The Royal Green Jackets

Origins

In 1966, the three regiments of the Green Jackets Brigade - 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd), 2nd Green Jackets, The King's Royal Rifle Corps and 3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade - were amalgamated. They became the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of a new regiment, The Royal Green Jackets.

Two years later, the regiment was brigaded together with The Light Infantry, another newly formed unit, under the administrative umbrella of the Light Division.

Deployments

All three battalions of The Royal Green Jackets had multiple postings in West Germany and Northern Ireland between 1966 and 1992. Other deployments included Gibraltar for 2nd Battalion (1975), West Berlin for 3rd Battalion (1975-77) and Hong Kong for 1st Battalion (1978).

In 1992, 1st Battalion was disbanded. The original 2nd and 3rd Battalions were renumbered as 1st and 2nd Battalion respectively.

Based in Germany from 1997 to 2002, the new 2nd Battalion was sent on further postings to Northern Ireland (1995-96 and 2003-04), Bosnia (1998 and 2001) and Kosovo (1999).

The new 1st Battalion was in Cyprus from 1993 to 1996. After that, it mostly alternated between England and Northern Ireland. However, it also deployed to Bosnia (1996), Sierra Leone (2001-02), Iraq (2003-04 and 2006-07) and Kosovo (2005).

Legacy

In 2007, the regiment merged with The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry and The Light Infantry to form The Rifles.