Royal Bermuda Regiment

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Royal Bermuda Regiment
Royal Bermuda Regiment.svg
Cap Badge of the Royal Bermuda Regiment
Active1 September 1965
Country United Kingdom
 Bermuda
Branch British Army[1]
TypeLine Infantry
RoleInternal security
SizeOne Battalion
~609 soldiers
Garrison/HQWarwick Camp
MarchQuick – Bermuda
Anniversaries21 November 1965, presentation of the first colours.
Websitewww.bermudaregiment.bm
Commanders
Commanding OfficerLt. Col. Ben Beasley
Colonel-in-ChiefThe Duchess of Gloucester
Honorary ColonelCol. David Gibbons

The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), formerly the Bermuda Regiment, is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single territorial[2] infantry battalion that was formed by the amalgamation in 1965 of two originally voluntary units, the mostly black Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) and the almost entirely white Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC), and the only remaining component of the Bermuda Garrison since the 1957 withdrawal of regular units and detachments from Bermuda.

History[]

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.
Soldiers of the Bermuda Contingent of the Royal Garrison Artillery (BMA) in a Casualty Clearing Station on the Western Front in July 1916
Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps soldiers serving on the Western Front with the Lincolnshire Regiment, 1918

The two original units, the mostly black Bermuda Militia Artillery and the almost entirely white Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, were raised in accordance with a series of acts passed by the Bermuda parliament in the late 19th century.[3] 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.[3] 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.[4] Militia soldiers were already engaged for terms of service, and the Bermuda Militia Artillery was not similarly re-organised until 1928 (its name, also, was not modified to reflect the change).[5] The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers was created as a unit to operate the search lights at coastal artillery batteries in June 1931,[6] while the Bermuda Militia Infantry was created as a unit to protect St David's Battery in October 1939, expanding to two companies with the infantry defence of the colony split between the regular infantry (by then a detachment of 4th Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders),[7][8][9] the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Infantry.[10][11]

RSM of the Bermuda Regiment WO1 Herman Eve in 1992

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.[3] 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.[12]

After the war the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was belatedly renamed the Bermuda Rifles.[3] The Bermuda Militia Artillery, however, was not renamed. Following the closure of the Royal Navy's dockyard commenced in 1951 (a process that lasted until 1958, leaving only a small naval base, HMS Malabar, within the former dockyard),[13] the military garrison, which had existed primarily to protect the Royal Navy base, was also closed.[14]

John F. Kennedy, escorted by a Bermuda Militia Artillery officer in Royal Artillery blue No. 1 Dress, inspects green-uniformed riflemen of the Bermuda Rifles in 1961

The Bermuda Rifles and the Bermuda Militia Artillery amalgamated to form the Bermuda Regiment on 1 September 1965.[3] 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.[15] The latest set of Colours were presented by Duchess of Gloucester, GCVO at the National Sports Centre on 13 November 2010.[3] 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 (the number varied before and after 1945 depending on the make-up of the British Army),[16][17] 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 (BMA), as part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the Militia, preceded the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) (as part of the infantry and the Volunteer Force) 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.[18][19]

On 1 September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II awarded the title "Royal" to the regiment to mark the 50th anniversary of its formation.[20]

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 (the symbol of rifle regiments in the British Army, and used on the white metal BVRC badge), 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 (taken from the badge of the Royal Artillery), with a half-wreath about the lower hemisphere of the badge. Flashes, and other colour marks used on dress and elsewhere (such as backgrounds on signs about Warwick Camp) are red and blue, reflecting the colours of the Royal Artillery, but the stable belt (issued only to permanent staff, officers and senior ranks) worn is rifle green, with black edges, referring to the colours used by the BVRC.[21]

The badge of the Royal Bermuda Regiment (bottom) draws elements from those of the BMA (Royal Artillery, second from left) and the BVRC (second from right). 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[]

Bermuda Regiment Warrant Officers in the No. 1 dress
Potential Non-Commissioned Officers (PNCO) Cadre Promotion Parade in No. 3 (Summer) Dress at Warwick Camp in June, 1994.

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 (identical to the No. 1 except that a light-weight generic, white tunic is worn). As the majority of public ceremonial duties actually take place during the summer months, the No. 1 uniform was little used by comparison to the No. 3 and has been withdrawn from general ceremonial usage. The No. 3 uniform is now worn for ceremonial parade year round. Although neither the BMA nor the BVRC were line infantry, a Full Dress with red tunic (historically worn by line infantry) is worn only by regimental drummers.

