Cape Town Rifles (Duke of Edinburgh’s Own) Shoulder Title

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original Cape Town Rifles (Duke of Edinburgh’s Own) Regiment shoulder title badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military shoulder titles for sale including other Cape Town Rifles (Duke of Edinburgh’s Own) Regiment shoulder titles.

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The Regiment was founded on 28 November 1855, as the Cape Rifle Corps. It was the first volunteer unit in the Cape Colony. It was also known as the “Cape Royal Rifles”, and later as the “Cape Town Volunteer Rifles”. On 30 September 1867, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh granted the CTVR the title “Duke of Edinburgh’s Own”, after it had formed a guard of honour for him during a visit to Cape Town. The nickname “the Dukes” appears to have come into use in the 1880s. The Regiment’s original purpose was home defence, to supplement the British Army garrison which was stationed in Cape Town. The Regiment played an active role in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Initially, it was deployed to protect a long stretch of the railway line through the Western Cape. In May 1900, it was assigned to Lt Gen Sir Charles Warren’s column, to recapture areas of Griqualand West from Boer and Cape Rebel forces. The Dukes’ commanding officer, Lt Col William Spence, was killed in action during a Boer attack on the column’s base on the farm Fabers Puts on 30 May 1900. From June 1900 until the end of the war in May 1902, the Regiment was split up into small detachments, which manned outposts and blockhouses in the northern Cape.

Like other CF units, the Dukes played a limited role in World War I, because the South African forces were restricted to operations in southern Africa. The Regiment was on garrison duty in Cape Town from October 1914 to January 1915, and was deployed in German South West Africa (now Namibia) from February to July 1915. It was used in a supporting role, and saw no action. After the Dukes returned from GSWA, more than a hundred members volunteered for service in the new 1st SA Infantry Regiment, which served in Egypt and then on the Western Front in France. Some others volunteered for service in the British forces, and one “Duke”, Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor, became a Royal Air Force pilot and finished the war as South Africa’s most highly decorated serviceman ever. The Dukes served again in World War II. As a unit of the 1st SA Infantry Brigade, the Regiment served in East Africa (Kenya, Somaliland and Ethiopia) from July 1940 to May 1941, and in North Africa (Egypt and Libya) from June 1941 to December 1942 as part of the 1st SA Infantry Division. The Dukes earned eleven battle honours in these two campaigns. From February 1943 to March 1945, the Regiment was based in the Transvaal, in South Africa, as a tank training battalion. Being under-strength, it was temporarily amalgamated with the Rand Light Infantry. In March 1945, the DEOR/RLI amalgamated with the Transvaal Scottish, to form the “DSR” battalion for service in Italy. However, operations in Italy ended before the battalion was ready for deployment. It was used for peacekeeping and security duties in Italy until the end of 1945.

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military shoulder titles for sale including other Cape Town Rifles (Duke of Edinburgh’s Own) Regiment shoulder titles.