The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment

Origins

This regiment was formed in October 1959 by the amalgamation of The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) and The Border Regiment.

The new unit's first overseas posting came just a year after formation, when a detachment was sent to the Cameroons. These British and French mandated territories were unified the following year to form the independent country of Cameroon.

The regiment as a whole spent the early 1960s in Britain and West Germany with the British Army of the Rhine, although another detachment was sent to British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1964. In October 1966, soldiers from the regiment assisted the rescue efforts following the Aberfan colliery disaster in Wales.

Deployments

In 1967, the whole regiment moved to Bahrain for a year. Its ‘C’ Company operated separately for a few months and became the final British unit to leave Aden on 29 November 1967. The regiment then spent two years peacekeeping in Cyprus from 1968.

Between 1970 and 1984, it mainly alternated between England and Northern Ireland, going on ten postings to the latter during that period. Exceptions to this pattern occurred from 1981 to 1983, when the regiment was stationed in West Berlin. Detachments were also sent to the Falklands in 1983 and Belize in 1991.

The regiment toured to Bosnia in 1997 and 2000, and returned to Cyprus and the Falklands between 2000 and 2002. It went on its final Northern Ireland tour in 2004, before joining 7th Armoured Brigade on Operation Telic 7 in Iraq the following year.

Legacy

In 2006, it moved first to Britain and then Germany before amalgamating with The King’s Regiment and The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment to form The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.