REGIMENTS AND COMMANDING OFFICERS, 1960- 1964-70: In September 1964 , one month before the Conservative Government was replaced by a Labour Government, the Royal Anglian Regiment had been formed by the merger of the 1 st East Anglian Regiment, the 2 nd East Anglian Regiment, the 3 rd East Anglian Regiment with the Royal Leicestershire Regiment as a three battalion regiment with 4 th Battalion (Leicestershire) at company strength. The Labour Government continued this process with the formation of the Royal Green Jackets in January 1966 at two battalion strength out of the former three battalions of Green Jackets. Queen’s Regiment was created in December 1966 with the amalgamation of the Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment, the Queen’s Own Buffs (the Royal Kent Regiment), the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment. In April 1968 the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers as a three battalion regiment was created through the amalgamation of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers. The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and the Lancashire Fusiliers In May 1968 the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) disbanded. In July 1968 the Royal Irish Rangers were formed as a two battalion regiment through the amalgamation of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers. In the same month the three battalion Light Infantry was created through the merger of the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, and the Durham Light Infantry. In September 1968 the 2 nd Battalion, 10 th Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles was disbanded. In December 1968 the York and Lancaster Regiment was disbanded. In March 1969 the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) were merged with the Royal Dragoons (1 st Dragoons) to form the Blues and Royals. In June 1969 the Royal Regiment of Wales was created through the merger of the South Wales Borderers and the Welch Regiment. Also in June 1969 the 2 nd Battalion of the 6 th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles was disbanded. In October 1969 the Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own) were created through the merger of 10 th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own) and 11 th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own). In December 1969 5 th Royal Tank Regiment was disbanded. In February 1970 the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment was created through the merger of the Worcestershire Regiment and the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Regiment. In March 1970 the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment was created through the merger of the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) and the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire). 1970-1972: The Conservative Government elected in June 1970 inherited a programme of reductions in the size and composition of the British Army decided under the previous Labour Government and its Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey. Although these had been predicated upon the decision to withdraw British military commitments from “East of Suez” and had been also the result of the economic and financial difficulties faced during the late 1960s the reductions were a continuation of a programme begun under the Conservative Government in 1957-58. In June 1970 4 th Battalion (Duke of Cambridge’s Own Middlesex), Queen’s Regiment was disbanded. In August 1970 the 2 nd Battalion, 7 th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles wa disbanded. The new government oversaw the reduction to company strength of a number of Infantry battalions which had already been agreed: August 1970 : 1 st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment October 1970 : 4 th Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment January 1971 : 1 st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders March 1971 : 2 nd Battalion, Scots Guards October 1971 : 3 rd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets In July 1971 the amalgamation of the Royal Scots Greys (2 nd Dragoons) and the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales’s Own Dragoon Guards) to create the new Royal Scots Dragoon Guards went ahead as planned. However the escalation of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland quickly led to the reversal of most of the reductions in the Infantry: In January 1972 the 2 nd Battalion, Scots Guards, the 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the 1 st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment and the 3rd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets were all restored to full strength. Only the 4 th Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment was not so restored. The net impact therefore was the loss of one R.A.C. and one infantry battalion. 1981-1987: The Conservative Government responded to the pressures from China on the Colony of Hong Kong to re-establish in October 1981 the 2 nd Battalion, 7 th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles. Reduction in the perception of the threat to Hong Kong led to the disbandment again of 2 nd Battalion, 7 th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles in January 1987 . 1992-1996: The Conservative Government under the “Options for Change” programme of reconstruction resulting from the perceptions of the end of the Cold War and the reduction in the threat from the former Warsaw Pact and former Soviet Government, from the reduction in the level of violence in Northern Ireland and the end of the First Gulf War introduced the most sweeping changes to the British Army in decades. In July 1992 the 4 th /7 th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5 th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards were amalgamated as the Royal Dragoon Guards . In the same month the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment were merged as the Royal Irish Regiment whilst, temporarily, retaining a two regular battalion structure. And 1 st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets was disbanded with 2nd Battalion renamed 1 st Battalion and 3 rd Battalion renamed 2 nd Battalion. In August 1992 3 rd Royal Tank Regiment was merged into 2 nd Royal Tank Regiment. In the same month 3 rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was merged into 1 st Battalion. In September 1992 the Queen’s Regiment (with its three regular battaluions) and Royal Hampshire Regiment amalgamated as Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment : with a reduction from four battalions to two. In the same month the 2nd Battalion, 2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles was disbanded. In October 1992 the Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards/1 st Dragoons (The Blues and Royals) formed a union to create the Household Cavalry Regiment. The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment continued its separate existence. In the same month 3 rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment was merged with 1 st and 2 nd Battalions. In December 1992 the Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own) and 14 th /20 th King’s Hussars amalgamated as King’s Royal Hussars; and 13 th /18 th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary’s Own) and 15/19 th King’s Royal Hussars amalgamated as the Light Dragoons. The programme of reductions continued through 1993 and 1994. In February 1993 the 1 st Battalion, Light Infantry was disbanded, 2 nd Battalion was renamed 1 st Battalion and 3 rd Battalion renamed 2 nd Battalion. In June 1993 the 16 th /5 th Queen’s Royal Lancers and the 17 th /21 st Lancers amalgamated as the Queen’s Royal Lancers In July 1993 4th Royal Tank Regiment merged with 1 st Royal Tank Regiment In August 1993 the 1 st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment was disbanded and 2nd Battalion renamed 1 st Battalion. In September 1993 the Queen’s Own Hussars and Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars amalgamated as the Queen’s Royal Hussars In December 1993 the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards was placed in suspended animation and the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards merged with 1 st Battalion. In March 1994 the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) amalgamated as Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment In July 1994 the Royal Gurkha Rifles formed by the amalgamation of the four existing Gurkha regiments: 2 nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles and the 6th Queen’s Own Gurkha Rifles (as 1 st Battalion), the 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles (as 2 nd Battalion) and the 10 th Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles (as 3 rd Battalion) In August 1994 the 2 nd Battalion Grenadier Guards was placed in suspended animation. In September 1994 the Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforths and Camerons) and the Gordon Highlanders were amalgamated as The Highlanders. Finally, two years later in November 1996 the 3 rd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles was amalgamated with the 2 nd Battalion. These reductions in the Royal Gurkha Rifles were determined by the return of Hong Kong to China. In he space of two years (1992-1994) or four (if the 1996 reducton in the size of the Royal Gurkha Rifles to battalions in 1996s taken into account): 10 R.A.C. regiments had been merged into 5, 2 more had ben united into one Cavalry regiment and 2 regiments of the Royal Tank Regiment disbanded. 17 regiments had ceased to exist as independent command appointments and replaced by 7. (Future changes would reduce the cavalry to 7 independent regiments, p;us the Household Cavalry Regiment, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and 1 st Royal Tank Regiment.) In the Infantry 3 Guards battalions had effectively been disbanded, 6 regiments had been merged into 3 with a reduction from 9 battalions to 5, 5 existing regiments had lost one of its battalions, and the Royal Gurkha Regiment had been reduced from 5 battalions, then to 4 and finally to 2. The net effect of these sweeping changes was to reduce the size of the British Army in dramatic fashion.