Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment The Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment ( King ' s , Lancashire and Border ) ( LANCS ) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army . It recruits throughout the North West of England . The regiment ' s formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry , when it was initially to be known as the King ' s , Lancashire and Border Regiment . The regiment was given its new name in November 2005 . Initially formed of three regular army battalion s , it was eventually reduced to two regular battalions , plus a Territorial Army battalion . The regiment was formed through the merger of three single battalion regiments : The regiment was formed on 1 July 2006 . Initially , on formation , the regiment contained three regular battalions , with each battalion simply being renamed : However , very soon after formation the regiment gained its own character as a result of the cross - posting of individuals of the antecedent regiments . In March 2007 , the 3rd Battalion was disbanded , with its personnel dispersed to the other two , leaving the final roll of two regular battalions and one TA battalion . The 4th Battalion ( Volunteers ) was completed in late 2006 by adding the two King ' s Regiment companies from the King ' s and Cheshire Regiment to the battalion which had been initially formed from the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers . The 4th Battalion has its RHQ and HQ Company at Preston , A Company is at Liverpool , B ( Somme ) Company is at Blackburn and Blackpool , C Company is at Workington , Barrow - in - Furness , Carlisle and Lancaster . D ( Inkerman ) Company is at Manchester and Bury ( Platoon based at Bury are Fusilers ) . Private soldier s inherited the rank of " Kingsman " from The King ' s Regiment . The cap badge is a Lancaster rose in a Fontenoy laurel surmounted by a crown . At the base is a scroll with the motto " Nec Aspera Terrent " ( Difficulties be Damned ) . The regiment ' s Colonel - in - Chief is HM The Queen , who concurrently holds the title Duke of Lancaster . The regiment has brought forward a number of " Golden Threads " from its antecedents , as displays of its history and heritage : The Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment serves as the county regiment for the following counties : The 1st Battalion is a light infantry battalion based in Catterick Garrison , while the 2nd Battalion was initially an armoured infantry unit stationed at Catterick Garrison . The 2nd Battalion converted to light infantry and moved to Cyprus in August 2008 . As a resident battalion in Cyprus the 2nd Battalion completed the longest operational tour of Afghanistan in contemporary history , completing over 15 months on operations as the Theatre Reserve Battalion from August 2009 to October 2010 . The 2nd Battalion moved back home to the North West in August 2011 and is now based in Weeton Barracks , near Blackpool , where it continues to train and operate in the light infantry role . The 3rd Battalion was a light infantry battalion stationed at St George ' s Barracks , North Luffenham in Rutland before being amalgamated with the 1st and 2nd Battalions . On 26 June 2008 , the regiment was presented by the Queen as Colonel - in - Chief with its first stands of colours since formation . Both regular battalions have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan supported by officers and soldiers from the Territorial Army battalion . Battle honours . Infantry regiments are permitted to display 43 battle honours from the two world wars on the Queen ' s Colour and 46 honours from other conflicts on the Regimental Colour . Upon amalgamation , the Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment had to choose from the total list of honours of its three antecedents which honours would be displayed on its new colours . The chosen honours were : In addition to the displayed honours , the regimental colour will also display four emblems from the antecedents regiments : In addition , the Regimental Colour also features a Sphinx to distinguish the battle honour " Egypt " and a Dragon for the honour " China " . SOURCES