The Rifle Volunteers was a

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 Territorial Army The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. The Army Reserve was known as the Ter ...

. 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 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 ...

, 4th (Volunteer) Battalion,

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 ...

and elements of the 2nd (Volunteer) Battalion,

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 ...

in consequence of the reforms implemented due to the

Strategic Defence Review The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a British policy document produced in July 1998 by the Labour Government that had gained power a year previously. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of t ...

. The HQ was 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 ...

, and the battalion comprised five rifle companies and a headquarters company, as follows: *HQ Company, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter *A (The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment) Company, at

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

''(from A and B Companies, 2nd Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment)'' *B (Somerset Light Infantry) Company, at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

, and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

''(from HQ and B Companies, 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry)'' *C (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company, at Dorchester and

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

''(from C and D Companies, 4th Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment)'' *D (Cornwall Light Infantry) Company, at

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

, and

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove. Camborne was formerl ...

''(from C and D Companies, 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry)'' *E (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company, at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and Exeter
''(from HQ and A Companies, 4th Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment)'' The Volunteer Band of the 4th Battalion, The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment formed the band of the Rifle Volunteers. The battalion regularly entered the Nordic & Biathlon Championships known as "Exercise Spartan Hike", held in

Serre Chevalier Serre Chevalier () is a major ski resort in Southeastern France, near the Italian border, located in the Hautes-Alpes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated to the northeast of Écrins National Park in the French Alps, the reso ...

, France each year. They were Territorial Army and

5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *5th Division (Australia) * 5th Division (People's Republic of China) *5th Division (Colombia) *Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) *5th Light Cavalry Division (France) *5th Moto ...

Champions for three years running between 2003 and 2005. A soldier from the Territorial Army 2004

In 1999 a number of individuals were mobilised from The Rifle Volunteers to join 2nd Battalion 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 ...

on their Kosovo tour returning in early 2000. The first major deployment from The Rifle Volunteers was in November 2003 when 55 soldiers were deployed to the Kabul, Afghanistan. Attached to C 'Tavolato' Company of 2nd Battalion The

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

. On 28 January 2004 Private Jonathan Kitulagoda was killed by a suicide bomber whilst on a routine patrol. In April 2004 a composite company of the regiment (Salamanca Company) was dispatched to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. The company was attached to the 1st Battalion

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. T ...

, as part of 1 Mechanised Brigade, within the Multi-National Division (South East). Salamanca Company distinguished itself; Sergeant Peter 'Stooley' Poole-Reeves was awarded a

Mention in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his actions during a contact in which he was shot in the chest plate of his body armour. Additionally Sergeant Kevin Pinnell and Private Matthew Gavin were awarded Joint Commander's Commendations. The company returned home at the end of October. The battalion was part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade.

Structure before re-designation

Shortly before re-designation as a battalion of the Rifles, the regiment's structure underwent a reform in order to reflect its post amalgamation structure, and ease the process: *HQ (Devonshire and Dorset) Company, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter
''(from E (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company)'' *A (Gloucestershire) Company, at Gloucester and Bristol *B Company, at Taunton and Exeter *C (Devonshire and Dorset) Company, at Dorchester and Poole *D Company, at Bodmin and Plymouth
''(from Plymouth Platoon of E (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company)''

6th Battalion, The Rifles

On 24 November 2005, it was announced by 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 ...

that the battalion would be re-designated as a territorial battalion of a new large regiment to be called The Rifles. To that effect on 1 February 2007, the regiment became 6th Battalion,

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 battalion now serves as the reserve infantry battalion for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, and

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, with sub-units spread right across its recruiting area.

Current Structure

The battalion's current structure is as follows: *HQ Company, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter **Detachment, at

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

**Detachment, at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

*A Company, at Gloucester **2 Platoon, at Suvla Barracks,

**3 Platoon, at HMS Flying Fox, Bristol *C Company, at Dorchester **6 Platoon, at Poole *D Company, at Truro **8 Platoon, at Plymouth

References

{{reflist

External links

Regimental website (Ministry of Defence)

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 ...

The Rifles Military units and formations established in 1999 Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom