1st Battalion
Commanding Officer: Lt Col C R V Walker
Adjutant: Capt J O D Fox
Regimental Sergeant Major: WO1 I Farrell
Station: Wellington Barracks, London
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards
On the Eve of the Troop 1st Battalion returned from Afghanistan in early April, having handed over work in Nad-e Ali to 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment. On 16th April the battalion broke for two weeks leave, rejoining family and friends while watching reports of progress in central Helmand on the news. The respite, however, was brief: the majority of Post Operational Tour Leave was postponed until the summer to allow the battalion to return to prepare to troop its Colour on the Queen’s Birthday Parade. The Sergeant Major and Drill Sergeants had six working days from return from leave ready the battalion for the first event of the ceremonial season, the presentation of new colours. On 11th May the Old Colours were marched off and new ones presented by HM The Queen in an intimate ceremony in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace.
Following the presentation of colours, the preparations for the Queen’s Birthday Parade began in earnest. The battalion would provide three guards of 66 rank and file, including the Escort to the Colour, with a further Grenadier Guard furnished by Nijmegen Company. The battalion decamped to Longmoor and then Pirbright to hone the guards, whilst also conducting basic skills training including shooting and navigation. Support and Headquarters Company, meanwhile, held the fort in London, providing Queen’s Guards and support to the State Opening of Parliament. The battalion has been received back by the regiment and wider community extremely well. Events such as Black Sunday, First Guards’ Club and the presentation “From the Horse’s Mouth” at the Royal Geographical Society, in addition to the wings of the ceremonial events, provided a good chance to reflect and to catch up with old friends. Similarly, a party of Grenadiers, along with others from 11 Light Brigade, were invited to march to and attend a reception on the terrace of the Palace of Westminster: apparently there have only been three other occasions since the Civil War when troops have been permitted to march into Parliament. As ever, there is also an element of saying farewell to friends in 11 Light Brigade as the formation is disbanded, but the summer season could not provide a better setting. Finally, this period has been rounded off by the BBC television documentary ‘For Queen and Country’ shown on 7th June, charting the transition of the battalion from Afghanistan to Horse Guards.
Following the Queen’s Birthday Parade, the battalion has a few weeks only before breaking for summer leave, augmented by delayed post tour leave- a total of seven weeks of ‘quality home time’. While continuing with public duties, those few weeks offer opportunity for a wider range of activity, with a diving expedition to Thailand and a battlefield tour of Monte Casino likely to be highlights, before the Herrick 11 team disperses to new postings.