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127-547: The Gloucestershire Regiment , commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot . The regiment was formed by the merger of the 28th Regiment with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot . It inherited

254-693: A public duties battalion in London, where its duties included providing the Queen's Guard . It was while the RGBW was on guard at Buckingham Palace that the Fathers 4 Justice protest took place. In April 2004, 16 Territorial Army soldiers from the regiment joined the TA Force Protection Company, Salamanca Company, and deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Telic . On 16 December 2004,

381-672: A chronicle, serious and humorous, of the Battalion while serving with the British Expeditionary Force . The gazette featured jokes, poetry, short stories, news and satirical adverts. In October 1916 The Times Literary Supplement hailed it as "the oldest and most literary of the British trench journals". The gazette was regarded so highly due in part to the efforts of famous war poet and founding contributor F. W. Harvey , who published 77 poems in it while serving with

508-518: A company of voltigeurs , who were expected to act as skirmishers as well being able to deploy into line. In the Russian Empire, light infantry was forming at a very fast pace; by the end of the 18th century, regiments of light infantry totaled 40,000 soldiers ( Jaeger ). The armament of light infantry was very different from the armament of linear infantry. They were armed with high-quality muskets, as well as pistols (for close combat). After

635-807: A five-month interlude in Shanghai at short notice from February 1927 when warring Chinese factions threatened the Shanghai International Settlement . In 1928, the 2nd Battalion returned to the UK and the 1st Battalion was posted overseas, serving three years in Egypt, a year in Singapore and six years in India before ending up in Burma in 1938. Prompted by concerns of an Italian invasion following

762-500: A pied (light infantry), one of Grenadiers and one of Carabiniers . Similar differentiations were made in the majority of European armies of the period, although English-speaking authors sometimes use the designation "line infantry" when referring to the ordinary infantry of some other countries where the exact term was not in use. The term was also used by US units during the Second World War, as shown by this quote from

889-515: A report of the 782nd Tank Battalion in late April 1945: On the 22nd of April, the Battalion moved from Oberkotzau, Germany to Wunsiedel , Germany. Here the attachment of the line companies to the Regimental Combat Teams of the 97th Division was completed. We separated, not coming together again until the war was over. Company "A" joined the 303rd at Rehau, Germany: Company "B" joined the 386th at Arzburg, Germany: and Company "C"

1016-684: A role in the war. On 16 March 1900, a company of 124 officers and men from the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions landed at Cape Town. They served for a year alongside the 2nd Battalion and were replaced by a second volunteer company in April 1901. The 4th (Militia) Battalion, meanwhile, guarded Boer prisoners held on St. Helena. By the war's end the regiment had lost 2 officers and 94 other ranks killed, 13 officers and 201 men wounded, and suffered 250 deaths from sickness. The regiment added 4 new battle honours to its colours: "Defence of Ladysmith"; "Relief of Kimberley"; "Paardeberg"; and "South Africa, 1899–1902";

1143-740: A short distance. In some cases, it was possible to defeat the enemy with just one volley at close range. The line was considered the fundamental battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow (consisting of four lines), unlike the pikemen's and old-style musketeers' square. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to take cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry and could not hold ground against advancing infantry columns. Line infantry provided an "anchor" for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat behind if threatened. Movement in line formation

1270-604: A single-battalion regiment. The 1st Battalion celebrated the bicentenary of the regiment at Malta in 1894 and the anniversary of the Battle of Alexandria annually. The 2nd Battalion, on the other hand, held games followed by a dinner and a ball on the anniversary of the 61st Regiment's victory at Chillianwallah on 13 January 1849 when overseas, or on the anniversary of that regiment's victory at Salamanca on 22 July 1812 when at home. The new regiment acquired its march, The Kinnegad Slashers , and its official nickname, Slashers , from

1397-435: A small part of the infantry branch of most armies, because of their vulnerability to hostile cavalry. Pikemen formed the majority of infantrymen and were known as heavy infantry. A significant part of infantry consisted of old-style musketeers, who did not use the linear tactics, instead skirmishing in open formation. However, by the middle of the 17th century, musketeers deployed in line formation already provided about half of

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1524-486: A way of instilling discipline and unit cohesion . Members of the US Army utilize the term "line company" (informally) in light infantry battalions to differentiate those companies (generally A–D) that perform the traditional infantry role from the support companies (generally F and HHC) charged with supporting the "line companies". The Marine Corps does the same for all its infantry units. In this vein, officers assigned to

1651-531: A year later during the invasion of Guadeloupe , the same year that General Wolfe placed himself at the head of the 28th Regiment on the Plains of Abraham in the capture of Quebec . In 1782, the British Army began linking foot regiments with counties for the purposes of recruitment. For the first time the county of Gloucestershire was associated with both the 28th and 61st Regiments, which were renamed as

1778-669: The 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot . Both regiments began to recruit from the county, and it was in Gloucester in December 1782 that the 61st Regiment was presented with new colours to replace those lost during the Franco-Spanish invasion of Minorca earlier that year. In March 1801, the 28th Regiment formed part of the British expeditionary force that landed at Aboukir Bay in Egypt to oppose Napoleon's Army of

1905-623: The 75th Brigade of the 25th Division and returned to France. In October, it fought in the capture of the Beaurevoir Line during the Battle of St Quentin Canal, and in the Battle of the Selle . During the latter, the battalion was held up for nearly four hours until Private Francis George Miles went forward alone and knocked out two enemy machine-gun positions, for which action he was awarded

2032-497: The American Civil War . The Austro-Prussian War in 1866 showed that breech-loading rifles , which gave the individual shooter a greatly increased rate of fire as well as the capability to reload from a prone position, were greatly superior to muzzle loaded rifles. In the 1860s, most German states and Russia converted their line infantry and riflemen into 'united' infantry, which used rifles and skirmish tactics. After

