2024 has been an incredibly busy year for The London Guards, with a wide and varied forecast of events including headline Ceremonial Operations as well as diverse field training, layered with change of appointments for the vast majority of Battalion Headquarters.
The first main event of the year was: Exercise COCKNEY CLAYMORE, this was a challenging range package in Lydd that focussed upon on FIBUA and urban marksmanship. The ranges capitalised upon the many skills learnt on our urban training event in Dec 23. Always popular with a great turnout from the Battalion.
March seen the Battalion rollout Non-commissioned Officers & Officers for Conceptual Development. This was instigated by the Training Warrant Officer and was an introduction to simulated training and the ICAVS(D) system. All in order to prepare the Officers and Other Ranks for potential simulated exercises with regular counterparts and contribute to wider warfare development within the unit. This represented new and exciting challenges for all ranks, safe to say that it sparked a new layer of intrigue along with an appetite to do more.
In April the Battalion started to switch focus towards Ceremonial Operations, this was kick started by the laying up of the old colours, the Battalion having received new colours in Buckingham Palace in 2023 (First London Guards Colours). The focus and main effort was then on preparing for the King’s Birthday Parade, the Battalion was paraded shoulder to shoulder alongside the Regular Battalions on the Mall along with providing all ushers in support of the parade over the course of two weekends.
Throughout the rest of the summer the Battalion focused again on developing it’s war fighting capability, culminating in the Annual Training Package (ATP) which was delivered in both Longmoor and Hankley Common. The ATP main effort was all about improving Battalion capabilities with a multitude of courses being delivered, comprising of:
- Potential Junior Non Commissioned Officers course
- GS driving course
- Team medic course
- SRM course
- PTL course
- Infantry basic radio operators course
- M Qual course
In the successful delivery of all courses our capability increased significantly, most notable result was 12 newly qualified soldiers being promoted by the Commanding Officer to the rank of Lance Corporal directly after the exercise. The Battalion also had huge success with eight Junior Officers successfully completing Platoon Commanders Battle Course making a significant increase to the trained strength of the Battalion. Worth noting that the continued growth of the Battalion was recently cited by CFA as a target for other Battalions to aspire to. During the exercise we hosted HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on an official visit where he watched the final phases of Battle Prep and spent time with our Soldiers in the harbour area prior to following up behind a Fighting Patrol.
We recently hosted a French Delegation from 24 Infantry Regiment based in Paris, worth noting that much like us they are the only complete Battalion based in their nations capital. We used the visit as an opportunity to understand each other and draw LFE and similarities from how both Battalions operate, the similarities and challenges were well matched. A bond of friendship has now been forged and we look forward to a visit to Paris in 2025 with a view to exploiting the newly formed relationship and the potential of joint training opportunities further down the line.
In the final month of the year we are fine tuning Urban Operations in Salisbury Plain with an impressive turnout of 120 service personnel for our training weekend followed by the Battalion carol concert in the Guards Chapel.
Throughout 2024 we’ve had a multitude of deployment opportunities alongside the Regular Battalions both at home and abroad and already are poised to send support to Cyprus, Estonia and Kenya in 2025.
The New Year is full of exciting opportunities for the Battalion, most notably is the Battalion’s deployment to Gibraltar on Exercise Cockney Rock which will include beach landings, subterranean warfare along with urban operations layered with some adventure training and a Battlefield Study.
The Battalion welcomed the new Commanding Officer: Lt Col R Lewis MC Grenadier Guards, Executive Officer: Maj N Allan Coldstream Guards, Second in Command: Maj O Bambrick Irish Guards, Quartermaster: Maj J Blair Coldstream Guards, Adjutant: Capt T Hodson Grenadier Guards and Regimental Sergeant Major: WO1 D Walton Welsh Guards.
Major Nathan Allan
Executive Officer, London Guards
