Royal Bermuda Regiment
The Royal Bermuda Regiment is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single territorial infantry battalion that was formed on the amalgamation in 1965 of two originally voluntary units, the mostly black Bermuda Militia Artillery and the almost entirely white Bermuda Rifles, and the only remaining component of the Bermuda Garrison since the 1957 withdrawal of regular units and detachments from Bermuda.
History
The two original units, the mostly black Bermuda Militia Artillery and the almost entirely white Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, were raised 1895 and 1894, respectively, in accordance with two of three acts passed by the Bermudian parliament in 1892 at the insistence of the British Government, which had been attempting to encourage, entice, or coerce the local government to restore reserve military units since the last Militia Act had been allowed to lapse following the Napoleonic Wars and the American War of 1812. The regulations of the two units were the same as those of militia and volunteer units in the British Isles at the time, with a few additions specific to the units. The units were fully funded by the War Office as parts of the British Army, rather than as auxiliary to it. Contingents from both units were deployed to France and Belgium in June 1915 and saw action on the Western Front during the First World War.Following the First World War, the British Government's policy of austerity resulted in a substantial reduction of the regular army, including reducing the regular infantry in Bermuda and removing the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers Fortress companies from Bermuda in 1928, with the local reserve units shouldering more responsibility. This resulted in the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps being re-organised on territorial lines in 1921. Those other ranks who chose to continue serving were re-attested, committing to terms of service which meant they could no longer quit the corps with fourteen days notice. The name of the corps was not modified to reflect the change, however. Militia soldiers were already engaged for terms of service, and the Bermuda Militia Artillery was not similarly re-organised until 1928. The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers was created as a unit to operate the search lights at coastal artillery batteries in June 1931, while the Bermuda Militia Infantry was raised in October 1939, originally relieving the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps of the task of protecting St David's Battery from attack by enemy landing parties, but taking on new roles as it expanded to a strength of two companies, with the infantry defence of the colony being split between the regular infantry, the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Infantry.
A contingent of volunteers for overseas service from the Bermuda Militia Artillery, Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was sent to Britain in June, 1940, where the contingent members separated to join their parent corps. With the regular garrison having been drastically reduced due to post-First World War economic austerity by the British Government, concern over further weakening the garrison meant the local-service units, which had been embodied for full-time service for the duration of the war, were barred from sending further contingents abroad until 1943, by which time the threat of enemy attacks on Bermuda and its strategic defence infrastructure had greatly diminished and the United States Army and United states Marine Corps had garrisoned the colony. Following this, a contingent of volunteers from the Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Militia Infantry was attached to the 1st Caribbean Regiment and saw action in Europe and North Africa during the Second World War while a company from the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment and saw action in North West Europe and in Burma during that war. The two contingents had been grouped together in 1943 as the Command Training Battalion, stationed at Prospect Camp while training in preparation for deployment to Europe.
After the war the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was belatedly renamed the Bermuda Rifles. The Bermuda Militia Artillery, however, was not renamed. Following the closure of the Royal Navy's dockyard commenced in 1951, the military garrison, which had existed primarily to protect the Royal Navy base, was also closed.
File:Rembrance Day Parade Bermuda.jpg|thumb|Remembrance Day parade, at the Cenotaph, in the City of Hamilton, 1990. HE The Governor, Major-General Sir Desmond Langley, inspects war veterans, and is speaking with former Second-in-Command of the Royal Bermuda Regiment Major Donald Henry "Bob" Burns, MC, ED.
The Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Rifles amalgamated to form the Bermuda Regiment on 1 September 1965. The new Bermuda Regiment's stand of colours was presented in November 1965 by Princess Margaret. Princess Margaret presented a second stand of colours to replace the first in November 1990 to mark the Bermuda Regiment's 25th anniversary. The latest set of Colours were presented by Duchess of Gloucester, GCVO, at the National Sports Centre on 13 November 2010.
