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 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). Since formation the regiment has been involved in combat operations, first in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.

History

The Rifles was created as a result of the Future Army Structure review. Under the original announcement, the Light Division would have remained essentially unchanged, with the exception of the

Light Infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

gaining a new battalion through the amalgamation of two other regiments, and both gaining a reserve battalion from within the Territorial Army (TA) as it was then called. However, on 24 November 2005, 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 that the four regiments would amalgamate into a single five-battalion regiment. The regular battalions of The Rifles was formed on 1 February 2007 by the amalgamation of the four Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments of the Light Division as follows: *1st Battalion The Rifles (formed from the 1st Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, and the 1st Battalion Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment) *2nd Battalion The Rifles (formed from the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets) *3rd Battalion The Rifles (formed from the 2nd Battalion,

) *4th Battalion The Rifles (formed from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets) *5th Battalion The Rifles (formed from the 1st Battalion, Light Infantry) *

6th Battalion 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

The Rifles (formed from the

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 ...

) *

7th Battalion 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythol ...

The Rifles (formed from the Royal Rifle Volunteers minus the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Company but with the surviving two Companies (F and G) of 4th (V) and 5th (V) Battalions of the Royal Green Jackets within The

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). The ...

) The Rifles was formed to serve as the county regiment of the following counties: *

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

* Cornwall * Devon * Dorset * Durham * Gloucestershire * Herefordshire *

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

* Shropshire * Somerset * South Yorkshire * Wiltshire The 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion and the 4th Battalion were all deployed in Basra in Iraq during some of the worst fighting of the Iraq War including the withdrawal from Basra Palace in September 2007. The 1st Battalion undertook a tour in Afghanistan between October 2008 and April 2009, ground holding and mentoring the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

in Helmand Province. The 5th Battalion was one of the last British Army units to leave Iraq in May 2009. The 4th Battalion provided reinforcement cover for the elections in Afghanistan and took part in Operation Panther's Claw in the Summer of 2009. At the same time the 2nd Battalion was deployed to Sangin and was relieved in due course by the 3rd Battalion. The 1st battalion returned to the Nahri Sarah District of Afghanistan in April 2011, to then be relieved by the 2nd and 5th battalions in October 2011. In March 2018 the 2nd Battalion returned home after a six-month operational deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Shader. The regiment's 4th battalion was re-subordinated to the Ranger Regiment on 1 December 2021.

Organisation

The regiment has four regular and three reserve battalions, each configured for a specific infantry role: *1st Battalion, an amalgamation of the 1st Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. Initially configured in the light role as part of

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen f ...

, it moved to

160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales 160th (Welsh) Brigade or Brigâd 160 (Cymru), is a regional brigade of the British Army that has been in existence since 1908, and saw service during both the First and the Second World Wars, as part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. It is ...

under Army 2020, but transferred to the 7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East in 2019. Personnel are based at

Beachley Barracks Beachley Barracks is a British Army base at Beachley in Gloucestershire, England, close to the England–Wales border at Chepstow. The Barracks is located at Beachley Point between the River Severn and the River Wye. It is the home of 1st Battali ...

, Chepstow. In 2027 the battalion will move to MoD St Athan *2nd Battalion, a redesignation of the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets. Initially configured in the light role as part of 19 Light Brigade, it moved to

38th (Irish) Brigade The 38th (Irish) Brigade, is a brigade formation of the British Army that served in the Second World War. It was composed of Ulster, North Irish line infantry regiments and served with distinction in the Tunisia Campaign, Tunisian and Italian Camp ...

under Army 2020, and is now part of the 51st (Scottish) Brigade. Personnel are based at Thiepval Barracks,

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

. *3rd Battalion, a redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, The Light Infantry. Initially configured in the light role as part of 52nd Infantry Brigade, it moved to

51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland is an Adaptable Force Brigade of the British Army. It is the regional administrative formation responsible for all the units of the Army Reserve based in Scotland and an Adaptable Force Brigade unde ...

under Army 2020 and is now part of the

1st Armoured Infantry Brigade The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It was based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards ...

