Warminster 1976-1978
The School of Infantry Demonstration Battalion
On 25th August 1976 the battalion occupied Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster, Wiltshire taking over from the Royal Irish Rangers as the demonstration battalion for the school of Infantry and British Army.
The Support Company was detached to Netheravon. In addition the battalion maintained the demonstration platoon at the school of infantry establishment in Brecon.
During this time the battalion was directly involved with the introduction into service of a completely new weapon system They were equipped with the MILAN (the abbreviation for ‘missle leger anti-char’) , an anti tank guided missile introduced into service to replace the wombat 120mm recoilless anti-tank gun.
The battalion spent the next two years carrying out all aspects of Infantry drills, the only distraction came when the firemen went on strike.
On the 2nd August 1979 the battalion handed over its responsibilities to the Infantry Demonstration Battalion, which assumed responsibility for all of the School of Infantry commitments
| THE WARMINSTER TIMELINE | |
| EVENT | DATE/TIME |
| Take over as Demonstration Bn from 1st Bn Royal Irish Rangers | 25th August 1976 |
| A Coy on Exercise 'Soft Pedal' | End of October 1976 |
| 1 Plt to Cyprus for Exercise 'Prime Change' | 28th Oct - 22nd Nov 1976 |
| 3 Teams to Cyprus for 'Cyprus Walkabout' | 7th October 1976 |
| Visit to H.M.S. Vernon | 27th January 1977 |
| Kneller hall inspection of Band | March 1977 |
| Firepower Demonstration | 1st April 1977 |
| C.O.s Test Exercise | April 1977 |
| Band & Drums at Badminton Horse Trials | 22nd - 24th April 1977 |
| Band & Drums perform at Warminster (Queens Silver Jubilee) | 28th April 1977 |
| 20 Soldiers to Italy for Exercise 'Ponte Vecchio' | 2nd May 1977 |
| Band & Drums at Salisbury (Silver Jubilee Appeal) | 5th May 1977 |
| Band & Drums at Longleat House to promote L.P. record | 8th May 1977 |
| Tug of War team win SOWDIST League | 9th May 1977 |
| Bn visited by Italian Mechanised Coy | 13th May 1977 |
| Coy from Royal Australian Regt visits Bn for Familiarization training | 18th May 1977 |
| SOWDIST Rifle meeting, Bn came second (9 Trophies) | May 1977 |
| Band & Drums on Horse guard Parade for Prince of Wales massed bands | 7th - 9th June 1977 |
| Assault Pioneers build Westbury down bonfire for Jubilee beacon | 8th June 1977 |
| Pte WALLACE killed in Traffic accident, Warminster | 9th June 1977 |
| Old Comrades visit to Bn | 16th June 1977 |
| Bn Block leave for 3 weeks | 12th August 1977 |
| Bn hosts Regt Association A.G.M. | 4th September 1977 |
| Freedom of Wallingford | 7th September 1977 |
| Operation friendship | September 1977 |
| Regimental Cocktail Party Sandhurst | 9th September 1977 |
| Cyprus Walkabout team come 2nd placed Overseas team | October 1977 |
| N.C.O.s Cadre to Cyprus | October (4 Weeks) |
| Pte HAVARD killed in Traffic accident, at Heytesbury | November 1977 |
| Fireman's strike duties Edinburgh 'Operation Burberry' | December 1977 |
| Exercise ' Iron Duke' | 2nd - 3rd February 1978 |
| Exercise 'Phantom Bugle' | 3rd - 5th May 1978 |
| A Coy with 3 R.T.R. on Exercise 'Mayflower' | 20th - 21st May 1978 |
| Bn K.A.P.E. Tour | 15th April - 11th June 1978 |
| Bn won UKLF inter unit knock out rifle match at Bisley | 30th March 1978 |
| Bn won UKLF inter unit small bore target rifle meeting at Bordon | 30th May 1978 |
| Band & Drums beat retreat Warminster | 30th June 1978 |
| Bn hands over to newly formed Infantry Demonstration Bn. | 2nd August 1978 |
The following Farmer's boy was lost whilst the 1st Battalion was in Warminster
| Private | HAVARD R F | 08 November 1977 | UK |
The following Regimental Journals were published whilst the 1st Battalion was in Warminster
Regimental Journal No39 Autumn 1978
Regimental Journal No38 Spring 1978
Regimental Journal No 37 Autumn 1977