Bermuda Regiment Warrant Officer in the old DPM No.9: Tropical Combat Dress trousers and Soldier 95 shirt

The combat uniform is now the British Army Multi-Terrain Pattern, which replaced the Soldier 95 uniform of the previous decade beginning in 2012. For much of the Regiment's history, its dress included a mixed collection of British uniform items. As with its predecessors, the Royal Bermuda Regiment has a tradition of wearing temperate uniforms (including combat jackets and pullovers) for much of the year; and tropical uniforms during the summer months. This is a result of the peculiar climate of Bermuda, which is chilly, wet, and windy during the winter, and can reach 30 °C (86 °F) during the summer with high humidity.

For many years, and unusually for an infantry unit, the regiment wore the Denison parachute smock which it inherited from its predecessors, only adopting the 1968 pattern DPM combat jacket in the 1980s (which it issued into the new millennium, although the 1968 uniform actually became obsolete with Regular British Army regiments in the 1980s). At the time of amalgamation, the basic combat uniform worn under the Denison was composed of the Second World War-era green tropical shirt and trousers, ankle boots and puttees. Carrying equipment was initially the 1937 Pattern. By the early 1980s, these uniform items had been replaced by the green lightweight trousers, green shirt and sweater, 1968 Pattern combat jacket, high boots (otherwise identical to the old ankle boot), and the 1958 Pattern carrying equipment. Green shirts and lightweight combat trousers began to be supplemented by DPM tropical uniforms in the 1980s, and by the mid 1990s had been entirely replaced by them (although the green kit, like the Denison smocks, was handed down to the Regiment's Junior Leaders and to the Bermuda Cadet Corps, which continued to wear it). The tropical DPM uniform (worn in colder weather with the '68 Pattern Combat Jacket and the green pullover) was fully adopted by 1994, and continued to be issued for some time after its replacement in Britain by the Soldier 95 uniform. The beret worn is the dark blue one worn by the Royal Artillery and by various British Army units not authorised to wear distinctive colours of their own.

Little use is made of Service Dress, which is only issued to a handful of permanent staff members. The colour varies slightly from the standard British Army khaki (being greener), and during the summer months, the long trousers might be replaced with shorts. The Royal Bermuda Regiment service dress is composed of a jacket and trousers worn with an olive green peaked cap, tan shirt and tie. Whereas its predecessors often used the tropical-weight No. 4 Service Dress during the summer months, the Royal Bermuda Regiment uses the same uniform year-round, worn during the summer in shirt sleeve order – usually, a short-sleeved tan shirt with no tie, whether worn with long trousers or shorts of the same weight and colour. A stable belt is worn in shirt sleeve order. Mess dress is also worn for many functions by members of the Officers' Mess, and of the Sergeants' (and Warrant Officers') Mess.

Organisation[]

Leadership[]

A Command Centre during IS training.
PNCO Cadre train in Internal Security (IS) role.
Bermuda Regiment soldiers aboard a motor boat, off the North Shore of Bermuda, 1996.

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 Labour, Home Affairs and Housing. The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) 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.[1]

On its formation, the regiment's Honorary Colonel was Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, who became Colonel-in-Chief in 1984. After her death in 2002, the position was assumed, in 2004 by The Duchess of Gloucester. The unit is directly commanded by a lieutenant-colonel, as is typical of a battalion in the British Army, who is appointed by the governor upon the advice of a Defence Board. Brian Gonsalves was appointed on 28 May 2009, to serve for a standard three-year tenure. In some cases that tenure can be extended by the governor for a further year. In Lieutenant Colonel Gonsalves' case, he filled the role until passing command to Lieutenant Colonel Foster-Brown in June 2013. The current visiting EU advisor of the regiment is Commandant H. Kunz of Coburg, Germany.

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 (its existing strength did not allow for a reserve). 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 (A, B, and C) and a support company. As the support functions (Regimental Quartermaster Stores and Internal Security Stores, Signals, Armourers, Motor Transport, Boat Troop, Gun Troop/Assault Pioneers, Medics, cooks, et cetera) and the Band now fell under Support Company (commanded by the Regimental Quartermaster), 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.

Structure[]

Today, following a steady reduction in the number of 18-year-old males eligible for conscription each year, the regiment has a strength of approximately 609, with a full-time administrative component of 30. After a review in the late 1990s, the Royal Bermuda Regiment had its establishment reduced to its present format:

  • A Company: Second and third year soldiers.
  • Training Company: First year soldiers
  • Support Company: Boat Troop, Regimental Police, Signals, Guns/Assault Pioneers, Medics and Motor Transport section.
  • Quartermasters Company: Logistics and stores.
  • Band Company: Music and Ceremonial.
  • Training Wing

One of the units amalgamated into the Royal Bermuda Regiment, the BMA, was nominally an artillery unit, although it had converted to the infantry role in 1953. Other than a ceremonial Gun Troop, equipped with two 25-pdr. field guns, the Royal Bermuda Regiment is wholly an infantry unit.

