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The
Friends of the Green Howards |
The
Green Howards - The Path to Amalgamation |
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| Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment (19th Foot) The North York Militia, The North York Local Militia & North York Rifle Volunteers | ||||||||||||||||
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As from 6 June 2006 the Green Howards became the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards). The MOD's website for the Yorkshire Regiment can be found at www2.army.mod.uk/yorkshire_regiment/index.htm.
Some of the steps that led to the amalgamation of the Green Howards into the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) are detailed on this page.
The information below has been taken from the April and August 2005 issue of the "Green Howards Gazette".
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Immediately after the official announcement of the cuts and the restructure of the infantry was announced in Parliament by the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP - on the 16th December 2004 - the following letter was sent by the Colonel of the Regiment to all the retired officers and friends of the Regiment:
THE FUTURE OF THE REGIMENT
It is with some relief that we now know the outcome of the months of deliberation by the Army Board and the Ministry of Defence on the future of the Infantry. In our case the three Yorkshire Regiments will merge to form a four-battalion Yorkshire Regiment, three regular and one TA.
I realise that for many of us this will be a bitter disappointment and a cause of great sadness. After more than three centuries of unamalgamated service to the Crown, our Regiment will be coming to the end of a long and proud chapter.
Given that the Army had decided to merge all regiments such as our own into large regiments to provide a more flexible and robust structure for the future, we have fought hard to secure the best possible outcome for The Green Howards and for Yorkshire. Indeed, with the very real threat of a cut falling on Yorkshire - even up to the evening before the announcement - and the serious implications of such a cut on us, we have come out of it very well.
By becoming part of a new Yorkshire Regiment of three regular battalions and one TA battalion, we have achieved four objectives:
- The strength of our Infantry in Yorkshire has not been reduced, and the recruiting and employment prospects are probably better. Indeed the new structure should offer greater career opportunities for those serving and better stability for the families.
- We shall still be able to carry forward our famous name, history and traditions
as well as our strong links to North Yorkshire and Teesside - we will be called
2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards). Remember we
were once The Yorkshire Regiment. - We have the unifying strength of Yorkshire - indeed we shall be the only genuine county regiment left in the Army.
- Our TA companies will be now fully integrated with their regular counterparts.
At the forefront on my mind, as we have been working hard to achieve these objectives, has been the need to look after the interests of our serving Green Howards and the recognition that they are the ones who will have to make any new structure work. We know that they will get fully behind the new Yorkshire Regiment and take full advantage of the new opportunities it offers. They will also be able to continue to identify with their Green Howards' traditions and inheritance - though, like all of us, there will be the sadness of losing the separate cap badge.
The Green Howards Association with its annual reunion will continue, as will the Regimental Museum and the Benevolent Fund. The Yorkshire Regimental Headquarters is likely to be in York, but it is planned that our RHQ in Richmond will continue as an outstation of the new regiment.
The new Yorkshire Regiment will form up in 2006. I am determined - as I know the 1st Battalion and our TA colleagues are - to make it a real success and an example to the Army.
I have asked for your support and trust during the past difficult months of discussion and uncertainty; I am immensely grateful for all you have done. In particular, we owe General Sir Richard Dannatt a huge debt of gratitude for his critical influence and steady nerve in presenting our case so effectively to the Army Board as Colonel Commandant. The Regiment now needs you to continue that support as we move into a new chapter of our history. We must put behind us any feelings of disappointment we inevitably have. We must now work together to keep the proud traditions, heritage and standards of The Green Howards alive in the new Yorkshire Regiment, ensure it is the premier regiment in the Army and encourage young men to join it.
All Green Howards have much to thank the Colonel of the Regiment, the Colonel Commandant of the King's Division and the Regimental Campaign Team for what they have achieved, although it does mean that The Green Howards will no longer be the oldest, English, infantry of the line regiment never to be amalgamated.
