The Livery Newsletter and Gazette Issue 32 Spring 2020 | Page 16

THE IRISH GUARDS AND THE IRISH GUARDS ASSOCIATION On Friday 17th January 2020, The Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders confirmed their new affiliation with the Irish Guards Association. The Irish Guards regiment was formed on 1st April 1900 by order of HM Queen Victoria to commemorate the Irishmen who fought in the Second Boer War for the British Empire. They are known affectionately throughout the British Army as ‘The Micks’. The Irish Guards are part of the Guards Division which comprises the Coldstream, Grenadier, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards along with the two Mounted Regiments the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. The Irish Guards are the only Guards Regiment to have a Mascot – an Irish Wolfhound. The administrative headquarters for the Regiment is Wellington Barracks, London. The Irish Guards Regimental Band are also based here. The 1st Battalion is Stationed (or Based) in Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow but they are due to move to Mons Barracks Aldershot in late 2020. Colonel – in Chief – HM The Queen Colonel of the Regiment – HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge Regimental Lieutenant Colonel – General Sir Mark Carlton-Smith Regimental Adjutant – Major (Retd) Niall Hall The Irish Guards role is mechanized Infantry and all five Guards Regiments have the honour of guarding HM the Queen on a rotational basis. The 1st Battalion are at present deployed to Iraq and South Sudan and will return to the UK in late Summer 2020.