Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment ( R ANGLIAN ) is an infantry regiment of the British Army , part of the Queen ' s Division . The regiment was formed on 1 September 1964 as the first of the new large infantry regiments , through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the East Anglian Brigade : The Royal Anglian Regiment serves as the county regiment for the following counties : History . Initially formed of seven battalions ( four regular and three Territorial Army ) , the regiment was reduced in 1975 with the loss of the 4th ( Leicestershire ) Battalion to three regular battalions and three TA . The regiment was reduced again in 1992 to two regular and two TA battalions with the loss of the 3rd ( 16th / 44th Foot ) and 5th Battalions . As one of the existing large regiments , the Royal Anglian Regiment was unaffected by the restructuring of the infantry announced in 2004 . However , the remaining Territorial battalion of the regiment , the East of England Regiment was re - designated on 1 April 2006 as the 3rd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment as part of the reforms . The two regular battalions have the nicknames the " Vikings " ( 1st Bn ) and the " Poachers " ( 2nd Bn ) . The old regular 3rd Battalion was nicknamed the " Pompadours " , and the fourth the " Tigers " . In 1995 , each battalion renamed its companies in order to perpetuate its lineage from the old County regiments : All regular battalions of the regiment have carried out tours - of - duty throughout " The Troubles " in Northern Ireland . The most costly time for the regiment in NI occurred in the 1970s and 1980s when they lost eighteen soldiers , the last in 1989 . Despite violence in Northern Ireland having largely subsided , the regiment continues to be posted there . When in Northern Ireland , the Royal Anglian Regiment , like the rest of the Army , is primarily used to provide support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland . Throughout the 1960s , the regiment served in Aden , where they operated against guerrillas fighting against the British presence such as in the Radfan . They also garrisoned Malta , the Persian Gulf , and Cyprus . The regiment has continued to carry out tours of Cyprus into recent times ; the last was carried out by 2 R ANGLIAN in 1998 . The 1st battalion also served in Northern Ireland between 89 Aug to 90 Jan ( South Armagh ) , Apr to 91 Oct ( Fermanargh ) and Dec 93 to 94 June ( Co Tyrone ) . They also did short tours of Cyprus ( 1992 ) and the U . S . ( Fort Lewis ) in 1995 . Also in 1995 the 1st Battalion was sent to Croatia during the time UN soldiers were being taken hostage by local militia . As part of 24 Airmobile Brigade they were sent there between July and October of that year . During the crisis in the Balkans in the early 1990s , 2 R ANGLIAN was deployed to Bosnia in April 1994 as part of the UN peacekeeping force UNPROFOR . During the tour , Corporal Andrew Rainey became one of the first ever other ranks to win the Military Cross , for his actions during a heavy contact between 3 Platoon , A Company and a Bosnian Serb military unit on the confrontation line in the north of the Maglaj Finger . The battalion left later in the year , having suffered a single loss by a land mine . Shortly after British forces intervened in Sierra Leone during its civil war , the 2nd Battalion briefly joined the IMATT force in June 2000 to help train the Sierra Leonean armed forces . In 1996 C Company ( 1st Bn ) was sent with the Parachute Brigade that was taking part in the biggest Airborne exercise since the Second World War in South Carolina , U . S . During this exercise WOII " Boogie " Boulton was killed in a traffic accident . In March 2002 , 1 R ANGLIAN was sent to Afghanistan , where it was based in the capital Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) . The battalion often patrolled the more dangerous parts of the capital to maintain order in a city under constant fear of attack by Al Qaida and the Taliban . The ISAF force at that time was commanded by Major - General John McColl , a former officer with both 1st and 2nd Battalions ; he commanded the latter between 1992 – 1994 . The battalion left in June , having suffered a single loss due to an accident . The following February , A company of 2 R ANGLIAN was posted to Kabul in June 2003 . They were replaced by C Company in June . In 2005 1 R ANGLIAN had a successful tour in Iraq as part of Operation TELIC 6 where the battle group was responsible for the Basra Rural South area of operations . C ( Essex ) Company was detached to act as a Brigade Operations Company and was involved in several high profile arrest operations including the arrest in Basra of 14 insurgents . In Spring 2006 2 R ANGLIAN deployed to Iraq as part of Op TELIC 8 and formed Basra City South Battlegroup . C ( Northamptonshire ) company was detached to operate as part of Force Reserve and was involved in many high profile arrest and strike operations . During the tour the Regiment mourned the loss of two soldiers ; on 13 May 2006 Private Joseva Lewaicei and Adam Morris died as a result of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb attack in Basra . A third soldier was badly injured . From March to September 2007 as part of 12th Mechanised Brigade 1 R ANGLIAN was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 6 . This deployment was the subject of the Sky One documentary " Ross Kemp in Afghanistan " , broadcast in January / February 2008 . A book has also been written by a former commanding officer about the battalion on this tour , " Attack State Red " , published by Penguin . They were stationed in the infamous Helmand Province and faced some of the fiercest fighting since the Korean War . The fighting attracted much media attention due to the ferocity of the combat with soldiers often having to resort to using bayonets . The battalion suffered 9 casualties during its tour , 5 hostile and 4 accidental . 