Королевский Английский полк: История и боевые действия

Infantry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating in the British Army, and can trace its history back to 1685. The regiment was the first of the large infantry regiments and is one of the three regiments of the Queen's Division.

During the Yugoslav Wars, the 2nd Battalion was deployed to Bosnia in April 1994 as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force UNPROFOR. During the tour, Corporal Andrew Rainey became one of the first ever non officers to win the Military Cross, for his actions during a heavy contact between 3 Platoon, A Company and a Bosnian Serb Army unit on the confrontation line in the north of the Maglaj Finger.

In 1995 the 1st Battalion was sent to Croatia as part of 24 Airmobile Brigade between July and October of that year. The Vikings returned to the UK having suffered no casualties.

Shortly after British forces intervened in Sierra Leone during its civil war, the 2nd Battalion briefly joined the IMATT force in June 2000 to help train the Sierra Leonean armed forces.

In March 2002, a majority of the 1st Battalion were sent to Afghanistan as part of Operation Fingal which involved military leadership and the provision of a 2,000 strong contingent to coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Battalion was based in the capital Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The following 2 February Battalion's A Company were posted to Kabul and were replaced by C Company in June.

From March to September 2007, as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade, 1st Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 6. This deployment was the subject of the Sky One documentary Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, broadcast in January/February 2008. A book has also been written by a former commanding officer about the battalion on this tour, Attack State Red, published by Penguin. They were stationed in Helmand Province. The fighting attracted much media attention due to the ferocity of the combat, with soldiers often having to resort to using bayonets. The battalion suffered nine casualties during its tour, five from attacks and four accidental. In a reported friendly fire incident, on 23 August 2007, one of a pair United States Air Force F 15E fighter aircraft called in to support a patrol of the 1st Battalion in Afghanistan dropped a bomb on the same patrol, killing three men, and severely injured two others. It was later revealed that the British forward air controller who called in the strike had not been issued a noise cancelling headset, and in the confusion and stress of the battle incorrectly confirmed one wrong digit of the co ordinates mistakenly repeated by the pilot, and the bomb landed on the British position 1,000 metres away from the enemy. The coroner at the soldiers' inquest stated that the incident was due to "flawed application of procedures" rather than individual errors or "recklessness". With very little notice the 1st Battalion would deploy again to Helmand Province in late 2009 where soldiers from 1st Battalion saw action guarding checkpoints in the Nad e Ali area, in central Helmand province later in the year. Deploying alongside them were elements of the sister 3rd Battalion, who deployed to Afghanistan as part of 11 Light Brigade in October 2009. The 1st Battalion and elements of 3rd Battalion again deployed to Afghanistan as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade in March 2012 as part of Operation Herrick 16 in the closing stages of the conflict.

In 2005, 1st Battalion undertook a tour in Iraq as part of Operation Telic 6 where the battle group was responsible for the Basra Rural South area of operations. C (Essex) Company was detached to act as a Brigade Operations Company and was involved in several high profile arrest operations. In Spring 2006, 2nd Battalion deployed to Iraq as part of Op Telic 8 and formed Basra City South Battlegroup. C (Northamptonshire) company was detached to operate as part of Force Reserve and was involved in many high profile arrest and strike operations. During the tour the regiment mourned the loss of two soldiers; on 13 May 2006 Privates Joseva Lewaicei and Adam Morris died as a result of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb attack in Basra. A third soldier was badly injured.

In autumn 2017 the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment deployed to Cyprus, assuming the role of Regional Standby Battalion and was held at very high readiness to deploy anywhere in the world. It returned to Kendrew Barracks in August 2019. In summer 2021 the 1st Battalion deployed to Cyprus and, as with the 2nd Battalion in the years before, assumed the role of Regional Standby Battalion to be ready to deploy anywhere in the world. Elements of the battalion were deployed at short notice on Operation PITTING, helping to recover British nationals and Afghan refugees following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.

On 9 October 2019, 100 men from C and D companies marched through Haverhill and received the freedom of the town. The battalion was led by their commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Moxey MBE. In 2020 during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, members of the regiment helped assist the NHS for testing of COVID 19 patients, and provided checkpoints throughout London in collaboration with the Grenadier Guards. 1 Royal Anglian also helped build NHS Nightingale London, a temporary critical care hospital.

The Royal Anglian Regiment Museum is based at Duxford in Cambridgeshire.

In 1989, the Band and fifty members of the old 3rd Battalion were featured in the opening and closing sequences of BBC historical sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth with the band, men and actors Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny dressed in World War I period uniforms marching to "The British Grenadiers" and the Blackadder theme song. It was shot on location at the former Colchester Cavalry Barracks.