The King's Regiment

This article is part of the
The King's Regiment History.

The King's Regiment

The King's Regiment is a regiment of the British Army. It traces its history back to the 1600s, with the creation of the Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot in 1685, which through the centuries became The King's Regiment (Liverpool), which then amalgamated with The Manchester Regiment, in 1958, which itself traced its history back to the original regiment, forming The King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool).

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Seeing the world

In 1958 The King's Regiment (Liverpool) and The Manchester Regiment amalgamated to form The King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool). HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who had been Colonel-in-Chief of the Manchesters' from 1947, became the Colonel-in-Chief of the new regiment.

In 1959 the regiment was deployed to Kenya, which at that time, had experienced an uprising by the Mau Mau, though by 1959 it had almost fizzled out. The King's were based in Gilgil, which was near Nakuru. The following year the regiment moved to Muthaiga Campe which was near Nairobi. In 1961, a crisis flared up in the Gulf, after the Iraq President had claimed that Kuwait rightfully belonged to them, and that he was going to annex the small oil-rich state. The Kuwaitis' had already appealed for help, the British government had, by the time the King's arrived in July to relieve 42 Commando, Royal Marines, deployed a substantial force, including major naval assets. Thankfully the threat from Iraq subsided in the face of suce a formidable force, the potential war in the Gulf had been averted, though King's would be involved in a such a war over forty years later.

In September of that year the King's returned to Kenya, and in early 1962 returned home to the UK. By July, the regiment was in West Berlin, at a time of increased tension between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries, due largely to the Berlin Wall, which had been built in 1961. The regiment had a relatively quiet deployment to the city, though they regularly observed Soviet position on the other-side of the Wall. In 1964 the regiment returned to the UK, becoming part of the UK Strategic Reserve, a force that 16 (Air Assault) Brigade now fulfills for the present British Army. They were stationed in Ballykinler, at the time, a rather sedate location.

The following year the battalion deployed to British Guiana for internal security duties due to worries aboutt racial tensions, between many of the different groups, that had flared up the previous year in the South American country. The battalion returned to Northern Ireland later that year.

In 1967, the year after the historic 1966 World Cup victory by the England football team, the football squad of the 1st King's, actually managed by an ex-Dundee professional player, played a match against the England team while they were in Northern Ireland. The match, however, was not to be a victory for the King's, being beaten by a respectable 4-1, considering the opposition. Astonishingly, Gordon Banks played up front, with the goal-scoring legend Jimmy Greaves replacing him in goal.

That same year a company from the 1st King's deployed to British Honduras in response to threats from neighbouring Guatemala that they were going to annex the small Central American colony. In 1968 the battalion was moved to England to be based in Catterick. That same year, the regiment was given a slight name change, changing from The King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool) to The King's Regiment.

In 1969 the regiment was deployed to Minden in West Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), however their deployment was to be relatively brief, for the following year the regiment was dispatched to Northern Ireland, by 1970 a very troubled place. They perfomed the usual internal security (IS) duties, going to great lengths to keep the two main warring religions apart, as well as patrolling against terrorist attacks. In 1971 the battalion returned to Germany and then back to the UK, being based at Weeton near Preston.

In 1972, the battalion was deployed to Northern Ireland once again, this time in Belfast. During an intense firefight with IRA terrorists, a Corporal Buckley of the King's was mortally wounded, though brave attempts to rescue him were made, the Corporal died almost immediately. It took several days for the Kingsmen to carefully dislodge the IRA gunmen from the area around the bases at Turf Lodge and Ballymurphy. Unfortunately, this was not the only death the King's experienced in their 1972 tour-of-duty. Kingsman Hanley was shot dead by an IRA sniper while guarding an RE party, who were at that time removing some barricades in the Ballymurphy sector.

The King's were involved in further incidents that month, suffering yet another death on the 30th May. The Provisional IRA, or PIRA, a splinter group of the IRA, bombed the battalion headquarters, killing Kingsman Doglay and another soldier. Between July and August a further four Kingsmen, Jones, Thomas, Christopher and Layfield, were killed.

The 1st King's were deployed to a more pleasant location in November that year, Hong Kong. They performed the usual tasks, internal security duties, as well as patrolling the Hong Kong-Chinese border in case of incursions by people fleeing the Communist regime there. Their stay there was a pleasant one, however in 1975 they were to return to the cauldron they had left in 1972, being deployed to Londonderry.

In NI, the 1st King's had a large area of responsibility, from the northern part of County Londonderry to County Tyrone and other areas, to parts of the border with the Republic of Ireland. They lost one man during their tour-of-duty, a Sergeant Dooley. He was killed in an accident when his Land Rover overturned.

