The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment was a short-lived

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

History

The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

and the

Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. History Earlier history The regiment was formed on 9 June 1959 after defence cuts implemented in the late 1950s saw the amalgamation o ...

. It was the only regiment in the British Army whose members were permitted to wear a

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

on both the front and the rear of their headdress. The back badge was awarded to the

28th Regiment of Foot The 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1694. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot to form the Gloucestershire Regi ...

for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801 when the regiment fought on whilst completely surrounded by the enemy. The regiment was also unique in the

in that it was permitted to wear the United States Presidential Unit Citation, which it inherited from the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment which was awarded for their defence of

Gloster Hill The Gloucester Hill Battle Monument ( ko, 파주 영국군 설마리전투비, literally "British Army's Seolmari Battle Monument in Paju") or Gloucester Memorial is a memorial in South Korea that commemorates the actions of the Gloucestershire ...

during the

Battle of the Imjin River The Battle of the Imjin River ( fil, Labanan sa Ilog Imjin), also known as the Battle of Solma-ri ( ko, 설마리 전투) or Battle of Gloster Hill () in South Korea, or as Battle of Xuemali () in China, took place 22–25 April 1951 during th ...

in April 1951 during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Between 2002 and 2005, the 1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment served as a

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has ...

battalion in London, where its duties included providing the

Queen's Guard The King's Guard and King's Life Guard (called the Queen's Guard and the Queen's Life Guard when the reigning monarch is female) are the contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official List of British royal res ...

. It was while the RGBW was on guard at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

that the Fathers 4 Justice protest took place. In April 2004, 16 Territorial Army soldiers from the regiment joined the TA Force Protection Company, Salamanca Company, and deployed to Iraq as part of

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

A soldier from the Royal Gloucestershire Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment on operations in Iraq

On 16 December 2004, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

announced a reorganisation of the infantry regiments. In preparation for this, the regiment was moved from the

Prince of Wales' Division The Prince of Wales's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. It merged with the Scottish Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish D ...

to the

Light Division The Light Division was a light infantry division of the British Army. Its origins lay in "Light Companies" formed during the late 18th century, to move at speed over inhospitable terrain and protect a main force with skirmishing tactics. These ...

and renamed the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry in July 2005. On 24 November 2005, the

announced further changes to the amalgamations. The regiment would amalgamate with the

Devonshire and Dorset Regiment The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment (11th, 39th and 54th), usually just known as the Devon and Dorsets, was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1958 by the amalgamation of two county regiments, the Devonshire Regiment and the Dorset ...

, the

Royal Green Jackets The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). History The Royal Green Jackets was formed on 1 January 1966 by the amalgama ...

and

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Brigad ...

to form a new large regiment to be called

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly ...

. The new regiment came into existence in 2007. The Colours of the 1st Battalion were laid up at the

Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum is located within the historic docks in the city of Gloucester. The museum tells the story of two regiments of the British Army, the Gloucestershire Regiment, including its antecedents the 28th (North Glouce ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and the Colours of the 2nd Battalion were laid up at the Wardrobe, home of

The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum is a military museum at The Close in Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The ci ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Volunteers

In 1995, the regiment formed its own

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

battalion: 2nd (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, through the amalgamation of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the

Wessex Regiment The Wessex Regiment was a Territorial Army infantry regiment of the British Army, in existence from 1967 to 1995. Initially consisting of a singular battalion, the regiment was later expanded to also have a second. Formation The regiment was fo ...

. Its structure was: *HQ (Berkshire) Company, at

Brock Barracks Brock Barracks is a British Army barracks in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Located on Oxford Road in the district of West Reading. The majority of the buildings and structures within Brock Barracks are Grade II listed. ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

(from D Company, 2nd Battalion, Wessex Regiment) **Assault Pioneer Platoon, at

Cinderford Cinderford is a town and civil parish on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The population was 8,777 at the 2021 Census. The town came into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of Cind ...

*A (Gloucester) Company, at

and

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

(from A and C Companies, 1st Battalion, Wessex Regiment) * B (City of Bristol) Company, at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

(from B Company, 1st Battalion, Wessex Regiment) *C (Wiltshire) Company, at

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

and

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

(from HQ and B Companies, 1st Battalion, Wessex Regiment) In 1999 the battalion was split up, with A and B Companies amalgamating to form The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment Company,

Rifle Volunteers The Rifle Volunteers was a regiment of the British Territorial Army. In 2007, it was re-designated as 6th Battalion, The Rifles. History The ''Rifle Volunteers'' were formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of the 6th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Ligh ...

; and HQ and C Companies amalgamating to form The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment Company,

Royal Rifle Volunteers Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

Alliances

* -

The Royal Canadian Regiment , colors = , identification_symbol_2 = Maple Leaf (2nd Bn pipes and drums) , identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol_4 = The RCR , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation , mar ...

* -

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment , colors = , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol_4 = , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation , march = "The Lincolnshi ...

* -

The Algonquin Regiment The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers) is a primary reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army comprising two companies. A Company is located in North Bay, Ontario, and B Company is located in Timmins, Ontario. The regiment fall ...

* - 11th/28th Battalion, The Royal Western Australia Regiment * - 13th Battalion,

The Frontier Force Regiment The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF (Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as the ...

* - 3rd Battalion, The Kenya Rifles * - The Cape Town Rifles * - HMS ''Gloucester''

References

External links

The Official website of the Regimental AssociationBBC News article on the reorganizationThe Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum
{{The Rifles

Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment was a short-lived infantry regiment of the British Army. History The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Re ...

Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 Military units and formations established in 1994 The Rifles

History

Volunteers

Alliances

See also

References

External links