Conscription[]

Recruits clean their Mini-14 rifles, prior to a shoot at Warwick Camp, during the 1994 Recruit Camp.

The majority of the regiment was made up of conscripts up to July 2018, making it unique among all of the land forces under the British Crown.

Conscription was based on a random lottery of men through the ages of 18 to 23, with exemptions granted to Police and Prison officers, members of the British regular forces (or men who have served for two years), church ministers, prisoners or those judged to be of "unsound mind". Temporary deferment was granted for full-time students (attending either the Bermuda College or schools abroad), for the length of their studies, and individuals medically unfit but likely to become fit again. Conscientious objectors had the opportunity to either serve in a non-combatant role or perform an alternative community service chosen by the governor.

Both Bermudians and non-Bermudians criticised conscription for its alleged sexism and similarity to slavery (a sensitive issue given the historic background of Bermuda), and this has been noted in the British Parliament.[22][23][24] It received support from the community, however, and was hailed for causing interaction between social and racial groups.

At its height, three-quarters of the strength of the Bermuda Regiment was made up of conscripts, although many soldiers, whether they initially volunteered or were conscripted, elected to re-engage annually after their initial three years and two months term of service was completed, with some serving for decades (such as WO2 Bernard Pitman, who retired in 2013 after forty years of service).[25]

In 2018, the House of Assembly of Bermuda voted to abolish conscription, effective of 1 July 2018.[26][27]

Recent assessments[]

Towards the end of 2005, the regiment took part in a fitness for role exercise, this time in the form of an inspection by the Ministry of Defence. The review noted that equipment was substandard and major items would be deemed to be unserviceable by 2010 (half of the vehicles and signal equipment were noted to be "out of action") and that command and control was poor, though it also noted high morale and firearms proficiency.[28]

Royal Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders and the Bermuda Cadet Corps[]

The Bermuda Regiment operated its own Junior Leaders programme for many years, until it was absorbed into the separate Bermuda Cadet Corps in the 1990s. The Junior Leaders had been part of the Bermuda Regiment, wearing the same cap badge and operating from Warwick Camp, whereas the Bermuda Cadet Corp was a separate organisation, operating through the island's secondary schools (having been reformed from the old Cadet Corps in 1965, at the same time as the amalgamation of the BVRC and BMA).

In 2012, due to financial constraints, the Bermuda Cadet Corps was disbanded and replaced by the resurrected Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders.[29][30][31][32] Many of the Bermuda Regiment's officers, warrant officers and NCOs began their service in the Junior Leaders, including the former Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Gonsalves [33] and the current Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel David Curley.

A bill was tabled in the House of Assembly of Bermuda in 2015 to formalise the organisation of the Royal Bermuda Regiment's Junior Leaders.[34]

Operations[]

Bermuda Regiment soldiers armed with Mini-14s and a Barbados Police officer conduct a joint patrol of an oil facility during the 2007 Cricket World Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados

The primary role of the regiment has recently become disaster relief. Other roles include ceremonial duties, and supporting the Bermuda police department in internal security issues (both in the forms of riot-control and anti-terrorism). In 2001, following the September 11 attacks on the nearby United States, the Bermuda Regiment was deployed, taking over responsibility for the security of the Bermuda International Airport (Bermuda has always been a point of importance in trans-Atlantic aviation, and a large number of aircraft diverted to the Island when US airspace was closed) and other potential targets. In 2004 and 2005 the regiment deployed to the Cayman Islands and Grenada to assist in post Hurricane Ivan restoration efforts.

The Bermuda Regiment successfully deployed a platoon of internal security trained soldiers to Barbados in 2007. There they took part in forming the security infrastructure for the WCC Cricket World Cup. They worked alongside soldiers from Barbados, Guyana, India and South Africa, in ensuring a secure environment for the Super 8 series of matches. Although little has been made of this deployment, this was the first time since the First World War that a formed unit from Bermuda has deployed overseas for an operation other than disaster relief (the Second World War drafts from the BMA, BVRC, and BVE were all absorbed into other units, and the cadre of officers and NCOs sent to Belize in the 1980s were attached to a battalion of the Royal Anglians).