2159-664: The Battle of the Imjin River . The stand, described by the commander of the United Nations forces in Korea at the time as "the most outstanding example of unit bravery in modern war", prevented the encirclement of other United Nations forces, for which the regiment was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and earned the nickname The Glorious Glosters . Two men serving with the regiment were awarded

2286-854: The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment , the Royal Green Jackets and The Light Infantry to form a new large regiment to be called The Rifles . The new regiment came into existence in 2007. The Colours of the 1st Battalion were laid up at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum in Gloucester and the Colours of the 2nd Battalion were laid up at the Wardrobe, home of The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum in Salisbury . In 1995,

2413-468: The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) . It was the only regiment in the British Army whose members were permitted to wear a cap badge on both the front and the rear of their headdress. The back badge was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801 when the regiment fought on whilst completely surrounded by the enemy. The regiment

2540-587: The First World War , the regiment's four auxiliary battalions were converted to three Territorial Force battalions and a Special Reserve battalion, and a further 18 battalions were added to the regiment's establishment during the war. Sixteen battalions of the regiment saw active service in France and Flanders, Italy, Gallipoli, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia and Salonika, losing a total of 8,100 men killed and winning 72 different battle honours . Four awards of

2667-655: The Franco-Prussian War , both the German Empire and the French Third Republic did the same. However, Great Britain retained the name "line infantry", although it used rifled muskets from 1853 and breech loading rifles from 1867, and switched from closed lines to extended order during the Boer wars . The growing accuracy, range, and rate of fire of rifles, together with the invention of

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2794-648: The Japanese conquest of Burma , and the 10th Battalion saw active service in the defeat of Japanese forces during the Burma Campaign 1944–45 . After the Second World War, the hostilities-only battalions were disbanded and the 1st and 2nd Battalions were amalgamated , leaving the regiment with one regular and one Territorial Army battalion. It achieved fame during the Korean War when the 1st Battalion held out for three nights against overwhelming odds during

2921-589: The Macedonian front , and the 2nd Battalion occupied positions west of Lake Beshik (modern day Lake Volvi, Greece). In July 1916, XVI Corps took over the line of the River Struma , and for the next two years the battalion was involved in operations along the Struma valley, from November 1916 as part of the 82nd Brigade . It was a relatively quiet sector, and although the battalion was involved in attacks across

3048-630: The Maxim machine gun in 1883, meant that close order line infantry would suffer heavy losses before being able to close with the enemy, while the defensive advantages given to line infantry against cavalry became irrelevant with the effective removal of offensive cavalry from the battlefield in the face of the improved weaponry. With the turn of the 20th century, this slowly led to infantry increasingly adopting skirmish style light infantry tactics in battle, while retaining line infantry drill for training. Although linear battle tactics had become obsolete by

3175-708: The Ministry of Defence announced a reorganisation of the infantry regiments. In preparation for this, the regiment was moved from the Prince of Wales' Division to the Light Division and renamed the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry in July 2005. On 24 November 2005, the Ministry of Defence announced further changes to the amalgamations. The regiment would amalgamate with

3302-659: The Peninsular War . The 28th Regiment also participated in the final defeat of Napoleon; it was commended by the Duke of Wellington for gallantry in the Battle of Quatre Bras and saw action again in the Battle of Waterloo . In the mid-19th century, both regiments were deployed to India, and the 61st Regiment saw active service during the Second Anglo-Sikh War and the Indian Mutiny , adding "Chillianwallah", "Goojerat", "Punjaub" and "Delhi 1857" to

3429-607: The Samarra offensive . It spent the next 15 months mostly on defensive and garrison duties and was disbanded in September 1919. The 8th Battalion was raised in Bristol in September 1914. It arrived in France in July 1915 as part of the 57th Brigade in the 19th (Western) Division and saw its first action the next year during the Battle of Albert , in which it helped capture La Boisselle . The division's 58th Brigade had captured

3556-519: The Second Battle of Bapaume , where it suffered some 100 casualties on 21 August but succeeded in capturing Irles on 23 August. On 6 October, the battalion was disbanded and its men distributed among the other units of the 5th Division. The 13th Battalion was raised in December 1914 at Malvern by Sir Henry Webb and recruited from the miners of the Forest of Dean, South Wales and

3683-512: The Second Boer War . Deployed to Ladysmith, the 1st Battalion was part of a column sent out on 24 October to cover the withdrawal of a brigade after the Battle of Talana Hill . When the column came under fire near Rietfontein, the battalion was detached and ordered forward, but the order was ambiguous and the battalion advanced too far. The troops were caught in the open for several hours before they were able to extricate themselves at

3810-545: The Second Italo-Ethiopian War , the 2nd Battalion was sent at short notice to Egypt in January 1936, returning to the UK in January 1937. The following year, the 5th Battalion became the regiment's sole territorial unit when the 4th Battalion was converted to the 66th (Gloucesters) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery (RA), and the 6th Battalion converted to the 44th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment . On

3937-597: The Victoria Cross (VC) were made to soldiers serving with the regiment. The wartime battalions were disbanded as the war ended, and just before the Second World War , two of the territorial battalions were re-purposed and ceased to have any affiliation with the regiment. On the eve of the war, the remaining territorial battalion was duplicated, and another five battalions were raised on the outbreak of war, though most of these were disbanded or re-purposed as

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4064-585: The Victoria Cross (VC). The final action of the 1/5th Battalion came in November, during the Battle of the Sambre. The second-line territorials were raised in September 1914 and remained in the UK until they moved to France in May 1916 as part of 61st (2nd South Midland) Division ; the 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions in 183rd Brigade , and the 2/5th Battalion in the 184th Brigade . The three battalions completed tours in

