Grenadier Guards
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{{Infobox Military Unit |unit_name= Grenadier Guards |image= Image:Grenadier-Guards-Cap-Badge.jpg |caption= Cap Badge of the Grenadier Guards |dates= 1656-present |country= United Kingdom |branch= Army |type= Infantry |role= mechanised infantry |command_structure= Household Division |ceremonial_chief= Elizabeth II |colonel_of_the_regiment= Field Marshal Prince Philip |nickname= The Bill Browns |battles= Waterloo }} 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".
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History
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 one of its battle honours.
Battle honours
Image:Grenadier Guards.jpg The 1st Foot Guards have received many battle honours, including:
- various actions near the Strait of Gibraltar
- the War of the Spanish Succession, including Oudenarde
- the War of the Austrian Succession
- the Peninsular War
- the Napoleonic Wars, including Waterloo
- the Crimean War
- the Urabi Revolt
- the Opium Wars, namely Khartoum
- the Boer Wars
- World War I and World War II (North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe)
- the Persian Gulf War
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".
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 a rifle company.
Colonels in Chief
Image:Stjamessentry.jpg 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 Duke of Marlborough
- the Duke of Cumberland
- the Lord Ligonier
- the Duke of Wellington
- the Prince Consort
- the Duke of Cambridge
- the Duke of Edinburgh
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 Quick March is the "British Grenadiers".
The Colonel-in Chief is always the reigning Sovereign. This applies to all Regiments of the Household Division
