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{{Redirect|QLR|the airport in Portugal|Monte Real Air Base}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}

{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=The Queen's Lancashire Regiment
|image=Queen's Lancashire Regiment.gif
|image_size=150px
|caption=Cap badge of The Queen's Lancashire Regiment
|dates=1970–2006
|country=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|type=Line Infantry
|role=1st Battalion – [[Mechanised infantry|Mechanised]]<br>4th Battalion – [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|TA Reserve]]
|size= One battalion
|command_structure=[[King's Division]]
|current_commander= 
|garrison= RHQ – [[Fulwood Barracks]], [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]<br>1st Battalion – [[Osnabrück]], Germany
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel in Chief 
|colonel_of_the_regiment= 
|nickname=
|motto=''Loyally I Serve''
|colors=
|identification_symbol=[[File:qlrtrf.jpg|100px]]
|identification_symbol_label=Tactical Recognition Flash
|march=Quick – ''L'Attaque/The Red Rose''<br>Slow – ''Long Live Elizabeth''
|mascot=
|battles=
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries= Waterloo(18 June)<br>Quebec(13 September)
}}
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[File:QLR.gif|right]] -->
'''The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot)''' (QLR) was an [[infantry]] [[regiment]] of the [[British Army]], part of the [[King's Division]].  It was formed on 25 March 1970 at [[Connaught Barracks, Dover|Connaught Barracks]] in [[Dover]] through the amalgamation of the two remaining [[Lancashire]] infantry regiments, the [[Lancashire Regiment|Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)]] and the [[Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)]]. In July 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with two other Northern infantry regiments to form the [[Duke of Lancaster's Regiment]].

== History ==
The 1st Battalion served on operations in Northern Ireland in 1970, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76 (resident), 1977, 1980–81, 1987, 1990–92, 1997–99 (resident) and 2001.<ref name=bau>{{cite web|url=http://british-army-units1945on.co.uk/infantry/queen-s-lancashire-regiment.html|title=Queen's Lancashire Regiment|publisher=British Army units 1945 on|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

The 1st Battalion undertook two tours with [[British Army of the Rhine|BAOR]] in the mechanised role. The first of which was with [[British 12th Infantry Brigade|12 Mechanised Brigade]] in [[Osnabrück]] from 1970 to 1974. The second was with [[33rd Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|33 Armoured Brigade]] in [[Paderborn]] from 1984 to 1990. The 1st Battalion also had the honour of being the last British battalion to serve in Berlin prior to the final withdrawal in 1994.<ref name=page22/>

Overseas service saw the 1st Battalion posted to Cyprus from 1978 to 1980 as the Western Sovereign Base Area Resident Battalion, and again in 1983, where they saw service with the [[United Nations]]. A company was dispatched to the [[Falkland Islands]] in the aftermath of the 1982 war.<ref name=page21>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Regimental_History.pdf|title=Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: Regimental History|publisher=Ministry of Defence|page=21|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> The 1st Battalion returned to Cyprus as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area Resident Battalion from 2004 to 2005.<ref name=page21/>

In 1996 the 1st Battalion served as part of [[IFOR]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] operating in the area known as "The Anvil".<ref name=page22>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Regimental_History.pdf|title=Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: Regimental History|publisher=Ministry of Defence|page=22|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref>

The regiment's 1st Battalion saw service in Iraq in the months immediately following [[Operation Telic]], from June to November 2003. Given responsibility for Iraq's second city, [[Basra]], it gained much praise for its efforts to restore security and civil order.<ref name=page22/>

On 16 December 2004, it was announced that the Queen's Lancashire Regiment would be merged with the [[King's Regiment]] and the [[King's Own Royal Border Regiment]] into the [[Duke of Lancaster's Regiment|Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border)]]. On 1 July 2006, the 1st Battalion, Queen's Lancashire Regiment became the 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.korbr.co.uk/KORBR/z1%20future%20of%20KORBR%201.htm |title=Duke of Lancaster's Regiment |access-date=26 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121234439/http://www.korbr.co.uk/KORBR/z1%20future%20of%20KORBR%201.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008 }}</ref>

