The Rifles

The Rifles was created as a result of the Future Army Structure. Under the original announcement, the Light Division would have remained essentially unchanged, with the exception of the Light Infantry 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 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:[2]

• 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, Light Infantry)
• 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 (TA) The Rifles (formed from the Rifle Volunteers)
• 7th Battalion (TA) 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)

The Rifles was formed to serve as the county regiment of the following counties:[3][4]

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.[5]

The 1st Battalion undertook a tour in Afghanistan between October 2008 and April 2009, ground holding and mentoring the Afghan National Army in Helmand Province.[5] The 5th Battalion was one of the last British Army units to leave Iraq in May 2009.[5] The 4th Battalion provided reinforcement cover for the elections in Afghanistan and took part in Operation Panther's Claw in the Summer of 2009.[5] At the same time the 2nd Battalion was deployed to Sangin and was relieved in due course by the 3rd Battalion.[5] 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.[6] In March 2018 the 2nd Battalion returned home after a six-month operational deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Shader.[7]

The regiment has five 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, it moved to 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales under Army 2020. Personnel were based at Beachley Barracks, Chepstow.[8][9]
• 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 under Army 2020. Personnel are based at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn.[8]
• 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 under Army 2020. Personnel are based at Dreghorn Barracks, Edinburgh.[10] Princess Alexandra of Kent serves as its Royal Colonel.[11]
• 4th Battalion, a redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets. Initially configured in the mechanised role as part of 1 Mechanised Brigade, it remains with that brigade which is now designated 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Personnel are based at New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot Garrison.[12] The battalion will convert to a Specialised Infantry battalion, to provide an increased contribution to countering terrorism and building stability overseas.[13]
• 5th Battalion - redesignation of the 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry. Configured in the armoured role as part of 20th Armoured Brigade, it will remain as a Warrior battalion under Army 2020. Personnel are based at Bulford Camp.[14]
• 6th Battalion - redesignation of the Rifle Volunteers. It comes under 7th Infantry Brigade and is paired with 1 RIFLES. Headquarters is at Wyvern Barracks in Exeter with sub-units at Bristol, Gloucester, Hereford, Dorchester, Poole, Truro, Plymouth, Barnstaple and Paignton.[10]
• 7th Battalion - redesignation of the Royal Rifle Volunteers, minus the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment company, plus the Royal Green Jacket companies of the London Regiment (the descendants of the 4th (V) Battalion the Royal Green Jackets). It comes under 20th Armoured Brigade and is paired with 5 RIFLES. Personnel are based in Kensington, with sub-units at Reading, Abingdon, Mile End, West Ham, High Wycombe, Swindon, Bulford and Aylesbury.[10]
• 8th Battalion - on 15 December 2016 the Defence Secretary announced that a new reserve battalion of the Rifles would be formed. The new battalion will be under operational control of 38th Infantry Brigade. It was officially formed on 1 November 2017. The battalion primarily covers the areas of County Durham, Yorkshire, Shropshire and Birmingham, with Headquarters located in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. It incorporated E Company 6 RIFLES in Shrewsbury, D (RIFLES) Company 5RRF in Durham, and Y (RIFLES) Platoon 5RRF in Doncaster, which has been expanded to company strength.[13][15][16]

The Duke of Edinburgh (ex-Colonel-in-Chief, RGBWLI) is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, whilst each battalion has its own Royal Colonel:[17]

The Waterloo Band of The Rifles in London

The regular element of The Rifles maintains a single regular regimental band, the Band and Bugles of The Rifles. The band form one of 22 professional bands within The 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:[18]

• 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)

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:[32]

• Croix de Guerre - 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 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 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.

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:[33]

• Gibraltar, Copenhagen, Plassey, Dettingen, Minden, Quebec, Martinique, Marabout, Peninsula, Waterloo, Afghanistan, Jellalabad, Ferozeshah, Delhi, Lucknow, New Zealand, Pekin, South Africa, Inkerman
• Great War: Nonne Boschen, Ypres, Somme, Vittorio Veneto, Megiddo
• Second World War: Calais, First Battle of El Alamein, Second Battle of El Alamein, Kohima, Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, Italy 1943–45, Anzio
• Imjin, Korea, Iraq 2003

• Pegasus Bridge

• Ben Barry A Cold War: Front-line Operations in Bosnia 1995 - 1996 ISBN 1-86227-449-5. An account of the end of the Bosnian Civil War by the CO of the 2nd Battalion the Light Infantry
• Les Howard Winter Warriors - Across Bosnia with the PBI ISBN 1-84624-077-8. A TA Royal Green Jacket on operations with the 2nd Bn the Light Infantry
• Swift and Bold: A Portrait of the Royal Green Jackets 1966-2007 ISBN 1-903942-69-1.
• Steven McLaughlin Squaddie: A Soldier's Story ISBN 1-84596-242-7. A Royal Green Jacket's account of modern-day basic training, battalion life & culture, and operational tours in Iraq and Northern Ireland.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Rifles.

• Official site
• Official News site