4191-678: The War of the Spanish Succession . Having been commanded by, and therefore named after, a succession of colonels, the regiment was renamed in 1742 as the 28th Regiment of Foot and fought under this name during the War of the Austrian Succession . Another predecessor, the 61st Regiment of Foot, was formed in 1758 when the British Army was expanded during the Seven Years' War . The 61st Regiment gained its first battle honour

4318-496: The capture of Trônes Wood by the 18th Division during the Battle of Bazentin, the battalion moved into the line at the northern end of the wood where, on 19 July, it suffered 107 casualties to enemy artillery. On 21 August 1917, while in the line near Épehy, the Germans attacked one of the battalion's bombing posts. Although his bombing party were driven back, Second-Lieutenant Hardy Falconer Parsons remained and prevented

4445-408: The matchlock muskets of some line infantry were equipped with bayonets . Bayonets were attached to the muzzles and were used when line troops entered melee combat. They also helped to defend against cavalry. At the end of the 17th century, a solution was sought to a flaw within the design of matchlock muskets. Since the matchlock musket used a slow burning piece of twine known as a slow match ,

4572-590: The retreat from Mons , and sustained further losses in September during the First Battle of the Aisne . The battalion entered the First Battle of Ypres on 19 October 1914 with 26 officers and 970 other ranks, played a pivotal role in the defence of Langemarck, was called upon several times to counter-attack against enemy breakthroughs and, by the time of its relief four weeks later, had been reduced to 2 officers and 100 other ranks. In December 1914, it fought in

4699-558: The ' Kitchener's Army ' battalions. In 1916 it became part of the Training Reserve , but the training staff retained their Glosters badges. Smith, poor fellow, has died of wounds. I passed him on his way down – though hit in seven places, his courage was wonderful. I asked him how he felt & he said with a smile "There is some lead in me which ought not to be there & I am afraid I have done in your tunic. I am awfully sorry". Captain L. Cameron Nott, 1/6th Battalion

4826-514: The 1/5th and 1/6th Battalions went into action in the same area on 20 and 21 July respectively. They returned to the area during the Battle of Pozières and fought a number of actions between 13 and 27 August. In February 1917, the 48th Division moved to positions opposite Péronne, and the territorials saw action in March and April during the general advance that followed the German withdrawal to

4953-487: The 1/5th. Five of Harvey's poems were included in the 1917 anthology of war poetry, The Muse in Arms , alongside poems by Siegfried Sassoon , Robert Graves and Rupert Brooke . The anthology also featured the poetry of Lieutenant Cyril Winterbotham – who served in the 1/5th Battalion and edited the gazette until he was killed in action on 27 August 1916 – and Harvey's pre-war friend Ivor Gurney , who served in

5080-432: The 13th Division was transferred to Mesopotamia, but on landing at Basra the battalion was put out of action by an outbreak of relapsing fever . It rejoined the division in the middle of April and fought in the unsuccessful attempt to lift the siege of Kut . The battalion saw action in December 1916 and February 1917 during the subsequent advance on and capture of Kut , and fought its last battle on 29 March 1917 during

5207-472: The 17th, was raised in 1917. The first-line territorials proceeded to France in March 1915 as part of the 48th (South Midland) Division ; the 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions in the 144th Brigade , and the 1/5th Battalion in the 145th Brigade . Their first significant experience of battle came during the Somme offensive; on 16 July, during the Battle of Bazentin, the 1/4th Battalion fought north of Ovillers, and

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5334-587: The 19th Division's parent unit, IX Corps , was transferred to the French Sixth Army. The division was supposed to rest and re-organise in a quiet sector, but on 27 May the Germans launched a major attack, ensnaring the 8th Battalion in the Third Battle of the Aisne . The battalion saw its last action in October, during the Battle of the Selle, and was disbanded in May 1919. The 9th Battalion

5461-453: The 1st Battalion helped in the defence of Ladysmith (the city was eventually relieved on 1 March), the 2nd Battalion deployed to South Africa, arriving in January 1900. The battalion fought in the Battle of Paardeberg , a nine-day battle which ended on 27 February with the capture of the Boer general Piet Cronjé and his force of some 4,000 men. On 15 March, the battalion entered

5588-643: The 1st Battalion, and were awarded 39 battle honours. The territorial battalions lost 2,542 men killed and received 60 battle honours, and the New Army battalions suffered 3,954 deaths and won 84 battle honours. Home-based reserve battalions and the regimental depot accounted for 204 deaths. Four awards of the VC were made to men serving with the regiment during the war, along with 47 Distinguished Service Orders (DSO), 188 Distinguished Conduct Medals (DCM), 265 Military Crosses (MC) and 747 Military Medals (MM). A fifth VC

5715-568: The 2/5th Battalion fought a number of actions south-west of Merville during the Battle of the Lys. In August, the battalion attempted to force a bridgehead across a stream in Nieppe Forest, west of Merville, and fought on 1 September during the advance to the River Lys. The battalion was in battle again on 30 September at Fleurbaix, south-west of Armentières, and saw its last action of

5842-402: The 2/5th Battalion. All second-line territorial and New Army battalions had been disbanded and the regiment returned to its pre-war establishment by the end of 1919. Close to 40,000 men are believed to have fought with the regiment in the war, of which 8,100 lost their lives, and the regiment was awarded 72 different battle honours. The regular battalions lost 1,400 men killed, 1,044 of them from

