Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene The Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene is a regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army , named after Princess Irene , the sister of Queen Beatrix . It is one of two regiments , along with the Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers , to be classed as ' Guards ' . Regimental History . A group of Dutch soldiers were forced to withdraw in May 1940 after the unexpected invasion of the Netherlands by the Nazi armies . Faced by the choice : to surrender or to continue the fight alongside the Western Allies , they opted for the latter . Via several ways they finally arrived in Great Britain , where they formed a new unit : the Royal Dutch Brigade . The unit was later renamed to become the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade . In August 1941 this unit received from the hands of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina , who remained in exile in England , its own regimental colors . In addition the unit was given the honorary name of ' Princess Irene ' , named after the Queen ' s granddaughter . This name is also symbolic , as the name of Irene means : ' she who brings peace ' ( in Greek ) . As a small detachment in the British Liberation Army ( the unit only numbered approximately 1400 men ) the Brigade took part in the campaign in Western Europe . In May 1945 the Nazis capitulated in the Netherlands which also led to the disbanding of the Irene Brigade , which to a large extent was made up of war volunteers and conscripts . To remember their special bond , the men of ' the first hour ' proudly wore their special distinction : a orange - blue lanyard called ' invasion - lanyard ' . The regimental colors of the Royal Dutch Brigade ' Princess Irene ' were decorated with the highest military order for valor known in the Dutch Army . So as not to let the name of that small Dutch unit fade into history , it was decided that the traditions surrounding the regimental colors were to be continued by a new regiment . The Princess Irene Regiment was formed in April 1946 . Five battalions of the new regiment were on active duty during the so - called ' police - actions ' in the years 1946 - 1949 in the former Netherlands East Indies , or to - day ' s Indonesia . 90 young Dutch ' Irene ' soldiers were killed there in that black period of Dutch military history . The Regiment Princess Irene became Guards Regiment Fusiliers Princess Irene in the 50 ' s . The traditions of the regiment were carried on by 13th Armored Infantry Battalion of the Royal Dutch Army in the Westenbergbarracks in Schalkhaar ( near Deventer ) . In June 1992 the 17th Armored Infantry Battalion took over the traditions . Since then , the regimental colors , monument and museum are settled in the General - major De Ruyter van Steveninckbarracks named after the commander of the Irene Brigade ) in Oirschot . 17th Armored Infantry Battalion Guards Regiment Fusiliers Princess Irene is part of 13 Motorized Brigade . In June - December 1996 the battalion was transferred to Bosnia ( former Yugoslavia ) . As 17 ( NL ) Mechanized Battalion Guards Regiment Princess Irene they served in the IFOR - II operation under British command , just as the Irene Brigade 50 years before them . In Bosnia the men and women of the battalion wore the invasion - lanyard of the former Irene Brigade on active duty . It was handed over to them by veterans of the brigade to illustrate the bond with their young colleagues . This was only the beginning of the peacekeeping operations for the Fusiliers . They went to Bosnia again in December - June 1999 as part of the SFOR5 force . June - December 1999 13 Fusiliers stayed on Cyprus , with UNICYP3 . A Fusiliers company served in Kosovo ( Jan - May 2000 ) with KFOR2 . In December 2002 17 ( NL ) Mechanized Battalion Guards Regiment Princess Irene will stay in Bosnia for the 3rd time as part of SFOR13 . Further missions were Iraq 2004 and 2005 and Afghanistan 2006 , 2007 and 2009 .