The Rifles
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| The Rifles | |
|---|---|
  Cap and back badges of The Rifles |
|
| Active | 1st February 2007- |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Rifles |
| Role | 1st Battalion - Commando 2nd Battalion - Light Role 3rd Battalion - Light Role 4th Battalion - Mechanised Infantry 5th Battalion - Armoured Infantry 6th Battalion - TA Reserve 7th Battalion - TA Reserve |
| Size | Seven battalions |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ - Winchester 1st Battalion - Beachley 2nd Battalion - Ballykinler 3rd Battalion - Edinburgh 4th Battalion - Bulford 5th Battalion - Paderborn, Germany 6th Battalion - Exeter 7th Battalion - Reading |
| Motto | Swift and Bold |
| Colors | N/A |
| March | Quick - Mechanised Infantry Double Past - Keel Row/Road to the Isles Slow - Old Salamanca |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel in Chief | HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, GBE |
| Colonel Commandant | Lieutenant General NR Parker CBE |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
| Arm Badge | Croix de Guerre From Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry |
| Abbreviation | RIFLES |
- For the band The Rifles, see The Rifles (band). For the novel by William T. Vollmann, see The Rifles (novel).
The Rifles (RIFLES) is a regiment of the British Army. It consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, plus a number of companies in other TA battalions, making the regiment the largest in the infantry. Each battalion of the Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division (with the exception of the 1st Battalion, which is an amalgamation of two individual regiments).
Contents |
[edit] History
The Rifles was created as a result of the Future Army Structure. Under the original announcement, the Light Division would have remained essentially unchanged, with the exception of the Light Infantry gaining a new battalion through the amalgamation of two other regiments, and both gaining a TA battalion. However, on 24 November 2005, it was announced by the Ministry of Defence that the four regiments would amalgamate into a single five battalion regiment. The Rifles was formed on 1st February 2007 by the amalgamation of the four Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments of the Light Division:
- The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry
- The Light Infantry
- The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry
- The Royal Green Jackets
The two existing battalions each of the Light Infantry and the Royal Green Jackets were renamed, while the single battalions of the DDLI and the RGBWLI were merged into one battalion. This brought the whole of the Light Division under a single cap badge. On formation, The Rifles became the county regiment of the following counties:
- Berkshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Cornwall
- Devonshire
- Dorset
- Durham
- Gloucestershire
- Oxfordshire
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- South Yorkshire
- Wiltshire
As a rifle regiment, a private soldier in The Rifles is known as a Rifleman and Serjeant is spelt in the archaic fashion; the regiment wears a standard rifle green beret. A number of golden threads have been brought into the new regiment from each of its founder regiments:
- Croix de Guerre - the French Croix de Guerre ribbon awarded to the Devonshire Regiment in World War I, and subsequently worn by the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry, is worn on both sleeves of No. 1 and No. 2 dress.
- Back Badge - the badge worn on the back of headdress that was awarded as an honour to the 28th Foot, and subsequently worn by the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry is worn on the forage cap and side hat, and on the shako of the regimental band and bugles.
- Bugle Horn - the bugle horn badge of the Light Infantry, now surmounted by St. Edward's Crown, is the regiment's cap badge.
- Maltese Cross - the Maltese Cross of the Royal Green Jackets is worn as a buckle on the cross belt, and will contain the regiment's representative battle honours; currently one space is kept free for future honours. In accordance with the tradition of rifle regiments, the regiment does not carry colours.
- Black Buttons - the traditional black buttons of a rifle regiment are worn on all forms of dress with the exception of combat dress.
In addition, the new regiment's "Double Past" march (the music used when marching past at the double) is an amalgam of the Light Infantry's (Keel Row) and the Royal Green Jackets' (Road to the Isles). Furthermore The Rifles march at 140 paces per minute, much faster than that of the rest of the Infantry that march at 120.
The unit's back badge reads Egypt, in honor of service by the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot, one of the Rifle's precursor units.