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It may be helpful for some of our readers to see the effect on the infantry of the restructure of the Army as a result of the Defence White Paper announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence. The infantry has been reduced from 40 to 36 battalions as follows:
Scottish Division
The merging of 1st Bn, The Royal Scots with 1st Bn, King's Own Scottish Borderers. The resulting five Scottish battalions will form one large, single cap-badge regiment - The Royal Regiment of Scotland. The battalions will take their antecedent name as their new title, with the regiment in brackets, thus:
The Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers (1st Bn, The Royal Regiment
of Scotland)
The Royal Highland Fusiliers (2nd Bn, The Royal Regiment of Scotland)
The Black Watch (3rd Bn, The Royal Regiment of Scotland)
The Highlanders (4th Bn, The Royal Regiment of Scotland)
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (5th Bn, The Royal Regiment of Scotland)
Abbreviated titles will be 1 SCOTS, 2 SCOTS etc.
King's Division
The merging of the 1st Bn, King's Own Royal Border Regiment, 1st Bn, The King's Regiment and 1st Bn, The ueen's Lancashire Regiment to the west of the Pennines, to form a two battalion regiment called The King's Lancashire and Border Regiment, thus:
1st Bn, The King's, Lancashire and Border Regiment
2nd Bn, The King's, Lancashire and Border Regiment
Abbreviated titles will be 1 LANCS and 2 LANCS.
The merging of 1st Bn, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, 1st Bn, The Green Howards and 1st Bn, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment to the east of the Pennines to form a three-battalion regiment called The Yorkshire Regiment, thus:
1st Bn, The Yorkshire Regiment (Prince ofWales's Own)
2nd Bn, The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards)
3rd Bn, The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington's)
Abbreviated titles will be 1 YORKS, 2 YORKS and 3 YORKS.
The East and West Riding Regiment will incorporate A' and 'B' Companies of the Tyne-Tees Regiment to become 4th Bn, The Yorkshire Regiment.
The Prince of Wales's Division
The merging of the GLOSTERS element of 1st Bn, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment with 1st Bn, The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment into the Light Division and the prior Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment element of the RGBW merging into The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment within the Queen's Division.
The 1st Bn, The Royal Welch Fusiliers and the 1st Bn, The Royal Regiment of Wales will form a two-battalion regiment called The Royal Welsh, thus:
1st Bn, The Royal Welsh (Royal Welch Fusiliers)
2nd Bn, The Royal Welsh (Royal Regiment of Wales)
Abbreviated titles will be 1 WELSH and 2 WELSH.
The 1st Bn, The Cheshire Regiment, 1st Bn, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment and 1st Bn, The Staffordshire Regiment will form a three-battalion regiment called The Mercian Regiment thus:
1st Bn, The Mercian Regiment (Cheshires)
2nd Bn, The Mercian Regiment (Worcester & Sherwood foresters)
3rd Bn, The Mercian Regiment (Staffords)
Abbreviated titles will be 1 MERCIAN, 2 MERCIAN, 3 MERCIAN.
The Light Division
The Light Division will receive an additional battalion based on the merger of DandD and the GLOSTER element of the RGBW with the LI and will be called:
1st Bn, The Light Infantry
The present LI battalions will be renumbered as the 2nd and 3rd Bn, Light Infantry in accordance with seniority.
Guards Division. No change.
Queen's Division. No change.
The Royal Gurkha Rifles. No change.
The Royal Irish Regiment. No change.
The Parachute Regiment
The 1st Bn, The Parachute Regiment will be removed from the line Infantry and will form the core of a new 'Ranger' battalion in direct support of our Special Forces.
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Formation Committee for The Yorkshire Regiment
As a result of the announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence on 16th December 2004, the Colonels of the PWO, GH and DWR have convened a committee to direct the formation of the new Yorkshire Regiment to consist of three regular and one TA battalion. The Regiment is to form no earlier than July 2006 and no later than March 2007.
Each regiment is represented by a Colonel/Lieutenant Colonel, a Captain and a Warrant Officer. The TA will be represented by the Commanding Officer of the East & West Riding Regiment, who will also be responsible for Cadets. The Green Howards will be represented by:
Lt Col Julian Panton MBE
Maj (Retd) Roger Chapman MBE (for RHQ & Museum)
Capt Rupert Thomas
W02 Alan Thomas
Brigadier Richard Dennis OBE, the Commander of 15 (NE) Brigade, who has already experienced two amalgamations, is to be the Chairman of the Formation Committee. The first meeting was held in London on 18th February, with the priority of designing a new cap badge. It has already been agreed that a white rose should be incorporated into the new badge and that the word 'Yorkshire' should be considered part of it.