. Personnel are based at Dreghorn Barracks, Edinburgh. In 2021 they moved to Catterick Garrison. *5th Battalion – redesignation of the 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry. Configured in the armoured infantry role as part of

20th Armoured Brigade The 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, previously the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is an armoured infantry brigade formation of the British Army, currently headquartered at Wing Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd (United Kingdo ...

, it will remain as a Warrior battalion under Army 2020. Personnel are based at Bulford Camp. *

– redesignation of the

. It comes under 7th Infantry Brigade and is paired with 1 RIFLES. Headquarters is at Wyvern Barracks in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. *

– redesignation of the Royal Rifle Volunteers, minus the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

, plus G Company of the

(the descendants of the 4th (V) Battalion the Royal Green Jackets). It comes under 20th Armoured Brigade and is paired with 5 RIFLES. *8th Battalion – Formed on 1 November 2017. The battalion primarily covers the areas of County Durham, Yorkshire, Shropshire and Birmingham, with headquarters located in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

, County Durham.

Colonels

The Queen Consort is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, whilst each battalion has its own Royal Colonel:

List of Colonels-in-Chief

* 2007–2020: The Duke of Edinburgh * From 2020: The Queen Consort

Royal Colonels

* 1st Battalion, The Rifles: The Duke of Kent (ex-Colonel-in-Chief, DDLI) * 2nd Battalion, The Rifles: The Earl of Wessex * 3rd Battalion, The Rifles: Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy (ex-Colonel-in-Chief, LI) * 5th Battalion, The Rifles: The Countess of Wessex * 6th Battalion, The Rifles: The Duke of Gloucester * 7th Battalion, The Rifles:

The Duchess of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

* 8th Battalion, The Rifles: To be announced

Regimental bands

The regular element of The Rifles maintains a single regular regimental band, the

Band and Bugles of The Rifles The Band and Bugles of the Rifles is a military band serving as the regimental band for The Rifles, the sole rifle regiment and the largest in the British Army. It is the senior most of three bands in the regiment and is the only one that is ...

. The band form one of 14 professional bands within the Royal Corps of Army Music. 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 Army Reserve 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)

Band and Bugles

The Band and Bugles of The Rifles is the most senior band in the regiment based in the Rifles. The central Band of The Rifles are based at Sir John Moore Barracks in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. The band is notable in that buglers accompany the band in the front rank. Since 2016, Major Jason Griffiths has served as the director of the band and bugles.

Salamanca Band (6th Battalion)

The Salamanca Band is a 35-member band based at

, being part of the 6th Reserve Battalion. The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment formed the former Band of the

. It formed the backbone of the Salamanca Band. The band also has a detachment in Truro. In the summer of 2017, the band went on a tour of the Caucasus, visiting Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, performing with the Band of the General Staff, the Band of the National Guard and the Band of the Ministry of Defence respectively for public performances. On the Georgia visit, the band performed ''Tbiliso'', which is the unofficial anthem of the

City of Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, was also performed during a concert on a bridge in the neighborhood of Metekhi. In April 2016, the first musician to serve as an army vocalist came from The Salamanca Band.

Waterloo Band (7th Battalion)

The Waterloo Band is a 35-member band based in Abingdon, being part of the 7th Reserve Battalion. The Waterloo Band has performed at events across the UK and the world such as the Basel Tattoo in 2014.

The Sounding Retreat

The ''Sounding Retreat'' is a form of the Beating Retreat ceremony of the Household Division. The main difference between this ceremony and the regular Beating Retreat is that this is performed by the bugle bands of The Rifles, as well as the former of the bands of the Britain's Light Division. This traditional ceremony (which represents the sounding of Sunset or Retreat in the British Army) has been done on 31 May and 1 June on Horse Guards Parade as recently as 1993 and 2016. Besides the Bugle Band of the Rifles, the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas also takes part in the ceremony.

Golden threads

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'' i.e. distinctive honours have been brought into the new regiment from each of its founder regiments: *

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

– the French Croix de Guerre ribbon awarded to the Devonshire Regiment in the First World War, and subsequently worn by the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry, and also awarded to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1918, is worn on both sleeves of No. 1 and No. 2 dress. *Back Badge – the badge worn on the back of headdress reads Egypt. This was awarded as an honour to the

28th 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 ...

and subsequently worn by the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry. It 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 The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

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. *Double past – the march played when the regiment moves at double time is an amalgam of Keel Row, the double past of the Light Infantry, and The Road to the Isles, the double past of the Royal Green Jackets.

