Page 69 - Bugle No. 17 Spring 2021

WEST
BATTLE HONOURS & COMMUNITY LINKS
The Rifles Handbook is found on SWIFT (www.theriflesnetwork.co.uk). Within
the ‘Admin’ tab on the front page ‘SWIFT Reference Docs’ is located; with one ‘left click’ of the mouse, eight substantive documents are accessed. They range from the Samaritan’s Suicide Prevention Guide to Rifles Dress Policy, Rifles Drill and the Handbook itself. Chapter 6 provides notes on the 34 Representational Battle Honours displayed on the Belt Badge.
The selected honours selected from a
total of 913 gained by the forming regiments and their antecedents provide a tremendous insight to regimental history. In addition, they chart many aspects of our nation’s history. Gibraltar (1704-05) is the oldest honour, gained by the antecedents of SOM LI and DCLI, some nineteen years after the raising of the first regiments of The Rifles in 1685. Several battles had taken place in the intervening period but these were mainly linked to the building of
the state.
All four Founding Regiments are repre- sented within the Battle Honour, Peninsula 1808-1814. The ‘overview’ notes within The Rifles Handbook remind us the campaign confirmed the Light Division’s place in the Order of Battle and its place in RIFLES history. The soubriquet ‘South Africa’ covers several decades within the nineteenth century as well the Boer War (1899-1902). Volunteers
and militia proved essential to the building of a very large Imperial force deployed within southern Africa. Lord Haldane, the Secretary of
State for War from 1905-12, became the master of lessons learned. Successive studies gave rise to the creation of the Imperial General Staff, the Territorial Force, Officers Training Corps and the Special Reserve. Such organisation ensured an effective response, in 1914, through the British Expedi- tionary Force.
The impact of later
campaigns in South Africa
was also manifest not only by
individual memorials found
in parish churches but also
within the great Cathedrals.
Such tablets, often sponsored
by a regiment and its
county, help to root The
Rifles within their counties
such as Herefordshire,
Gloucestershire, Bristol and
Somerset. Several years
on the response after the
Great War was different.
Some fine regimental
memorials were created
but most visible are the
thousands of village and
town memorials. These
become the focus for Remembrance each November and serve to highlight the strength of ties between a community and its nation. The regiment or service, such as the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, is an important part
The impact of later campaigns in South Africa was also manifest not only by individual memorials found in parish churches but also within the great Cathedrals
of the tangible link between a
bereaved family and selfless
sacrifice. The Rifles Handbook, accessed via SWIFT (www.theriflesnetwork.co.uk), not only explains the rationale behind the 34 Representational Battle Honours but also provides an insight to the value of our core counties and enduring links to community.
Colin Criddle Normandy Veteran and French Consul
RIFLES The Bugle 69
Lessons from South Africa (1899-1902) showed the way