In 1945, the part-time reserve units in Bermuda, the Channel Islands and Malta had numbered collectively as 28th in the British Army order of precedence, but were ordered within that according to the order of precedence of their parent corps in the regular army. This meant, that the Bermuda Militia Artillery, as part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the Militia, preceded the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps despite being the second of the two to be raised. Today, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, as an amalgam of the BMA and BVRC, is 29th and was formerly 28th which changed in 2007 with the Special Reconnaissance Regiment being added to the Order of Precedence.
On 1 September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II awarded the title "Royal" to the regiment to mark the 50th anniversary of its formation.
Badge
The badge of the Royal Bermuda Regiment combines elements from those of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and the BVRC. The full badge, as displayed on the Colours, features two crossed cannons creating an X behind a Maltese cross, set on a circular shield with "THE BERMUDA REGIMENT" inscribed around it, and the whole enclosed within a wreath and surmounted by the Crown. The cap badge is bi-metal – all brass, except a white metal Maltese cross, which is set inside the wheel of a cannon, with a half-wreath about the lower hemisphere of the badge. Flashes, and other colour marks used on dress and elsewhere are blue and red, reflecting the colours of the Royal Artillery, but the stable belt worn is rifle green, with black edges, referring to the colours used by the BVRC.File:Badges of the Bermuda Regiment and related Regiments.jpg|thumb|center|800px|The badge of the Royal Bermuda Regiment draws elements from those of the BMA and the BVRC. The badge at the left is that of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, affiliated to the BVRC, and that at the right belongs to the Royal Anglian Regiment, its successor.
Dress
The dress uniform itself is closer to the old Royal Artillery pattern, and to the generic No. 1 dress uniform used by many British regiments today, being composed of dark blue, almost black, tunic and trousers, and differing only in the red cuffs and collar added to the tunic. The trousers have a broad red stripe running down the outside of each leg. A generic dark blue peaked cap with red hat band is worn with this uniform. During the summer months, the No. 3 uniform is worn.Ranks
Ranks are as follows:Organisation
Leadership
As Bermuda is a British overseas territory, and defence is therefore the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Royal Bermuda Regiment is under the control of the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the island. However, pay and financing is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Security. The Royal Bermuda Regiment is listed in the British Army Order of Battle as number 29th in order of precedence. The RBR traditionally was number 28th in the order of precedence but due to the first time listing on the order of precedence of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment which is the newest Combat Arm/Corp.On its formation, the regiment's Honorary Colonel was Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, who became Colonel-in-Chief in 1984. After the countess's death in 2002, the Duchess of Gloucester was made Colonel-in-Chief in 2006.
Manpower
The Regiment's original strength was about 400, including all ranks. Following discipline problems during an exercise in the West Indies, a report on the unit was commissioned from Major-General Glyn Gilbert, the highest-ranking Bermudian in the British Army. Maj-Gen. Gilbert also took into account the difficulties the regiment had experienced in meeting its obligations when deployed during the civil unrest of 1977. He made a number of recommendations, including the increase of the Regiment's strength to a full battalion of about 750, with three rifle companies and a support company. As the support functions and the Band now fell under Support Company, the battalion headquarters was no longer considered a company in its own right. Initially, the three rifle companies rotated through the role of training company. Eventually, C Company was renamed permanent Training Company. Recruits spent their first year in Training Company, then transferred as a unit to whichever rifle company was losing its third-year conscripts, or were reassigned individually to other sub-units. As of the early 2020s, the regiment's strength-level was about 350 personnel who had a total training commitment of 30-days per year.Structure
With the end of conscription, it is no longer possible to maintain a dedicated Training Company in which recruits spend their first year. Recruits now spend three months, after their two-week initial training, being trained under Training Wing before being posted to one of the Companies. The current establishment is:- Regimental Headquarters
- HQ Company
- A Company
- Logistics Company
- Training Wing
- Coast Guard