5969-460: The 2/6th Battalion. In February 1918, the 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions were disbanded and their men distributed to the 2/5th Battalion and the 24th Entrenching Battalion . At the end of March, 10 days of fighting, retreating and digging-in near St. Quentin reduced the 2/5th Battalion to 150 men during Operation Michael , the opening phase of the German spring offensive . The 61st Division was transferred north to help reinforce First Army in April, and

6096-439: The 28th Regiment. The name arose from an incident in 1764, when members of the regiment allegedly slashed off part of the ear of a Montreal magistrate who had been harassing soldiers stationed in the city after the Seven Years' War. The regiment was also sometimes referred to as The Old Braggs , from Colonel Philip Bragg , who commanded the 28th Regiment when it was still named after its colonels. Two other nicknames associated with

6223-405: The 2nd Battalion in the war. The Special Reserve mobilised for their twin tasks of home defence and organising Reservists, Special Reservists and later new recruits as reinforcements for the Regular battalions serving overseas. 3rd (Reserve) Battalion served in the Thames – Medway Garrison for the whole war. It also formed the 11th (Reserve) Battalion to carry out the same reinforcement role for

6350-498: The 387th at Waldsassen, Germany. The British Army retains the traditional distinction between "Guards", "Line Infantry" and "the Rifles" on ceremonial occasions for historical reasons. It is linked to the order of precedence within the British Army and regimental pride, so for example Colonel Patrick Crowley states in the "introduction" in A Brief History of The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (2015): The examples of valour, adherence to duty, and fortitude, continue to inspire

6477-415: The 48th Division transferred to Italy, where the battalions were weakened by an outbreak of influenza. In June 1918, the 1/5th and 1/6th Battalions were in action during the Second Battle of the Piave River , and the 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions fought their last actions of the war in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto at the beginning of November. Meanwhile, the 1/5th Battalion was transferred in September 1918 to

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6604-436: The American Civil War, both Union and Confederate armies had only a few line regiments equipped with the old-style smooth-bore muskets. However, France, due to Napoleon III, who admired Napoleon I, had 300 line battalions (comprising an overwhelming majority) even in 1870. Although the French line infantry received Chassepot rifles in 1866, it was still being trained in the use of close formations (line, column and square), which

6731-441: The Austrian army abandoned their pikes. In 1703, the French army did the same, in 1704 the British and 1708 the Dutch. In 1699–1721, Peter I converted almost all Russian foot-regiments to line infantry. The abandonment of the pike, together with the faster firing rate made possible by the introduction of the new flintlock musket and paper cartridge , resulted in the replacement of the deeper formations of troops more suitable for

6858-429: The Battle of Broodseinde. In December, the 5th Division was transferred to Italy, where it went into the line along the River Piave, but the battalion saw little action beyond patrolling. The division returned to France in April 1918, occupying positions in the line near Nieppe Forest, and the battalion saw action on 25 April and 28 June, both times successfully advancing the front line. Its last action came during

6985-465: The Battle of Passchendaele the following month, when the 2/4th Battalion suffered particularly badly with over 200 casualties. In early December, during the Battle of Cambrai , a heavy German counter-attack forced both the 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions out of their positions in the front line at La Vacquerie, 7.5 miles (12 km) south-west of Cambrai, reducing the 2/4th Battalion to two companies and inflicting casualties of 16 officers and 308 other ranks on

7112-414: The Battle of Pozières, the battalion attacked the German line east of the village, and was involved in two further attacks in the same area in August, all without success. The battalion's last action of the war came on 9 September, in a failed attack on High Wood which cost it 122 casualties. In 1917, the 1st Division was allocated to Operation Hush, and when that was cancelled the 10th battalion moved to

7239-428: The Boer city of Bloemfontein, where it remained on garrison duties until 1904. The 1st Battalion, re-united when its POWs were liberated after the capture of Pretoria on 5 July, was posted in August 1900 to Ceylon, where it remained until 1903 guarding Boer prisoners of war. Some of the regiment's auxiliary battalions, which in 1900 were increased in number by the formation of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, also played

7366-477: The Bulgarian lines, on 25 April and 8 May 1917, during the Battle of Dojran . In July 1918, the battalion was transferred to the 198th Brigade of the 66th Division in France, becoming the divisional pioneers, and was disbanded in November 1919. My word, as soon as the order was given the Gloucesters were out and over the parapet and soon doing great havoc among the Germans. Unnamed lance-corporal, 10th Battalion Battle of Loos The 10th Battalion

7493-457: The Defence of Festubert, and the next month in the Defence of Givenchy. Later in 1915, the battalion saw action in the Battle of Aubers Ridge and the Battle of Loos , and it was active during the Somme offensive in 1916 during the Battles of Bazentin and Pozières , and in an attack on High Wood . The fire from the ditch was so intense that practically all the bayonets in the trench were broken. When hit by bullets they snapped like glass and

7620-424: The Durham coalfields. In July 1915, it was taken over by the War Office and went to France in March 1916 as divisional pioneers to the 39th Division . The battalion saw its first significant action on 30 June 1916, during the Battle of the Boar's Head , when it dug communication trenches behind the assaulting troops. On several occasions during the battle the pioneers had to stop digging to defend themselves, and

7747-405: The East. On 21 March, during the Battle of Alexandria , French cavalry broke through the British lines, formed up behind the regiment, and began to charge. With the men still heavily engaged to their front, the order was given for the rear rank to turn about, and standing thus in two ranks back to back, the regiment held the line. To commemorate this action, the regiment began wearing a badge on

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7874-604: The German Jäger ), armed with rifled carbines and trained in aimed shooting and use of defilades . In Britain, much of the light infantry was armed with smooth-bore muskets, only a few regiments used rifled muskets. In France, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , the division into the Guard, line infantry and light infantry formally continued to exist, line and "light" regiments had identical weaponry (smooth-bore fusils) and tactics. (Napoleon preferred smooth-bore weaponry for their faster reload speeds.) However, each battalion in both line and "light" regiments included

