Coldstream Guards
The
Coldstream Guards is a
regiment of the
British Army, part of the
Guards Division.
It is the oldest regiment in the Army in continuous active service, originating in
1650 when
Oliver Cromwell founded a regiment for then
Colonel George Monck. It is one of two regiments of the
Household Division that can trace its lineage to the
New Model Army, the other being the
Blues and Royals.
The grouping of buttons on the tunic is a common way to distinguish between the regiments of
Foot Guards. Coldstream buttons are arranged in single rows, and "Coldstream Guards" is marked on their brassware.
Captain Darling from the TV comedy
Blackadder was a Coldstreamer; this can be recognized from his uniform.
The Regiment's formal title is
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards. Their nickname is 'lilywhites'. An ordinary soldier of the regiment is called a Guardsman, a designation granted by King
George V after the First World War.
Currently the most prominent role of the 1st battalion and No. 7 Company is the performance of ceremonial duties in London and
Windsor as part of the
Household Division. No. 7 Company serves as a parade company in London and provides escort for the
Queen's Birthday Parade. Duties include the state opening of the parliament,
Trooping the Colour when it is their turn and
Remembrance Sunday parade. No. 7 company is involved in the
Changing of the Guard.
Operationally, the Coldstream Guards perform the role of
Light infantry. It is based in
Windsor as part of London District, providing the ceremonial guards at
Windsor Castle,
Buckingham Palace,
St James' Palace and HM
Tower of London. Under the
reforms announced in 2004, The Coldstream Guards will be given this as a fixed role, alternating the public duties task with the
Irish Guards.
The Corps of Drums has had, in addition to their ceremonial role, a martial role as a
machine gun company, but its members are now trained as
assault pioneers. They also represent the most public side of the Coldstream Guards with their parade duties in state ceremonies, where they wear the Royal Household Dress. The Coldstream Guards regimental band plays in state visits. All the regiment musicians are trained as
medical orderlies.
The origin of the Coldstream Guards lies in the
English Civil War when
Oliver Cromwell gave Colonel
George Monck permission to form his own regiment as part of the
New Model Army. Monck took men from the regiments of
George Fenwick and Sir
Arthur Haselrig, five companies each, and on
August 23 1650 formed
Monck's Regiment of Foot. It took part in the
Battle of Dunbar, where the Roundheads defeated forces of
Charles Stuart. Monck's regiment was left in
Scotland.
After Cromwell's death, Monck turned to support the monarchy and on
January 1 1660 crossed the
River Tweed into
England at the village of
Coldstream and began a five-week march to
London. He arrived in London on
February 2 and helped in
the Restoration of the monarchy. For his help, Monck was given the
Order of the Garter and his regiment was assigned to keep order in London. However, the new parliament soon ordered his regiment to be dismantled with the other regiments of the New Model Army.
Before that could happen, Parliament was forced to rely on the help of the regiment against an army mutiny on
January 6,
1661. The regiment successfully defeated the rebels. On
February 14 the men of the regiment symbolically laid down their arms as part of the New Model Army and were ordered to take them up again as a royal regiment of
The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards, a part of the
Household Troops.
The regiment was placed as the second senior Regiment of Household Troops, but they answered to that by adopting the motto
Nulli Secundus,
Second to None. The Regiment always stands on the left of the line when on parade with rest of the Foot Guards, so standing "second to none". When Monck died 1670, the
Earl of Craven took command of the regiment and it adopted a new name, the
Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards.
The regiment saw active service in
Flanders and in the
Monmouth Rebellion, including the decisive
Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685. After 1688 they fought in the
Battle of Walcourt in 1689, the
Battle of Landen and the
Siege of Namur.
During the
Seven Years' War, the Coldstream Guards saw action in
Battle of Dettingen and the
Battle of Fontenoy. In 1760, the 2nd Battalion was sent to Germany to campaign under Prince
Ferdinand of Brunswick and fought in the
Battle of Wilhelmstal and at the Castle of Arnoneberg. Three Guards companies of 307 men under Coldstream commander Colonel Matthew fought in the
American War of Independence.
The Coldstream Guards saw extensive service in the wars against the
French Revolution and in the
Napoleonic Wars. Under the command of Sir
Ralph Abercrombie they defeated French troops in
Egypt. In 1807 they took part in the investment of
Copenhagen. In January 1809 they sailed to
Portugal to join the forces under the
Duke of Wellington. The 2nd Battalion joined the
Walcheren Expedition. Later it served as part of the 2nd Guards Brigade in the chateau of
Hougoumont on the outskirts of the
battle of Waterloo. It later was part of the British occupation forces of
Paris until 1816.