[edit] Organisation
| British Army Arms and Services | |
The new regiment has 5 regular and 2 Territorial Army battalions:
- 1st Battalion - amalgamation of the 1st Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry and the 1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry
- 2nd Battalion - redesignation of the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets
- 3rd Battalion - redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, The Light Infantry
- 4th Battalion - redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets
- 5th Battalion - redesignation of the 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry
- 6th (V) Battalion - redesignation of the Rifle Volunteers
- 7th (V) Battalion - redesignation of the Royal Rifle Volunteers, minus the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment company, plus the Royal Green Jacket companies of the London Regiment
There is only one single CCF unit that still carries the RGJ cap badge and that is the London Oratory School CCF, London, England.
In addition to the seven battalions above, a further two companies (and a platoon) are also cap badged as The Rifles but are attached to other TA infantry Battalions:
- D (RIFLES) Company, 5th (V) Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (includes Y (RIFLES) Platoon) - redesignation of C (Light Infantry) Company, Tyne-Tees Regiment and Minden (Light Infantry) Company, East and West Riding Regiment (The 'D' and 'Y' designations were specifically chosen to help maintain The Rifles' county links to both Durham and Yorkshire.)
- E (RIFLES) Company, 4th (V) Battalion, Mercian Regiment - redesignation of E (Light Infantry) Company, West Midlands Regiment.
Following the restructuring of the infantry and the end of the arms plot, the new regiment's five regular battalions will have fixed roles:
- 1st Battalion - Commando Infantry (3 Commando Brigade) - Beachley, Gloucestershire.
- 2nd Battalion - Light Role (19 Light Brigade) - Ballykinler, Northern Ireland.
- 3rd Battalion - Light Role (52 Infantry Brigade though currently re-subordinated to 11 Light Brigade in preparation of a tour to Afghanistan) - Edinburgh.
- 4th Battalion - Mechanised Infantry (1 Mechanised Brigade) - Bulford, Wiltshire.
- 5th Battalion - Armoured Infantry (20th Armoured Brigade) - Paderborn, Germany.
The 1st Battalion formed on 1 Feb 07 in Alma Barracks, Catterick Garrison (the same place where the RGBW formed in 1994) as part of 52 Infantry Brigade. In August that year the Battalion moved again to its permanent home of Beachley still under 52 Brigade, whose HQ had departed for Afghanistan. From 1 April 2008 however, it was permanently attached to 3 Commando Brigade, where it will serve as the one of the brigade's four manoeuvre battalions/units alongside the three commandos of the Royal Marines.
Territorial Army locations:
- 6th Battalion - Gloucester, Taunton, Dorchester, Truro and Exeter.
- 7th Battalion - Oxford, Reading, Milton Keynes and London.
- D Coy, 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers - Bishop Auckland, Consett, Doncaster, Sunderland, Washington.
- E Coy, West Midlands Regiment - Shrewsbury.
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (Colonel-in-Chief, RGBWLI) is the new regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, but each battalion has its own Royal Colonel:
| 1st Battalion, The Rifles | HRH The Duke of Kent (Colonel-in-Chief, DDLI) |
| 2nd Battalion, The Rifles | HRH The Earl of Wessex |
| 3rd Battalion, The Rifles | HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy (Colonel-in-Chief, LI) |
| 4th Battalion, The Rifles | HRH The Duchess of Cornwall |
| 5th Battalion, The Rifles | HRH The Countess of Wessex |
| 6th (V) Battalion, The Rifles | HRH The Duke of Gloucester (Colonel-in-Chief, RGBWLI) |
| 7th (V) Battalion, The Rifles | HRH The Duchess of Gloucester |
[edit] The Band and Bugles
The Rifles maintains a single regular regimental band, the Band and Bugles of The Rifles. This was formed by renaming the Band and Bugles of the Light Division, which in itself was an amalgamation of four separate bands:
- The Corunna Band of the Light Infantry
- The Salamanca Band of the Light Infantry
- The Peninsula Band of the Royal Green Jackets
- The Normandy Band of the Royal Green Jackets
In addition, the two TA Battalions maintain their own bands:
- The Salamanca Band of the Rifles - 6th Battalion (formerly the Band of the Rifle Volunteers)
- The Waterloo Band of the Rifles - 7th Battalion (formerly the Band of the Royal Rifle Volunteers)
[edit] Roll of Honour
[edit] Iraq
- Major Paul Harding, a company commander in the 4th Battalion The Rifles. Killed by mortar fire near Basra, 21 June 2007[[1]].
