Gibraltar Regiment British Colonial Forces Shoulder Title

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original Gibraltar 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 Gibraltar Regiment shoulder titles.

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During World War I, a group of local rowing club members volunteered to take up arms. Such was the interest that soon some 400 Gibraltarians joined. One of their tasks was to act as stretcher bearers for the many casualties arriving on hospital ships from Gallipoli. The wounded were taken to the Royal Naval Hospital Gibraltar and a number of temporary hospitals. The volunteers obtained recognition from the Governor, General Sir Herbert Miles, on 3 July 1915. Addressing the volunteers at Wellington Front, the Governor said that the Corps had “come into being not because of any official demand but as a result of their patriotic fervour and of their love and respect for the Crown”.

The Corps was based at Orange Bastion, with the Headquarters on the ground floor of what is now City Hall. Later, the group moved to Wellington Front. The volunteers were divided into four rifle companies, A, B, C and D: each was commanded by a Captain, with two subalterns, one Sergeant Major, four Sergeants, eight Corporals, two buglers and about 80 men. The first Commanding Officer was Major G B Roberts of the Royal Engineers. During the war, the Corps provided reinforcement to assist in the defence of the Rock. The Corps was disbanded on 1 February 1920.

In 1938, the Governor General (Sir Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside) formed a Territorial Artillery unit to help man the anti-aircraft guns on Gibraltar. The Volunteers paraded for the first time on 28 April 1939. Just before the outbreak of the war, more volunteers were called for and men were allocated to the 4th and 27th Coast Batteries of the Royal Artillery as well as to the Royal Signals, Royal Army Service Corps and Royal Army Medical Corps.

On the 2 September 1939, the Gibraltar Defence Force was mobilised. The Heavy Anti Aircraft section was attached to 19 AA Battery Royal Artillery and deployed with two 3 inch guns to the Admiralty oil tanks, on the east side of the Rock. They fired their first shots in anger on 7 July 1940 and from then on they were often in action against Vichy French and Italian planes, engaging German planes later in the war. They shot down their first enemy aircraft on the night of 20 August 1940. The entry in the unit’s War Diary reads as follows: In April 1942, the Coastal Defence element was merged with the Anti Aircraft section. Early in 1944, the force was reconstituted under the Defence Force Ordinance 1943. The majority of volunteers were placed on the reserve list, with other sections disbanded.

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military shoulder titles for sale including other Gibraltar Regiment shoulder titles.