The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) is one of the new large infantry regiments of the British Army. The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry, when it was initially known as the King's Lancashire and Border Regiment. The regiment was given its new name in November 2005. Initially formed of three battalions, it will eventually be reduced to two regular battalions, plus a TA battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:
The regiment was formed on July 1st2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment will contain three regular battalions, with each single regiment simply being renamed:
1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment - 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)
1st Battalion, King's Regiment - 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)
1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment - 3rd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)
No later than March 2007, the 3rd Battalion will be disbanded, with its personnel dispersed to the other two leaving the final roll of two regular battalions. The 4th Battalion (Volunteers) will be formed by adding the two King's Regiment companies from the King's and Cheshire Regiment to the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers.
Upon formation, it was agreed by all three regiments that private soldiers will hold the rank of Kingsman (as current in The King's Regiment). The cap badge will be a Lancaster rose in a Fontenoy laurel surmounted by a crown. At the base is a scroll with the motto Nec Aspera Terrent (Difficulties be Damned). The regiment's Colonel-in-Chief will be HM The Queen, who also bears the title Duke of Lancaster.
The 1st Battalion is a mechanised infantry battalion based in Germany (moving to Catterick by 2009), while the 2nd Battalion is initially an armoured infantry unit stationed at Catterick Garrison. However, as part of the final round of the arms plot, it will convert to light infantry and move to Cyprus as a resident battalion. The 3rd Battalion is a light infantry battalion stationed at North Luffenham in Leicestershire before it is due to be amalgamated with the 1st and 2nd Battalions.
