Royal Yorkshire Regiment
The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) is one of the new large infantry regiments of the British Army. 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 - it will be formed of three regular battalions, plus a TA battalion, and will be created through the merger of three single battalion regiments:
- 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment "(Prince of Wales Own)" (from Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire)
- 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment "(Green Howards)" (from The Green Howards)
- 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment "(Duke Of Wellington's)" (from Duke of Wellington's Regiment)
The 4th Battalion, will be the Territorial Army (TA) battalion, created from a company each of the Prince of Wales's Own (currently in The East and West Riding Regiment), the Green Howards (currently in the Tyne Tees Regiment) and two companies of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (currently in The East and West Riding Regiment). The Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters company will be located at Worsley Barracks, York.
The regiment's official formation / Rebadging day will be the 6th June, 2006. HM King Harald V, current Colonel-in-Chief of the Green Howards, has been asked to be the new regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, pending approval from HM The Queen. The TA battalion will re-badge in TA Centres on the same day but will comne together, with the affiliated Army Cadet Force/Combined Cadet Force detachments (approx 50), in a joint ceremony on 10th June 2006.
It is anticipated that the new regiment will have one battalion serving in the armoured infantry role based at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster which will be the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (3rd Battalion), initially posted, for 2 years, as the Infantry Demonstration Battalion and two battalions in the light infantry role, with one in the air assault role. The 3rd Battalion will retain the set of honourary colours presented to the 76th Foot, these will only be on parade when the 3rd battalion is in attendance.