The following year the regiment was stationed in the garrison town of Colchester. In October 1977 the regiment was deployed to the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean for duties in the Sovereign Base Areas and the UN peacekeeping force deployed there, which began in 1964 in response to the growing violence there between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

In 1979, the battalion deployed to Northern Ireland once again, back to Belfast. It was to be a successful, yet at times, tragic tour-of-duty for the 1st King's. They lost three men during this tour-of-duty, Kingsman Shanley and Lance Corporals Rumble were killed in the same vehicle by a PIRA sniper. Lance Corporal Webster was killed by a remote controlled bomb, similar to what many Coalition soldiers faced in Iraq in 2003 and probably into 2004 and possibly beyond.

A Kingsman's duty

In 1980 the 1st King's were back in West Germany, this time based in Osnabrück, as of 2004, still a key British garrison base. They took part in a number of major exercises while stationed there, as well as in Canada. In 1984 the regiment was deployed to Belfast, NI once again. They performed the usual tasks that they had been charged with in previous deployments, though thankfully this tour-of-duty was much more quiet compared to the previous tours. They returned to Osnabrück later that year.

In 1985 the 1st King's returned to the UK, being based in Chester. That year, the regiment celebrated 300 years in existence, when in 1685 the Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment was raised by Lord Ferrar. The Colonel-in-Chief HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother took the salute during the Tercentenary Parade. The battalion was soon deployed to the Falkland Islands garrison there, staying for four months.

In May 1987, the King's were deployed to NI again, as before, this tour was more subdued compared to the earlier tours. They returned to Chester in September that year. In 1988 the 1st King's were deployed to West Berlin, still full of mystery and, though more subdued, tension, yet the Cold War was soon to end. For on the 9th November 1989 checkpoints in the Berlin Wall open for the first-time in decades. The next day, many parts of the Berlin Wall was brought down by thousands of jubilant Germans, the Kingsmen witnessed it all.

In February 1990 the regiment deployed, yet again, to Northern Ireland. It would, during October, be a tragic deployment. The King's were the victims of just one of a series of proxy car bomb attacks, driven by hostages kidnapped by the IRA, who had also the families of the drivers hostage, ordering the car bomb drivers to the targets via radio. The car bomb that hit the King's was immense, killing Lance Corporal Burrows and Kingsmen Beecham, Scott, Sweeney and Worral. The regiment saw further duties in NI, thankfully nothing further tragic occurred.

In 1992, 1st King's were stationed in West London. Later that year, two companies of the 1st King's were deployed to the Falkland Islands, a tour that would last four months. In 1995 the regiment deployed to NI again, thankfully, far more peaceful than one could imagine in the '70s and '80s, though the King's still mounted the many arduous patrols which largely deterred terrorist attacks, guarding numerous bases and generally supporting the RUC.

In 1996 the regiment deployed to Cyprus, being stationed in the Sovereign Base Areas. The regiment was involved in various and diverse duties during their tour-of-duty on the troubled island. The 1st King's were also involved in exercises in Kuwait in 1997. In early 1998, the 1st King's departed Cyprus for the UK, being based in Weeton Barracks, not stationed there since the early 1970s. In 1998 and 1999 the regiment saw two brief deployments to Northern Ireland, performing many of the usual duties that their predecessors had done before them.

In 2002 the regiment was moved to Catterick. That same year their Colonel-in-Chief, since amalgamation in 1958 (she had been Colonel-in-Chief of The Manchester Regiment from 1947), passed away, she was 101. A detachment of the King's took part in the funeral procession of the late Queen Mother.

In late 2002 and early 2003, the regiment was deployed on fire-fighting duties as part of Operation Fresco during the firefighters strike. They operated in the Greater Manchester area.

In June 2003, 1st King's, along with a company from the terroritorial battalion of The King's and Cheshire Regiment, deployed to Iraq as part of 19 Mechanised Brigade, two months after the Iraq War ended. The regiment was involved in many tasks that the regiment had performed in NI, performing their duties with great professionalism and awareness of a potentially volatile area. The regiment returned to their barracks in Catterick in November 2003, a world away from their deployment to the Middle East state.

In December 2004, it was announced that the King's Regiment, along with the King's Own Royal Border Regiment and the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, would be amalgamated to form the King's Lancashire and Border Regiment as part of the restructuring of the infantry. This will be a complete merging into a two battalion regiment - thus it is impossible to maintain the old regimental titles as part of the new battalions, since that would involve one regiment disappearing completely.