23 August 2007 friendly fire incident . In a reported friendly fire incident , on 23 August 2007 , one of a pair United States Air Force F - 15E fighter aircraft called in to support a patrol of the 1st Battalion in Afghanistan dropped a bomb on the same patrol , killing three men , and severely injured two others . It was later revealed that the British forward air controller who called in the strike had not been issued a noise - cancelling headset , and in the confusion and stress of the battle incorrectly confirmed one wrong digit of the co - ordinates mistakenly repeated by the pilot , and the bomb landed on the British position 1 , 000 metres away from the enemy . The coroner at the soldiers ' inquest stated that the incident was due to " flawed application of procedures " rather than individual errors or " recklessness " . Organisation . 1 R ANGLIAN is part of 12th Mechanised Brigade , based in Picton Barracks , Bulford . The battalion now operates in the light infantry role . 2 R ANGLIAN is TRB and was based in Dhekelia , Cyprus . The battalion operates in the light infantry role . The 2nd Battalion moved to Kendrew Barracks in Rutland in 2012 . The Bermuda Regiment . The Royal Anglian Regiment has a unique relationship with the Bermuda Regiment , a Territorial battalion of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda . Although the Bermuda Regiment is usually described as an affiliated regiment , its relationship to the Regiment is more akin to that of one of Royal Anglian ' s own TA battalions . The Bermuda Regiment is an amalgamation of the old Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps ( BVRC , which had been renamed the " Bermuda Rifles " ) . During the Great War , the latter unit had sent two drafts to serve as part of the 1 Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment , one of Royal Anglian Regiment ' s predecessors , on the Western Front . The affiliation of the Lincolns and the BVRC was made official after the War , with the Lincolns adopting the same role it fulfilled to its own TA battalions : providing seconded Permanent Staff Instructor s and officers . The BVRC sent two more drafts to the Lincolns during the Second World War . When the BVRC was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965 , the Royal Anglian Regiment , as successor to the Royal Lincolns , continued the paternal relationship . In addition to providing a PSI to each of the Bermuda Regiment ' s companies , many other Royal Anglian Regiment personnel have been seconded or loaned to the Bermuda Regiment over the years . The Staff Officer is normally seconded from the R ANGLIANS . The Bermuda Regiment ' s first nine Adjutant s ( from 1965 to 1984 ) were all R ANGLIAN officers . Three of its past Regimental Sergeant Major s were seconded from the Royal Anglian Regiment . In 1992 , the Bermuda Regiment had two serving Lieutenant - Colonel s , as its Staff Officer , a Royal Anglian Major , was promoted to the same rank as its Commanding Officer ( CO ) . In 1996 , the Bermuda Regiment ' s Second - In - Command , Staff Officer , and Adjutant were all on secondment from the Royal Anglians . Additionally , senior NCOs are loaned to the Bermuda Regiment for the duration of its annual Recruit Camps , with one attached to each platoon of its Training Company . The Junior NCOs ( Corporal s and Lance - Corporal s ) of the Bermuda Regiment attend Skill - At - Arms courses at the Royal Anglian Regiment depot , and many Bermuda Regiment officers and NCOs have served on attachment with the Royal Anglians . During the 1980s , the entire cadre of officers , warrant officers , and NCOs of the Bermuda Regiment was briefly attached to a battalion of Royal Anglians deployed to Belize . Future Army Structure . Under Army 2020 , 1st , 2nd and 3rd Battalion will be under 7th Infantry Brigade . 2nd Battalion will be mounted on Foxhounds while 1st will remain as a light infantry battalion . Both of these will rotate as resident units in British Forces Cyrus . Traditions . Regimental Days Celebrated by the individual battalions ( in date order ) Popular culture . In 1989 , the Band and fifty members of the old 3rd Battalion were featured in the opening and closing sequences of BBC historical sitcom " Blackadder Goes Forth " with the band , men and actors Rowan Atkinson , Hugh Laurie , Stephen Fry , Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny dressed in World War I period uniforms marching to " The British Grenadiers " and the Blackadder theme song . It was shot on location at the former Colchester Cavalry Barracks .