8001-440: The Gloucestershire Regiment comprised: During the war the regiment raised an additional 18 battalions, and in total 16 battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment saw active service in France and Flanders, Italy, Gallipoli, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia and Salonika. The 1st Battalion was deployed to France in August 1914 and saw action on the Western Front . It suffered its first casualties at Landrecies on 26 August 1914 during

8128-412: The Gloucestershire Regiment never accepted this change for their regimental colours . Both battalions retained their former colours until 1929, when a compromise primrose yellow was finally chosen and a new regimental colour subsequently presented. The two battalions continued to refer to themselves by their former regimental numbers until they were merged in 1948, when the Gloucestershire Regiment became

8255-428: The Gloucestershire Regiment, headquartered at Horfield Barracks in Bristol. The reforms also added the county's auxiliary forces to the regiment's establishment, and at its formation it thus comprised two regular , two militia and two volunteer battalions: The Gloucestershire Regiment inherited from the 28th Regiment the privilege of wearing the back badge. It was a privilege that the 2nd Battalion did not want, but it

8382-424: The Hindenburg Line . The division moved again in July, to Ypres, where the territorials fought in engagements of the Battle of Passchendaele ; the 1/5th Battalion in the Battle of Langemarck and the Battle of Broodseinde , and the 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions in the action of 22 August 1917 and the Battle of Poelcappelle . Total losses to the three battalions at Passchendaele numbered 1,186 men. In December 1917,

8509-418: The Hindenburg Line in the Battles of Épehy and St Quentin Canal . The 1st Battalion saw its last action of the war on 4 November 1918 in the Battle of the Sambre , where it helped capture Catillon and the crossing over the Sambre canal, some 4 miles (6 km) from the scene of its first casualties over four years previously. The 2nd Battalion returned from Tianjin in November 1914 and landed in France

8636-400: The Russian light infantry were equipped with the M1854 rifle, the remainder retaining smoothbore percussion muskets. In the second half of the 19th century, the development of mass production and new technologies, such as the Minié ball , allowed European armies to gradually equip all their infantrymen with rifled weapons, and the percentage of line infantry equipped with muskets fell. In

8763-403: The Sixth Coalition , the training of regular French line infantry recruits was limited due to the relentless attack of the Coalition Forces. A recruit was trained by firing only two cartridges and four blanks. There was also light training of forming several formations. However, training large quantities of elite line infantry was generally a complicated process. In the middle of the 16th century,

8890-446: The Somme 1916 Each of the Territorial Force battalions volunteered for service overseas and raised a second battalion, the six battalions being numbered 1/4th , 2/4th , 1/5th , 2/5th , 1/6th , and 2/6th . The original territorial battalions also raised a third battalion each in 1915 as home-based reserves, though in 1916 these were merged to form the 4th (City of Bristol) Reserve Battalion . Another home-based territorial battalion,

9017-436: The Somme offensive: on 29 July at Longueval during the Battle of Delville Wood ; between 3 and 5 September during the Battle of Guillemont , in which it suffered some 300 casualties; and on 25 September during the Battle of Morval . On 8 May 1917, during the Battle of Arras , the battalion was practically annihilated with the loss of 296 men at Fresnoy, and it did not see action again until 4 October in

9144-462: The Struma in September, October and December 1916 – the last costing the battalion 114 casualties – and conducted a number of raids in 1917, sickness was more of a threat than enemy action. In July 1918, the 27th Division was transferred to XII Corps south-west of Dojran , and the capture of the Roche Noire salient on 1 September, at a cost of 89 casualties, was the last action of

9271-641: The VC for their actions in the battle. In the latter half of the 20th century, the regiment was reduced to a single regular battalion and completed tours of duty around the world, including Germany, Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and the Middle East, as well as in Northern Ireland during The Troubles . Shortly after celebrating its tercentenary in 1994, the regiment, which carried more battle honours on its colours than any other regiment of

9398-757: The Ypres area. It was disbanded in February 1918 and its men distributed among the regiment's 1st and 8th Battalions and the 13th Entrenching Battalion. The 12th Battalion was raised in Bristol in August 1914 by the Citizen's Recruiting Committee. It was taken over by the War Office in June 1915 and left for France in November as part of the 95th Brigade in the 5th Division . The battalion went into action in 1916 during

9525-707: The army in times of need. In the mid-18th century, county militia regiments were raised for home defence and as a pool of reserves for the regular army. In 1759 the Gloucestershire Militia had been reorganised into two battalions of militia, and these were organised in 1763 as the South Gloucestershire Militia based at Gloucester and the North Gloucestershire Militia at Cirencester . In 1859, county-based volunteer rifle corps were raised, leading to

9652-639: The back as well as the front of the headdress, a unique distinction in the British Army that was officially sanctioned in 1830. The 61st Regiment also deployed to Egypt and, although arriving too late to play an active part, was, like the 28th Regiment, awarded the battle honour "Egypt" and the right to display the Sphinx on its colours. During the 19th century, relatively uneventful postings at home and abroad were punctuated with periods of active service. The 28th and 61st Regiments both fought in Spain and Portugal during

9779-509: The battalion had sustained 326 casualties. In April, the survivors were allocated to composite infantry battalions and saw their last action on 26 April during the Second Battle of Kemmel, part of the Battle of the Lys, after which the battalion was reduced to a training cadre. The 14th Battalion was a bantam unit of volunteers from Bristol and Birmingham who had previously been rejected for service because of their short height. It