- Corporal John Rigby, of the 4th Battalion The Rifles. Killed by roadside bomb in Basra, 23 June 2007[2].
- Corporal Rodney Wilson of 4th Battalion The Rifles. Killed when rescuing a colleague under heavy fire. 7 June 2007[[3]].
- Corporal Jeremy Brookes, of 4th Battalion The Rifles. Killed when convoy attacked in southern Iraq. 21 May 2007[4].
- Rifleman Paul Donnachie from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles. On routine patrol in Basra. 29 April 2007[5]
- Rifleman Aaron Lincoln, from the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, died on 2 April 2007 after he was wounded by small arms fire during a routine patrol in Basra[6]
- Rifleman Daniel Coffey of the 2nd Battalion The Rifles died in hospital on 28 February 2007, a day after being injured in an attack in Basra[7].
[edit] Alliances
Although no list of regimental alliances has been announced as yet, using the large regiments that have formed already as examples, it can be assumed that all of the current alliances of the four individual regiments will be carried into the Rifles.
Australia - Monash University Regiment- Australia - Melbourne University Regiment
- Australia - 11th/28th Battalion, The Royal Western Australia Regiment
- Australia - The Royal New South Wales Regiment
Canada - The Royal Canadian Regiment- Canada - Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
- Canada - The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
- Canada - The Brockville Rifles
- Canada - The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
- Canada - The Royal Regina Rifles
- Canada - Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke
- Canada - The Lincoln and Welland Regiment
- Canada - The Algonquin Regiment
- Canada - The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (RCAC)
- Canada - The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)
- Canada - Le Régiment de Maisonneuve
- Canada - The North Saskatchewan Regiment
Ghana - 1st Battalion, The Ghana Regiment
Kenya - 1st and 3rd Battalions, The Kenya Rifles
Malaysia - 6th Battalion, The Royal Malay Regiment
Mauritius - Special Mobile Force
New Zealand - The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment- New Zealand - The Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Regiment
- New Zealand - The Hauraki Regiment
Pakistan - 11th Battalion, The Baloch Regiment- Pakistan - 1st Battalion, The Sind Regiment
- Pakistan - 2nd and 13th Battalions, The Frontier Force Regiment
South Africa - The Cape Town Rifles- South Africa - 5 South African Infantry Battalion (Bond of Friendship)
- South Africa - The Rand Light Infantry
- South Africa - The Durban Light Infantry
- South Africa - The Kaffrarian Rifles
Royal Navy - HMS Exeter- Royal Navy - HMS Cornwall
- Royal Navy - HMS Gloucester
- Royal Navy - HMS Somerset
France - 2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie (Bond of Friendship)
[edit] Battle Honours
The following battle honours are a representation of the total honours awarded to the regiments which formed The Rifles. These are inscribed on the regiment's belt badge:
- Gibraltar, Dettingen, Plassey, Minden, Quebec, Martinique, Marabout, Waterloo, Peninsula, Afghanistan, Jellalabad, Ferozeshah, Delhi, Lucknow, New Zealand, Pekin, South Africa, Inkerman
- Great War: Nonne Boschen, Ypres, Somme, Vittoria Veneto, Megiddo
- Second World War: Calais, El Alamein, Kohima, Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, Italy 1943-45, Anzio
- Imjin, Korea, Iraq 2003
[edit] Order of Precedence
| Preceded by: Royal Gurkha Rifles |
Infantry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by: Special Air Service |
[edit] Lineage
[edit] See also
- The Rifle Brigade
- Pegasus Bridge
- The Borneo Band of Durham Army Cadet Force
[edit] References
- Regimental Website (official)
- The Rifles on Regiments.org
- MOD Press Release Nov 2005
- Statement by CO Devon and Dorset Regiment
- Statement by CO Royal Gloucester, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment (Now Offline)
- The Light Infantry Homepage
- BBC Gloucestershire News
- 1 RIFLES to join the Commandos
