Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene

Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene
Cap badge of the Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene
Active	1941-
Country	Netherlands
Branch	Army
Type	Foot Guards
Role	Infantry
Size	One battalion
Part of	13 Motorized Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Generaal-Majoor De Ruyter van Steveninckkazerne, Oirschot
Motto(s)	Volo et Valeo (I want it, so I can)
Anniversaries	January 11, 1941
Commanders
Current commander	Lieutenant colonel Henk de Boer
Ceremonial chief	HRH Princess Irene of the Netherlands

The Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene is a regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army, named after Princess Irene, the Granddaughter of Queen Wilhelmina, daughter of Queen Juliana, sister of Queen Beatrix and aunt of King Willem-Alexander. It is one of two regiments, along with the Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers, to be classed as 'Guards'.

A group of Dutch soldiers were forced to withdraw in May 1940 after the unexpected invasion of the Netherlands by the Nazi armies. Faced by the choice: to surrender or to continue the fight alongside the Western Allies, they opted for the latter. Via several ways they finally arrived in Great Britain, where they formed a new unit: the Royal Dutch Brigade. The unit was later renamed to become the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade. In August 1941 this unit received from the hands of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, who remained in exile in England, its own regimental colors. In addition the unit was given the honorary name of 'Princess Irene', named after the Queen's second granddaughter. This name is also symbolic, as the name of Irene means: 'she who brings peace' (in Greek). As a small detachment in the British Liberation Army (the unit only numbered approximately 1400 men) the Brigade took part in the campaign in Western Europe. In May 1945 the Nazis capitulated in the Netherlands which also led to the disbanding of the Irene Brigade, which to a large extent was made up of war volunteers and conscripts. To remember their special bond, the men of 'the first hour' proudly wore their special distinction: an orange-blue lanyard called 'invasion-lanyard'. The regimental colors of the Royal Dutch Brigade 'Princess Irene' were decorated with the highest military order for valor known in the Dutch Army. So as not to let the name of that small Dutch unit fade into history, it was decided that the traditions surrounding the regimental colors were to be continued by a new regiment. The Princess Irene Regiment was formed in April 1946. Five battalions of the new regiment were on active duty during the so-called 'police-actions' in the years 1946 - 1949 in the former Netherlands East Indies, or to-day's Indonesia. Ninety young Dutch 'Irene' soldiers were killed during these operations.