Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles

Last updated

Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles
Civil Service Rifles badge.jpg
Cap badge of the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles
Active17981921
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Rifle regiment
Part of London Regiment
Garrison/HQ Somerset House
Motto(s) Ich Dien (I Serve)
Engagements Boer War
World War I

The Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles was an infantry regiment of the Volunteer Force and Territorial Force of the British Army from 1798 to 1921; it saw active service in the Boer War and World War I as part of the London Regiment.

Contents

History

Early history

The regiment was originally formed as the Bank of England Volunteers in 1798 but was disbanded in 1814 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. [1] The regiment was re-raised by Viscount Bury on the formation of the Volunteer Force as the 21st Middlesex Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Civil Service Rifles) in 1860. [2] By 1880 and the re-numbering of London Rifle Volunteers the unit was titled 12th Middlesex (Civil Service) Rifle Volunteer Corps and were linked as a Volunteer Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. [1]

On formation of the Territorial Force in 1908 the Civil Service Rifles became part of the newly formed London Regiment and was titled 15th Battalion London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles). [1]

First World War

15th Battalion, London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles), 47th Division, marching past the Lord Mayor of London, Colonel Sir Charles Wakefield, 11 June 1916 (IWM Q633) The Official Visits To the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q633.jpg
15th Battalion, London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles), 47th Division, marching past the Lord Mayor of London, Colonel Sir Charles Wakefield, 11 June 1916 (IWM Q633)

At the start of the First World War the battalion established its headquarters at Somerset House; [3] the commanding officer, Lt Col RG Hayes, refused to serve overseas, an example followed by most of the men of his battalion. [4] [5] During the war the regiment eventually expanded to two battalions, with the 1st Battalion arriving in France in March 1915 forming part of the 4th London Brigade, part of the 2nd London Division. [6]

Inter-war

Following the war the Civil Service Rifles were amalgamated with the 16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment in 1921. [1]

Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: [1]

Regimental motto

The Memorial of the 15th London, Somerset House, London Memorial to the Civil Service Riflemen, Somerset House, London - geograph.org.uk - 1479801.jpg
The Memorial of the 15th London, Somerset House, London

"Ich Dien" (German for "I serve", a contraction of ich diene), the motto of the Prince of Wales. [7]

Uniform

From 1863 until 1888 the regiment wore a dark grey uniform with royal blue facings and a shako. In that year the home service helmet of the regular infantry was adopted as headdress. At a time when colourful uniforms were still the norm the sombre colour of this uniform was considered unattractive and blamed for a fall off in recruiting. Accordingly light grey was adopted in 1890, although royal blue was still retained for the facings in full dress uniform until 1914. Khaki drill was worn in South Africa and the standard khaki of the British Army in France during World War I. [8]

Regimental memorial

The memorial for the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles is situated at Somerset House, London. It was designed in 1923 by Sir Edwin Lutyens OM, KCIE, PRA. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Welch Fusiliers</span> Line infantry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artists Rifles</span> Unit of the British Army Reserve

The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)</span> Military unit

The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India's independence in 1947. The 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Battalion, 8th Gorkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), where it exists to this day. As part of the British Army, the regiment served in Malaya, Hong Kong and Brunei until 1994 when it was amalgamated with the other three British Army Gurkha infantry regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles. It is the only Gurkha regiment which did not have a khukuri on its cap badge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post Office Rifles</span> British Army unit (1868–1935)

The Post Office Rifles was a unit of the British Army formed in 1868 from volunteers as part of the Volunteer Force, which later became the Territorial Force. The unit evolved several times until 1935, after which the name was lost during one of many reorganisations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Gorkha Rifles</span> Indian Army infantry regiment

The 3rd Gorkha Rifles or Third Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 3 GR is an Indian Army infantry regiment. It was originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1815. This regiment recruit mainly Magars and Gurung tribes. They were present at a number of actions and wars including the siege of Delhi in 1857 to the First and Second World Wars. After the Partition of India in 1947 the regiment was one of the six Gorkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army as part of the Tripartite Agreement signed between India, Nepal and Britain at the time of Indian independence. Prior to independence, the regiment was known as the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles. In 1950 the regiment's title was changed to 3rd Gorkha Rifles. Since 1947 the regiment has participated in a number of conflicts including the 1947 and 1971 wars against Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Howards</span> Military unit

The Green Howards , frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under various titles until it was amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, all Yorkshire-based regiments in the King's Division, to form the Yorkshire Regiment on 6 June 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's Westminsters</span> Unit of the British Army