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 ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, Copenhagen, Plassey, Dettingen,

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

, Quebec, Martinique, Marabout,

Peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

, Afghanistan,

Jellalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

, Ferozeshah, Delhi, Lucknow, New Zealand, Pekin, South Africa, Inkerman *Great War: Nonne Boschen, Ypres,

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

, Vittorio Veneto, Megiddo *Second World War:

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, First Battle of El Alamein, Second Battle of El Alamein, Kohima, Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, Italy 1943–45, Anzio * Imjin, Korea, Iraq 2003

Regimental museum

The regiment's museum is

The Rifles Museum The Rifles Museum is the regimental museum of The Rifles. It is located in Winchester in Hampshire, England and is part of Winchester's Military Museums. History The museum was established as "The Rifles Collection" in 2013 with the objective ...

at Peninsular Barracks in Winchester.

Alliances

The regiment inherited its alliances from its predecessors, and these alliances are: * – Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke * –

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 ...

* –

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...

* – The Lincoln and Welland Regiment * – The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers) * – The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) * – Le Régiment de Maisonneuve * – The North Saskatchewan Regiment * – The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) * – The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada * – The Brockville Rifles * – The Royal Winnipeg Rifles * – The Regina Rifle Regiment * – 11th/28th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment * – Western Australia University Regiment * – Sydney University Regiment * – Melbourne University Regiment * –

Royal New South Wales Regiment The Royal New South Wales Regiment (RNSWR) is a reserve infantry regiment of the Australian Army based in the state of New South Wales. Organisation The regiment currently consists of four battalions: * 1st/19th Battalion; * 2nd/17th Battalion; ...

* – Hauraki Regiment * – 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment * – 2nd/4th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment * – 3rd/6th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment * – 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment * – Kenya Army Infantry * – 1st Battalion, Kenyan Rifles * – 3rd Battalion, Kenyan Rifles * – 6th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment * – 1st Battalion, Sindh Regiment * – 2nd Battalion, Frontier Force Regiment * – 13th Battalion, Frontier Force Regiment * – 11th Battalion, Baloch Regiment * – 13th Battalion, Baloch Regiment * –

Chief Langalibalele Rifles The Chief Langalibalele Rifles (formerly known as the Cape Town Rifles and Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles) is a reserve infantry regiment of the South African Army. History Origin The Regiment was founded on 28 November 1855, as the Cape Rifle ...

* – Rand Light Infantry * –

Durban Light Infantry The Durban Light Infantry is a Motorised Infantry regiment of the South African Army. It lost its status as a Mechanised infantry regiment in 2010 in line with the rationalisation of resources. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equival ...

* –

Buffalo Volunteer Rifles The Buffalo Volunteer Rifles (BVR) (formerly the Kaffrarian Rifles) is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard ...

* – Fiji Infantry Regiment * – 1st Battalion, Ghana Regiment * –

Special Mobile Force The Special Mobile Force is a paramilitary unit with its main function to ensure the internal and external security of Mauritius. As Mauritius has no dedicated military, the SMF forms part of the Mauritius Police Force, with its personnel on lon ...

Bond of Friendship * –

5 South African Infantry Battalion 5 South African Infantry Battalion is a motorised infantry unit of the South African Army. History Based in Ladysmith 5 SAI was established on 1 January 1962, at Ladysmith, Natal Province. The battalion became operational on 1 April 1962. The ...

* –

2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie The 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie, 2e REI) is an infantry regiment of the French Foreign Legion, Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is one of two mechanized infantry regiments of the 6th L ...

* – A Flight,

No. 22 Squadron RAF Number 22 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is an operational testing and evaluation squadron for all the Joint Helicopter Command helicopter types including Chinook, Puma HC2, Merlin HC4, Apache and Wildcat AH1. Formerly the Rotary Wing Op ...

Order of precedence

Lineage

References

External links

Official siteOfficial News site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rifles, The The Light Infantry Infantry regiments of the British Army Rifle regiments Military units and formations established in 2007 British light infantry Military units and formations of the Iraq War Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Musical instrument museums 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom