Stirling Lines is a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

in Credenhill,

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

; the headquarters of the 22 Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) and 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment. The site was formerly a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) non-flying station for training schools, known as RAF Credenhill.

History

In 1958, the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

(SAS) was temporarily based at Merebrook Camp in Malvern,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, a former emergency military hospital that had remained largely unused since 1945. In 1960, the SAS moved to a former

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

boys' training unit, Bradbury Lines in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, which was renamed in 1984 to Stirling Lines in honour of the regiment's founder, Lieutenant Colonel David Stirling. In 1994, the RAF ceased using RAF Credenhill; the Army then obtaining the site to redevelop as a new base for the SAS; works commenced in 1997. The SAS commenced relocation of staff and equipment to Credenhill from Hereford with the redevelopment of the site. The move was completed in May 1999. On 30 September 2000, the official opening ceremony was held for the new Stirling Lines with the clock tower re-erected on the new parade ground. The Hereford site was sold to a property developer in March 2001.

Based units

The following units are based at Stirling Lines: * 22 Special Air Service Regiment **A Squadron **B Squadron **D Squadron **G Squadron * Special Reconnaissance Regiment * 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment **264 (SAS) Signal Squadron **267 (SSR) Signal Squadron **268 (Support Squadron) Signal Squadron **63 (Reserves) Signal Squadron * 658 Squadron AAC – Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin II

References

{{Authority control Training establishments of the British Army Installations of the British Army

History

Based units

See also

References