2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment
The Battalion gets its nickname from the old Lincolnshire Regiment which, along with four other counties (Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire), we now represent. As such our history goes back over 300 years. We maintain close county connections by recruiting from across the area as well as supporting cadets camps, careers offices and many other local organisations and events.
However, we are primarily a Battalion of the present and the future and can rightly claim to being an important part of the Army and Infantry's extremely successful team. In the last 12 months we have supported operations in Northern Ireland, deployed over half of the Battalion to Belize to conduct an arduous jungle exercise, and most recently deployed as a Battalion to Belfast to support the police in maintaining public order during a very tense summer on the streets. We have all experienced minor riots and the younger ones among us have found themselves growing up very quickly. However, life has not all been hard work. Most of the Battalion have done some adventure training (such as rock-climbing, canoeing, mountain-biking and scuba-diving) as part of an organised activities and we have sent two extremely successful expeditions abroad to climb mountains in the Andes, South America. We have played a lot of sport and our current specialities are boxing and orienteering. We also have very good football and rugby teams.
As for the future, there is a lot going on. 2003 includes a full blown Battalion exercise in Belize. After a very tough 4 weeks in the jungle, we expect to switch or focus to adventure training (the highlight of which should be swimming with sharks) and a short holiday on the beach in Mexico. Mid-2003 should be time for consolidated training and sport. Late in 2003 we prepare for a two year deployment to Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, where our time will be interspersed with operations in Londonderry and the outlying areas, adventure training, sport and leave. There is a lot to look forward to.