VICTORIAN Berkshire Rifle Volunteers Regiment Battalion Forage Cap Badge

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original VICTORIAN Berkshire Rifle Volunteers Regiment Battalion Forage Cap Badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other VICTORIAN Berkshire Rifle Volunteers Regiment Battalion Forage Cap Badges.

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The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot and the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot. Its lineage is continued today by The Rifles. The regiment, in common with the rest of the British Army, saw a huge expansion during the First World War and many service battalions, for war service only, were created.

Both the 1st and 2nd Battalions served on the Western Front. The 1st Battalion was serving with the 6th Infantry Brigade, part of the 2nd Infantry Division and served with the British Expeditionary Force when it was sent to Belgium in 1914. They fought in the Battle of Mons, the Marne and the First Battle of Ypres, where the old regular British army was virtually wiped out. The 2nd Battalion was serving in India on the outbreak of war and came to the Western Front as part of the 8th Infantry Division. In 1915 during the Loos offensive, Alexander Buller Turner of the 1st Battalion was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. In 1916 Lance corporal James Welch, also of the 1st Battalion, was awarded the Victoria Cross as well. The regiment also raised many service battalions during the war. The 5th Battalion was part of the First New Army, part of Kitchener’s Army, and joined the 35th Infantry Brigade attached to the 12th (Eastern) Division. They saw their first action in 1915 at Loos. Then in 1916 at the Battle of Albert and Pozieres in 1917. In 1918 the 5th Battalion was transferred to the 36th Infantry Brigade, still with 12th Division. They ended the war in Vieux Conde, France. The 6th Battalion was formed as part of Kitchener’s Second New Army and joined the 53rd Infantry Brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division and fought at the 1916 Albert battle, Delville Wood and the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. Then, in early 1918, the 6th Battalion was disbanded in France due to a manpower shortage where all infantry brigades were reduced from four to three infantry battalions to make up for the shortage and the men of the disbanded 6th were sent to the 1st, 2nd and 5th Battalions. The Second World War also saw an expansion for the regiment but not quite to the extent of the Great War.

The 1st Battalion was still part of the 6th Brigade in the 2nd Infantry Division and also a part of the British Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in 1939 after war was declared. They took part in the Battle of France in 1940 and were evacuated during the Battle of Dunkirk. The 2nd Division, 1st Royal Berkshires included, then went on to fight in the Far East as part of the British Fourteenth Army under the command of Lieutenant General Bill Slim. They were destined to fight in the Battle of Kohima, which turned the tide of the Burma Campaign.

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military badges for sale including other VVICTORIAN Berkshire Rifle Volunteers Regiment Battalion Forage Cap Badges.