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

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

History

The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire). 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 ...

on both the front and the rear of their headdress. The back badge was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot 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 during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. 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 The King's Guard are Picket (military), sentry postings at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, organised by the British Army's Household Division. The Household Division also guard mounting, mounts sentry postings at Horse Guards (buildi ...

. It was while the RGBW was on guard at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, 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 r ...

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. On 16 December 2004, the Ministry of Defence 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 Ministry of Defence announced further changes to the amalgamations. The regiment would amalgamate with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, 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 amalgam ...

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 Bri ...

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. Each Regular battalion was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the ...

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

and the Colours of the 2nd Battalion were laid up at the Wardrobe, home of The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Volunteers

In 1995, the regiment formed its own

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

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

and

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

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

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

(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-cent ...

and

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

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

Alliances

* - The Royal Canadian Regiment * - 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 Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 Military units and formations established in 1994 The Rifles

History

Volunteers

Alliances

See also

References

External links