Editing Coldstream Guards (section)

===1900–present===
At the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], the Coldstream Guards was among the first British regiments to arrive in France after Britain declared war on Germany. In the following battles, it suffered heavy losses, in two cases losing all of its officers. At the [[First Battle of Ypres]], the 1st battalion was virtually annihilated: by 1 November down to 150 men and the Lt Quartermaster. The regiment fought at [[Battle of Mons|Mons]], [[Battle of Loos|Loos]], [[Battle of the Somme (1916)|the Somme]], [[Battle of Ginchy|Ginchy]] and in the [[3rd Battle of Ypres]]. The regiment also formed the 4th (Pioneer) Battalion, which was disbanded after the war, in 1919. The 5th Reserve battalion never left Britain before it was disbanded.<ref name=history/>

When the [[Second World War]] began, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Coldstream Guards were part of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF) in France;<ref name=history/> whilst the 3rd Battalion was on overseas service in the Middle East. Additional 4th and 5th battalions were also formed for the duration of the war. They fought extensively, as part of the [[Guards Armoured Division]], in [[North African Campaign|North Africa]] and Europe as dismounted infantry. The 4th battalion first became a motorized battalion in 1940 and then an armoured battalion in 1943.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/39/a2773839.shtml|title='Cuckoo' the German Panther in Service with the 4th Battalion Coldstream Guards|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 April 2014}}</ref>[[File:The Battle of Passchendaele, July-november 1917 Q6046.jpg|thumb|4th Coldstream Guards during the [[Battle of Passchendaele]], 1917.]]

Coldstreamers gave up their tanks at the end of the war, the new battalions were disbanded, and the troops distributed to the 1st and 2nd Guard Training Battalions.<ref name=history/>

After the war, the 1st and 3rd battalions served in [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]]. The 2nd battalion served in the [[Malayan Emergency]]. The 3rd battalion was placed in suspended animation in 1959. The remaining battalions served during the [[Mau Mau rebellion]] from 1959 to 1962, in [[Aden]] in 1964, in [[Mauritius]] in 1965, in the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] in 1974 and several times in [[Northern Ireland]] after 1969.<ref name=history/>

The Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards was the first act on stage at the [[Wembley]] leg of the 1985 [[Live Aid]] charity concert. It played for the [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince]] and [[Princess Diana|Princess of Wales]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/5xqZxCsremc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120831064904/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xqZxCsremc&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xqZxCsremc|title=Live Aid Introduction: Prince & Princess Royal Salute|website=[[YouTube]]|access-date=26 April 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1991, the 1st battalion was dispatched to the first [[Gulf War]], where it was involved in prisoner of war handling and other roles. In 1993, due to [[Options for Change|defence cutbacks]], the 2nd battalion was placed in suspended animation.<ref name=history/>

For much of the 1990s, the 1st Battalion was stationed in [[Münster]], Germany, in the Armoured Infantry Role with Warrior APCs as part of the [[British 4th Armoured Brigade|4th Armoured Brigade]]. In 1993–1994, the battalion served as an armoured infantry battalion in peacekeeping duties in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] as part of [[UNPROFOR]].<ref name=history/>

[[File:The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 BU254.jpg|thumb|[[World War II]] – 5th Coldstream Guards enter [[Arras]], 1 September 1944]]The battalion was posted to [[Derry]], Northern Ireland, on a two-year deployment in 2001. It then deployed to Iraq in April 2005 for a six-month tour with the rest of 12th Mechanised Brigade, based in the south of the country. The battalion lost two of its soldiers, on 2 May, near [[Al Amarah]] and on 18 October at [[Basra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/fatalities/sergeant-chris-hickey-of-1st-battalion-the-coldstream-guards-killed-in-iraq|title=Sergeant Chris Hickey of 1st Battalion the Coldstream Guards killed in Iraq|publisher=Ministry of Defence|date=20 October 2005|access-date=26 April 2014}}</ref>

[[Des Browne]], [[Secretary of State for Defence]], announced on 19 July 2007 that in October 2007 the battalion was to be sent to [[Afghanistan]] as part of [[52nd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|52 Infantry Brigade]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2007-07-19/debates/070719101000002/AfghanistanRoulement|title=Afghanistan: Roulement|publisher=Hansard|date=19 July 2007|access-date=15 June 2023}}</ref>

In October 2009, the battalion was deployed on [[Operation Herrick]] 11, with units deploying to the Babaji area of central [[Helmand Province]], Afghanistan, playing a major role in [[Operation Moshtarak]] in February 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/fatalities/lieutenant-douglas-dalzell-killed-in-afghanistan|title=Lieutenant Douglas Dalzell killed in Afghanistan|date=18 February 2010|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=26 April 2014}}</ref>

Before the [[Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010]] the battalion was part of the [[12th Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|12th Mechanised Brigade]] in a light infantry role. Under [[Army 2020]] it transferred to [[London District (British Army)|London District]] as a public duties battalion, then in 2019 it joined the [[11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=8 April 2019|title=Trooping the Colour 2000 (The Preamble)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_MXpUwgfu0| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526021136/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_MXpUwgfu0| archive-date=2019-05-26 | url-status=dead|access-date=19 July 2020|website=Youtube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=16 December 2007|title=1st Bn, Coldstream Guards: Service|url=http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/guards/f2cg-1.htm|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216215857/http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/guards/f2cg-1.htm|archive-date=16 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=17 April 2009|title=12 Mechanized Brigade – British Army Website|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/structure/10115.aspx|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417212013/http://www.army.mod.uk/structure/10115.aspx|archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref>  It will move to 4 Light Brigade Combat Team by 2025.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.army.mod.uk/media/14919/adr010310-futuresoldierguide_25nov.pdf|title=Future Soldier Guide|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref>