The Royal Monmouthshire Militia, Royal Engineers

The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) (R MON RE(M)) is the most senior regiment in the British Territorial Army, having given continuous loyal service to the crown since 1539. It is part of the reserve forces, and is the only remaining Militia unit in the British Army. The R Mon RE(M) is the only unit to have two 'Royal' prefixes in its title.

History


It is not the oldest regiment in the British Army; this honour goes to the Honourable Artillery Company (from 1296 but chartered in 1537), but Militia always takes precedence over Volunteers, although The Jersey Field Squadron (M) can trace its origins back to 1337.

The regiment is also unusual in having the word Royal appear twice in its name. It gained the first "Royal" in 1804 when it was known as the Monmouth and Brecon Militia. The second was acquired in 1877 when the regiment transferred from an infantry unit into a Special Reserve section of the expanding Royal Engineers. The regiment is also the only Royal Engineer regiment to possess colours because in 1914 they were given the colours of the East Monmouth Militia for safekeeping.

On 1 April 1967 the existing regiment absorbed 43rd Wessex Division RE (TA), 48 South Midland Division RE (TA) and 53rd Welsh Division RE (TA).

The Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) are at Monmouth Castle in Monmouth and its sub-units are in Cwmbran, Cardiff, Bristol, Swansea, Birmingham and Jersey.

In addition to Individual Reinforcements (IR's) mobilized for Op TELIC 1, the regiment also mobilized 100 Fd Sqn for service in Iraq during Op TELIC2, and has sent large numbers of Individual Reinforcements (IR's) to Iraq, Afghanistan and United Nations Operations in Cyprus.