Royal Hampshire Regiment Association

Royal Hampshire Regiment Association is a regimental association preserving the heritage and veterans' community of the antecedent Hampshire Regiment and Royal Hampshire Regiment. It supports former soldiers, families, historians, and collectors linked to campaigns such as the Second Boer War, First World War, Second World War, and post‑war deployments. The association liaises with museums, civic authorities in Hampshire, and national bodies like the Imperial War Museums and the National Army Museum.

History

The association traces roots to post‑war veterans' organisations formed after the First World War when ex‑servicemen of the 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment and 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment created local branches in towns including Winchester, Portsmouth, and Southampton. Following the 1946 royal title granting that created the Royal Hampshire Regiment, veterans consolidated into a county‑wide body paralleling associations such as the Royal Irish Regiment associations. During the Cold War era the association expanded outreach to participants of the Berlin Airlift logistics and deployments to Malaya and Korea where Hampshire battalions had served. The post‑1992 amalgamation into the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment prompted the association to coordinate with successor regimental bodies and the Regimental Trustees overseeing artefacts and records.

Organisation and Membership

The association operates as a membership charity and is structured with an elected President, Secretary, Treasurer, and branch chairmen mirroring practices used by the Royal British Legion and county associations affiliated with the Army Museums Ogilby Trust. Membership categories include veterans of specific battalions such as the 4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, serving personnel from the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshire) who trace lineage, widows and families of fallen soldiers from actions like the Battle of Arnhem and the Battle of El Alamein, and civilian supporters such as local historians from the Hampshire County Council archives network. Committees oversee welfare liaisons with agencies like Veterans UK and curate regimental records comparable to holdings in the National Archives (United Kingdom).

Activities and Events

The association organises annual gatherings including a Regimental Dinner, remembrance services on Remembrance Sunday at regimental memorials, and participation in parades at venues such as Winchester Cathedral and the War Memorial, Portsmouth. It runs local branch meetings in former recruiting areas such as Andover and Basingstoke and supports battlefield tours to sites including the Somme, Gallipoli Campaign, and the Normandy landings sector where Hampshire units fought. Educational outreach includes lectures delivered with partners like the Hampshire Cultural Trust and joint commemorative projects with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and university military history departments at institutions such as the University of Winchester.

Museum and Heritage Collections

The association works closely with the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum housed in Lower Barracks, Winchester (now integrated into broader county displays) and deposits regimental colours, medals, cap badges, diaries, and ledgers with national repositories including the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum. Collections document actions from the Boer War to peacekeeping in Northern Ireland and include personal papers of officers who served at battles like Loos and Khe Sanh. The association assists researchers by maintaining nominal rolls, roll‑calls, and oral histories, collaborating with projects at the People's War archives and local studies sections of the Hampshire Record Office.

Memorials and Commemorations

The association is custodian for several memorials and commemorative plaques across Hampshire and former garrison towns, coordinating upkeep with civic bodies and consecrated sites such as the St Paul’s Cathedral memorial rolls for units serving in the Great War. Annual wreath‑laying ceremonies honor those lost at engagements like the Battle of Kohima and the Battle of El Alamein, and the association organizes dedications when conservation of regimental monuments is required. It also supports installation of interpretive panels at historic drill halls and former barracks in partnership with the Ancient Monuments Society and the Council for British Archaeology.

Category:Regimental associations of the United Kingdom Category:Military history of Hampshire Category:Veterans' organisations in the United Kingdom