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Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
(Queen's and Royal Hampshires)
PWRR
PWRR Capbadge
Cap Badge of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
Active 9 September 1992 – present
Allegiance Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army British Army
Type Line Infantry
Role 1st BattalionLight Infantry
2nd BattalionSpecialised Infantry
3rd BattalionArmy Reserve
4th BattalionArmy Reserve
Size Four battalions
Part of Queen's Division
Garrison/HQ RHQ - London
1st Battalion - Dhekelia Cantonment
2nd Battalion - Cottesmore
3rd Battalion - Manston
Nickname(s) The Tigers Di's Guys
March Quick - The Farmer's Boy/Soldiers of the Queen
Slow - The Minden Rose
Commanders
Colonel in Chief TBA
Insignia
Tactical recognition flash PWRR TRF
Arm badge Tiger
From the Royal Hampshire Regiment
Abbreviation PWRR
Jour d'la Libéthâtion Jèrri 9 d'Mai 2010 34

PWRR March

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'the Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division, and second only in line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

History[]

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment was formed on 9 September 1992 by the amalgamation of the Queen's Regiment and the Royal Hampshire Regiment and holds the earliest battle honour in the British Army (Tangier 1662–80).[1] Through its ancestry via the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (2nd Regiment of Foot), the PWRR is the most senior English line infantry regiment. The current regiment was named in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales.[2]

Upon its creation, the Princess of Wales and the Queen of Denmark were Allied Colonels-in-Chief of the PWRR. When the Princess divorced the Prince of Wales, she resigned as Colonel-in-chief and the Queen of Denmark has remained its Colonel-in-Chief since.[3]

The 1st Battalion served a seven-month tour of Iraq in 2004 with a second tour following in 2006, and finally a tour in 2009 where the battalion was split between Afghanistan and Iraq (last combat operation in Iraq). Many of the operations carried out by the battalion during the first tour were named after stations on the London Underground.[4] Elements of 1 PWRR helped train the Iraqi National Army and oversaw the withdrawal of UK Forces from Basra.[5] 1st Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan again in August 2011 to form the nucleus of the Police Mentoring Advisory Group (PMAG) with individual companies detached to other battlegroups around Helmand province.[6] The 1st Battalion under Army 2020 will move from Paderborn, Germany to be stationed at Bulford Camp.[7][8][9]

The regiment's 2nd Battalion were based in Shackleton Barracks, Northern Ireland, the last resident battalion deployed in this role under Operation Banner. After two years at Alexandria Barracks in Dhekelia in Cyprus, they moved to Woolwich Garrison, London, to take up a public duties role in August 2010, a role they performed for three years.[10] 2nd Battalion deployed to Cyprus again in 2014.[11] It remains one of the infantry units rotating between the UK and British Forces Cyprus.[12]

Structure[]

The current regimental structure is presented below.

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Museum[]

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Museum is located in Dover Castle, Dover, Kent. Exhibits trace the regiment's history, and include displays of photographs, paintings, weapons, badges, medals, uniforms and regimental regalia.[13]

Victoria Cross and other decorations[]

Medals and awards awarded to the regiment's 1st Battalion for their service during operations in Iraq in 2004 included a Victoria Cross, two Distinguished Service Orders, two Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, one Member of the Order of the British Empire for gallantry, ten Military Crosses, and seventeen were Mentioned in Despatches, making the regiment the most highly decorated serving regiment in the British Army at that time.[4]

Private Johnson Beharry of the 1st Battalion, PWRR was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during his unit's deployment to Amarah, near Basra.[14]

Whilst attached to the 1st Battalion, Michelle Norris of the Royal Army Medical Corps became the first woman to be awarded the Military Cross following her actions on 11 June 2006.[15]

Recruiting Areas[]

The regiment currently recruits from the following areas;[16]

  • Boroughs within Greater London — Boroughs within the boundaries of Greater London are shared with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and The Rifles.
  • Channel Islands
  • City of Portsmouth
  • City of Southampton
  • Hampshire — The Rifles have strong ties to Winchester, and may recruit within city boundries.
  • Isle of Wight
  • Kent
  • Surrey
  • West Sussex, Brighton and Hove

