This is a list of British Regular Army regiments after the Army restructuring caused by the 1957 Defence White Paper. The paper set out the reduction in size of the Army to 165,000 following the end of National Service and the change to an entirely voluntary army; units were to be disbanded or amalgamated over two phases, to be completed in 1959 and 1962.

Further cuts and amalgamations followed in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Cavalry

Household Cavalry

  • The Life Guards
  • Royal Horse Guards (The Blues)

Royal Armoured Corps

Heavy Cavalry

  • 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards
  • 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards)
  • 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
  • 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards

Light cavalry

  • 1st The Royal Dragoons
  • The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons)
  • The Queen's Own Hussars
  • The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars
  • 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's)
  • 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own)
  • 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)
  • 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
  • 14th/20th King's Hussars
  • 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
  • 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
  • 17th/21st Lancers

The Royal Tank Regiment

  • 1st Royal Tank Regiment
  • 2nd Royal Tank Regiment
  • 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
  • 4th Royal Tank Regiment
  • 5th Royal Tank Regiment

Combat Arms

  • Royal Regiment of Artillery
  • Corps of Royal Engineers
  • Royal Corps of Signals
  • Army Air Corps

Infantry

The infantry in 1962 was divided into 15 separate brigades for administrative purposes:

  • Guards Brigade: Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Welsh Guards.
  • Lowland Brigade: The Royal Scots, King's Own Scottish Borderers, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and Royal Highland Fusiliers.
  • Highland Brigade: The Black Watch, Gordon Highlanders, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and Queen's Own Highlanders.
  • Home Counties Brigade: The Royal Sussex Regiment, Middlesex Regiment, Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment and Queen's Own Buffs.
  • Fusilier Brigade: Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regt) and Lancashire Fusiliers.
  • East Anglian Brigade: 1st, 2nd and 3rd East Anglian Regiments
  • Forester Brigade: Royal Warwickshire Regiment (until November 1962), Royal Leicestershire Regiment, Sherwood Foresters.
  • Mercian Brigade: Cheshire Regiment, Worcestershire Regiment, Staffordshire Regiment.
  • Welsh Brigade: Royal Welsh Fusiliers, South Wales Borderers, Welsh Regiment.
  • Wessex Brigade: Gloucestershire Regiment, Royal Hampshire Regiment, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment.
  • Lancastrian Brigade: The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire), King's Own Royal Border Regiment, King's Regiment and Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers).
  • Yorkshire Brigade: The Green Howards, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and York & Lancaster Regiment.
  • North Irish Brigade: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Ulster Rifles.
  • Light Infantry Brigade: King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, Durham Light Infantry, Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry.
  • Green Jackets Brigade: 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd), 2nd Green Jackets (King's Royal Rifle Corps), 3rd Green Jackets (Rifle Brigade).


Foot Guards

  • Grenadier Guards
  • Coldstream Guards
  • Scots Guards
  • Irish Guards
  • Welsh Guards

Line Infantry and Rifles

  • The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)
  • The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment
  • The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment
  • The King's Own Royal Border Regiment
  • The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
  • The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
  • The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
  • The King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool)
  • 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk)
  • 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Lincoln and Northamptonshire)
  • The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
  • The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry
  • The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire
  • 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot)
  • The Royal Leicestershire Regiment
  • The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)
  • The Lancashire Fusiliers
  • The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment)
  • The Cheshire Regiment
  • The Royal Welch Fusiliers
  • The South Wales Borderers
  • The King's Own Scottish Borderers
  • The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
  • The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
  • The Gloucestershire Regiment
  • The Worcestershire Regiment
  • The Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
  • The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
  • The Royal Sussex Regiment
  • The Royal Hampshire Regiment
  • The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)
  • The Welch Regiment
  • The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
  • 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd)
  • The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)
  • The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)
  • The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire)
  • The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
  • The King's Shropshire Light Infantry
  • The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
  • 2nd Green Jackets, The King's Royal Rifle Corps
  • The York and Lancaster Regiment
  • The Durham Light Infantry
  • The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons)
  • The Gordon Highlanders
  • The Royal Ulster Rifles
  • The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's)
  • The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)
  • The Parachute Regiment
  • 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)
  • 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
  • 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles
  • 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles
  • 3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade
  • 22nd Special Air Service Regiment
  • Royal Malta Artillery

Services

  • Royal Army Chaplains' Department
  • Royal Army Service Corps
  • Royal Army Medical Corps
  • Royal Army Ordnance Corps
  • Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
  • Corps of Royal Military Police
  • Royal Army Pay Corps
  • Royal Army Veterinary Corps
  • Small Arms School Corps
  • Military Provost Staff Corps
  • Royal Army Educational Corps
  • Royal Army Dental Corps
  • Royal Pioneer Corps
  • Intelligence Corps
  • Army Physical Training Corps
  • Army Catering Corps
  • General Service Corps
  • Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
  • Women's Royal Army Corps

Notes

References

  • "Amalgamations and Disbandments in the British Army", Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, 114 (656), London: 82–84, 1 December 1969, doi:10.1080/03071846909420809
  • The actual plan is found in TNA CAB 129/87/M(57)144 "The Future Organisation of the Army", 18 June 1957.

2,890 British Army 1944 Stock Photos, HighRes Pictures, and Images

Asian Defence News Military Regiments of British Army

Portsmouth Field Gun Association

The Royal Reserve Regiments and The Royal Garrison Regiment Nick Metcalfe

Sam's Ramblings What is the oldest regiment in the British Army? Part One