"Prince Consort's Own" Rifle Brigade

The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army. Formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts and skirmishers, they were soon renamed "The Rifle Corps". In January 1803 they became an established regular regiment and were titled the 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles). In 1816, after the final defeat of Napoleon, they were again renamed, this time as "The Rifle Brigade".

The unit was distinguished by its use of green uniforms as standard in place of the traditional red—the first regular infantry corps in the British Army to do so.


In 1800, an "Experimental Corps of Riflemen", was raised by Colonel Coote Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. William Stewart, drawn from officers and other ranks from drafts of a variety of British regiments. The Corps differed in several regards from the Line infantry of the British Army. Most significantly, the Rifles were armed with the formidable Baker rifle, which was more accurate and of longer range than the musket, although it took longer to load. As the rifle was shorter than the musket, it was issued with a 21-inch sword bayonet.

Riflemen wore dark green jackets rather than the bright red coats of the British line infantry regiments of that time; close-fitting pantaloons, rather than breeches; black facings and black belts rather than white; a green plume on their "stovepipe shakoes" which the light infantry also wore, as well as other accoutrements unique to Rifles regiments.


Historical Battle Honours
~ Copenhagen, Monte Video, Rolica, Vimiera, Corunna, Busaco, Barrosa, Fuentes d'Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula, Waterloo, South Africa 1846-47, South Africa 1851-2-3, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Lucknow, Ashantee 1873-74, Ali Masjid, Afghanistan 1878-79, Burma 1885-87, Khartoum, Defence of Ladysmith, Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902

~ World War I: Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914 '18, Armentières 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres 1915 '17, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, Hooge 1915, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Avre, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Hazebrouck, Béthune, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Macedonia 1915-18

~ World War II: Calais 1940, Villers Bocage, Odon, Bourguébus Ridge, Mont Pincon, Le Perier Ridge, Falaise, Antwerp, Hechtel, Nederrijn, Lower Maas, Roer, Leese, Aller, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Egyptian Frontier 1940, Beda Fomm, Mersa el Brega, Agedabia, Derna Aerodrome, Tobruk 1941, Sidi Rezegh 1941, Chor es Sufan, Saunnu, Gazala, Knightsbridge, Defence of Alamein Line, Ruweisat, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, Medjez el Bab, Kassarine, Thala, Fondouk, Fondouk Pass, El Kourzia, Djebel Kournine, Tunis, Hammam Lif, North Africa 1940–43, Cardito, Cassino II, Liri Valley, Melfa Crossing, Monte Rotondo, Capture of Perugia, Monte Malbe, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Gothic Line, Orsara, Tossigniano, Argenta Gap, Fossa Sembalina, Italy 1943–45

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