Battle honours[]

PWRR Tiger

PWRR tiger badge

  • (combined battle honours of the Queen's Regiment, and the Royal Hampshire Regiment, with the following emblazoned:)
  • 1. also emblazoned:
    • The Naval Crown superscribed "1st June 1794" - from the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
    • The Sphinx superscribed "Egypt" - from the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) & Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
    • The cypher of Queen Catherine, (wife of Charles II), intertwined/reversed letter "C" at the base of the laurel wreath from The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), in memory of the raising of the Regiment in 1661 when sent to garrison Tangier, part of Catherine of Braganza's dowery
    • The Royal Tiger superscribed "India" - from the Royal Hampshire Regiment

Order of precedence[]

Preceded by
Royal Regiment of Scotland
Infantry Order of Precedence Succeeded by
Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

Lineage[]

1880[17] 1881 Childers Reforms[17] 1921 Name changes 1957 Defence White Paper 1966 Defence White Paper 1990 Options for Change 2003 Delivering Security in a Changing World
2nd (Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment The Queen's Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)
31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot The East Surrey Regiment
70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot
3rd (East Kent, The Buff's) Regiment of Foot The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
renamed in 1935:
The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment
50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
97th (Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot
35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot The Royal Sussex Regiment
107th (Bengal Infantry) Regiment of Foot
57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
77th (East Middlesex) (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Regiment of Foot
37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot The Hampshire Regiment
renamed in 1946:
The Royal Hampshire Regiment
67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot

Alliances[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. "The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment". Ministry of Defence. http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/23994.aspx. Retrieved 23 May 2014. 
  2. "Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment retraces its history". BBC. 28 April 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17843163. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
  3. "No. 52834". 13 February 1992. p. 2581. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/52834/supplement/2581 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Mills, Dan (2007). Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British Battle Group Under Siege. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7181-4994-9. 
  5. "British soldier killed in Basra shooting". The Telegraph. 12 February 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/4604437/British-soldier-killed-in-Basra-shooting.html. Retrieved 23 May 2014. 
  6. "Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment sees Afghan Police progress". Ministry of Defence. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/princess-of-waless-royal-regiment-sees-afghan-police-progress. Retrieved 23 May 2014. 
  7. "Regular Army basing". Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160814181412/http://www.aff.org.uk/linkedfiles/aff/latest_news_information/cregulararmybasingannouncementgridunclas.pdf. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
  8. "Basing plan". p. 3. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/136406/regular_army_basing_plan.pdf. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
  9. "Transforming the British Army: An Update". Ministry of Defence. p. 7. http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Army2020_Report_v2.pdf. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
  10. "2 PWRR soldiers step down from ceremonial duties". Ministry of Defence. 11 February 2013. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-pwrr-soldiers-step-down-from-ceremonial-duties. Retrieved 23 May 2014. 
  11. "Meeting The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment in Cyprus". Sussex Life. 15 December 2014. http://www.sussexlife.co.uk/people/meeting_the_princess_of_wales_royal_regiment_in_cyprus_1_3886869. Retrieved 8 January 2015. 
  12. "Transforming the British Army: An Update". Ministry of Defence. p. 9. http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Army2020_Report_v2.pdf. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
  13. "Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Museum Tour". Friends of Dover Castle. http://www.dover-castle-friends.org/tour/royal_regiment_museum/. Retrieved 16 April 2014. 
  14. "No. 57587". 18 March 2005. pp. 3369–3370. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/57587/supplement/3369 
  15. Bunyan, Nigel (2007-03-22). "Big day for 5ft Army medic who won MC". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/22/norris22.xml. Retrieved 2007-03-22. 
  16. Army Secretariat, Information regarding Infantry Recruiting Areas (August 2019). whatdotheyknow.com. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  17. 17.0 17.1 The London Gazette, Page 3300-3301 (1 July 1881). "Childers Reform". Government of the United Kingdom. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24992/page/3300. Retrieved 27 October 2016. 

External links[]


All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the edit history here.
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