The Bermuda Regiment also provided a cordon at the Bermuda International Airport in October, 1996, when the Chinese ship, Xing Da, was brought to the island. The ship had been detained on the Atlantic by the United States Coast Guard carrying over a hundred illegal migrants with the intent of smuggling them into Massachusetts. It was intended to transfer the passengers and crew to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, but the ship was deemed unseaworthy. Taking the ship into a US port to transfer the detainees to Cuba was undesirable as the US Government would have then been obliged to allow any who requested to enter the process for asylum application. The only other port within reach was Bermuda, roughly 640 miles from North Carolina and 1,061.4 miles from Guantanamo Bay. As the UK Government was wary of allowing the detainees to set foot on British territory for the same reason, the ship was kept offshore while the two governments negotiated. A Company of the Bermuda Regiment was deployed, pending the outcome. On 9 October, it provided a cordon to close off the Weapons Pier of the former United States Navy NAS Bermuda, while Bermuda Government ferry boats brought the detainees into Castle Harbour. Bermuda Police and US Coast Guard powerboats transferred the detainees to the Weapons Pier, where they were handcuffed and loaded, one-by-one, aboard waiting US Coast Guard C-130 Hercules, with each aeroplane taking off and heading for Cuba as soon as it was full.[35][36]

The regiment also performs a wide variety of community service operations, and is involved in many cultural events on the island, especially in parades.

Overseas connections[]

Royal Bermuda Regiment and US Navy NAS Bermuda personnel at Camp Lejeune.

During the First World War, the Bermuda Regiment's predecessor, the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) sent two contingents to serve with the Lincolnshire Regiment on the Western Front. After the War, the connection to the Lincolns was made official. When the UK Volunteer Force, Yeomanry, and Militia had been reorganised into the Territorial Force in 1908 (renamed the Territorial Army after the First World War), the many former Volunteer Rifle Corps became numbered battalions of British (Regular) Army regiments, with the regular regiments adopting paternal roles by providing the part-time units with loaned officers, warrant officers and NCOs, and taking other steps to give them the benefit of their experience. Although the Territorial Force, like the Volunteer Force, was tasked only with home defence, and its soldiers could not originally be compelled to take part in overseas campaigns, the Territorials would send drafts of volunteers to the Regular battalions during wartime, or (once the restriction on sending Territorials overseas without their consent was lifted) the entire TA battalion might be sent. The role the Lincolnshire Regiment adopted with the BVRC was similar to that it played with its own TA battalions, although the BVRC remained a separate unit.

The BVRC again provided two drafts to the Lincolns during the Second World War. When the BVRC (renamed the Bermuda Rifles) was amalgamated with the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA), to create the Bermuda Regiment, the Royal Anglian Regiment, into which the (Royal) Lincolnshire Regiment had itself been amalgamated, continued the paternal role.

Throughout the Bermuda Regiment's history, the Royal Anglians have provided it with its staff officer, and with Permanent Staff Instructors (PSI) (now called full-time instructors (FTI)) warrant officers (WO2) for each of its companies, as well as other personnel on long-term and short-term attachments (although other Regiments have occasionally also provided personnel on loan). Although the Bermuda Regiment had, prior to 2013, always managed to provide commanding officers from within its own strength, it has occasionally had to use seconded officers when unable to provide its own personnel to fill roles such as Second-In-Command (2-i-c), adjutant, regimental sergeant major (RSM), and training officer. Its first nine Adjutants (1965–1984) were all seconded from the Royal Anglians. Ten of its regimental sergeant majors have been seconded, including three from the Royal Anglians (WO1 R. Jones (1976-1978), WO1 B. Bear (1985-1986), and WO1 JJ Wilcox (1987-1989)). In 1996, its Second-in-Command, staff officer, and adjutant were all on loan from the Royal Anglians. This frequent resort to seconded officers is due to a problem common to many Territorial units in Britain, also. These positions are all full-time ones, ideally filled by officers who volunteer from within the regiment, but whose service in these roles is restricted to three years. As relatively few officers can afford to leave their civil careers for three years, the problem is not so much caused by a lack of suitable officers, as a lack of willing ones.

The Lincolnshire Regiment was also affiliated to The Lincoln and Welland Regiment of the Canadian Army. Although joint training has occurred in the past, and short-term loans of NCOs from the Lincoln & Welland Regiment have been frequent (especially for Recruit Camps and Overseas Camps), numerous attempts to formalise the affiliation with the Bermuda Regiment have been unsuccessful.

Members of the ceremonial Gun Troop carry out occasional ceremonial training with the Royal Regiment of Artillery, which provides its sergeant major instructor of gunnery to conduct local courses, although the troop has no combat artillery role. As one of the units amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment, the BMA, was an artillery unit (which history the Gun Troop commemorates), members of the regiment are entitled to join the Royal Artillery Association (RAA), which has a branch located on the grounds of the former St. George's Garrison (which had been predominantly a Royal Garrison Artillery establishment). The Bermuda Regiment shares this unusual heritage of a combined infantry and artillery unit with the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

Corps Warrant[]

In late 2001, the Bermuda Regiment and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment were presented with Corps Warrants dated 21 February 2000.

