British Army incremental infantry companies
The British Army primarily divides its infantry into regiments, which are subdivided into battalions. However, for various reasons, since the end of the Second World War it has also maintained companies that are independent of a particular battalion or regiment.
Disbanded battalions
In the 1960s, a policy began to be implemented intended to move the infantry away from collections of regiments made up of just single battalions, towards what came to be known as "large regiments", made up of a number of battalions, which would be formed by the amalgamation of several existing regiments. Between 1964 and 1968, a total of six of these multi-battalion regiments were formed, before a policy change saw the process halted. As part of this however, there were additional plans to reduce the size of the infantry, through the disbanding or amalgamation of individual battalions. Again however, after the first round of disbandings and amalgamations, the policy was halted, with those battalions intended for removal instead reduced in size to a single company. A total of seven battalions had units reduced in this way:- 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards - in March 1971, the 2nd Battalion was placed in suspended animation, with 2nd Battalion Company formed to take on its traditions. Additionally, two further companies, F Company and S Company, were also used to reinforce other Foot Guards battalions. The 2nd Battalion was reformed in January 1972.
- 4th Battalion, The Queen's Regiment - the 4th Battalion was disbanded in December 1970, with Albuhera Company retained until it too was disbanded in November 1973.
- 4th Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment - the 4th Battalion was disbanded in October 1970, with Tiger Company retained until it was disbanded in July 1975.
- 1st Battalion, The Royal Hampshire Regiment - the 1st Battalion had been planned to be amalgamated with the Gloucestershire Regiment, until that plan was halted, with instead the Royal Hampshire Regiment being reduced to Minden Company in August 1970. The 1st Battalion was eventually reformed in January 1972.
- 1st Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - the 1st Battalion was one of three single battalion regiments that elected to disband rather than amalgamate. While the other two were eventually disbanded in 1968, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were instead reduced to Balaklava Company in January 1971. Twelve months later, in January 1972, the 1st Battalion was reformed.
- 3rd Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets - the 3rd Battalion was disbanded in September 1970, with R Company retained. The battalion was subsequently re-established in January 1972.
- 2nd Battalion, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles - the 2nd Battalion was intended for amalgamation with the 1st Battalion in September 1970, but was instead retained as a separate company, with the battalion re-established in 1972.
Aside from operational taskings, some of the incremental companies were retained for various duties at home. 2nd Battalion Company, Scots Guards was stationed in Edinburgh throughout its existence from March 1971 to January 1972, where it undertook public duties, as well as recruitment and training tasks, which included service as OPFOR during an exercise undertaken in Scotland by 24 Airportable Brigade. Tiger Company, Royal Anglian Regiment also saw two periods as the Demonstration Infantry Company, providing OPFOR duties, at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. These were between October 1970 and November 1971, and between July 1974 and July 1975. Interspersed between its various taskings, Tiger Company was reduced to a cadre between September 1972 and November 1973, serving as a training unit at the Junior Soldiers Wing in Canterbury. Albuhera Company, Queen's Regiment was utilised as a recruiting team throughout its existence between January 1971 and November 1973.
By late 1971, the British Army's commitment to Northern Ireland was such that it was having difficulty meeting other obligations, most particularly to NATO. As a consequence, the government elected to raise an additional four infantry battalions in an effort to meet its commitments both to the security situation in Northern Ireland and ensure that the British Army of the Rhine was not impeded. In January 1972, the four battalions were raised from four of the existing incremental companies:
- 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - reformed at Ritchie Camp, Kirknewton
- 1st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment - reformed at Roman Barracks, Colchester
- 3rd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets - reformed at Horseshoe Barracks, Shoeburyness
- 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards - reformed at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh
Additionally, the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles was reformed in Hong Kong as part of a stabilisation of the size of the Brigade of Gurkhas at five infantry battalions - under the late 1960s defence cuts it had been planned to reduce this down to four battalions. The obligations faced by the infantry led to an alteration of this proposal, with three battalions of Gurkhas stationed in Hong Kong and one in Brunei, together with the regular posting of a Gurkha battalion to the United Kingdom for the first time. 2/2 GR was initially stationed in Hong Kong on its reformation, before moving to Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Church Crookham in 1975.