== Territorials ==

As well as the regular 1st Battalion, the regiment also had a [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] 4th Battalion, which was formed on 1 April 1975, with headquarters at Kimberley Barracks, Preston and companies at various times in Ashton-under-Lyne, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Burnley and Bury.<ref name=fourth>{{cite web|url=http://british-army-units1945on.co.uk/territorial-army-infantry/lancastrian-volunteers.html|title=Lancastrian Volunteers|publisher=British Army units 1945 on|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref> As part of the [[Strategic Defence Review (1998)|Strategic Defence Review]], the 4th Battalion merged with the 4th Battalion the [[King's Own Royal Border Regiment]] to create the [[Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers]] in July 1999.<ref name=fourth/>

==Abuses in Iraq==

Some months after returning from Iraq the battalion was at the centre of the first serious accusations of [[prisoner abuse|abuse]] against Iraqi prisoners levelled at British soldiers.  These accusations were illustrated on the front pages of the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' by photographs which the regiment immediately denounced as staged fakes. The regiment then ran a successful campaign, believed to be unique for an active unit of the British Armed Forces, to prove that the pictures were false. After two weeks, the ''Mirror'' was forced to admit that it had found "sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax." Editor Piers Morgan was forced to resign when he refused to apologise.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/may/15/mirror.politicsandthemedia|title=Mirror editor sacked over hoax|work=The Guardian|date=15 May 2004|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

There has however been at least one case of true abuse; Corporal [[Donald Payne (British Army soldier)|Donald Payne]] became Britain's first convicted war criminal after pleading guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees, which resulted in the death of one detainee [[Death of Baha Mousa|Baha Mousa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6609237.stm |title=UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse |date=30 April 2007|publisher=BBC|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> Six other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing. The presiding judge, [[Stuart McKinnon|Mr Justice McKinnon]], stated that "none of those soldiers has been charged with any offence, simply because there is no evidence against them as a result of a more or less obvious closing of ranks."<ref name="cmcloserankscomment">{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-victims-of-war-93-injuries-one-killing-no-justice-440756.html | title=The victims of war: 93 injuries, one killing, no justice | work=The Independent | date=18 March 2007 | access-date=2009-07-14 | location=London | first=Raymond | last=Whitaker}}</ref> The report from a 2011 inquiry into the killing stated that 19 soldiers had assaulted Mousa and nine other Iraqi detainees and that many other soldiers, including officers, must have known what was happening.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/13/baha-mousa-soldiers-iraq-justice|title=Baha Mousa soldiers should be brought to justice, says father|work=The Guardian|date=13 September 2011|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref>

On 19 July 2005, [[attorney general|Attorney General]] [[Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith|Lord Goldsmith]] announced that Payne was being charged with [[manslaughter]], [[perverting the course of justice]] and inhumane treatment of persons under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. On the same day, another ten soldiers were also charged with similar crimes, six relating to the death of Mousa and four relating to the death of another Iraqi, Ahmed Jabber Kareem Ali, on 8 May 2003.<ref name="chargedwithcrime">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4698251.stm | title=UK soldiers face war crimes trial | publisher=BBC News | date=20 July 2005 | access-date=2006-09-23 }}</ref>

The [[Court-martial#Courts-martial in the United Kingdom|court martial]] was held in [[Bulford Camp]], Wiltshire, after an investigation by the [[Royal Military Police]]. It convened in the autumn of 2006, and concluded six months later in April 2007, being the most expensive Court Martial in modern British military history<ref name="Q&ABahaMousainquiry">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8143982.stm | title=Q&A: Baha Mousa inquiry | publisher=BBC News | date=13 July 2009 | access-date=2009-07-13 }}</ref>

During the court martial, Corporal Payne admitted he "enjoyed" hearing Iraqis call out during torture, describing their cries of pain as "the choir".<ref name="sentence">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6609237.stm|title=UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse|publisher=BBC News|date=30 April 2007|access-date=30 April 2007}}</ref> He was cleared of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.  Six other soldiers were cleared of any charges.<ref name="sentence" />

