The Rifle Volunteers was a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

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

History

The ''Rifle Volunteers'' were formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of the 6th (Volunteer) Battalion,

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Bri ...

, 4th (Volunteer) Battalion,

Devonshire and Dorset Regiment The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment (11th, 39th and 54th), usually just known as the Devon and Dorsets, was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1958 by the amalgamation of two county regiments, the Devonshire Regiment and the Dorset ...

and elements of the 2nd (Volunteer) Battalion,

Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment was a short-lived infantry regiment of the British Army. History The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal R ...

in consequence of the reforms implemented due to the Strategic Defence Review. The HQ was in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, and the battalion comprised five rifle companies and a headquarters company, as follows: *HQ Company, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter *A (The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment) Company, at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, and Cinderford
''(from A and B Companies, 2nd Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment)'' *B (Somerset Light Infantry) Company, at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

, and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

''(from HQ and B Companies, 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry)'' *C (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company, at Dorchester and

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

''(from C and D Companies, 4th Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment)'' *D (Cornwall Light Infantry) Company, at

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

, and

Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...

''(from C and D Companies, 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry)'' *E (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company, at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and Exeter
''(from HQ and A Companies, 4th Battalion, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment)'' The Volunteer Band of the 4th Battalion, The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment formed the band of the Rifle Volunteers. The battalion regularly entered the Nordic & Biathlon Championships known as "Exercise Spartan Hike", held in Serre Chevalier, France each year. They were Territorial Army and 5th Division Champions for three years running between 2003 and 2005. A soldier from the Territorial Army 2004

A soldier from the Territorial Army 2004

In 1999 a number of individuals were mobilised from The Rifle Volunteers to join 2nd Battalion The

Royal Green Jackets The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). History The Royal Green Jackets was formed on 1 January 1966 by the amalgam ...

on their Kosovo tour returning in early 2000. The first major deployment from The Rifle Volunteers was in November 2003 when 55 soldiers were deployed to the Kabul, Afghanistan. Attached to C 'Tavolato' Company of 2nd Battalion The

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unit ...

. On 28 January 2004 Private Jonathan Kitulagoda was killed by a suicide bomber whilst on a routine patrol. In April 2004 a composite company of the regiment (Salamanca Company) was dispatched to

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The company was attached to the 1st Battalion

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence ...

, as part of 1 Mechanised Brigade, within the Multi-National Division (South East). Salamanca Company distinguished itself; Sergeant Peter 'Stooley' Poole-Reeves was awarded a Mention in Dispatches for his actions during a contact in which he was shot in the chest plate of his body armour. Additionally Sergeant Kevin Pinnell and Private Matthew Gavin were awarded Joint Commander's Commendations. The company returned home at the end of October. The battalion was part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade.

Structure before re-designation

Shortly before re-designation as a battalion of the Rifles, the regiment's structure underwent a reform in order to reflect its post amalgamation structure, and ease the process: *HQ (Devonshire and Dorset) Company, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter
''(from E (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company)'' *A (Gloucestershire) Company, at Gloucester and Bristol *B Company, at Taunton and Exeter *C (Devonshire and Dorset) Company, at Dorchester and Poole *D Company, at Bodmin and Plymouth
''(from Plymouth Platoon of E (Devonshire and Dorset Regiment) Company)''

6th Battalion, The Rifles

On 24 November 2005, it was announced by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

that the battalion would be re-designated as a territorial battalion of a new large regiment to be called The Rifles. To that effect on 1 February 2007, the regiment became 6th Battalion,

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 ...

. The battalion now serves as the reserve infantry battalion for

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, and

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, with sub-units spread right across its recruiting area.

Current Structure

The battalion's current structure is as follows: *HQ Company, at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter **Detachment, at

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority, borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the Engli ...

**Detachment, at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

*A Company, at Gloucester **2 Platoon, at Suvla Barracks,

**3 Platoon, at HMS Flying Fox, Bristol *C Company, at Dorchester **6 Platoon, at Poole *D Company, at Truro **8 Platoon, at Plymouth

References

{{reflist

External links

Regimental website (Ministry of Defence)
Rifle Volunteers The Rifles Military units and formations established in 1999 Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom