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 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 Battle of Alexandria, Raid on Alexandria, or Siege of Alexandria may refer to one of these military operations fought in or near the city of Alexandria, Egypt: * Siege of Alexandria (169 BC), during the Syrian Wars * Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), ...

in 1801 when the regiment fought on whilst completely surrounded by the enemy. The regiment was also unique in the British Army 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 during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the Korean War. Between 2002 and 2005, the 1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment served as a public duties battalion in London, where its duties included providing the Queen's Guard. 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 to the Light Division 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 Royal Green Jackets and The Light Infantry to form a new large regiment to be called The Rifles. The new regiment came into existence in 2007. The Colours of the 1st Battalion were laid up at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum in Gloucester and the Colours of the 2nd Battalion were laid up at the Wardrobe, home of The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum in Salisbury.

Volunteers

In 1995, the regiment formed its own territorial battalion: 2nd (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, through the amalgamation of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Wessex Regiment. Its structure was: *HQ (Berkshire) Company, at Brock Barracks, Reading
(from D Company, 2nd Battalion, Wessex Regiment) **Assault Pioneer Platoon, at Cinderford *A (Gloucester) Company, at Gloucester 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
(from B Company, 1st Battalion, Wessex Regiment) *C (Wiltshire) Company, at Devizes 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.

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 * - The Algonquin Regiment * - 11th/28th Battalion, The Royal Western Australia Regiment * - 13th Battalion, The Frontier Force Regiment * - 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 Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 Military units and formations established in 1994 The Rifles

History

Volunteers

Alliances

See also

References

External links