9906-603: The battalion suffered 71 casualties. It saw action again towards the end of 1916 during operations on the Ancre, including the Battle of the Ancre Heights and the Battle of the Ancre. In March 1918, the battalion suffered particularly badly in the opening week of the Spring Offensive , during which it was required to take positions in the line as infantry, and by the time the division was withdrawn on 31 March

10033-457: The battle, the Glosters' commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart , assumed command of all four 57th Brigade battalions when the other three commanding officers became casualties, and for his actions in averting a serious reverse he was awarded the VC. Later the same month, during the Battle of Pozières, the battalion made two unsuccessful attacks against the German line east of

10160-478: The best shooting soldiers fight in loose ranks and cover their battalions from the enemy skirmishers. The total number of light infantry reached 40% of the entire field infantry. The sharp increase in the number of light infantry greatly influenced their quality of training and equipment. The Russian infantry of 1854 comprised 108 regiments, of which 42 were line infantry. The remainder were specialized or elite units such as Guards, Grenadiers and Jägers. Only part of

10287-400: The command of officers, but in practice this happened only in the first minutes of the battle. After one or two volleys, each soldier charged his musket and fired at his own discretion, without hearing the commands of the officers. This disrupted the system, while the gunsmoke prevented accurate shooting. Such a shootout in clouds of smoke could occur for an extended period of time and the result

10414-513: The cost of five men killed, including the battalion commander, and 58 wounded. Five days later, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion were part of a small force tasked with seizing Nicholson's Nek, a pass some 6 miles (10 km) north of Ladysmith, during the Battle of Ladysmith . The troops moved out on the night of 29 October with the intention to be in position before the main battle started, but they left too late to reach their objective before daybreak. As they took up an alternative position on

10541-531: The current officers and soldiers of the modern Regiment, who are proud to belong to the most senior English Regiment of the Line. The Canadian Army also retained these traditional distinctions, and its infantry regiments were organized, titled, and uniformed in full dress as foot guards , fusiliers , light infantry, line infantry, rifles, and kilted infantry regiments. The infantry of most 21st-century armies are still trained in formation manoeuvre and drill , as

10668-412: The enemy from entering the trenches, for which act he was posthumously awarded the VC. The battalion fought in the action of 22 October 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele, and saw its last action on 4 February 1918, when it successfully attacked a fortified farm in the Ypres sector. Seven days later the battalion was disbanded and its men transferred to the 13th Battalion. The 18th battalion

10795-838: The eve of the Second World War , the Territorial Army (TA), as the Territorial Force had been renamed, was doubled in size, and the 7th Battalion was created in August 1939 as the second-line duplicate of the 5th Battalion. On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the Gloucestershire Regiment comprised: Completely surrounded, with our lack of weapons there was only one thing to do. The men were utterly exhausted from fatigue, lack of sleep and food and seventeen days of continuous fighting or marching. We were prisoners. Line infantry Line infantry mainly used three formations in its battles:

10922-452: The foot troops in most Western European armies. Maurice of Nassau was noted as the first large scale user of linear tactic in Europe, introducing the 'counter-march' to enable his formations of musketeers to maintain a continuous fire. After the invention of the bayonet, musketeers could finally defend themselves from the enemy's horsemen, and the percentage of pikemen fell gradually. In 1699,

11049-559: The formation of the 1st (City of Bristol) Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteer Corps and the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers . In 1872, the Cardwell Reforms began the process of organising the British Army along county lines based on two-battalion line infantry regiments, a process that was completed by the Childers Reforms nine years later. As a result, the 28th and 61st Regiments were amalgamated in 1881 to form

11176-472: The fragments were responsible for 7 head and neck wounds. 2 of which were serious. Private Barton, 1st Battalion Battle of Langemarck October 1914 Early in 1917, the 1st Division moved south of the Somme, and the 1st Battalion participated in the advance to the Hindenburg Line . In July, the division was allocated to Operation Hush , a planned seaborne invasion that was later cancelled, and

11303-524: The front line around Neuve Chapelle, but for the 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions the first significant action was on 19 July 1916 in a costly and unsuccessful attack in the Battle of Fromelles which cost the two battalions a total of 332 casualties. In March and April 1917, the three battalions saw action in the advance to the Hindenburg Line south of the Somme. The 61st Division moved to Ypres in July, and all three battalions fought near Gheluvelt in

11430-486: The home country, line infantry forces were often raised from the local population, with the British East India Company 's sepoys perhaps being the most historically significant example. Line tactics required strict discipline and simple movements practiced to the point where they became second-nature. During training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used. During 1814, in the War of

11557-454: The island of Lemnos in June 1915 as part of the 39th Brigade in the 13th (Western) Division and went into the line at Gallipoli the next month. The battalion fought its first action on 8 August in the Battle of Chunuk Bair , during which it suffered over 820 casualties, including all of its officers, warrant officers and senior non-commissioned officers . It was brought back up to strength and moved to Egypt in January 1916. In March,

11684-576: The last man covering the battalion's withdrawal, for which action the company commander, Captain Manley Angell James , was awarded the VC. By the time the 19th Division withdrew to Doullens on 28 March the battalion had suffered 323 casualties. In April, the battalion fought in three engagements of the Battle of the Lys: the Battles of Messines, Bailleul and First Kemmel. The following month,

11811-669: The last of which was also awarded to the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions. Following the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907  – part of the Haldane Reforms which restructured the British Army and converted the militia and volunteer battalions into the Special Reserve and the Territorial Force  – the 4th (Militia) Battalion was disbanded, and at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914

