HQ Northern Ireland was the formation responsible for the British Army in and around Northern Ireland. It was established in 1922 and disbanded, replaced by a brigade-level Army Reserve formation, 38 (Irish) Brigade, in 2009.
Northern Ireland District was established following the partition of Ireland in 1922 and was originally based at Victoria Barracks, Belfast. During the Second World War the role of the District was enhanced from internal security to that of combatting any threat of invasion from the Republic of Ireland. The status of the formation was upgraded from District to Command under the leadership of Lieutenant General Sir John Hackett in 1961.
With the emergence of the Troubles, which started in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, the role of HQ Northern Ireland increased substantially as it took responsibility for "assisting in the defeat of terrorism and the maintenance of public order" and by 1972 it had 27,000 troops under its command.
On 30 January 2006 the Secretary of State for Defence announced to the House of Commons that 19 Light Brigade, then stationed at Catterick, would be re-roling into a light brigade and relocating to Scotland and Northern Ireland. On 10 May 2006 it was further announced that "in addition to the HQ and other units of 19 Light Brigade that we expect to relocate to Northern Ireland in 2007 and 2008, a new and non-deployable regional brigade headquarters will form at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn. The current 107 (Ulster) Brigade, based at Ballymena, will merge on 15 December this year into HQ 39 Infantry Brigade, which will itself be replaced by the new regional brigade headquarters, 38th (Irish) Brigade under the command of the 2nd Division, on 1 August 2007".
On 6 August 2007 HQ Northern Ireland and 38 (Irish) Brigade combined to create a single transitional headquarters with a two star General Officer Commanding. At the same time the British military presence in the Province was reduced to about 5,000 troops.
On 1 January 2009 the name of the formation changed to 38 (Irish) Brigade and HQ Northern Ireland was dissolved with residual regional functions being migrated to HQ 2 Division in Edinburgh.
Other services had a smaller 'footprint' in the province during the Troubles. The RAF's presence in Northern Ireland was based at RAF Aldergrove, and 230 Squadron was based there for many years, among other units. The Royal Navy no longer maintain a regular presence in Northern Ireland waters with the disbandment of the Northern Ireland Squadron. The Royal Navy's main presence is HMS Hibernia, which serves as the HQ of the Royal Naval Reserve's Ulster Division.
HQ Northern Ireland formations, December 1989
In December 1989 the following units were permanently based in Northern Ireland under command of HQ Northern Ireland. The three infantry battalions on a 6-month rotation to Northern Ireland are shown in italics; smaller units on a 6-month roulement to Northern Ireland are not shown. Two Territorial Army battalions stationed in Northern Ireland were to move immediately to Germany to reinforce British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in case of war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. For administrative purposes these units were under command of brigade HQs based in Northern Ireland during peacetime. Both units are shown in the list below in italics followed by the higher command they were to reinforce in Germany in brackets:
3rd Brigade, Portadown
1st Bn, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, Omagh, Light Role
1st Bn, Royal Anglian Regiment, Armagh roulement Battalion, August 1989 to January 1990
4th Bn, Royal Irish Rangers (TA), Portadown (to I British Corps)
2nd Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Armagh
3rd Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Down
11th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, Craigavon
8th Infantry Brigade, Derry
1st Bn, Gloucestershire Regiment, Ballykelly
1st Bn, Royal Hampshire Regiment, Londonderry, (45x Saxon)
1st Bn, King's Own Scottish Borderers, Fermanagh roulement Battalion, October 1989 to March 1990
4th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Fermanagh
5th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Londonderry
6th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Tyrone
8th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Tyrone
39th Infantry Brigade, Lisburn
3rd Bn, Parachute Regiment, Belfast, Light Role
1st Bn, Black Watch, Ballykinlar
3rd Bn, Queen's Regiment, Aldergrove
1st Bn, Queen's Regiment, Belfast roulement Battalion, October 1989 to March 1990
5th Bn, Royal Irish Rangers (TA), Armagh (to I British Corps)
1st/9th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Antrim
3rd Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, County Down
7th/10th Bn, Ulster Defence Regiment, Belfast
102nd (Ulster) Light Air Defence Regiment (V), Royal Artillery, Belfast, (32x Javelin)
No. 665 Squadron AAC, RAF Aldergrove
List of units c.2011
Permanent Units
HQ Northern Ireland
15 Signal Regiment
38 Infantry Brigade
HQNI Support Battalion
2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and The Ulster Defence Regiment)
591 (Independent) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers
152 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
253 Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps
Queen's University Officer Training Corps
B (North Irish Horse) Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry
40 (Ulster) Signal Squadron
206 (Ulster) Battery, 105th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers)
204 Field Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps
No. 3 Squadron, RAF Regiment
5 Regiment, Army Air Corps
25 Engineer Regiment
8 Detachment, Lisburn, Northern Ireland – 243 Provost Company (Volunteers)
General Officers Commanding Northern Ireland
General Officers Commanding have included: Northern Ireland District
General Sir Archibald Cameron 1922–1925
General Sir Felix Ready 1926–1929
General Sir Arthur Wauchope 1929–1931
Major-General Sir Eric Girdwood 1931–1935
Major-General James Cooke-Collis 1935–1938
Major-General Robert Pollok 1938–1940
Major-General Hubert Huddleston 1940
Major-General Ridley Pakenham-Walsh 1940–1941
Major-General Vivian Majendie 1941–1943
Major-General Alan Cunningham 1943–1944
Major-General Gerard Bucknall 1944–1948
Major-General Ouvry Roberts 1948–1949
Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Denning 1949–1952
Lieutenant General Sir John Woodall 1952–1955
Lieutenant General Sir Brian Kimmins 1955–1958
Lieutenant General Sir Douglas Packard 1959–1961
Northern Ireland Command
Lieutenant General Sir John Hackett 1961–1963
Lieutenant General Sir Richard Anderson 1963–1965
Lieutenant General Sir Desmond Fitzpatrick 1965–1966
Lieutenant General Sir Ian Harris 1966–1969
Lieutenant General Sir Ian Freeland 1969–1971
Lieutenant General Vernon Erskine-Crum 1971
General Sir Harry Tuzo 1971–1973
General Sir Frank King 1973–1975
Lieutenant General Sir David House 1975–1977
General Sir Timothy Creasey 1977–1979
General Sir Richard Lawson 1979–1982
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Richardson 1982–1985
