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Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

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The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (RRF) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division.

The regiment was formed on April 23, 1968, as part of the reforms of the army that saw the creation of the first 'large infantry regiments', by the amalgamation of the four English fusilier regiments.

As a fusilier regiment, the RRF wears a hackle, which in this case is the hackle of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, red over white. This distinction was originally a white plume which His Majesty's Fifth Regiment of Foot had taken from the head dress of fallen French troops at St. Lucia in December 1778. The Fifth Regiment of Foot became His Majesty's Fifth (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot with the county affiliations of 1782. In 1829 King George IV ordered the white plume to be worn by all infantry regiments, and in order not to take away from the Fifth (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot's battle honour, their plume was distinguished by being made red over white. This came from the legend that the men of the Fifth (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot having dipped the white plumes in the blood of the French at St. Lucia.The Fifth (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot did not become the Fifth Regiment of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers) until 1836, later in 1881 they became The (Fifth) Northumberland Fusiliers and finally in 1935 The (Fifth) Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.

Formation

On 23 April 1968 the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was formed from the four English fusilier regiments. Each of these regiments were steeped in history and traditions which have been retained by the regiment today.

On formation, the regiment consisted of four Regular battalions, one Volunteer battalion covering the four Regimental areas and the Depot. Due to a series of Government Defence Reviews, 'Options for Change' and the recent 'Strategic Defence Review' the regiment now comprises two Regular battalions and a number of Territorial Army companies located in the four Regimental Areas.

The Regular battalions are:

  • 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
  • 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

As one of the existing large infantry regiments, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is unaffected by the reforms of the infantry that were announced in December 2004 although the regiment received a TA battalion, the 5th Battalion RRF, through the redesignation of Tyne-Tees Regiment, on 1 April 2006. The TA battalion will however retain a multi-badged identity, with C (Durham Light Infantry) Company remaining one of the three rifle companies.

As of 1 February 2007, with the formation of The Rifles, the 5th Battalion RRF consists of two Fusilier companies, designated X Company and Z Company, and one Rifles company - D (Rifles) Company which is a redesignation of C (Durham Light Infantry) Company. D (Rifles) Company also now includes Y (Rifles) Platoon which is a redesignation of Minden (Light Infantry) Company from the East and West Riding Regiment. The 'D' and 'Y' designations were chosen to help continue the Rifles' county links to both Durham and Yorkshire.

From 2009, the regular battalions will remain in fixed locations. The 1st Battalion will be stationed at Tidworth, with the 2nd Battalion serving in London. The 2nd Bn will rotate this posting with a resident posting to Cyprus with two other light infantry battalions.

The regiment's mascot is an Indian Black Buck named Bobby.

The RRF serves as the county regiment of the following counties:

Battle honours

  • combined battle honours of The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and The Lancashire Fusiliers, plus:

    • Wadi al Batin, Gulf 1991, Al Basrah, Iraq 2003

Order of Precedence

Lineage

Lineage
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
The Lancashire Fusiliers

Alliances

See also

External links



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Last updated on Monday March 03, 2008 at 18:05:10 PST (GMT -0800)
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