11938-458: The line, the square, and the column. With the universal adoption of small arms (firearms that could be carried by hand, as opposed to cannon) in infantry units from the mid-17th century, the battlefield was dominated by linear tactics , according to which the infantry was aligned into long thin lines, shoulder to shoulder, and fired volleys . A line consisted of two, three, or four ranks of soldiers. The soldiers were expected to fire volleys at

12065-489: The line, was merged with the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment to form the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment . The new regiment inherited the back badge, and when it too was merged in 2007, it passed the tradition on to its successor, The Rifles . The Gloucestershire Regiment traced its roots to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, raised in 1694 in Portsmouth , which first saw action in 1705 during

12192-456: The list of battle honours that the Gloucestershire Regiment would soon inherit. The 28th Regiment, whose time in India was shorter and less eventful, was meanwhile deployed to the Crimea and added "Alma", "Inkerman" and "Sevastopol" to its legacy. Another thread that would be woven into the story of the Gloucestershire Regiment is that of the civilian administered auxiliary forces which supported

12319-542: The main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting, and manoeuvre. Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries. Musketeers and grenadiers , formerly elite troops , gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics. Over time the use of line infantry tactics spread outside of Europe, often as a result of European imperialism. In European colonies and settlements with small populations from

12446-497: The melee-oriented pikemen with shallower lines that maximized the firepower of an infantry formation. Besides regular line infantry, there were elite troops (royal guards and other designated elite regiments) and the light infantry . Light infantry operated in extended order (also known as skirmish formation) as opposed to the close order (tight formations) used by line infantry. Since the late 18th century, light infantry in most European countries mostly consisted of riflemen (such as

12573-467: The movement of units. In Russia, Great Britain, France, Prussia, and some other states, linear tactics and formation discipline were maintained into the late 19th century. With the invention of new weaponry, the concept of line infantry began to wane. The Minié ball , an improved rifle ammunition, allowed individual infantrymen to shoot more accurately and over greatly increased range. Men walking in formation line-abreast became easy targets, as evidenced in

12700-468: The nearby Tchrengula Hill the pack-mules bolted, taking most of the heavy weaponry and ammunition with them. The Boers discovered the incursion at dawn and surrounded the position, and although the British held out for several hours they were forced to surrender at 12:30. The battalion lost 38 killed and 115 wounded, and the survivors were held as prisoners of war (POWs) in Pretoria. While the remainder of

12827-412: The new fusils retained the name "musket". Both muskets and fusils were smoothbore , which lessened their accuracy and range, but made for faster loading, lesser amount of bore fouling and more robust, less complicated firearms. The accuracy of smooth-bore muskets was in the range of 300–400 yd (270–370 m) against a line of infantry or cavalry. Against a single enemy, however, the effective range

12954-476: The new regiment were inherited from the 61st Regiment; The Flowers of Toulouse , from the scarlet uniforms of that regiment's many dead in the Battle of Toulouse , and The Silver-Tailed Dandies , from the silver decorations on the longer-than-normal coat tails of the 61st Regiment's uniform. The Gloucestershire Regiment began life quietly. The two battalions alternated between postings at home and overseas, mostly in India, but their first action came in 1899 during

13081-537: The next month as part of the 81st Brigade in the 27th Division . Its first significant action came in May 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres  – the only German offensive on the Western Front that year – in which the battalion held its ground, though at the cost of 505 casualties. At the end of 1915, the 27th Division was transferred to XVI Corps of the British Salonika Army on

13208-512: The only significant action the 1st Battalion saw in 1917 was in November, on the last day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele . On 18 April 1918, during the Battle of Béthune, an engagement in the Battle of the Lys , the battalion earned high praise and 33 awards for gallantry when it repulsed an attack by four enemy regiments that had turned the Glosters' flank and, in echoes of the Battle of Alexandria, forced them to fight back to back. The battalion saw action again in September and October on

13335-509: The rifle companies are referred to as "line officers" while billeted to positions such as Platoon Leaders and Commanding and Executive Officers. Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment was a short-lived infantry regiment of the British Army . The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the Gloucestershire Regiment and

13462-580: The second half of the nineteenth century, regiments in several European armies retained the "line infantry" (or cavalry) title. This designation had come to mean an army's regular or numbered regiments, as opposed to specialist or elite formations. Accordingly, the distinction had become a traditional title or classification without significance regarding armament or tactics. For example, the Belgian Army order of battle in 1914 comprised 14 regiments of Infanterie de Ligne (line infantry), three of Chasseurs

13589-451: The twine sometimes would accidentally set fire to the gunpowder reservoir in the musket prematurely setting off the gunpowder, resulting in serious injury or death to the operator. For this reason and others, matchlock muskets began to be replaced by lighter and cheaper infantry fusils with flintlocks , weighing 5 kg (11 lb) with a caliber of 17.5 mm (0.69 in), first in France and then in other countries. In many countries,

13716-409: The unique distinction in the British Army of wearing a badge on the back of its headdress as well as the front, a tradition that originated with the 28th Regiment after it fought in two ranks back to back at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. At its formation the regiment comprised two regular , two militia and two volunteer battalions, and saw its first action during the Second Boer War . Before

13843-477: The unsuccessful army reforms of Paul I, the number of light infantry in the Russian army was significantly reduced and made up only 8% of the entire field infantry. However, the Russian army soon returned to the trend of increasing the number of light infantry, begun in the 18th century. By 1811, 50 light infantry regiments were formed in the Russian army. In addition, each linear battalion was required to have 100 of

13970-451: The village which together cost it 374 casualties, among whom were Carton de Wiart and his successor, Major Lord A.G. Thynne , both wounded. On 18 November, the last day of the Somme offensive, the battalion suffered 295 casualties when it captured Grandcourt during the Battle of the Ancre . In 1917, the 8th Battalion saw action in June during the Battle of Messines , fought two minor actions in July near Oosttaverne, south of Ypres, and

