manchester,Merseyside and theIsle of Man, and as such, recruits mainly from these areas.[2]
The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 byGeoff Hoon andGeneral Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of theinfantry, when it was initially to be known as the King's Lancashire and Border Regiment. The regiment was given its new name in November 2005. Initially formed of three regular armybattalions, it was eventually reduced to two regular battalions, plus anArmy Reserve battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:[3]
The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment contained three regular battalions, with each battalion simply being renamed:
In March 2007, the 3rd Battalion was disbanded, with its personnel dispersed to the other two, leaving the final roll of two regular battalions and one Reserve battalion.[4]
In 2012, a Kenyan mother and alleged prostitute calledAgnes Wanjiru was allegedly murdered by soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster Regiment, with the murder reportedly covered up by British Army officials. TheSunday Times said a fellow soldier had gone to the “proper people” immediately after hearing a squaddie confess to the killing, but said he was told to “shut up” when he reported it and no action was taken. Ms Wanjiru's body was not discovered until two months later, after the regiment had returned to the UK.[5][6] Defence SecretaryBen Wallace denied that the British military had covered-up Wanjiru's murder, but admitted guilt to and expressed concern over the Army hierarchy turning a "blind eye" to the use of prostitutes by personnel, especially within “countries in poverty”.[7][8] In 2021, screenshots of a private Facebook group chat allegedly run by soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were published across British newspapers. The screenshots reportedly showed the regiment's soldiers joking and laughing at memes mocking the murder of Agnes Wanjiru.[9] The leaking of the secret chats apparently mocking the murder sparked a reinvestigation into the case by Kenyan police.[10] In 2022, UK armed forces introduced a ban on the use of sex workers abroad for the first time. Personnel found to have engaged in what the Ministry of Defence describes as “transactional sex” face the prospect of dismissal – and they could also be prosecuted if in countries where prostitution is illegal.[11]
In December 2021, the regiment's 2nd Battalion re-subordinated to theRanger Regiment, as its 3rd Battalion.[12]
In 2021 acolour sergeant from 4th Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was fined and dismissed for lifting the skirt of a Kenyan woman, whom he knew, in a shopping mall inNanyuki while intoxicated.[13] A British Army spokesperson described the colour sergeant's conduct as disgraceful and said;
"This was appalling behaviour from the senior non-commissioned officer."[14]
Soldiers from the regiment's 4th Battalion have served alongside their regular army counterparts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cyprus.[15]
In recent years, deployments have included Denmark, Italy, Australia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Kenya, Lithuania, the Baltics, Poland, the Balkans and Georgia.[16]
In May 2023, 4LANCS won the 2022-2023 Army Football Reserve Challenge Cup against6SCOTS in a 2–1 victory at Aldershot. LANCS’ captain Cpl Kiel Brennan was awarded the Player of the Match.[17]
Also in May, personnel from 1 LANCS took part in theIRONMAN70.3 Venice-Jesolo Triathlon. All five Triathletes from the 1 LANCS Triathlon club completed the 1.9 km Swim, 90 km Bike & 21 km Run course.[18]
The regiment is split into a 1st and 4th Battalion, with the Regimental Headquarters located inFulwood Barracks,Preston.[19] The 1st Battalion is a light role infantry battalion based in Chester.[20] The4th Battalion is the regiment's reserve battalion and has its headquarters in Preston, with sub-units dispersed throughout its recruiting areas of Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cumbria. Both battalions form part of the new 4th Light Brigade Combat Team, in the1st (UK) Division.[21]
There are five regimental museum collections based around the antecedent regiments:
Infantry regiments are permitted to display 43 battle honours from the two world wars on the Queen's Colour and 46 honours from other conflicts on the Regimental Colour. Upon amalgamation, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment had to choose from the total list of honours of its three antecedents which honours would be displayed on its new Colours. The chosen honours were:[28]
In addition to the displayed honours, the Regimental Colour will also display four emblems from the antecedents regiments:
In addition, the Regimental Colour also features aSphinx to distinguish the battle honour "Egypt" and a Dragon for the honour "China".
The regiment has brought forward a number ofGolden Threads from its antecedents, as displays of its history and heritage:[28]
Alongside a few other regiments in the British Army that use traditional names other than Private for the lowest rank, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment uses the rankKingsman (Kgn) instead ofPrivate, a tradition inherited from theKing's Regiment (itself having inherited the tradition from theKing's Regiment (Liverpool)). Its use has been officially sanctioned since 1951, but it was informally used before this for over 100 years.[28]
Regimental Colonels were as follows:
Alliances formed by the regiment are as follows:[34]
Canada –The Royal Regiment of Canada Canada –The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) Canada –The West Nova Scotia Regiment Canada –The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment
Australia –The Royal Queensland Regiment Australia –The Royal South Australia Regiment Australia –The Royal Tasmania Regiment
New Zealand –The Otago and Southland Regiment New Zealand –The Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment
India – 5th Battalion,The Sikh Regiment
Pakistan – 8th and 14th Battalions,The Punjab Regiment Pakistan – 1st and 15th Battalions,The Frontier Force Regiment
Malaysia – 2nd Battalion,The Royal Malay Regiment
South Africa –The Kimberley Regiment
Royal Navy –HMSTriumph Royal Navy –HMSLancasterThe regiment have received theFreedom of several locations throughout its history; these include:
1 July 2006:Pendle (Originally Granted to an antecedent regiment TheQueen's Lancashire Regiment in2001).[35]2006:Haslingden[36]2006:Warrington[37]2007:Chorley[38]17 April 2007:Tameside[39]14 September 2008:Liverpool.12 October 2009:Knowsley[40]16 April 2010:Manchester[41]10 March 2011:Ribble Valley[42]22 October 2011:West Lancashire[43]20 May 2013:Whitehaven[44]2013:Burnley[45]20 May 2015:Maryport[46]20 June 2017:Sefton[47][48]18 July 2017:Appleby-in-Westmorland[49][50]July 2017:Blackpool[51]2 December 2019:Wigan[52]24 May 2022:Wyre[53]| Preceded by | Infantry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by |
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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