foot guard

Foot guards is a term used to describe elite infantry regiments.

British and Commonwealth Units

British Army

The Foot Guards are the Infantry regiments of the Household Division of the British Army. There have been six regiments of foot guards, all of which still exist apart from the Machine Gun Guards, which was formed during the First World War and disbanded in 1920:

• Grenadier Guards
• Coldstream Guards
• Scots Guards
• Irish Guards
• Welsh Guards
• Guards Machine Gun Regiment ("Machine Gun Guards")

While regiments may have other distinguishing features, a simple method of identification is by observing the spacing of buttons on the tunic. The ascending number of buttons also indicates the order in which the regiments were formed, although the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, an ancestor of the Grenadier Guards, is younger than the regiment that now takes the name of the Coldstream Guards; the oldest continuously serving regiment in the regular British Army (there are older regiments in the Territorial Army). There are various other methods of distinguishing between the regiments - the colour of the plume, and what side it is worn on the bearskin, the collar badge and the shoulder badge. When all five regiments parade together, they are in the order Grenadier Guards on the right flank, then Scots Guards, Welsh Guards, Irish Guards and Coldstream Guards on the left flank. This is because, although the Coldstream are ranked second in seniority, their motto is 'Nulli Secundus' ('Second to None').

                                                     The five regiments of Foot Guards, lined up as they parade

Foot Guards, wearing bearskins, march to the Cenotaph on 12 June 2005 for a service of remembrance for Irish troops. Their uniform buttons are in groups of four, identifying these soldiers as Irish Guards

Units of the Foot Guards

• Grenadier Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards

• Coldstream Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
  • No 7 Company, Coldstream Guards

• Scots Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
  • F Company, Scots Guards

• Irish Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Irish Guards

• Welsh Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards

• G Squadron, 22nd SAS Regiment: This is not strictly a Guards unit; it is a unit of the Special Air Service that was originally formed in 1975 for service in Northern Ireland. It was mostly raised from the recently disbanded Guards Independent Parachute Company and volunteers from the Parachute Regiment and Royal Green Jackets.

The first three regiments each have a separate incremental company which keep custody of the colours and traditions of the currently dormant 2nd Battalions. These companies perform ceremonial and security duties in London.

Changing the Guard, at Buckingham Palace, London

The Foot Guards have a role as the primary garrison for the capital, for the military security of the Sovereign, and for ceremonial duties in London and occasionally elsewhere. Two battalions are appointed for public duties, with a third from a line infantry regiment since 1996 (and occasionally previously). These provide the Queen's Guard, the Tower of London Guard, and sometimes also the Windsor Castle Guard. The Guards Battalions on Public Duties are located in barracks conveniently close to Buckingham Palace for them to be able to reach the Palace very quickly in an emergency. In central London, a battalion is based at Wellington Barracks, Westminster, about 300 yards from Buckingham Palace, and independent companies of the Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Guards (all on permanent public duties) are at Chelsea Barracks, three-quarters of a mile away.

The Guards Battalion stationed at Windsor generally provides the Windsor Castle Guard. The Windsor battalion is at Victoria Barracks, a quarter of a mile south of the Castle.

The Guards Division will receive a new battalion following the restructuring of the army in 2004, when the London Regiment becomes the first ever Territorial Army Guards unit.

The Guards Machine Gun Regiment, was raised for service during the First World War. Initially, each brigade of the Guards Division had a machine gun company attached. In 1917, these companies were regimented to form a battalion. Further battalions were formed by conversion of the Household Cavalry regiments, and King George V ordered that the regiment be classified as the Sixth Regiment of Foot Guards, or Machine Gun Guards. However it was disbanded in 1920.

Order of Precedence

Canadian Army

There are two foot guards regiments in the Canadian Army, the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards. The Canadian Guards was a regiment of the regular army, but was disbanded in 1968. Although the Governor General's Foot Guards has its buttons in pairs, compared to the single buttons of the Canadian Grenadier Guards, it is the more senior regiment; it is affiliated to the Coldstream Guards, and so wears a similar uniform.

Australia

The Federation Guard is a tri-service Australian ceremonial unit that performs similar functions to the five British and two Canadian regiments of foot guards.

India

The Brigade of the Guards is the Indian Army's foot guards regiment, formed through the regimentation of battalions from four of India's senior line infantry regiments.

Malaysia

21st Squadron of Mounted Ceremonial (21 Skuadron Istiadat Berkuda) is the equivalent of the above foot guards of commonwealth. This squadron came under Malaysian Army's Kor Armor DiRaja(Royal Armoured Corps).

Other nations

Many other nations have regiments of guards in their armies, as the term 'guards' is an honorific to mark out the best soldiers. Most monarchies have at least one regiment of guards, part of whose duties is to guard the Royal Family:

• the Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde) and His Majesty The King's Guard (Hans Majestet Kongens Garde) are regiments of the Royal Danish Army and Norwegian Army that perform the same role as the five British regiments perform in London.
• the Guard Regiment Grenadiers (Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers) and Guard Regiment Fusiliers (Garderegiment Fusiliers Prinses Irene) are the two guards regiments of the Royal Netherlands Army.
• the Royal Guards (Högvakten) is a Swedish tri-service unit similar to the Australian Federation Guard, which has responsibilities identical to those of the Danish and Norwegian regiments.

The sames goes for most republics; for instance:

• the Wachbataillon, the elite ceremonial unit of the German Bundeswehr.
• the Presidential Guard is the elite guard unit for the President of Greece and provide an honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
• the French Republican Guard guards the Élysée Palace and other places symbolic of the sovereignty of the Republic.
• the Old Guard guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington national cemetery in the United States

See also

• Guard Mounting
• Queen's Guard

External links

British and Commonwealth

• Grenadier Guards
• Coldstream Guards
• Scots Guards
• Irish Guards
• Welsh Guards
• Governor General's Foot Guards
• The Canadian Grenadier Guards
• Federation Guard
• Brigade of the Guards

Other Nations

• Den Kongelige Livgarde
• Högvakten
• Hans Majestet Kongens Garde
• Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers
• Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene

Donate to Wikimedia