Public duties
The British Army maintains a total of four incremental companies to serve as permanent public duties units in London and Edinburgh. Of these, three are from regiments of foot guards, with the fourth from a line infantry regiment.Foot Guards
The Guards Division of the British Army contains a total of five battalions, one from each of the five regiments of Foot Guards. However, before the Options for Change defence review in 1992, there were eight battalions:- 1st and 2nd Battalions, Grenadier Guards
- 1st and 2nd Battalions, Coldstream Guards
- 1st and 2nd Battalions, Scots Guards
- 1st Battalion, Irish Guards
- 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards
- No 2 Company, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards
- No 7 Company, 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards
- F Company, 2nd Battalion Scots Guards
Although neither the Grenadier or Coldstream Guards had previously had incremental companies formed from their 2nd battalions, between March 1971 and January 1972 the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards was reduced to a single company as a result of defence cuts. Additionally, F Company was also retained to serve as a reinforcement unit attached to the Irish Guards. Options for Change also saw the retention of a second company from the Grenadier Guards, when Inkerman Company was transferred from the 2nd Battalion to the 1st Battalion, being renamed as Left Flank Company in the process.
Line Infantry
As part of the Army 2020 reforms outlined by the Strategic Defence and Security Review, an additional public duties incremental company was formed in 2013 through the reduction of the 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland to company strength to serve as a public duties unit in Scotland. As of, this unit, Balaklava Company, is based at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh. This was the second time that this battalion had been reduced to a company, following its predecessor's reduction from 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to Balaklava Company between January 1971 and January 1972.Brigade of Gurkhas
The Brigade of Gurkhas, a formation of units made up almost entirely by Gurkhas from Nepal, have formed a number of independent companies over the course of their time as part of the British Army.Gurkha Demonstration companies
The Brigade of Gurkhas has provided units to serve in the OPFOR role at various British Army training establishments since the early 1970s - the first of these to be formed was Gurkha Demonstration Company, which was established at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1972. A second demonstration company, Gurkha Demonstration Company, was formed at the Infantry Battle School in 1980, while a third, Gurkha Company was formed through the renaming of the Training Support Company, together with the plan to have it manned exclusively by Gurkhas, at the Land Warfare Centre in 2018.Gurkha reinforcement companies
In the 1990s, it became apparent that some regular infantry battalions were suffering manpower issues, while at the same time the Brigade of Gurkhas was over-manned. Therefore, a decision was taken to use the excess manpower from the Gurkhas to augment under strength infantry battalions through the establishment of reinforcement companies that would wear the cap badge of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, but be attached to other regiments. A total of five infantry battalions received Gurkha companies between 1994 and 2004:- 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment - C Company
- 1st Battalion, The Royal Scots - B Company 1
- 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment - Gurkha Company
- 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment - D Company
- 1st Battalion, The Highlanders - A Company 1
The Gurkha companies operated as fully integrated elements of their parent units, and saw deployments alongside both the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Irish Regiment to Sierra Leone as part of Operation Palliser in 2000, as well as deployments to Bosnia in 1999 with the Parachute Regiment and to Iraq with the Royal Irish as part of Operation Telic in 2003. The only time that the Gurkhas were not deployed with their parent battalion was in the event of a tour of Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner - British government policy prevented them from serving in Northern Ireland. So, in the event of the parent battalion undertaking a tour of Northern Ireland, the Gurkha company would need to be detached for duty elsewhere. This occurred when the Royal Scots were deployed on two roulement tours, with B Company instead deployed to Bosnia as part of Operation Resolute. Both the Parachute Regiment and the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment also deployed to Northern Ireland during the periods they were reinforced by Gurkha companies.
Although the last of the reinforcement companies, attached to 1st Battalion, The Highlanders, was disbanded in 2004, a new batch of units was formed from 2008, again as a result of manpower shortages in the infantry. This eventually saw three new reinforcement companies formed - one of these was attached to 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, while the other two formed part of other regiments:
- 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment - G Company
- 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment - D Company