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Timeline
1674
The Dutch employed British troops to fight with them against the French and amongst the British contingent was Lillingstone’s Regiment. In 1688, William of Orange came to England to be King, bringing with him a body of troops that included Lillingstone’s Regiment. An early nickname for them was ‘The Dutch Guards’ and it was this relationship with the House of Orange that resulted in the Regiment adopting the colours of ‘Royal Blue and Old Gold with a touch of Dutch Pink’.
1743
Infantry Regiments of the Line were allocated numbers according to their seniority and the successors to Lillingstone’s Regiment was named The Sixth Regiment of Foot. In 1778, the Sixth of Foot came to Warwickshire to recruit and raised companies in Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon. By 1878, the Regimental Training Depot had been established at Budbrooke Barracks outside Warwick. The site is now the village of Hampton Magna.
Infantry Regiments established formal links with a particular geographical area and The Sixth Regiment became also named The First Warwickshire Regiment of Foot.
1832
The ‘Royal’ title was awarded by King William IV in recognition of the Regiment’s long and faithful service. Thus, The Regiment became The Royal (First) Regiment Warwickshire Regiment.
1881
The name became The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, which lasted until well after World War II.
1963
As part of the re-organisation of the British Army, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment joined three other English Fusilier Regiments in the Fusilier Brigade and was re-named The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers. The Fusiliers head-dress was a beret and hackle. The Warwick’s hackle was in the Regimental colours of ‘Royal Blue and Old Gold with a touch of Dutch Pink’. The Depot at Budbrooke had been closed for several years and the Fusilier Brigade Training Depot was established at Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire.
1968
The four English Fusilier Regiments merged into a ‘large regiment’ named The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers with four regular battalions:
- 1st Battalion, originally The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, The Fifth of Foot.
- 2nd Battalion, originally The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers, The Sixth of Foot.
- 3rd Battalion, originally The Royal Fusiliers (who recruited from London), The Seventh of Foot.
- 4th Battalion, originally The Lancashire Fusiliers, The Twentieth of Foot.
The Fusilier Territorial Army effort was formed into The 5th (Volunteer Battalion) whose Headquarters was in Coventry and which consisted of Companies in each of the old Regimental areas.
The blue and gold hackle was replaced by the new Regiment’s red and white hackle.
1971
As part of the significant reduction in British military forces, the 4th Battalion was disbanded. Its regimental silver was distributed amongst the remainder of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and its traditions, including the eating of a rose on Minden Day, 1st August, were taken up by the remaining Regular Battalions.
1992
There was a further reduction in the size of Britain’s Armed Forces and on this occasion it was the 3rd Battalion that was merged with the two remaining Regular Army Battalions.
The 5th (Volunteer) Battalion was also contracted down from 3 rifle companies and Headquarters Company to one rifle company, located at Sheldon in the West Midlands, that became A (Fusilier) Company of The Midlands Regiment.
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