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 a Army Reserve battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:
The King's Own Royal Border Regiment
The King's Regiment
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment
The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment contained three regular battalions, with each battalion simply being renamed:
1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment - 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
1st Battalion, King's Regiment - 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment - 3rd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was formed to serve as the county regiment for the following counties:
Cumbria
Lancashire (South, East, North and North Central)
Merseyside
Greater Manchester
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.
Infantry regiments are permitted to display 43 battle honours from the two world wars on the Queen's Colour and 46 honours from other conflicts on the Regimental Colour. Upon amalgamation, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment had to choose from the total list of honours of its three antecedents which honours would be displayed on its new colours. The chosen honours were:
Queen's Colour
Mons; Retreat from Mons; Marne 1914, 18; Aisne 1914, 18; Messines 1914, 17, 18; Ypres 1914, 15, 17, 18; Neuve Chapelle; Loos; Somme 1916, 18; Arras 1917, 18; Scarpe 1917, 18; Cambrai 1917, 18; Lys; Hindenburg Line; Vittorio Veneto; Macedonia 1915-18; Sari Bair; Gallipoli 1915-16; Megiddo; Kut al Amara 1917; Baghdad; Kilimanjaro; Dunkirk; Normandy Landing; Falaise; Arnhem 1944; Lower Maas; Ourthe; Reichswald; Defence of Habbaniya; Tobruk 1941; Madagascar; Gueriat el Atach Ridge; Landing in Sicily; Anzio; Cassino II; Malta 1940-42; Singapore Island; Chindits 1943; North Arakan; Chindits 1944; Imphal; Kohima; Nyaungu Bridgehead; Burma 1943-45
Regimental Colour
Namur 1695; Gibraltar 1704-5; Blenheim; Ramillies; Oudenarde; Malplaquet; Dettingen; Louisburg; Guadeloupe 1759; Quebec 1759; Maida; Monte Video; Vimiera; Corunna; Arroyo dos Molinos; Tarifa; Badajoz; Salamanca; Vittoria; St Sebastian; Pyrenees; Nivelle; Nive; Guadeloupe 1810; Java; Bladensburg; Niagara; Waterloo; Bhurtpore; Candahar 1842; Cabool 1842; Maharajpore; New Zealand 1845-47; Alma; Inkerman; Sevastopol; Canton; Delhi 1857; Lucknow; New Zealand 1860-68; Abyssinia; Ahmad Khel; Afghanistan 1878-80; Defence of Kimberley; Defence of Ladysmith; Relief of Ladysmith; Afghanistan 1919; Korea 1952-53; The Hook 1953
In addition to the displayed honours, the regimental colour will also display four emblems from the antecedents regiments:
Lion of England - displayed top left; from the King's Own Royal Border Regiment
White Horse of Hanover - displayed top right; from the King's Regiment
Red Rose charged with the Prince of Wales's feathers - displayed bottom left; from the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
Red Rose charged with the Royal Crest - displayed bottom right; from the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)
In addition, the Regimental Colour also features a Sphinx to distinguish the battle honour "Egypt" and a Dragon for the honour "China".
The regiment has brought forward a number of Golden Threads from its antecedents, as displays of its history and heritage:
Lion of England - the English Lion, facing inwards as worn by the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, has been adopted as the regiment's collar badge. The Lion of England is known as the regiment's "Ancient Badge" and provides inspiration for the regimental nickname - first adopted by the 2nd Battalion in August 2009 - "Lions of England".
Glider Flash - the glider awarded, 1949, as an honour to the Border Regiment, for glider landings in Sicily on 9 July 1943, is worn on the sleeve of No. 1 and No. 2 dress. The glider also forms the regiment's tactical recognition flash.
Fleur-de-Lys - the fleur-de-lys worn by the King's Regiment is featured on the regiment's buttons.
Alongside a few other regiments in the British army that use traditional names other than Private for the lowest rank, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment uses the rank Kingsman (Kgn) instead of Private, a tradition inherited from the King's Regiment (itself having inherited the tradition from the King's Regiment (Liverpool)). Its use has been officially sanctioned since 1951, but it was informally used before this for over one hundred years.
Canada - The Royal Regiment of Canada
Canada - The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC)
Australia - The Royal Queensland Regiment
Pakistan - 1st and 15th Battalions, The Frontier Force Regiment
Australia - The Royal South Australia Regiment
New Zealand - The Otago and Southland Regiment
India - 5th Battalion, The Sikh Regiment
Canada - The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment
Canada - The West Nova Scotia Regiment
Canada - The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)
Australia - The Royal Tasmania Regiment
New Zealand - The Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment
Pakistan - 8th and 14th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment
Malaysia - 2nd Battalion, The Royal Malay Regiment
South Africa - The Kimberley Regiment
Royal Navy - HMS Cumberland
Royal Navy - HMS Liverpool
Royal Navy - HMS Manchester
Royal Navy - HMS Lancaster
