1st Battalion, The Rifles

Last updated

1st Battalion, The Rifles
Rifles cap badge.PNG RGBWback.PNG
Cap and Back badges of The Rifles
Active1 February 2007 –
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Light Infantry
Size Battalion
Part of 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team
Garrison/HQ Beachley Barracks, Chepstow
Motto(s)Swift and Bold
ColoursRifle Green
MarchQuick: Mechanised Infantry
Double Past: Keel Row/Road to the Isles
Slow: Old Salamanca
Commanders
Colonel Commandant General Sir Nicholas Parker KCB CBE
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash Rifles TRF.svg
Arm BadgeCroix de Guerre
From Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry
Abbreviation1 RIFLES

1st Battalion, The Rifles (1 RIFLES) is a light infantry battalion of The Rifles under the command of 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team. [1] [2]

Contents

History

C Company 1 Rifles and the Afghan National Army engaging the Taliban in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2009. ANA and C Company 1 Rifles Engaging the Taliban MOD 45150612.jpg
C Company 1 Rifles and the Afghan National Army engaging the Taliban in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2009.

The battalion formed on 1 February 2007 as part of 52 Infantry Brigade, merging the single battalions of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. [3] The battalion then moved in August 2007, to its permanent home of Beachley Barracks at Chepstow. [4]

From 2008 to 2012, it was attached to 3 Commando Brigade as the fourth manoeuvre unit of the brigade alongside the three battalion sized commando units of the Royal Marines. [5]

From March 2020, 1 RIFLES was deployed throughout Wales on Operation Rescript, supporting the UK's efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The battalion helped install hospital beds at Dragon's Heart Hospital, a temporary critical care hospital for COVID-19. [6]

Future

The battalion is currently based in Dhekelia, British Forces Cyprus until 2025. 1 Rifles will return to Chepstow in the summer of 2025 to take on a new role as a Light Mechanised Battalion driving Foxhound vehicles. Towards the end of the decade, 1 Rifles will move to new build facilities at Caerwent Barracks. [7]

Related Research Articles

The Infantry of the British Army comprises 49 infantry battalions, from 19 regiments. Of these, 33 battalions are part of the Regular army and the remaining 16 a part of the Army Reserve. The British Army's Infantry takes on a variety of roles, including armoured, mechanised, air assault and light.

This is the Operation Telic order of battle, which lists the British forces that took part in Operation Telic, including

<span class="mw-page-title-main">160th (Welsh) Brigade</span> Military unit

160th (Welsh) Brigade or Brigâd 160 (Cymru), is a regional brigade of the British Army that has been in existence since 1908, and saw service during both the First and the Second World Wars, as part of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. It is a regional command responsible for all of Wales. The Brigade is also regionally aligned with the Eastern European and Central Asian regions as part of defence engagement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the British Army

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Queen's Division.

The Rifle Volunteers was a regiment of the British Territorial Army. In 2007, it was re-designated as 6th Battalion, The Rifles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Forces Overseas Hong Kong</span> United Kingdom military forces in the colony of Hong Kong

British Forces Overseas Hong Kong comprised the elements of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force stationed in British Hong Kong. The Governor of Hong Kong also assumed the position of the commander-in-chief of the forces and the Commander British Forces in Hong Kong took charge of the daily deployment of the troops. Much of the British military left prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The present article focuses mainly on the British garrison in Hong Kong in the post Second World War era. For more information concerning the British garrison during the Second World War and earlier, see the Battle of Hong Kong.

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 of The Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division. Since formation, the regiment has been involved in combat operations in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team</span> Military unit

The 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team is a formation in the British Army with a direct lineage to 7th Armoured Brigade and a history that stretches back to the Napoleonic Wars. It saw active service in the Crimean War, the Second Boer War and both the First and the Second World Wars. In 2014, the 7th Armoured Brigade was re-designated as 7th Infantry Brigade, thereby ensuring that the famed "Desert Rats" continue in the British Army's Order of battle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)</span> Inactive British Army formation

The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It was based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade merged with the 1st Artillery Brigade to form the 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">38th (Irish) Brigade</span> Military unit

The 38th (Irish) Brigade, is a brigade formation of the British Army that served in the Second World War. It was composed of North Irish line infantry regiments and served with distinction in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns. Following the end of the war, the brigade was disbanded, but was reformed in sixty years later in 2007 and remains the regional formation for Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">11th Security Force Assistance Brigade</span> British Army unit

The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ South East. Prior to the Army 2020 changes in 2013, the brigade was temporarily activated for deployment to Afghanistan. Originally formed in the Second Boer War, the brigade was engaged during both World Wars.

The 43rd Infantry Brigade was a brigade of the British Army during the First and Second World Wars, and later, as 43 (Wessex) Brigade, a regional headquarters from 1985 to 2014.

This is the Operation Herrick ground order of battle, which lists any British ground forces that have taken part in the duration of Operation Herrick between 2002 and 2014.

Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army in the mid-to-late 2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. As its name suggests, it was a "refinement" of Army 2020, an early 2010s reorganisation of the Army to be completed by 2020, originally conducted in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.

Army 2020 was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army in the early and mid-2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. The plan, as its name suggested, was intended to be completed by 2020, though most of its reorganisations were completed by the middle of the decade. It was succeeded by Army 2020 Refine, a series of new changes and refinements of Army 2020's restructuring, conducted in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Structure of the British Army</span> Organisation of the British Army

The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.

The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. The most authoritative source for this type of information available is Ministry of Defence, Master Order of Battle, and United Kingdom Land Forces, HQ UKLF, UKLF ORBAT Review Action Plan, HQ UKLF, 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army Special Operations Brigade</span> British Army special operations formation

The Army Special Operations Brigade, previously called the Specialised Infantry Group, is a formation of the British Army, initially created as a result of the Army 2020 Refine reorganisation, intended to train foreign forces. Its name and role was adapted after the Defence in a Competitive Age reforms, to a unit that not only trains partner nations, but also fights alongside them in "complex high-threat environments".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranger Regiment (United Kingdom)</span> Special Operations unit of the British Army

The Ranger Regiment is a special operations-capable unit of the British Army which was formed on 1 December 2021 under the Future Soldier reform and is part of the Army Special Operations Brigade. It is intended to be used primarily in an unconventional warfare and foreign internal defence capacity in a similar manner to the US Green Berets.

Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.

References

  1. "1st Battalion The Rifles". British Army. Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  2. "1st Battalion The Rifles". British Army. Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  3. "History of the Light Infantry". Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. "Barracks set to close as part of armed forces cutbacks". Chepstow Beacon. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. "The Resubordination of the 1st Battalion The Rifles to 3 Commando Brigade RM on 1 April 2008" (PDF). Royal Marines Badge & Insignia Reference. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  6. "Duchess makes first visit to The Rifles in new role". BBC News . 7 September 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  7. "Riflemen bid fond farewell to South East Wales – for now | The British Army".