14097-505: The war on 1 and 2 November during the Battle of Valenciennes . As volunteers answered Lord Kitchener's call to arms, ten New Army battalions, the 7th to the 16th, were added to the regiment's establishment between 1914 and 1916. Three of them, the 11th , 15th and 16th, were home-based reserve battalions which later transferred to the Training Reserve. The 7th Battalion was formed in Bristol in August 1914. It sailed to

14224-547: The war progressed. Four battalions saw active service under the regiment's colours during the war. The 2nd and 5th Battalions both fought in the Battle of France and, after being lost almost in its entirety during the Battle of Dunkirk , the re-formed 2nd Battalion landed at Gold Beach on D-Day and fought in the Allied campaign in North-West Europe. The 1st Battalion was involved in the retreat from Rangoon during

14351-448: The western half of the village on 2 July, and the 8th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment and 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment , both of the 57th Brigade, assisted in the capture of the rest of the village the next day. A German counter-attack regained the eastern half of the village, and the 8th Glosters suffered 302 casualties when it fought alongside the 10th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment to help retake it. During

14478-528: Was also unique in the British Army in that it was permitted to wear the United States Presidential Unit Citation , which it inherited from the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment which was awarded for their defence of Gloster Hill during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the Korean War . Between 2002 and 2005, the 1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment served as

14605-577: Was awarded to an officer of the regiment attached to another unit. After the end of the First World War, the regiment resumed alternate postings home and abroad. The 1st Battalion completed tours of duty in Ireland, where it captured the Irish republican Seán Moylan , and Germany, which counted as a home posting, and returned to the UK in 1923. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion was posted to India, with

14732-467: Was changed only after the dethronement of Napoleon III. This was common practice in all conventional Western armies until the late 19th century, as infantry tactics and military thinking had yet to catch up with technological developments. In the years after the Napoleonic Wars, line infantry continued to be deployed as the main battle force, while light infantry provided fire support and covered

14859-422: Was disbanded in June 1919. The Fifth Gloucester Gazette was a trench journal published from the front lines by the men of the 1/5th Battalion. The first issue appeared on 12 April 1915 and foreshadowed more famous trench journals such as The Wipers Times . It ran for 25 issues, the last of which appeared in January 1919. After the war it was republished as a compilation titled The Fifth Gloucester Gazette

14986-537: Was formed in Bristol in September 1914 and reached France in September 1915 as part of the 78th Brigade in the 26th Division . The division was transferred to XII Corps of the British Salonika Army in November 1915, and the battalion held the line around Tumba, north of Salonika, until July 1916, when the division relieved the French south of Lake Dojran. The battalion participated in two attacks against

15113-573: Was involved in the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge in August. The battalion was next in action on the evening of 21 March 1918, the first day of the German Spring Offensive, when the Germans captured Doignies. Unable to recapture the village, the battalion blocked any further enemy progress until the morning of 23 March, when German forces broke through on the left and threatened to outflank it. Company A fought to

15240-404: Was made palatable to the former 61st Regiment by replacing the number 28 with the Sphinx, a battle honour awarded to both predecessor regiments. Although both battalions were forced to give up their individual facing colours on their uniforms – yellow for the 28th Regiment and buff for the 61st Regiment – when the government imposed a standard white across all English and Welsh regiments,

15367-468: Was no more than 50–100 yd (46–91 m). It should be borne in mind that ordinary linear infantrymen were poorly trained in aimed shooting, due to the expense of gunpowder and lead (modern reenactors achieve much better results by firing smooth-bore muskets). Line infantrymen were trained in rapid reloading. The recruit was expected to load 3 rounds a minute, while an experienced soldier could load 4–6 rounds per minute. In battle conditions, this number

15494-491: Was raised in 1918 from a cadre of the 5th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry , and decamped to France in August 1918 as part of the 49th Brigade in the 16th Division . It went into action on 11 September, when it successfully assaulted the Railway Triangle west of Auchy, and saw its last action on 18 September, when a German attack drove A Company from its forward posts. The battalion

15621-507: Was raised in April 1915 by the Citizen's Recruiting Committee, adopted by the War Office in June 1915, and departed for France in January 1916 as part of the 105th Brigade in the 35th Division . The battalion went into the line in March, where the men's first task was to raise the height of the firing step , and its first significant action came on 8 June, when it conducted a large raid south-east of Neuve Chapelle. In July, following

15748-506: Was raised in September 1914 in Bristol, but was recruited mainly by volunteers from Cheltenham. It crossed to France in August 1915 and replaced one of the Guards battalions in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division . It saw its first action on 25 September during the Battle of Loos when, as one of the brigade's assault battalions, it succeeded in carrying the German front line at the cost of all but 60 of its men. On 23 July 1916, during

15875-485: Was reduced and after the first few minutes of combat, no more than 2 rounds per minute could be expected even from well trained troops. The bulk of the line infantry had no protective equipment, as armor that could provide protection from musket fire were considered too expensive and heavy. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, the copper mitre caps of grenadiers. Initially, soldiers equipped with firearms formed only

16002-419: Was slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was assured, especially in uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, the line was mostly used as a firing formation, with troops moving in column formations and then deploying to the line at their destination. Usually, columns would be adopted for movement and melee attacks. Line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions,

16129-439: Was unpredictable. In addition, at the time of the “hot” shootout, the soldiers were so engaged and focused on shooting that they were not watching out for an attack of cavalry from the flank. For these reasons, experienced officers tried to avoid such uncertain exchanges and restrained their soldiers from premature firing in order to get as close to the enemy’s line as possible so that they could deliver several devastating volleys at

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