After earlier pleading guilty to the offence of inhuman treatment of persons protected under the Geneva Conventions, Corporal Donald Payne was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, reduced to the ranks, and dismissed from Her Majesty's Armed Forces, on 30 April 2007.<ref name="UKsoldierjailedoverIraqabuse">{{cite web | url=http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/uk/uk+soldier+jailed+over+iraq+abuse/485457 | title=UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse | work=Channel 4 | date=30 April 2007 | access-date=2007-04-30 }}</ref><ref name="dannattmodcomment">{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.uk/defenceinternet/defencenews/defencepolicyandbusiness/generaldannattspeaksaftercloseofcplpaynecourtmartial.htm |title=Defence Policy and Business news article |work=Ministry of Defence |date=30 April 2007 |access-date=2009-07-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715190837/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/GeneralDannattSpeaksAfterCloseOfCplPayneCourtMartial.htm |archive-date=15 July 2009 }}</ref>

==Regimental museum==
The [[Lancashire Infantry Museum]] is based at [[Fulwood Barracks]] in [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Official site|url=http://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/|publisher=Lancashire Infantry Museum|access-date=16 March 2015}}</ref>

==Battle honours==
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment's battle honours were as follows:
* ''Pre-War'':
** Gibraltar 1704–5, Louisberg, [[Quebec 1759]], Belleisle, [[Martinique 1762]], Havannah, [[St Lucia 1778]], Cape of Good Hope 1806, Maida, Monte Video, Rolica.  Vimiera, Corunna, Talavera, Java, Tarifa, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, St Sebastian, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula, Niagara, Waterloo, Ava, Bhurtpore, Candahar 1842, Ghuznee 1842, Cabool 1842, Maharajpore, [[Battle of Alma|Alma]], Inkerman, Sevastopol, Lucknow, Canton, New Zealand, Ali Masjib, Ahmed Khel, [[Afghanistan 1878–80]], Chitral, [[Siege of Kimberley]], [[Relief of Ladysmith]], South Africa 1899–02.
* ''The Great War 1914–18'':
** Mons, Le Cateau, [[Retreat from Mons]], [[Marne 1914]], 18, [[Aisne 1914]], 18, La Basse 1914, [[Messines 1914]], 17, 18, Armentieres 1914, [[Ypres 1914]], 15, 17, 18, Langemarck 1914, 17, Gheluvelt, Nonne Boschen, [[Givenchy 1914]], Neuve Chapelle, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, [[Festubert 1915]], Loos, [[Somme 1916]], 18, [[Albert 1916]], 18, Bazentin, Pozieres, Guillemont, Ginchy, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, [[Ancre Heights]], [[Ancre 1916]], 18, [[Arras 1917]], 18, [[Vimy 1917]], [[Scarpe 1917]], 18, Arleux. Oppy, Pilckem, [[Menin Road]], [[Polygon Wood]] Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, [[Cambrai 1917]], 18, St Quentin, [[Bapaume 1918]], Rosieres, Villers-Bretonneux, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Bethune, Scherpenberg, Soissonnais-Ourcq, Drocourt-Queant, Hindenburg Line, Epehy, Canal du Nord, St Quentin Canal, Courtrai, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, [[France and Flanders 1914–18]], [[Battle of Kosturino|Kosturino]], [[Doiran 1917]], 18, Macedonia 1915–18, Helles, Krithia, Suvla, Sari Bair, [[Gallipoli 1915]], Rumani, [[Egypt 1915–17]], [[Third Battle of Gaza|Battle of Gaza]], [[Nebi Samwil]], [[Battle of Jerusalem]], Jaffa, Tell'Asur. [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|Palestine 1917-18]], [[Tigris 1916]], [[Kut al Amara 1917]], Baghdad, [[Mesopotamia 1916–18]], Kilimanjaro, [[East Africa 1914–16]].
*''Inter-War'':
**Baluchistan 1918. [[Third Anglo-Afghan War|Afghanistan 1919]].
*''The Second World War 1939–45'':
**Defence of Escaut, [[Battle of Dunkirk|Dunkirk 1940]], Normandy Landing, [[Second Battle of the Odon|Odon]], Caen, Bourgebus Ridge, Troarn, Falaise, Nederrijn, Lower Maas, Venraij, Ourthe, Rhineland, Reichswald, Weeze, Hochwald, Rhine, Ibbenburen, Aller, Bremen, [[Battle of France|North-West Europe 1940]], [[North West Europe 1944-45|44–45]], Banana Ridge, Djebel Kess Kiss, Medjez Plain, Gueriat El Atach Ridge, Gab Gab Gap, Djebel Bou Aoukaz 1943, [[North African Campaign|North Africa 1943]], [[Operation Shingle|Anzio]], Rome, Fiesole, Gothic Line, Monte Gameraldi, Monte Ceco, Monte Grand, [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italy 1944–45]], Madagascar, Middle East 1942, Johore, Batu Pahat, [[Singapore Island (battle honour)|Singapore Island]], [[Malaya 1941–42]], North Arakan, [[Mayu Tunnels]], Pinwe, Meiktila, Nyaungu Bridgehead, Letse, Irrawaddy, [[Burma 1943–45]].

