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 Light Division. The regiment was involved 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 gaining a new battalion through the amalgamation of two other regiments, and both gaining a reserve battalion from within the Territorial Army 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:
  • 1st Battalion The Rifles
  • 2nd Battalion The Rifles
  • 3rd Battalion The Rifles
  • 4th Battalion The Rifles
  • 5th Battalion The Rifles
  • 6th Battalion The Rifles
  • 7th Battalion The Rifles
The Rifles was formed to serve as the county regiment of the following counties:
  • Berkshire
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Cornwall
  • Devon
  • Dorset
  • Durham
  • Gloucestershire
  • Herefordshire
  • Oxfordshire
  • 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 in Helmand Province.
The 5th Battalion was one of the last British Army units to leave Iraq in May 2009.
B and R Company, 4th Battalion, the Rifles 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 3 Rifles Battle group supported by A company and S Company, 4th Battalion, The Rifles.
The 1st battalion returned to the Nahr i Siraj 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:
is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, whilst each battalion has its own Royal Colonel:

List of Colonels-in-Chief

The regular element of The Rifles maintains a single regular regimental band, the Band and Bugles of The Rifles. 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
  • The Waterloo Band of the Rifles – 7th Battalion

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

Sounding Retreat

Sounding Retreat is a ceremony similar to Beating Retreat. 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, rather than using drums, as is the case with other infantry regiments. This traditional ceremony has been done on 31 May and 1 June on Horse Guards Parade as recently as 1993 and 2016. Besides the Band and Bugles 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 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 contains 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.
  • Marching speed – The Rifles march at 140 paces to the minute, compared to the Army standard of 120 paces, retain the custom of the double past on ceremonial parades, and never slow march. This originates from historically conducting advance guard and flanking duties, which required rifle units to move around the battlefield faster than the rest of the army. On parade, the length of a pace is reduced to ensure the Rifles maintain the same marching speed as other units.