The regiment was formed as a ' large regiment ' on 31 December 1966 by the amalgamation of the four remaining regiments of the Home Counties Brigade as a consequence of the Defence Review of 1957 . The four regiments formed four battalions , retaining their previous names in the titles . These were : On 1 July 1968 the battalions discarded their previous regimental identification when the subtitles were omitted . Four battalions of Territorial troops were formed in the following decades : During its existence , the deployment of the regiment 's battalions was primarily to Northern Ireland during the The Troubles , taking part in anti-terrorist operations . The 1st Battalion was almost continuously deployed there between August 1969 and November 1976 . In 1970 the 1st Battalion joined the Berlin Brigade in West Berlin , a small enclave in Communist-controlled East Germany , leaving in 1972 . In October 1972 the 2nd Battalion arrived in Cyprus as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus ( UNIFICYP ) , a force intended to prevent conflict from breaking out between Greek and Turkish Cypriots : the battalion returned to the United Kingdom in May 1973 . The 4th Battalion was disbanded that year , as with every other ' junior ' battalion of the new large regiments . Also that year , the 3rd Battalion arrived in Gibraltar where it remained with the garrison for almost two years . In 1977 the 2nd Battalion arrived in Gibraltar and the 3rd Battalion arrived in Belize , then a British territory , as part of the garrison there to protect it from the perceived threat of war with Guatemala , a neighbour of Belize , which was making claims that it believed Belize to be an integral part of Guatemala . By 1975 the 1st Battalion had arrived in Werl , Germany ( replacing the 2nd Battalion – who had moved from Werl back to Bulford Camp in the United Kingdom ) from where they did operational tours in Ulster , in the area of Londonderry in 1976 , and West Belfast in 1978 . The 2nd Battalion had preceded it to Ulster , first on a Spearhead deployment in South Armagh following the Kingsmill ( Bessbrook ) Massacre in January 1975 , and then to West Belfast , on an operational tour in Andersonstown in early 1977 . The 1st Battalion moved to Canterbury ( the regiment 's home base ) in 1980 . From there it undertook a six-month tour of Belize before deploying in November 1982 to Omagh in County Tyrone . It served there until January 1985 with south east Fermanagh as its primary focus . During this period all three battalions served in Ulster – 2 . Queen 's in Londonderry , also on a two-year tour , and 3 . Queen 's in Belfast on a six-month tour . A freedom parade was held in Belfast in 1984 at which all three battalions ' Regimental Colours were paraded . In 1985 the battalion moved to Gibraltar for two years before returning to the United Kingdom ( Tidworth ) in 1987 where it was to remain until 1990 . During this period it undertook two 6-month tours of Ulster – South Armagh in 1987 and Belfast in 1989/90 . In 1990 the battalion moved to Minden in Germany , where it disbanded in 1992 . In late 1981 the 2nd Battalion deployed to Cyprus on a 6-month tour-of-duty with UN forces . In 1985 the 1st Battalion arrived in Gibraltar on a 2-year posting and the following year the 3rd Battalion deployed to Belize on a 6-month tour-of-duty as well as West Belfast on a 6-month tour-of-duty before deploying to Aldergrove Northern Ireland for a 2-year operational tour . In 1990 the 3rd Battalion arrived in Cyprus — its last deployment abroad and the location of its disbandment in 1992 . The 2nd Battalion 's last deployment was to Northern Ireland in 1992 before heading to Canterbury , England where it disbanded later in the year
Kingsmill ( Bessbrook ) Massacre
Kingsmill massacre
Queen's Regiment