In 2017, the Corp Warrant ceased on the 30 July 2017. A new Corp Warrant which included the Royal Bermuda Regiment was confirmed as a Corp of the British Army and took effect 1 August 2017 and was signed at St. James Court by Her Majesty's Command dated 17 July 2017.[37]

The 2017 Corp Warrant notes that the competition of Corps composition 'The under mentioned bodies of the [British] Army comprising Regular Forces, Army Reserves, Regular Reserve, including any raised hereafter and any local units overseas: of which the Royal Bermuda Regiment was listed with the composition note; All units and personnel of The Royal Bermuda Regiment.'[38]

Other[]

Royal Bermuda Regiment and US Marine Corps Sergeants, 1989
Bermuda Regiment soldiers board a USMC CH-46 Sea Knight at USMC Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, USA.
Two soldiers from the Bermuda Regiment's Guns/Assault Pioneers with a US Marine Corps engineer at Camp Lejeune in 2013

The Bermuda Regiment also developed a relationship with the United States Marine Corps, which had supplied a detachment to Bermuda for many years to guard United States Navy facilities. In addition to occasional training with the US Marines in Bermuda, the Bermuda Regiment used facilities and training areas of the US Marines' Camp Lejeune and Camp Geiger in North Carolina for training, with the two rifle companies having been sent there every second year for their annual camps. The Training Company's Potential Non-Commissioned Officers (PNCO) Cadre is also sent there each June (it had previously been sent to Canada).

Following the increased usage of those bases, after 2001, by US forces preparing for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bermuda Regiment briefly moved the location for its annual camps to Florida, where it was developing a relationship with the Florida National Guard, although it subsequently recommenced the use of Camp Lejeune.

The Bermuda Regiment took part in its first exercise overseas in 1968, when twenty-eight personnel were deployed to Jamaica on 26 October, along with "A" Company of the York and Lancaster Regiment, for a four-week introduction to jungle warfare in the vicinity of Berriedale, in Portland. Jamaica became the location of annual camps in alternate years, but in March, 2013, it was announced that a new location would be sought.[39][40] This was due to the cost of deploying to Jamaica (a flight of 1,249 miles, compared to 725 miles for the flight to MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina), given the budgetary constraints, and as Jamaica provided little opportunity for training in Internal Security roles, such as is available at USMCB Camp Lejeune with its Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) facility.[41][42] In 2014, the annual camp was held at the Land Force Central Area Training Centre Meaford of the Canadian Army at Meaford, in Ontario, Canada.[43]

The Bermuda Regiment's training in the US, Jamaica and Canada is self-contained, rarely involving local units, but friendly relationships have been developed with both the US Marine Corps, and the Jamaican Defence Forces (JDF). Specialist Bermuda Regiment sub-units, such as the Reconnaissance Platoon and the Medics, have trained with equivalent US Marine Corps units at Camp Lejeune.[44][45][46][47] The Royal Bermuda Regiment's Boat Troop has also trained in the United States alongside the US Coast Guard (which formerly operated Air-Sea Rescue services from the American bases in Bermuda, and currently provides Air-Sea Rescue services in the area around Bermuda from its base at Elizabeth City, North Carolina).

Over the last decade, a relationship has also been developed with the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, and small detachments sent with that regiment on its annual training deployments to Morocco.[48] In 2007, for the first time, the annual camp was held in England, with detachments training at the Cinque Ports Training Area (CPTA); part of the Defence Training Estate (DTE) South-East, near Dover.[49][50]

As the new Cayman Regiment is being developed, the Royal Bermuda Regiment has been tasked to train the first few batches of recruits from the Cayman Islands at Warwick Camp. The first batch of Caymanian recruits had joined the February 2020 of Bermudian recruits.[51][52]

Alliances[]

Commanding officers[]

Lieutenant-Colonel (then-Lieutenant) William White in Jamaica, 1996.

