HMForces.co.uk

Education >> Browse Articles >> British Army Regiment & Corps

The Rifles

Soldiers in training

The Rifles comprise 5 Regular and 2 Territorial Battalions and can trace their historical roots back to the Peninsula Wars of the early 19th Century. The new Regiment was formed on 1st February 2007 from an amalgamation of:

• The Devon & Dorset Light Infantry.

• The Light Infantry.

• The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry.

• The Royal Green Jackets.

Their forbears, The Corps of Light Infantry, was formed on 17th July 1803 from a combining of the following formations:

• 43rd (Monmouthshire Light Infantry) Regiment.

• 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry).

• 95th Rifles.

• Portuguese Army Cacadores – a Portuguese Light Infantry Regiment added after formation.

Some Light Infantry Regiments were not under command of the Corps of Light Infantry, namely the 60th (Royal Americans) who had formed the 5th Bn in 1797, later to be followed by the formation of the 6th & 7th Bn’s in 1799.

It was in August 1807 that the Light Division, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, first saw action at the Second Battle of Copenhagen – alternatively known as the Bombardment of Copenhagen. This successful action, where the majority of the Danish Fleet was surrendered, was intended to prevent Napoleon forcing the Danes to close the Baltic Sea to British ships. The Baltic area at this time was an important British trade area that provided raw materials for the construction of warships.

The Regiment fought their way across Spain by way of Talavera, the River Côa, the Seige of Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca – to name but a few engagements with the French – with the final action of the Peninsula War was the Battle of Toulouse on 10th April 1814. During the campaign the Regiment was to win the Battle Honour ‘Peninsular’.

With the war in Spain at an end and Napoleon in exile on the Island of Elba the Peninsula army was broken up with many of the Light Infantry regiments being either disbanded or amalgamated.

After Waterloo the Light Infantry next came to real prominence during the 1853/56 Crimean War – however, although a Light Division was formed no Light Infantry Battalions were part of it! The Division took part in various operations on the Crimea with the most notable being the 1854/55 Siege of Sevastopol and the Battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854.

During WWI two Light Divisions, the 14th and 20thwere raised. Both Divisions served with distinction on the Western Front taking part in many actions with the most notable being the Battles of the Somme, Arras and Ypres. 655

The 1st Battalion of the 43rd Foot were deployed to Mesopotamia during WWI but were starved into surrender by the Turks at the Siege of Kut. Of the 300 Riflemen taken prisoner only 100 survived the war. In 1919, with the battalion back at full strength they were deployed to North Russia to take part in the campaign against the Bolsheviks.

There were no Light Divisions formed during WWII but the attributes of the Light Division soldier were carried on in the Parachute Regiment, Commandos and the Chindits. Although WWII operations by the Parachute Regiment and Commandos are well documented very little is known about the Chindits – a military force that operated in India and Burma during 1943/44 against the Japanese. The Chindits were a ‘British India’ Special Force – comprising units from the British Army, Gurkha’s of the British Indian Army and a few United States personnel – that operated deep behind the Japanese lines.

After WWII the need for an Army of such huge proportions ceased to exist and it was obvious that a reorganisation of military assets would come sooner rather than later. This 1948 reorganisation led to the following as far as the rationalisation of Green Jacket and Light Infantry Brigades were concerned:

• Green Jacket Brigade. The Green Jacket Brigade was formed at Winchester and tasked with administering British Army Rifle Regiments. The formation of the Brigade combined the Depots of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC), The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consorts Own) and the Middlesex Regiment. The name ‘Green Jackets’ was derived from the rifle green tunics that indicated their ‘Rifles’ status.

• Light Infantry Brigade. The Light Infantry Brigade was formed at Farnborough in Hampshire and tasked with administering the British Light Infantry Regiments. The formation of the Brigade combined the Depots of The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s), the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, and The Durham Light Infantry.

In the July 1957 Defence Review the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was moved from the Light Infantry Brigade and renamed the 1st Green Jackets. The Green Jacket Brigade eventually consisted of the following battalions:

• 1st Green Jackets (43rd & 52nd)

• 2nd Green Jackets, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps

• 3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade

Under the same Defence Review, with the Ox & Bucks transferred to the Green Jacket Brigade, it was announced that the Somerset Light Infantry and Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry would amalgamate and assume the name Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry (SCLI).

Further reorganisations saw the three regiments amalgamated on 1st January 1966 and formed into a single three battalion ‘large regiment’ to be named the Royal Green Jackets. On 1st July 1968 the Green Jackets and Light Infantry Brigades merged – to form the Light Division – which consisted of the following infantry battalions:

• The Light Infantry comprising 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions.

• Royal Green Jackets comprising 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions.

In 1969 the 4th Bn The Light Infantry was disbanded and the status quo was maintained until 1992 when both Regiments had a battalion disbanded. In preparation for a further review of the Armed Forces the following battalions were attached to the Light Division in 2005:

• 1st Bn The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry.

• 1st Bn The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry.

Return to: Regiments and Corps of the British Army
Previous section: The Brigade of Gurkhas
Next Section: Special Forces