Queen's Foot Guards face the WORST manpower crisis in history
THE Queen’s elite Foot Guards are facing the worst manpower crisis in their history.
Of the five regiments which make up the Queen’s Guards, three are suffering severe shortages among the junior ranks.
According to Ministry of Defence figures, the Scots Guards can muster just 260 Guardsmen – the equivalent rank to private.
The minimum number for a battalion to be operationally effective is 330.
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The Irish and Welsh Guards have just 230 Guardsmen each, adding to pressure to merge them in future.
During one tour of Afghanistan men from the Scots Guards were drafted in to plug gaps in a Welsh Guards battalion.
One senior officer attached to the royal household confirmed that troop shortages were causing concern, adding: “It has been and the Household division that the five regiments of Foot Guards must not be removed from the line.
These aren’t just Bearskin wearing ceremonial guards, they are also fighting warriors
The directive comes with Royal endorsement and puts the Guards above any sanction or future plans to disband them.”
Another senior source added: “The downward trajectory in numbers is evident, and it’s a challenging problem.
“It’s exacerbated at junior rank level by a perceived rejection of Guards regiments seemingly on devolution grounds, in favour of alternatives such as the Royal Irish regiment.”
The Royal Regiment of Scotland, which can barely field 200 privates per battalion, is also woefully undermanned suggesting that low morale after severe cuts and lack of faith in the Army as a career are also playing their part.
Last night Brigadier Allan Mallinson, a former member of the Household Cavalry and author of The Making Of The British Army, said: “The Guards represent the best of the British Army. The SAS still have more officers coming from Guards regiments than any other. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is run by the Foot Guards and it is they who ensure that its very high standards are maintained year after year.”
He added: “This last decade has seen amalgamation upon amalgamation, with so many line regiments reshaped that people don’t know each other and they no longer have a shared tradition.
“The pageantry provided by ceremonial events is a crucial to the way Britain projects its soft power around the world, as is the Royal family itself. They are mutually reinforcing.
Theresa May meets the Queen at Buckingham Palace in July
“But we are down to critical mass. Any further reductions will stop the Household Division functioning in the way it needs to function. That will impact on the effectiveness of the Monarchy.”
The Ministry of Defence acknowledged a “slight” undermanning, with sources saying any gap suffered by one regiment is filled by soldiers from another. But the solution was rejected by former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth MP, whose Aldershot constituency houses two Guard regiments.
He said: “Mixing and matching regiments does not recognise pride of the cap badge, particularly within the historical context of Guards regiments.
“These aren’t just Bearskin wearing ceremonial guards, they are also fighting warriors.
Men fight more effectively when they are in a cohesive uni; they fight for the man alongside them, someone they will know well.”
An Army spokesman said: “The infantry, including the Division of Foot Guards, is sufficiently manned to deliver its operational and ceremonial requirements.”
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has backed publicly funding a £369million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace. The Leftwing Republican said that the palace was a “national monument”.
