| The Rifles | |
|---|---|
  Cap and Back badges of The Rifles | |
| Active | 2007–present |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Rifles |
| Role | 1st Battalion—Mechanised Infantry[1] 2nd Battalion—Light Infantry 3rd Battalion—Reconnaissance Strike Infantry[1] 5th Battalion—Armoured Infantry 6th Battalion—Light Infantry 7th Battalion—Armoured Infantry 8th Battalion–Light Infantry |
| Size | Seven battalions |
| Part of | Light Division |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ—Winchester 1st Battalion—Beachley Barracks,Chepstow 2nd Battalion—Lisburn 3rd Battalion—Edinburgh 5th Battalion—Bulford 6th Battalion—Exeter 7th Battalion—Reading 8th Battalion–Bishop Auckland |
| Mottos | "Celer et Audax" (Latin) "Swift and Bold" |
| Colours | Rifle Green |
| March | Quick: "Mechanised Infantry" Double Fast: "Keel Row/Road to the Isles" Slow: "Old Salamanca" |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel in Chief | Queen Camilla |
| Colonel Commandant | Lieutenant-GeneralSir Tom Copinger-Symes[2] |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
| Arm Badge |  Croix de Guerre From Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry |
| Abbreviation | RIFLES |
The Rifles is aninfantryregiment of theBritish Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regularbattalions and three Reserve battalions. Each Regular battalion was formerly an individual battalion of one of the twolarge regiments of theLight Division (with the exception of the 1st Battalion, which is an amalgamation of two individual regiments). The regiment was involved in the later stages of theIraq War and in theWar in Afghanistan.
The Rifles was created as a result of theFuture Army Structure review. Under the original announcement, the Light Division would have remained essentially unchanged, with the exception of theLight 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, theMinistry 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 theLight Division as follows:[3]
The Rifles was formed to serve as the county regiment of the following counties:[4][5]
The 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion, and the 4th Battalion were all deployed inBasra inIraq during some of the worst fighting of theIraq War, including the withdrawal from Basra Palace in September 2007.[6]
The 1st Battalion undertook a tour inAfghanistan between October 2008 and April 2009, ground holding and mentoring theAfghan National Army inHelmand Province.[6]
The 5th Battalion was one of the last British Army units to leave Iraq in May 2009.[6]
B and R Company, 4th Battalion, the Rifles provided reinforcement cover for the elections in Afghanistan and took part inOperation Panther's Claw in the Summer of 2009.[6] At the same time, the 2nd Battalion was deployed toSangin and was relieved in due course by 3 Rifles Battle group supported by A company and S Company, 4th Battalion, The Rifles.[6]
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.[7]
In March 2018, the 2nd Battalion returned home after a six-month operational deployment to Iraq in support ofOperation Shader.[8]
The regiment's 4th battalion was re-subordinated to theRanger Regiment on 1 December 2021.[9]
The regiment has four regular and three reserve battalions, each configured for a specific infantry role:
Queen Camilla is theColonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, whilst each battalion has its own Royal Colonel:
The regular element of The Rifles maintains a single regular regimental band, theBand and Bugles of The Rifles. The band form one of 14 professional bands within theRoyal 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:[24]
In addition, the twoArmy Reserve Battalions maintain their own bands:
The Band and Bugles of The Rifles is the most senior band in the regiment based in the Rifles.[25] The central Band of The Rifles are based at Sir John Moore Barracks inWinchester.[26] The band is notable in that buglers accompany the band in the front rank.[27][28] Since 2016, Major Jason Griffiths has served as the director of the band and bugles.[29]
The Salamanca Band is a 35-member band based atExeter, being part of the 6th Reserve Battalion. The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment formed the former Band of theRifle Volunteers.[30] It formed the backbone of the Salamanca Band. The band also has a detachment inTruro.[31] In the summer of 2017, the band went on a tour of theCaucasus, visitingArmenia,[32]Azerbaijan andGeorgia, performing with theBand of the General Staff, theBand of the National Guard and theBand of the Ministry of Defence respectively for public performances. On the Georgia visit, the band performedTbiliso, which is the unofficial anthem of theCity of Tbilisi, was also performed during a concert on a bridge in the neighborhood ofMetekhi.[33][34] In April 2016, the first musician to serve as an army vocalist came from The Salamanca Band.[35]
The Waterloo Band is a 35-member band based inAbingdon, being part of the 7th Reserve Battalion. The Waterloo Band has performed at events across the UK and the world such as theBasel Tattoo in 2014.[36]
Sounding Retreat is a ceremony similar toBeating 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'sLight Division, rather than using drums, as is the case with other infantry regiments. This traditional ceremony (which represents the sounding of Sunset or Retreat in theBritish Army) has been done on 31 May and 1 June onHorse Guards Parade as recently as 1993 and 2016. Besides the Band and Bugles of the Rifles, theBand of the Brigade of Gurkhas also takes part in the ceremony.[37]
As a rifle regiment, a private soldier in The Rifles is known as aRifleman and Serjeant is spelt in the archaic fashion; the regiment wears arifle green beret. A number ofgolden threads i.e. distinctive honours have been brought into the new regiment from each of its founder regiments:[38]
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:[40]
The regiment's museum isThe Rifles Museum at Peninsular Barracks in Winchester.[41]
The regiment inherited its alliances from its predecessors, and these alliances are:[42][43][44][45]
Canada –Les Voltigeurs de Québec Canada –The Royal Canadian Regiment Canada –Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Canada –The Lincoln and Welland Regiment Canada –The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers) Canada –The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) Canada –Le Régiment de Maisonneuve Canada –The North Saskatchewan Regiment Canada –The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) Canada –The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Canada –The Brockville Rifles Canada –The Royal Winnipeg Rifles Canada –The Royal Regina Rifles
Australia – 11th/28th Battalion,Royal Western Australia Regiment Australia –Western Australia University Regiment Australia –Sydney University Regiment Australia –Melbourne University Regiment Australia –Royal New South Wales Regiment
New Zealand –Hauraki Regiment New Zealand – 1st Battalion,Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment New Zealand – 2nd/4th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment New Zealand – 3rd/6th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment New Zealand –5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Kenya –Kenya Army Infantry Kenya –1st Battalion, Kenyan Rifles Kenya –3rd Battalion, Kenyan Rifles
Malaysia – 6th Battalion,Royal Malay Regiment
Pakistan –1st Battalion, Sindh Regiment Pakistan –2nd Battalion,Frontier Force Regiment Pakistan – 13th Battalion, Frontier Force Regiment Pakistan –11th Battalion,Baloch Regiment Pakistan – 13th Battalion, Baloch Regiment
South Africa –Chief Langalibalele Rifles South Africa –Rand Light Infantry South Africa –Durban Light Infantry South Africa –Buffalo Volunteer Rifles
Fiji –Fiji Infantry Regiment
Ghana – 1st Battalion,Ghana Regiment
Mauritius –Special Mobile ForceBond of Friendship
South Africa –5 South African Infantry Battalion
France –2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie
Royal Air Force – A Flight,No. 22 Squadron RAF| Preceded by | Infantry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by |
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