The commanding officer of the Bermuda Regiment (as also the quartermaster, training officer, the staff officer (UK Loan Service), the adjutant, the aide-de-camp, and the regimental sergeant major) is a full-time position, requiring those appointed to the role to take leave of their civilian employments. Originally, there was a four-year limit to the term of a commanding officer, which could be extended if required. Following Lieutenant-Colonel Gavin A. Shorto's six years in the office, a three-year appointment was made the norm. The commanding officer is normally chosen from amongst the majors of the Battalion, and is promoted to lieutenant-colonel. Following the death of Major Christian Wheddon in a motor accident in England in 2012,[53][54] while training in preparation for assuming command, Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Foster-Brown, a professional soldier from The Rifles, assumed command in June 2013, the first non-Bermudian to fill the role.[55][56][57] Foster-Brown was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel David Curley on 27 February 2016.[58] In March 2020, Lieutenant-Colonel Ben Beasley replaced Curley in command.[59][60]

Equipment[]

Royal Bermuda Regiment soldier with a Ruger Mini-14 at Ferry Reach in 1994
Royal Bermuda Regiment soldier with an L85A2 at USMC Camp Lejeune in 2018

The BMA and Bermuda Rifles had re-equipped from the .303 inch No. 4, Mk. 1 rifle to the 7.62mm NATO L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) the year before amalgamation.[61][62] The .303 inch Bren light machine gun and Vickers machine gun were replaced by the 7.62mm NATO General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). The Bermuda Regiment inherited the SLR and the GPMG from its predecessors. For Internal Security use, the Federal Riot Gun being used in Northern Ireland for firing baton rounds and gas canisters was also adopted. The Bermudian reserve forces had been equipped with standard British Army weapons since their restoration in 1895 (the Sten sub-machine gun had been replaced in the 1960s with the Sterling submachine gun, but this had then been replaced with the Israeli Uzi).[63] A non-standard rifle was to replace the SLR, however.

During the 1950s, the British forces had been pressured into dropping the .280 British sub-calibre round and EM-2 rifle that had been intended to replace respectively .303 inch ammunition and the No. 4 rifle, adopting instead the American 7.62mm ammunition as NATO standard and the SLR, which was a variant of the Belgian FN FAL.[64] Despite forcing the adoption of the 7.62mm round by NATO, the US re-equipped during the Vietnam War with the M16 rifle, chambered for the 5.56×45mm M193 sub-calibre ammunition.[65][66] Dissatisfaction with the 7.62mm round led NATO to seek a replacement during the 1970s, and the Belgian SS109 variant of the American M193 was adopted as 5.56mm NATO.[67] Although it had also been intended to establish a NATO standard rifle, this did not materialise and different countries developed their own small arms.

The Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock had actually begun work in 1969 on a family of weapons mechanically based on the ArmaLite AR-18, but chambered for a 4.85 × 49mm cartridge and with a bullpup configuration similar to the EM-2. This design was rechambered for the 5.56mm NATO and re-designated the SA80 (Small Arms for the 1980s). The family included two basic weapons: the XL64E5 rifle (also called the Enfield Individual Weapon) and a light support weapon known as the XL65E4 light machine gun (which were to be standardised as the L85A1 rifle and L86A1 Light-Support Weapon). The SA80 would remain stuck in development, however, until 1987, when the L85A1 and L86A1 began replacing respectively the SLR and the GPMG (together with the remaining Brens, which had been retained for jungle use and re-chambered for 7.62mm) in the British armed forces. Re-equipment was slow, and many second-line units were still equipped with the older weapons during the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War.

The Bermuda Regiment decided not to wait for the SA80 and replaced the SLR with the American-made Ruger Mini-14 self-loading (in American parlance, "semi automatic") rifle in 1983. The GPMG was retained in the light-, as well as the medium-, machine gun role. The Ruger has a 20-round detachable box magazine and can be fitted with a US M7 bayonet. The original wooden stocks were replaced with Choate black plastic stocks by 1992 and no further modifications have been made since.[68] Small numbers of the SA80 (L85A1 and L85A2) were held from about 1990 specifically for familiarisation training. This was necessary as large numbers of personnel must attend courses (for training, commissioning, or qualification) in Britain, and many serve on active duty attachments (particularly with the Royal Anglian Regiment), and needed to already be knowledgeable of the standard rifle.

A replacement for the aging Rugers was sought at the end of the Century, with small numbers of the German Heckler & Koch G36 and the American Colt M4 (a carbine variant of the M16) obtained for trials, following which the G36 had been selected as a replacement for the Ruger and the Uzi sub-machine gun. However, budgetary issues delayed the acquisition of the G36, which also became surrounded by controversy in Germany over reported inaccuracy in warm temperatures.[69] The Ruger was instead replaced by the L85A2 version of the SA80 rifle, with 400 having been delivered in August, 2015. The Ruger was phased out completely by the Recruit Camp of January, 2016.