The Queen's Westminsters were an infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originally formed from Rifle Volunteer Corps, which were established after a French invasion scare of 1859. The unit became part of the newly established London Regiment on the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908. It was subsequently amalgamated in 1921 with the Civil Service Rifles, and became a territorial Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1937. It ceased to exist as separate entity after it was amalgamated in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the British Army

The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms when the 57th (West Middlesex) and 77th (East Middlesex) Regiments of Foot were amalgamated with the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Lancashire Regiment</span> British Army regiment

The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th Regiment of Foot with the militia and rifle volunteer units of eastern Lancashire. In 1958 the regiment was amalgamated with the South Lancashire Regiment to form the Lancashire Regiment which was, in 1970, merged with the Loyal Regiment to form the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. In 2006, the Queen's Lancashire was further amalgamated with the King's Own Royal Border Regiment and the King's Regiment to form the present Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baloch Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army

The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of the Regiment to 27 battalions. The Baloch Regiment is descended from the infantry of the old British Indian Army and is named after Balochistan. Before 1991, it was called the Baluch Regiment but the spelling was changed to 'Baloch' to better reflect the correct pronunciation.

The Royal East Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It saw action in the Second Boer War and the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahawalpur Regiment</span> Military unit

The Bahawalpur Regiment was a regiment of Pakistan Army. The regiment was formed in 1952 from the infantry battalions of the erstwhile Princely State of Bahawalpur, which had acceded to Pakistan in 1947. In 1956, the Bahawalpur Regiment was merged with the Pakistan Army

<span class="mw-page-title-main">140th (4th London) Brigade</span> Military unit

The 140th Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army's Territorial Army (TA) that had its origins in a South London Brigade of the former Volunteer Force. It served on the Western Front in the First World War and was recreated during the Second World War where it served only in the United Kingdom as a training formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poplar and Stepney Rifles</span> Military unit

The 17th Battalion, The London Regiment , was a unit of Britain's Territorial Force formed in 1908 from Volunteer corps dating back to 1859. It saw considerable service on the Western Front, at Salonika and in Palestine during the First World War. It served as a motorised infantry regiment during the Second World War before conversion to an artillery unit in 1947 and subsequent amalgamation in 1967.

The Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia (now the Canadian Army). In 1954, the regiment was amalgamated with The Oxford Rifles to form The London and Oxford Fusiliers (now the reserve battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil Service Rifles War Memorial</span> War memorial in Somerset House, London

The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial is a First World War memorial located on the riverside terrace at Somerset House in central London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1924, the memorial commemorates the 1,240 members of the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles regiment who were killed in the First World War. They were Territorial Force reservists, drawn largely from the British Civil Service, which at that time had many staff based at Somerset House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rangers (British battalion)</span> Volunteer unit of British Army

The Rangers was a volunteer unit of the British Army, originally formed in 1860. It provided a detachment for service in the Second Boer War, saw intensive action on the Western Front in the First World War, and served as motorised infantry during the Second World War during the campaigns in Greece and the Western Desert.

The St Giles's and St George's Bloomsbury Rifle Volunteer Corps, more familiarly known as the Bloomsbury Rifles, was a Volunteer unit of the British Army in London from 1803 to 1814 and from 1860 until 1908.

The Royal Grenadiers was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. The regiment was unique in its history as it was only one of two regiments in the Canadian Army to be designated as a Grenadier Regiment. In 1936, the regiment was Amalgamated with The Toronto Regiment to form The Royal Regiment of Toronto Grenadiers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Prince of Wales's Own Civil Service Rifles". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. War Office Circular, 12 May 1859, published in The Times, 13 May.
  3. "15th (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles) Battalion, The London Regiment". Wartime memories. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  4. Battalion Commanders in World War 1, Dr Peter Hodgkinson, The Western Front Association, 12 April 2015
  5. Hodgkinson, Peter Eric (1 August 2013). "British Infantry Battalion Commanders in the First World War" (PDF). University of Birmingham. p. 48. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  6. "The London Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  7. "Badge, headdress, British, 15th (County of London) Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own Civil Service Rifles)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  8. Mollo, John (26 January 1972). Military Fashion. Barrie and Jenkins. p. 210. ISBN   0-214-65349-8.
  9. "Lutyens Houses and Gardens open to the public in 2006". Lutyens Trust. Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

Bibliography