The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) |
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Cap badge of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
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Active | 1 July 2006- |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Line Infantry |
Role | 1st Battalion - Light Infantry 2nd Battalion - Light Infantry 4th Battalion - Army Reserve |
Size | Three battalions |
Part of | King's Division |
Garrison/HQ | RHQ - Preston 1st Battalion - Episkopi, Cyprus 2nd Battalion - Weeton Barracks, Lancashire 4th Battalion - Preston |
Nickname(s) | Lions of England |
Motto(s) | "Nec Aspera Terrent" (Latin) "Difficulties be Damned" |
March | Quick -John Peel Slow - The Red Rose |
Anniversaries | Ladysmith (28 February), St George's Day (23 April), Waterloo (18 June) |
Commanders | |
Colonel in Chief | HM The Queen, Duke of Lancaster |
Colonel of the Regiment |
Brigadier Peter Rafferty |
Insignia | |
Tactical Recognition Flash | |
Arm Badge | Glider From King's Own Royal Border Regiment |
Abbreviation | LANCS |
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army. It recruits throughout the North West of England.
The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry, 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 army battalions, it was eventually reduced to two regular battalions, plus an Army Reserve battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:
The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment contained three regular battalions, with each battalion simply being renamed:
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was formed to serve as the county regiment for the following counties:
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.
The regiment's history is on display at the Lancashire Infantry Museum in Preston, Lancashire.
The 1st Battalion is a light role infantry battalion based in Cyprus.
The 2nd Battalion moved to Cyprus in August 2008 and as a resident battalion in Cyprus completed over 15 months on operations in Afghanistan as the Theatre Reserve Battalion from August 2009 to November 2010. The 2nd Battalion, which deployed to Afghanistan again between April and October 2013, is now a light role infantry battalion forming part of 42nd Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North West and is based at Weeton Barracks. The battalion will convert to a Specialised Infantry battalion, to provide an increased contribution to countering terrorism and building stability overseas.