The Foot Guards have a role as the primary garrison for the capital, for the mil itary

security of the Sovereign, and for ceremonial duties in London and occasio nally elsewhere. Two battalions are appointed for public duties, with a third fr om a line infantry regiment since 1996 (and occasionally previous to that year). These provide the Queen's Guard, the Tower of London Guard, and sometimes also the Windsor Castle Guard. The Guards Battalions on Public Duties are located in barracks close to Buckingham Palace for them to be able to reach the Palace very quickly in an emergency. In central London, a battalion is based at Wellington Barracks, Westminster, about 300 yards from Buckingham Palace. However, as of 20 10, the independent incremental companies of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards (all on permanent public duties) have been moved from Chelsea Barracks to the R oyal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. While F Company, Scots Guards, are now perm anently based at Wellington Barracks alongside the resident infantry battalion. The Guards Battalion stationed at Windsor generally provides the Windsor Castle Guard. The Windsor battalion is at Victoria Barracks, a quarter of a mile south of the Castle. The Guards Division received a new battalion following the restructuring of the army in 2004, when the London Regiment became the first ever Territorial Army Gu ards unit. The Royal Guards Reserve Regiment was in existence during the Second Boer War fr om 1900 to 1901. The Guards Machine Gun Regiment was raised for service during the First World Wa r. Initially, each brigade of the Guards Division had a machine gun company atta ched. In 1917, these companies were regimented to form a battalion. Further batt alions were formed by conversion of the Household Cavalry regiments, and King Ge orge V ordered that the regiment be classified as the Sixth Regiment of Foot Gua rds, or Machine Gun Guards. However, it was disbanded in 1920. Before the Second World War, Guards re