During the
Crimean War, the Coldstream Guards fought in the battles of
Alma,
Inkerman and
Sevastopol. On their return, four of the guardsmen were awarded the newly-instituted
Victoria Cross.
The regiment received its current name,
The Coldstream Guards, in 1855. In 1882 they were sent to Egypt against the rebels of
Arabi Pasha and in 1885 in the Suakin Campaign. In 1897, the Coldstreamers were reinforced with the addition of the 3rd battalion. The 1st and 2nd battalions were dispatched to
South Africa at the outbreak of the
Second Boer War.
At the outbreak of the
First World War, Coldstreamers were among the first British regiments to arrive in France after Britain declared war on Germany. In the following battles, they suffered heavy losses, in two cases losing all their officers. At the first Battle of Ypres the 1st battalion was virtually annihilated. They fought in
Mons,
Loos,
Somme,
Ginchy and in the
3rd Battle of Ypres. They also formed the 4th pioneer battalion, which was disbanded after the war, in 1919. The 5th Reserve battalion never left Britain before it was disbanded.
When the
Second World War began, the 1st and 3rd battalions of the Coldstream Guards were part of the
British Expeditionary Force in France. They also formed additional 4th and 5th battalions for the duration of the war. They fought extensively in North Africa and Europe as dismounted infantry and the 1st battalion in the
Guards Armoured Division. The 4th battalion became first motorized battalion in 1940 and then an armoured battalion in 1943. The 4th and 5th served as part of the Guards Armoured Division. 6th battalion was also formed in 1941 but was disbanded 1943 without seeing any action.
Coldstreamers gave up their tanks at the end of the war, the new battalions were disbanded and the troops distributed to the 1st and 2nd Guard Training Battalions.
After the war, the 1st and 3rd battalions served in
Palestine prior to the independence of
Israel. The 2nd battalion served in the
Malayan Emergency. The 3rd battalion was placed in suspended animation in 1959. The remaining battalions served against the
Mau Mau rebellion, in
Aden,
Mauritius in 1965, in
Cyprus Emergency in 1974 and several times in
Northern Ireland after 1969.
The Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards were the first act on stage at the
Wembley leg of the 1985
Live Aid charity concert. They played for the
Prince and
Princess of Wales.
After the
Cold War, the 2nd battalion was dispatched to the first
Gulf War. In 1993, due to
defense cutbacks, the 2nd battalion was placed in suspended animation and its colours transferred to its last remaining part,
No 7 Company, nominally attached to 1st Battalion,
Irish Guards.
For much of the early 1990s, the 1st Battalion was stationed in Germany as part of
4th Armoured Brigade. In 1993-
1994 the remaining battalion served as mechanised infantry in peacekeeping duties in
Bosnia as part of
UNPROFOR.
The battalion was posted to
Derry, Northern Ireland on a 2-year deployment in 2001. It deployed to Iraq in April 2005 with the rest of 12th Mechanised Brigade, based in the south of the county. The deployment has already affected the regiment; it lost one of its soldiers on
May 2, near
Al Amarah and another on
October 18 at
Basra.
*
Battle Honours**Tangier 1680, Namur 1695, Gibraltar 1704-05, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Lincelles, Egypt, Talavera, Barrosa, Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Nive, Peninsula, Waterloo, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Suakin 1885, Modder River, South Africa 1899-1902
**The Great War (5 battalions): Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Ypres 1914 '17, Langemarck 1914, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Mount Sorrel, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Pilckem, Menin Road, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Arras 1918, Lys, Hazebrouck, Albert 1918, Scarpe 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18
**The Second World War: Dyle, Defence of Escaut, Dunkirk 1940, Cagny, Mont Pincon, Quarry Hill, Estry, Heppen, Nederrijn, Venraij, Meijel, Roer, Rhineland, Reichswald, Cleve, Goch, Moyland, Hochwald, Rhine, Lingen, Uelzen, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Egyptian Frontier 1940, Sidi Barrani, Halfaya 1941, Tobruk 1941 '42, Msus, Knightsbridge, Defence of Alamein Line, Medenine, Mareth, Longstop Hill 1942, Sbiba, Steamroller Farm, Tunis, Hammam Lif, North Africa 1940-43, Salerno, Battipaglia, Cappezano, Volturno Crossing, Monte Camino, Calabritto, Garigliano Crossing, Monte Ornito, Monte Piccolo, Capture of Perugia, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Monte Domini, Catarelto Ridge, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943-45
**Gulf 1991
*
Sir Julian Paget,
Bt -
Second to none : the Coldstream Guards, 1650-2000 (2000) ISBN 0850527694
Original, even self-contradictory information from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica*
Governor General's Foot Guards*
29th Regiment of Foot*
Official site*
Shiny Capstar (unofficial site)
*
Canadian Coldstream Guards