Rifles and shotguns[]

  • United Kingdom L85A2 SA-80 selective-fire rifle (Standard issue to riflemen as of January 2016)
  • United States Mini-14GB/20 self-loading rifle with Choate stock (standard issue to riflemen from 1983 to January 2016)
  • United Kingdom L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (standard issue to riflemen from 1965 to 1983, but stocks still held)
  • Germany Heckler & Koch G36 (selected to replace the Uzi as second-tier weapon, issued to specialist companies i.e. Boat Troop and OSU)
  • United States Colt M4 (stocks obtained for trials to determine replacement for Mini-14 and Uzi)
  • United Kingdom L42A1 sniper-rifle (a 7.62mm variant of the Lee–Enfield No. 4)
  • United States Mossberg 500 shotgun
  • United Kingdom Greener shotgun (obsolete, but stocks still held)

Pistols and submachine guns[]

Machine guns[]

  • Belgium FN MAG General-purpose machine gun, used in light role only

Internal Security (IS)[]

Artillery[]

  • United Kingdom Ordnance QF 25-Pounder Field Gun
  • United Kingdom Ordnance SBML 2-inch mortar

Vehicles[]

Boats[]

Radio[]

  • United Kingdom Sepura SC20, replaced Sepura STP8200 radios
  • United Kingdom Sepura STP8200, replaced Bendix King radios

Gallery[]

  • Bermuda Regiment Soldiers armed with Mini-14s on OPs in Barbados for Cricket World Cup 2007

  • The Royal Bermuda Regiment Band

  • A Permanent Staff Instructor (PSI) with senior Non-Commissioned Officers of the Bermuda Regiment.

  • The main gate of Warwick Camp, as it appears today, from the South Shore Road (formerly The Military Road).

  • A platoon of the Training Company of the Bermuda Regiment, at Warwick Camp, during Recruit Camp 1993

  • Bermuda Regiment Corporal's Mess at Warwick Camp.

  • Bermuda Regiment soldiers play football on the parade ground of Warwick Camp.

  • 25-Pounder (88 mm) field gun of the Bermuda Regiment's ceremonial Gun Troop.

  • A motorboat of the Bermuda Regiment Boat Troop moves out of the Great Sound, past the HMD, Bermuda, on Ireland Island.

  • An NCO of The Lincoln and Welland Regiment attached to a rifle company of the affiliated Bermuda Regiment training in Jamaica, 1996.

  • Jamaican Defence Force soldier with a sergeant of the Bermuda Regiment in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.

  • An NCO of the Bermuda Regiment armed with a General Purpose Machine Gun, aboard a Rigid Raider.

  • Mossberg 500 shotgun and Federal Riot Gun of the Bermuda Regiment

  • A Bermuda Regiment NCO in No. 5 (Desert Combat) Dress, armed with a Galil AR self-loading rifle at USMC Camp Lejeune in 1994.

  • Bermuda Regiment & Bermuda Police Service boats in July 2011

  • Bermuda Regiment Medics and US Navy Corspmen at USMCB Camp Lejeune in May 2011

  • Cpl. Erikon C. Rosamond (left) of the US Marines and Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers at Camp Lejeune in 2013

  • Royal Bermuda Regiment Guns and Assault Pioneers Platoon soldiers and a US Marine discuss training at Camp Lejeune in 2013.

  • Guns and Assault Pioneers Platoon train with a US Marine at US Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in 2013

  • Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers attend a funeral at St. James' Church in Somerset in August, 2016

  • Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers undergoing Junior Noncommissioned Officer training at USMC Camp Lejeune in May 2018

  • Junior Non-Commissioned Officers Cadre train at Camp Lejeune in 2018

  • Junior Non-Commissioned Officers Cadre soldiers train at Camp Lejeune in 2018

  • Junior Non-Commissioned Officers Cadre soldier training at Camp Lejeune in 2018