The three Colonels of Regiments will decide on the choice of Colonel-in-Chief, Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, Colonel of Regiment and Deputies. A separate Financial Sub-Committee will be set up who will report to the three Colonels on matters of Regimental Funds.
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August 2005, - Report on Progress
Over the last six months, since the Yorkshire Regiment Formation Committee was formed, there have been three meetings at the Ministry of Defence in London to provide recommendations for the three Colonels of the Regiment. Surprisingly, there has been little acrimony between the three Yorkshire regiments and the Territorials (Volunteers) under the able and unbiased chairmanship of Brigadier Richard Dennis (former PWRR). Recommendations on future dates, dress, procedures, manning and location of the Yorkshire Regiment's RHQ have been submitted. It will be of interest to our readers to learn of some of the decisions and recommendations resulting from the last meeting on 25th June 2005:
Timings
The Yorkshire Regiment is to be founded on Tuesday 6th June 2006 when the new
cap badge, uniform and insignia will be worn. As the 1st Battalion will be on
operations in Bosnia on this date, there will be no formal parade. However,
there will be a Service of Thanksgiving in York Minister followed by a Reception
in Imphal Barracks, York on Sunday 9th July 2006 for those members of the Regiment
still in the UK. It is hoped that the new Regimental Headquarters will be operating
from a series of offices in Imphal Barracks, York from September/October 2005,
with Major David Harrap (the DWR Regimental Secretary) in the chair until the
new Yorkshire Regimental Secretary is appointed.
Regimental Colour
Green Howard Green.
Dress
Recommendations have now been endorsed by the three Colonels of Regiments for
Combat Dress, BarrackDress, Service Dress and Mess Dress but they have to go
before the Army Dress Committee and the College of Arms before any final approval
is given. It is hoped to announce these in the December issue of the Gazette.
Regimental Journal
The Green Howards Gazette, will be superseded by the Yorkshire Regimental
Journal in late 2006. So, the next two issues will be the last Gazettes to be
published since April 1893.
Colonel-in-Chief, Colonel of The Yorkshire Regiment, Deputy Colonels
Recommendations, endorsed by all three Colonels of Regiment, have been submitted
for Royal and military approval. It is hoped to publish these names in the next
issue of The Green Howards Gazette (December).
Our readers may be interested to know that this is not the first time The Green Howards have been called: "The Yorkshire Regiment." In the 1880s when the full title of the Regiment was 'Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment)', it was decided to call them, for short: 'The Yorkshire Regiment' using the nickname: 'The Green Howards.' This lasted throughout the First World War (1914- 1918), The 3rd Afghan War (1919) and whilst the 6th and 13th Battalions were in Russia in 1919. It was not until December 1920, that the nickname became the official title of the Regiment. However, we should not forget that, when the Regiment takes up the title again, it will be the sad demise of the oldest English un-amalgamated, line-infantry regiment in the British Army.
Royal Assent to the Title of the New Regiment
The following message has been received by Regimental Headquarters;-
Her Majesty The Queen has been graciously pleased to agree that the title of the new regiment to be formed from The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) and The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) will be:
The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th , 19th and 33rd/76th Foot)
On formation the regular battalion titles will be:
1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own).
2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards).
3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington's).
The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th , 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) will comprise a Territorial Army battalion formed from elements of both The East and West Riding Regiment and The Tyne Tees Regiment. The title of this battalion will be:
4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.
From the GH Gazette, December 2005
On 6th June 2006, when the members of the 1st Battalion change their cap badges and become the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (The Green Howards) the new Regimental Headquarters will be run from York and not Richmond. However, The Green Howards' link with Richmond will remain. The Museum will continue as before, telling the story of the old Regiment, in peace and war, from 1688 to 2006, but will also include information about the new Yorkshire Regiment. However, the old RHQ will become an outstation of the new Yorkshire Regiment.
