The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantryregiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The title of Duke of Lancaster merged with the Crown on the accession of Henry V in 1413 and remains dormant, subject to any future revival. Customarily, however, the Sovereign (whether male or female) is referred to as the Duke of Lancaster within Lancashire and in relation to the Duchy of Lancaster, and is the regiment's Colonel in Chief. The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment is the county regiment for Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the Isle of Man, and as such, recruits mainly from these areas.[2]
History
The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry, when it was initially to be known as the King's Lancashire and Border Regiment. The regiment was given its new name in November 2005. Initially formed of three regular army battalions, it was eventually reduced to two regular battalions, plus an Army Reserve battalion. The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments:[3]
The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006. Initially, on formation, the regiment contained three regular battalions, with each battalion simply being renamed:
1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment – 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
1st Battalion, King's Regiment – 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Border Regiment – 3rd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment
In March 2007, the 3rd Battalion was disbanded, with its personnel dispersed to the other two, leaving the final roll of two regular battalions and one Reserve battalion.[4]
In 2012, a Kenyan mother and alleged prostitute called Agnes Wanjiru was allegedly murdered by soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster Regiment, with the murder reportedly covered up by British Army officials. The Sunday Times said a fellow soldier had gone to the “proper people” immediately after hearing a squaddie confess to the killing, but said he was told to “shut up” when he reported it and no action was taken. Ms Wanjiru's body was not discovered until two months later, after the regiment had returned to the UK.[5][6] Defence Secretary Ben Wallace denied that the British military had covered-up Wanjiru's murder, but admitted guilt to and expressed concern over the Army hierarchy turning a "blind eye" to the use of prostitutes by personnel, especially within “countries in poverty”.[7][8] In 2021, screenshots of a private Facebook group chat allegedly run by soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were published across British newspapers. The screenshots reportedly showed the regiment's soldiers joking and laughing at memes mocking the murder of Agnes Wanjiru.[9] The leaking of the secret chats apparently mocking the murder sparked a reinvestigation into the case by Kenyan police.[10] In 2022, UK armed forces introduced a ban on the use of sex workers abroad for the first time. Personnel found to have engaged in what the Ministry of Defence describes as “transactional sex” face the prospect of dismissal – and they could also be prosecuted if in countries where prostitution is illegal.[11]
In December 2021, the regiment's 2nd Battalion re-subordinated to the Ranger Regiment, as its 3rd Battalion.[12]
In 2021 a colour sergeant from 4th Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was fined and dismissed for lifting the skirt of a Kenyan woman, whom he knew, in a shopping mall in Nanyuki while intoxicated.[13]
A British Army spokesperson described the colour sergeant's conduct as disgraceful and said;
“This was appalling behaviour from the senior non-commissioned officer.” [14]
Deployments
The regiment's 4th (Territorial) Battalion has served in Iraq, Cyprus and Afghanistan.[15]
In recent years, deployments have included Denmark, Italy, Nigeria, South Sudan, Kenya, Lithuania, the Baltics, Poland, the Balkans and Georgia.[16]
Sports
In May 2023, 4LANCS won the 2022-2023 Army Football Reserve Challenge Cup against 6SCOTS in a 2–1 victory at Aldershot. LANCS’ captain Cpl Kiel Brennan was awarded the Player of the Match.[17]
Also in May, personnel from 1 LANCS took part in the IRONMAN70.3 Venice-Jesolo Triathlon. All 5 Triathletes from the 1 LANCS Triathlon club completed the 1.9 km Swim, 90 km Bike & 21 km Run course.[18]
Regimental structure
The regiment is split into a 1st and 4th Battalion, with the Regimental Headquarters located in Fulwood Barracks, Preston.[19] The 1st Battalion is a light role infantry battalion based in Chester.[20] The 4th Battalion is the regiment's reserve battalion and has its headquarters in Preston, with sub-units dispersed throughout its recruiting areas of Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cumbria. Both battalions form part of the new 4th Light Brigade Combat Team, in the 1st (UK) Division.[21]
Regimental museum
There are five regimental museum collections based around the antecedent regiments:
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion Duke of Lancaster's Regiment patrolling in Afghanistan in 2010
Infantry regiments are permitted to display 43 battle honours from the two world wars on the Queen's Colour and 46 honours from other conflicts on the Regimental Colour. Upon amalgamation, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment had to choose from the total list of honours of its three antecedents which honours would be displayed on its new Colours. The chosen honours were:[28]
Red Rose charged with the Prince of Wales's feathers – displayed bottom left; from the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
Red Rose charged with the Royal Crest – displayed bottom right; from the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)
In addition, the Regimental Colour also features a Sphinx to distinguish the battle honour "Egypt" and a Dragon for the honour "China".
Golden threads
The regiment has brought forward a number of Golden Threads from its antecedents, as displays of its history and heritage:[28]
Lion of England – the English Lion, facing inwards as worn by the King's Own Royal Regiment, has been adopted as the regiment's collar badge. The Lion of England is known as the regiment's "Ancient Badge" and provides inspiration for the regimental nickname – first adopted by the 2nd Battalion in August 2009 – "Lions of England". The lion is also used on the regiment's tactical recognition flash.
Glider Flash – the glider awarded, 1949, as an honour to the Border Regiment, for glider landings in Sicily on 9 July 1943, is worn on the sleeve of No. 1 and No. 2 dress. The glider also formed the regiment's tactical recognition flash from its formation until 2014.[29]
Fleur-de-Lys – the fleur-de-lys worn by the King's Regiment is featured on the regiment's buttons.
Kingsman
Alongside a few other regiments in the British Army that use traditional names other than Private for the lowest rank, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment uses the rank Kingsman (Kgn) instead of Private, a tradition inherited from the King's Regiment (itself having inherited the tradition from the King's Regiment (Liverpool)). Its use has been officially sanctioned since 1951, but it was informally used before this for over one hundred years.[28]
^Message by the Colonel of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment regarding Remembrance Day for 2021 and upcoming Regimental Changes. Regimental Headquarters, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
^ abThe London Gazette, Page 3300-3301 (1 July 1881). "Childers Reform". No. 24992. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 27 October 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
