The grouping of buttons on the tunic is a common way to distinguish between the regiments of Foot Guards. Coldstream buttons are arranged in pairs, and "Coldstream Guards" is marked on their brassware. Captain Darling from the TV comedy Blackadder was a Coldstreamer; this can be recognized from his uniform.
The Regiment's formal title is Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards. Their nickname is 'lilywhites'. An ordinary soldier of the regiment is called a Guardsman, a designation granted by King George V after the First World War.
Currently the most prominent role of the 1st battalion and No. 7 Company is the performance of ceremonial duties in London and Windsor as part of the Household Division. No. 7 Company serves as a parade company in London and provides escort for the Queen's Birthday Parade. Duties include the state opening of the parliament, Trooping the Colour when it is their turn and Remembrance Sunday parade. No. 7 company is involved in the Changing of the Guard.
The Corps of Drums has had, in addition to their ceremonial role, a martial role as a machine gun company, but its members are now trained as assault pioneers. They also represent the most public side of the Coldstream Guards with their parade duties in state ceremonies, where they wear the Royal Household Dress. The Coldstream Guards regimental band plays in state visits. All the regiment musicians are trained as medical orderlies.
After Cromwell's death, Monck turned to support the monarchy and on January 11660 crossed the River Tweed into England at the village of Coldstream and began a five-week march to London. He arrived in London on February 2 and helped in the Restoration of the monarchy. For his help, Monck was given the Order of the Garter and his regiment was assigned to keep order in London. However, the new parliament soon ordered his regiment to be dismantled with the other regiments of the New Model Army.
Before that could happen, Parliament was forced to rely on the help of the regiment against an army mutiny on January 6, 1661. The regiment successfully defeated the rebels. On February 14 the men of the regiment symbolically laid down their arms as part of the New Model Army and were ordered to take them up again as a royal regiment of The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards, a part of the Household Troops.
The regiment was placed as the second senior Regiment of Household Troops, but they answered to that by adopting the motto Nulli Secundus, Second to None. The Regiment always stands on the left of the line when on parade with rest of the Foot Guards, so standing "second to none". When Monck died 1670, the Earl of Craven took command of the regiment and it adopted a new name, the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards.
The Coldstream Guards saw extensive service in the wars against the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic Wars. Under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie they defeated French troops in Egypt. In 1807 they took part in the investment of Copenhagen. In January 1809 they sailed to Portugal to join the forces under the Duke of Wellington. The 2nd Battalion joined the Walcheren Expedition. Later it served as part of the 2nd Guards Brigade in the chateau of Hougoumont on the outskirts of the battle of Waterloo. It later was part of the British occupation forces of Paris until 1816.
Coldstream Guards by W.B. Wollen
During the Crimean War, the Coldstream Guards fought in the battles of Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol. On their return, four of the guardsmen were awarded the newly-instituted Victoria Cross.
The regiment received its current name, The Coldstream Guards, in 1855. In 1882 they were sent to Egypt against the rebels of Arabi Pasha and in 1885 in the Suakin Campaign. In 1897, the Coldstreamers were reinforced with the addition of the 3rd battalion. The 1st and 2nd battalions were dispatched to South Africa at the outbreak of the Second Boer War.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Coldstreamers were among the first British regiments to arrive in France after Britain declared war on Germany. In the following battles, they suffered heavy losses, in two cases losing all their officers. At the first Battle of Ypres the 1st battalion was virtually annihilated. They fought in Mons, Loos, Somme, Ginchy and in the 3rd Battle of Ypres. They also formed the 4th pioneer battalion, which was disbanded after the war, in 1919. The 5th Reserve battalion never left Britain before it was disbanded.
When the Second World War began, the 1st and 3rd battalions of the Coldstream Guards were part of the British Expeditionary Force in France. They also formed additional 4th and 5th battalions for the duration of the war. They fought extensively in North Africa and Europe as dismounted infantry and the 1st battalion in the Guards Armoured Division. The 4th battalion became first motorized battalion in 1940 and then an armoured battalion in 1943. The 4th and 5th served as part of the Guards Armoured Division. 6th battalion was also formed in 1941 but was disbanded 1943 without seeing any action.
Coldstreamers gave up their tanks at the end of the war, the new battalions were disbanded and the troops distributed to the 1st and 2nd Guard Training Battalions.
After the war, the 1st and 3rd battalions served in Palestine prior to the independence of Israel. The 2nd battalion served in the Malayan Emergency. The 3rd battalion was placed in suspended animation in 1959. The remaining battalions served against the Mau Mau rebellion, in Aden, Mauritius in 1965, in Cyprus Emergency in 1974 and several times in Northern Ireland after 1969.
The Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards were the first act on stage at the Wembley leg of the 1985 Live Aid charity concert. They played for the Prince and Princess of Wales.
After the Cold War, the 2nd battalion was dispatched to the first Gulf War. In 1993, due to defense cutbacks, the 2nd battalion was placed in suspended animation and its colours transferred to its last remaining part, No 7 Company, nominally attached to 1st Battalion, Irish Guards.
For much of the early 1990s, the 1st Battalion was stationed in Germany as part of 4th Armoured Brigade. In 1993-1994 the remaining battalion served as mechanised infantry in peacekeeping duties in Bosnia as part of UNPROFOR.
The battalion was posted to Derry, Northern Ireland on a 2-year deployment in 2001. It deployed to Iraq in April 2005 with the rest of 12th Mechanised Brigade, based in the south of the county. The deployment has already affected the regiment; it lost one of its soldiers on May 2, near Al Amarah and another on October 18 at Basra.