This will be just one of the changes as a result of the amalgamation of The Green Howards with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. Although The Green Howards will have lost its cap badge and RHQ, The Yorkshire Regiment will gain much from its absorption of The Green Howards as recent decisions show:
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The Army Board has approved the appointment of Lieutenant General J N R Houghton CBE, late Green Howards, as the new Colonel of The Yorkshire Regiment and Major General A P Farquhar CBE as one of the three Deputy Colonels, with special responsibility for The Green Howards.
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The Army Dress Committee has approved the following:
- Regimental Colour - Green Howards' Brunswick green.
- Cap Badge - A silver rose surmounted by a bronze Duke of
- Wellington's lion on a cloth square of Brunswick green.
- Collar Dogs - The white horse of Hanover.
- Buttons - The Green Howards' badge less the scroll.
- Stable Belt - Green, black, red, black and green.
The Territorial Green Howards from A and B (GH) Company of The Tyne-Tees Regiment and The Green Howard detachments of ACF and CCF units will not change their cap badges until 10th June 2006 at a special ceremony in the Museum Gardens, York. A and B (GH) Companies will then become part of 4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment and the ACF and CCF detachments will be renamed.
In the final issue of The Green Howards' Gazette (in April 2006), I will take the opportunity to explain the remarkable link the Regiment has had, since 1875, with the Danish and Norwegian royal households.
In the meantime, any reader will be able to receive more information about the Dress Regulations for the new Regiment either by contacting the RHQ, The Yorkshire Regiment in Tower Street, York Y01 9SB or from our own RHQ in Richmond, which in June 2006 will become an outstation of the new Yorkshire Regiment. Fortunately, the decision to retain the outstation ensures that GHA Richmond Sundays will continue and the beautiful market town of Richmond will, as before, remain the home of all former Green Howards in the future ... and long may it do so.
From the GH Gazette, April 2006
1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (PWO)
Role : Air Assault
Location : Somme Barracks, Catterick
Operational Tour : Afghanistan 2006/7
Future Postings : Move to Germany as a Light Role Battalion - 2008.
Background : The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (14th/15th
Foot) was formed in 1958 by the amalgamation of the West Yorkshire and East
Yorkshire Regiments. The latter two Regiments were raised in 1685.
2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (GH)
Role : Light Role
Location : Beachley Barracks, Chepstow
Operational Tour : Bosnia (March-September 2006)
Future Postings : Move to Weeton Camp as a Light Role Battalion in
August 2007.
Background : The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own
Yorkshire Regiment) (19th Foot). Raised in 1688 to serve William, Prince of
Orange in the 'Glorious Revolution.'
3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (DWR)
Role : Armoured Infantry
Location : Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster
Operational Tour : To become the operational reserve.
Future Postings : No change.
Background : The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)(33rd and
76th Foot). The 33rd Foot was raised in 1702, renamed in 1853 and amalgamated
with the 76th Foot in 1881. It has had a historic link with the Duke of Wellington
since 1793.
4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (TA)
Role : Reserve in order to reinforce the Regular Army.
Location : Bases in Yorkshire and south of the River Tees.
Operational Tour : On-going deployments in support of operations world-wide.
Background : The East & West Riding Regiment and Tyne-Tees Regiment
were formed in 1999 from the amalgamation of local Territorial Battalions. The
Territorial Army traces its origins from the Territorial Force of 1907 and Volunteer
Force of 1859.
To learn more about the future Yorkshire Regiment it is worth looking at their website on: http://www2.army.mod.uk/yorkshire_regiment/index.htm.
Yorkshire Regiment Events
6th Jun 06 Formation Day (Regular & TA)
Regular Battalions re-badging and renaming at Battalion locations - 1st Bn in
Catterick, 2nd Bn in Bosnia, 3rd Bn in Warminster. 4th Bn in TA Centres.
10th Jun 06 4th Bn Parade & ACF & CCF re-badging day
1000 hrs: 4th Bn parade in Museum Gardens, York
1200 hrs: Royal Salute
1500 hrs: ACF and CCF parade in Imphal Bks and receive new badge.
16th Jul 06 Service of Blessing & Beating Retreat
1330: Service of Blessing in York Minster.
1530: The Yorkshire Regiment and 15 (NE) Brigade Beating Retreat, Imphal Barracks,
York.
21st Jul - 6th Aug 06 Freedom Marches
March of the Yorkshire Regiment through selected Freedom Towns.
