Last updated: 15 May 2013
This section introduces some of the most famous units in British Army history. Each entry provides a brief introduction, some fascinating facts and links for further research. The list is continually being updated and eventually we hope to cover every unit that has contributed to the British Army's history.
The unit was formed as Princess Louise’s (Argyll and Sutherland) Highlanders in 1881 by amalgamating the 91st (Princess Louise’s Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and 93rd (Sutherland...
Read more on the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise’s)
In October 1688 William of Orange was about to set sail from the Netherlands to mount a coup against his father-in-law James II. He was expected to land somewhere along the south coast of England...
In the aftermath of the First Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, Independent Companies of militia were raised from loyalist Highland clans for policing and peacekeeping duties in the region. These...
This unit is one of the two Household Cavalry regiments in the British Army, the other being the Life Guards. It was formed in 1969 by amalgamating the Royal Horse Guards with the Royal Dragoons (...
Read more on the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)
The regiment was formed in 1881 by amalgamating the 34th and 55th Regiments of Foot, which became the new units’ 1st and 2nd Battalions respectively. Both the regiment’s predecessor units had had...
In 1572, after Protestant rebels in the Netherlands had called on Elizabeth I of England for military help, 300 men from the Trained Bands of the City of London were selected to serve in Thomas...
This unit was formed in 1881 by merging the 26th (The Cameronian) Regiment of Foot and the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry). These became 1st Battalion and 2nd...
In March 1689 James II landed in Ireland and began raising an army to take back the British throne from his son-in-law William III. Facing Ireland's east coast, Cheshire was particularly...
The Coldstream Guards was formed as part of the New Model Army on 23 August 1650 in the village of Coldstream, just north of the Anglo-Scottish border. They have served with distinction in almost...
This unit was formed during the army reorganisation of 1881, by merging the 88th and 94th Regiments of Foot into a new two-battalion unit. It took its title from the 88th which traditionally...
Although British armies have included engineers since medieval times, they were first constituted as a corps in 1717. That year saw the establishment of an officer-only Corps of Engineers, which...
The 1881 Army Reforms formed several county regiments by merging existing line infantry units. One of these was the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, formed by amalgamating the 33rd and 76th...
Read more on the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding)
The regiment was formed during the 1881 Army reforms by merging two light infantry regiments, the 68th Foot and 106th Foot. In India at the time, the 68th became the new regiment’s 1st Battalion...
The regiment was formed as the county regiment for East Lancashire in 1881, by amalgamating the 30th and 59th Regiments of Foot. These became its 1st and 2nd regular battalions respectively.
This unit was formed by merging the 31st and 70th Regiments of Foot in 1881, thus creating a county regiment for East Surrey. The old regiments were designated the new unit’s 1st and 2nd...
The regiment was raised at Nottingham in June 1685 to bolster James II against the Monmouth Rebellion, but three years later it went over to William III, who sent it to Scotland in 1689 and...
Read more on the East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York’s Own)
The regiment was formed in 1881 by merging the 44th and 56th Regiments of Foot, both of which already had territorial associations with the county. In Burma at the time of the merger, the 44th...
The regiment was formed in the 1881 Army reforms by merging two highland regiments, the 75th and 92nd Foot. Unusually, it took its title from the junior of the two regiments.
On 5 November 1688 William of Orange landed in Devon to seize the throne from his father-in-law, James II. Later that month a local squire, Francis Luttrell, gathered together several independent...
Read more on the Green Howards (Alexandra Princess of Wales’s Own Yorkshire Regiment)
The Grenadier Guards is the oldest foot guard regiment in the British Army. It traces its lineage back to a regiment formed in Bruges in 1656 by Charles II to act as part of his bodyguard during...