Childers Reforms
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The Childers Reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881. They were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms.
In 1 May 1881 he drafted General Order 41, which created a network of four-battalion Regular regiments in England, Scotland and Wales, and five-battalion regiments in Ireland. Each of these regiments was linked by headquarters location and territorial name to its `Regimental District'.
From 1881 regimental seniority numbers were officially abolished and battalions came to be known by their number within the regiment and the Regimental District name. Unofficially, the regments were still referred to by their numbers by their officers and men, as tradition and a point of pride, and several regiments ("The Buffs", The Cameron Highlanders, "The Black Watch", etc.) lobbied to keep their distinct names as part of their battalion titles.
An attempt was also made to have the facings of uniforms standardised: British and Welsh regiments would have white facings, Irish regiments would get green facings, Scottish regiments would have yellow facings, and Royal regiments would have dark blue facings. Thwere were also attempts to assimilate regimental insignia and remove "tribal" uniform distinctions. This was less successful, as regimental tribalism and tradition forced a national outcry.
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