The major changes

The defence secretary has announced sweeping changes to the structure of the British Army.

The 40 infantry battalions are to be reduced to 36, with a planned reduction in personnel from 103,500 to 102,000 by 2008.

The table below features some of the main changes.

Note: Year of formation refers to current regimental battalions.

Main regimental changes
Regiment	Formed	HQ	Fate
1st Bn Royal Scots	1633	Edinburgh	Merged with King's Own Scottish Borderers as part of single super-regiment
1st Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers	1689	Berwick-upon-Tweed	Merged with Royal Scots as part of single super-regiment
1st Bn Royal Highland Fusiliers	1959	Glasgow	Merging into Scottish super-regiment
1st Bn Black Watch	1739	Perth	Merging into Scottish super-regiment
1st Bn Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders	1881	Stirling	Merging into Scottish super-regiment
1st Bn Highlanders	1994	Inverness	Merging into Scottish super-regiment
1st Bn King's Own Royal Border	1959	Carlisle	Merged with Queen's Lancashire and King's Regiments
1st Bn Queen's Lancashire	1970	Preston	Merged with King's Own Royal Border and King's Regiments
1st Bn King's Regiment	1685	Liverpool	Merged with King's Own Royal Border and Queen's Lancashire Regiments
1st Bn Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire	1958	York	Merged with Green Howards and Duke of Wellington's Regiment
1st Bn Green Howards	1688	Richmond (North Yorks)	Merged with Prince of Wales's Own Yorkshire and Duke of Wellington's Regiments
1st Bn Duke of Wellington's Regiment	1881	Halifax	Merged with Prince of Wales's Own Yorkshire and Green Howards
1st Bn Devonshire and Dorset	1958	Exeter	Merged with Royal Gloucs, Berks and Wilts and switching to Light Infantry
1st Bn Royal Gloucs, Berks and Wilts	1994	Gloucester	Glosters merged with Devonshire and Dorset and remainder moving to Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
Source: The Army