- For the weapon, see Rifle.
For the band The Rifles, see The
Rifles . For the novel by William T. Vollmann, see The Rifles .
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 it the largest regiment 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).
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 1 February 2007 by the
amalgamation of the four Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments of the
Light Division:
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:
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
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).
The unit's back badge reads Egypt, in honour of service by the
28th
Regiment of Foot, one of the Rifle's precursor units.
Organisation
The new regiment has 5 regular and 2
Territorial Army
battalions:
In addition to the seven battalions above, a further two companies
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.)
As of April 2009 permission has been granted for D (RIFLES)
Company to establish another platoon detatchment based at Minden
House, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.
- E (RIFLES) Company, 4th (V) Battalion, Mercian Regiment - redesignation of E
(Light Infantry) Company, West
Midlands Regiment.
Approximately one third of all cadets now wear The Rifles cap
bagde.
There is only one single CCF unit that still
carries the RGJ cap badge and that is the London
Oratory School
CCF, London, England.
Following the restructuring of the infantry and the end of the
arms plot, the new regiment's five regular
battalions will have fixed roles:
The 1st Battalion formed on 25 December 2007 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
Barracks at Chepstow 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 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, Sunderland, Washington, Doncaster and
Pontefract.
- E Coy, West Midlands Regiment - Shrewsbury.
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
(ex-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
(ex-Colonel-in-Chief, DDLI) |
| 2nd Battalion, The Rifles |
HRH The Earl of
Wessex |
| 3rd Battalion, The Rifles |
HRH
Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy (ex-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 |
| 7th (V) Battalion, The Rifles |
HRH The Duchess of
Gloucester |
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)
There are also a number of Cadet Force Bands including The Corunna
Band & Bugles of Oxfordshire (The Rifles) Army Cadet Force and
The Borneo band of Durham Army Cadet Force, as well as the
Peninsula Band and Bugles of the Cornwall Army Cadet Force
Battalion (The Rifles). More recently E (The Rifles) Company
(Yorkshire N&W) ACF have formed a Bugle & Drum section -
Minden Bugles & Drums
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.
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, Peninsula, Waterloo
, 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
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