The Regular Infantry of the British Army

The regiments until 1751

The Seven Years’ War

The American War of Independence

The Wars of the Coalitions and the Napoleonic Wars

From the Napoleonic Wars to the 1881 Reorganisation

The Regiments in 1880

The Reorganisation of 1881

The Regiments in 1881

The Regiments raised during the Second Boer War

The Regiments in 1914

The Battalions raised during the Great War

The Changes between the World Wars

The Regiments in 1939

The Regiments raised during World War II


Changes from 1958 to 1962

After World War II the line regiments first returned to their two battalion structure, but in 1948/49 in all line regiments the second battalion was disbanded (in 1950/52 seven second battalions were re-raised, but they were disbanded in 1952/57). For recruiting, training and administration these single battalion regiments first formed Depot Groups. In 1948 These Groups were renamed Brigades. As new reductions were needed the disbandment or amalgamation of regiments became inevitable. All regiments, except those in the Brigade of Guards and in the Brigade of Gurkhas, were to wear the badge of the brigade instead of a regimental badge.

Titles in 1958 Changes 1958 - 1962 The Brigades
 
The Grenadier Guards 1961: 3rd Bn disbanded The Brigade of Guards
The Coldstream Guards 1959: 3rd Bn disbanded The Brigade of Guards
The Scots Guards The Brigade of Guards
The Irish Guards The Brigade of Guards
The Welsh Guards The Brigade of Guards
The Royal Scots The Lowland Brigade
The Queen’s Royal Regiment 1959: merged into The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment The Home Counties Brigade
The Buffs 1961: merged into The Queen’s Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment The Home Gounties Brigade
The King’s Own Royal Regiment 1959: merged into The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers The Fusilier Brigade
The Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Forester Brigade
The Royal Fusiliers The Fusilier Brigade
The King’s 1958: merged into The King’s Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The Royal Norfolk Regiment 1959: merged into 1st East Anglian Regiment The East Anglian Brigade
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment 1959: merged into 2nd East Anglian Regiment The East Anglian Brigade
The Devonshire Regiment 1958: merged into The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment The Wessex Brigade
The Suffolk Regiment 1959: merged into 1st East Anglian Regiment The East Anglian Brigade
The Somerset Light Infantry 1959: merged into The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry The Light Infantry Brigade
The West Yorkshire Regiment 1958: merged into The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire The Yorkshire Brigade
The East Yorkshire Regiment 1958: merged into The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire The Yorkshire Brigade
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment 1959: merged into 3rd East Anglian Regiment The East Anglian Brigade
The Royal Leicestershire Regiment The Forester Brigade
The Green Howards The Yorkshire Brigade
The Lancashire Fusiliers The Fusilier Brigade
The Royal Scots Fusiliers 1959: merged into The Royal Highland Fusiliers The Lowland Brigade
The Cheshire Regiment The Mercian Brigade
The Royal Welch Fusiliers The Welsh Brigade
The South Wales Borderers The Welsh Brigade
The King’s Own Scottish Borderers The Lowland Brigde
The Cameronians The Lowland Brigade
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The North Irish Brigade
The Gloucestershire Regiment The Wessex Brigade
The Worcestershire Regiment The Mercian Brigade
The East Lancashire Regiment 1958: merged into The Lancashire Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The East Surrey Regiment 1959: merged into The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment The Home Counties Brigade
The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry 1959: merged into The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry The Light Infantry
The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment The Yorkshire Brigade
The Border Regiment 1959: merged into The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The Royal Sussex Regiment The Home Counties Brigade
The Royal Hampshire Regiment The Wessex Brigade
The South Staffordshire Regiment 1958: merged into The Staffordshire Regiment The Mercian Brigade
The Dorset Regiment 1958: merged into The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment The Wessex Brigade
The South Lancashire Regiment 1958: merged into The Lancashire Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The Welch Regiment The Welsh Brigade
The Black Watch The Highland Brigade
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1958: retitled 1st Green Jackets The Green Jackets Brigade
The Essex Regiment 1959: merged into 3rd East Anglian Regiment The East Anglian Brigade
The Sherwood Foresters The Forester Brigade
The Loyal Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The Northamptonshire Regiment 1959: merged into 2nd East Anglian Regiment The East Anglian Briggade
The Royal Berkshire Regiment 1959: merged into The Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment The Wessex Brigade
The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1970: merged into The Queen’s Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment The Home Counties Brigade
The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The Light Infantry Brigade
The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry The Light Infantry Brigade
The Middlesex Regiment The Home Counties Brigade
The King’s Royal Rifle Corps 1958: retitled 2nd Green Jackets The Green Jackets Brigade
The Wiltshire Regiment 1959: merged into The Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment The Wessex Brigade
The Manchester Regiment 1958: merged into The King’s Regiment The Lancastrian Brigade
The North Staffordshire Regiment 1958: merged into The Staffordshire Regiment The Mercian Brigade
The York and Lancaster Regiment The Yorkshire Brigade
The Durham Light Infantry The Light Infantry Brigade
The Highland Light Infantry 1959: merged into The Royal Highland Fusiliers The Lowland Brigade
The Seaforth Highlanders 1961: merged into The Queen’s Own Highlanders The Highland Brigade
The Gordon Highlanders The Highland Brigade
The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders 1961: merged into The Queen’s Own Highlanders The Highland Brigade
The Royal Ulster Rifles The North Irish Brigade
The Royal Irish Fusiliers The North Irish Brigade
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Highland Brigade
The Rifle Brigade 1958: retitled 3rd Green Jackets The Green Jackets Brigade
The Parachute Regiment
2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles The Brigade of Gurkhas
6th Gurkha Rifles 1959: retitled 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles The Brigade of Gurkhas
7th Gurkha Rifles 1959: retitled 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles The Brigade of Gurkhas
10th Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles The Brigade of Gurkhas
22nd Special Air Service Regiment
The Gibraltar Regiment

The Brigades in 1963

Changes from 1964 to 1970

The Regiments in 1971

Options for change: 1992 to 1994

The Regiments in 1995

Changes from 2003 to 2007

The Regiments in 2008

The Regiments in 2023

Alphabetic List of the Regiments