Grenadier Guards

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Grenadier Guards
Cap Badge of the Grenadier Guards
Active1656-present
CountryUnited Kingdom
BranchArmy
TypeFoot Guards
RoleLight Role (one battalion)
Public Duties (one company)
SizeOne battalion
One company
Part ofGuards Division
Garrison/HQRHQ - London
1st Battalion - Aldershot
Nijmegen Company - London
Nickname(s)The Bill Browns
Motto(s)Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shame to he who thinks evil of it) (French)
MarchQuick: The British Grenadiers
Slow: Scipio
EngagementsWaterloo
Commanders
Colonel in ChiefHM The Queen
Colonel of
the Regiment		HRH The Duke of Edinburgh KG, KT, GBE
Insignia
Tactical Recognition FlashFile:Guards TRF.PNG

The Grenadier Guards is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards. The Coldstream Guards were organized before the Grenadier Guards, but their regiment is reckoned after the Grenadiers in seniority.

The grouping of buttons on the tunic is a common way to distinguish between the regiments of Foot Guards. Grenadier Guards' buttons are equally spaced and embossed with the Royal Cypher. Modern Grenadier Guardsmen wear a cap badge of a "grenade fired proper".

History

The Grenadier Guards celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2006.

In 1656, Lord Wentworth's Regiment was formed in the Spanish Netherlands, forming a portion of exiled King Charles II's bodyguard. A few years later, a similar regiment known as John Russell's Regiment of Guards was formed. In 1665, these two regiments were combined to form the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. As a result of their heroic actions in fighting off the French grenadiers at Waterloo, the 1st Guards were renamed by Royal Proclamation as the 1st or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards, thus becoming the only regiment in the British Army to be named for its actions in battle. The nickname for the 2nd Battalion is the 'Models' and for the third battalion the 'Ribbs'.

Role

The Grenadier Guards serves as a light infantry battalion - following the reforms of 2004, this will be fixed. The regiment will alternate with the Welsh Guards in the public duties role. In recent years the 1st Battalion has deployed as part of Operation TELIC in Iraq, and Op Herrick in Afghanistan.

Battle honours

Illustration, 1889

The 1st Foot Guards have received 79 battle honours, including:

In 1994, under the Options for Change reforms, the Grenadier Guards was reduced to a single battalion. The 2nd Battalion was put into 'suspended animation', and its colours passed for safekeeping to a newly formed independent Company, which was named "The Nijmegen Company". (The Inkerman Company, one of the three rifle companies that form the 1st Battalion, maintains the customs and traditions of the 3rd Battalion that went into 'suspended animation' back in 1962).

Training

Recruits to the Grenadier Guards go through a 26-week training course at the Infantry Training Centre. This is 2 weeks more than the training for regular line regiments of the British Army; the extra training, carried out throughout the course, is devoted to drill and ceremonies.

Following graduation from the ITC, guardsmen are assigned to Nijmegen Company for additional training and orientation before being posted to the 1st Battalion.

Colonels-in-Chief

Sentry of the Grenadier Guards outside St James's Palace

The Grenadier Guards' various colonels-in-chief have generally been the British monarchs, including Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II.

Many prestigious military officers have been colonels of this regiment, including:

The Colonel-in-Chief is always the reigning Sovereign. This applies to all Regiments of the Household Division.

Marches

The Regimental Slow March is the march Scipio, from the opera of the same name by George Frideric Handel, inspired by the exploits of the Roman General Scipio Africanus. The first performance of Scipio was in 1726. Handel actually composed the eponymous slow march for the First Guards, presenting it to the regiment before he added it to the score of the opera.[1] The Quick March is The British Grenadiers.

Football

Both the 2nd Grenadier Guards F.C. and the 3rd Grenadier Guards F.C. enjoyed considerable success in the London League, playing against the likes of West Ham United.

Order of Precedence

Preceded by
First in Order of
Precedence of the infantry
 Infantry Order of Precedence Succeeded by

Alliances

Footnotes

  1. ^ Hanning, Henry (2006). The British Grenadiers: Three Hundred & Fifty Years of the First Regiment of Foot Guards 1656-2006. page 80: Pen and Sword Books Ltd, London. ISBN 1-84415-385-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

References

  • Hanning, Henry (2006). The British Grenadiers: Three Hundred & Fifty Years of the First Regiment of Foot Guards 1656-2006. Pen and Sword Books Ltd, London. ISBN 1-84415-385-1.

See also

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