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Order of Precedence for the Army and within the Infantry, 09: Honours, Awards, Royal and Ceremonial Events, Defence Instruction and Notices released 1 August 2007, MoD PS12(A), Reference: 2007DIN09-027 and Army General and Admin Instructions, Volume 2, Chapter 69, Legal Matters (AGAI69) dated August 2017 and page 8/1-1, Chapeter 8, Ceremonial Part 1- Precedence, Precedence of Corps and Regiments, paragraph 8.001., The Queen's Regulations for thee Army 1975, Amendment 37, dated May 2019".
  2. ^ "Territorial Army – definition of Territorial Army in English from the Oxford dictionary". Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "History". The Royal Bermuda Regiment. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  4. ^ Ingham-Hind, Jennifer M. Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps. Bermuda: The Island Press. ISBN 0969651716.
  5. ^ Maurice-Jones, DSO, RA, Colonel KW (1959). History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army. UK: Royal Artillery Institution.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, by Jennifer M. Hind (formerly Jennifer M. Ingham) of The Royal Gazette. Transcript of typescript document held at the Bermuda Maritime Museum.
  7. ^ King Carol Arrives In Bermuda Dublin Issue. Bermuda: British Pathé. 29 May 1941. 1115.33. King Carol and Madame Lupescu of Rumania seek refuge in Bermuda. Description. Title reads: "King Carol in Bermuda". Bermuda. Various shots of King Carol of Rumania and Madame Lupescu arrive at port and disembark from ship separately. Madame Lupescu waves back towards the ship. Various shots of King Carol posing for press photographers and newsreel cameramen at their hotel. Various shots of Madame Lupescu on terrace of hotel with two Pekinese dogs. King Carol has escaped from his home country due to war. Note: alternative spelling of Romania / Roumania.
  8. ^ "CHANGES IN STRENGTH OF THE LOCAL COMMAND". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 30 August 1940. It is learned from Command Orders that Major D. R. G. Cameron, Brigade Major, has been struck off the strength of the Bermuda Command with effect from Tuesday, and that Captain R. F. Arden-Close, K.S.L.I., has assumed the duties of Brigade Major. Struck off the strength of the Bermuda Command are the under-mentioned officers of the Detachment, Winnipeg Grenadiers; Major G. Trist, Captain J. A. Norris, Lieut. N. O. Bardal and Lieut. F. N. Symes. The following officers of the detachment, 4 Camerons, have been taken on the strength of the Command: Major A. Murray, Captain D. B. Mitchell, 2/Lt. R. L. Gibson, 2/Lt. D. H. Burns, 2/Lt. L. MacDonald, 2/Lt. A. Sinclair and 2/Lt. A. C. McAslam. Also taken on the strength of the Command is Lieut. J. R. Faulkener, Army Dental Corps.
  9. ^ "MILITARY WEDDING AT CATHEDRAL YESTERDAY: Miss Audrey H. C. Wilson Weds Lieut. D. H. Burns". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 20 March 1942. A brilliant wedding ceremony was solemnised at the Cathedral yesterday afternoon at 5.30 o'clock when Miss Audrey Hunt Chute Wilson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Murray Franklln Wilson of "Westcliffe," Fairylands, became the bride of Lieut. Donald Henry Burns, 4th.Battalion, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Donald Burns of Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. A large crowd thronged the church, while hundreds of people were lined up on both sides of the street. Yesterday's ceremony was one of the largest military weddings in these Islands so far this year- His Lordship the Bishop of Bermuda officiated, assisted by the Venerable Archdeacon H. Marriott, Rector of Paget Parish. At the conclusion of the ceremony the Bridal party was met at the western exit of the Cathedral by two pipers of the Cameron Highlanders, who piped them to the horseless carriage on Church Street, after which the carriage was drawn through the principal streets of Hamilton by a group of Cameron Highlanders led by the pipers. The bride, who was given in marriage by her father, looked charming in a gown of brocaded white satin with long veil. She carried a bouquet of calla lilies. The bride was attended by her cousin, Miss Carol Burrows, as maid of honour and by Miss Natalie Conyers and Miss Lee Wadson as bridesmaids. Flower girls were the Misses Ann Walker and Helene Harnett. The maid of honour was attired in a gown of rose taffeta and she carried a bouquet of purple larkspur with pink gerbera. The bridesmaids wore dresses of turquoise blue taffeta and each carried bouquets of purple larkspur with different tones of stock. The flower girls wore frocks of mauve taffeta and carried old fashioned bouquets of violets and pink roses. Lieut, Edward Cameron, 4th. Batt., the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders was the best man, the ushers being Captain Faulkner, Lieut. J. Stirling, Lieut. Rex Graham and 2nd Lieut. M. Watson. The service was choral, Miss Susan Oatham singing "O Perfect Love." Mr. John Bridge was the organist. Noted among the congregation in the Cathedral during the ceremony were Brigadier H. D. Maconochie, M.C., Officer Commanding, British Troops at Bermuda, Major C. W. R. Hill, O. C. Det. 4th. Batt. Cameron Highlanders, Major O'Connor, G.S.O. 2 at Bermuda Command, Captain F. W. Jefferies, Staff Captain, Bermuda Command, Lieut. Paul Curtis, Seaforth Highlanders, brother officers of the Bridegroom and also officers of local units attached to the Command. After the ceremony, the bridal couple received congratulations from their many friends at a reception held at "Westcliffe," Fairylands, home of the bride's parents. Both Lieut. Burns and his bride are well known in these Islands.
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  17. ^ THE ARMY LIST, APRIL, 1951. Corrected to 15th March, 1951. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office (now Her Majesty's Stationery Office). 1951. p. xv. 41 Militia units in Bermuda and The Channel Islands (d).
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