==Colonel-in-Chief==
The Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment was [[Queen Elizabeth II]]

==Regimental Colonels==
Colonels of the regiment have been:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/030QLR.htm |title=The Queen's Lancashire Regiment |publisher=regiments.org |access-date=5 December 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216173205/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/030QLR.htm |archive-date=16 December 2007 }}</ref>
*1970–1978 Maj-Gen. [[Miles Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk|Hon. Miles Francis Fitzalan Howard]], KCVO, CB, CBE, MC 
*1978–1983 Maj-Gen. [[Peter Downward|Peter Aldcroft Downward]], CB, DSO, DFC
*1983–1993 Maj-Gen. David Houston, CBE
*1993–1999 Lt-Gen. Scott Carnegie Grant, CB
*1999–2001 Brig. Alex Frederick Birtwistle, OBE, ADC
*2001–2006 Brig. Geoffrey Paul Sheldon
*''2006 The regiment was amalgamated with [[The King's Own Royal Border Regiment]] and [[The King's Regiment]] to form [[The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)]]''

== Alliances ==
* {{CAN}} – [[The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment]]
* {{CAN}} – [[The West Nova Scotia Regiment]]
* {{CAN}} – [[The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)]]
* {{AUS}} – [[Royal Tasmania Regiment|The Royal Tasmania Regiment]]
* {{NZL}} – [[Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment|The Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment]]
* {{PAK}} – 8th and 14th Battalions, [[Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)|The Punjab Regiment]]
* {{MAS}} – 2nd Battalion, [[Royal Malay Regiment|The Royal Malay Regiment]]
* {{RSA}} – [[Kimberley Regiment|The Kimberley Regiment]]
* {{RN}} – {{HMS|Lancaster|F229|6}}

==Freedom Towns==
*{{GER}} – [[Spandau]] (16 August 1993) 
*{{UK}} – [[Blackburn]]
*{{UK}} – [[Burnley]]
*{{UK}} – [[Fylde (borough)|Fylde]]
*{{UK}} – [[Hyndburn]] (29 June 2002).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/206138 |title=Queen's Lancashire Regiment Freedom of the Borough (Accrington Pals)  |website=War Memorials Online |access-date=18 July 2021 }}</ref>
*{{UK}} – [[Borough of Pendle|Pendle]] (2001).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pendletoday.co.uk/news/duke-lancasters-regiment-parade-through-colne-2584645 |title=Duke of Lancaster's Regiment parade through Colne  |last=Spencer |first=Andrew |date=14 May 2015 |website=Pendle Today |access-date=18 July 2021 }}</ref>
*{{UK}} – [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]
*{{UK}} – [[Borough of Rossendale|Rossendale]] ([[Haslingden]])
*{{UK}} – [[Warrington]]
*{{UK}} – [[Chorley]]

==See also==
*[[Lancashire Infantry Museum]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Duke of Lancaster's Regiment}}

[[Category:Queen's Lancashire Regiment| ]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1970]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:Military units and formations in Lancashire]]