page_title: Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) / History / As the Rifle Brigade / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: A carrier crew of 8th Rifle Brigade hands out chocolate to Dutch civilians during the advance of 11th Armoured Division in Holland, 22 September 1944. A carrier crew of 8th Rifle Brigade hands out chocolate to Dutch civilians during the advance of 11th Armoured Division in Holland, 22 September 1944.
context_page_description: The Rifle Brigade (The 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. In 1816, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, they were again renamed, this time as the "Rifle Brigade".
  The unit was distinguished by its use of green uniforms in place of the traditional redcoat as well as by being armed with the Baker rifle, which was the first British-made rifle accepted by the British Army in place of smooth-bore muskets. The 95th was the first regular infantry corps in the British Army to be so armed. They performed distinguished service in both the First and Second World Wars. Post war, in 1958 the regiment formed part of the Green Jackets Brigade as 3rd Green Jackets and was amalgamated with the 1st Green Jackets and the 2nd Green Jackets to form the Royal Green Jackets on 1 January 1966.
context_section_description: The 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade was in England on the outbreak of the Second World War, originally part of the 1st Support Group, part of the 1st Armoured Division. In late April 1940, however, the battalion transferred to the newly created 30th Infantry Brigade and landed in France the following month within the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) but was lost at the defence of Calais, where the brigade slowed the German advance and enabled the Dunkirk evacuation to proceed. The battalion was reformed in the United Kingdom and became part of the 2nd Armoured Brigade of the 1st Armoured Division and took part in many battles in the North African Campaign before transferring to the 22nd Armoured Brigade of the 7th Armoured Division in June 1942. Now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Stephens, the 1st Battalion's four 6-pounders were credited with destroying many tanks from the 21st Panzer Division at the Battle of Alam el Halfa on 31 August 1942. The 1st Battalion subsequently took part in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Tunisian Campaign until May 1943 when the war in North Africa ended with the surrender of almost 250,000 German and Italian soldiers. The battalion, with the rest of the 7th Armoured Division, took part in the Allied invasion of Italy, and the early stages of the Italian Campaign, in September 1943, returning to England in January 1944 and took part in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, going on to fight throughout the North West Europe Campaign until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945, ending the war in Hamburg, Germany, and commanded throughout by Lieutenant Colonel A. G. V. Paley.
  On the outbreak of war the 2nd Battalion, commanded since July 1938 by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Williams, was stationed in Palestine as part of the 14th Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division. The battalion, then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Renton, later fought with distinction as part of the 7th Motor Brigade in the 1st Armoured Division in the Western Desert Campaign, especially in the "Snipe" action during the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, when the four 6-pounders of the battalion, supported by a 6-pounder Anti-Tank battery of the Royal Artillery, knocked out over 50 German and Italian tanks in a lengthy battle. Lieutenant Colonel Victor Buller Turner, commanding the battalion at this time, received the Victoria Cross for his actions fighting with the guns. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pearson, the battalion, alongside the 1st Battalion, continued to play a prominent role in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign. In September 1943 the battalion transferred to the 7th Armoured Brigade in the 10th Armoured Division, remaining with that formation in North Africa until May 1944, when it transferred to the 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade in the 6th Armoured Division for service in the Italian Campaign, seeing action in the Fourth and final battle of Monte Cassino, the Gothic Line and the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, which brought an end to the war in Italy in early May 1945.
  The 7th Battalion was formed by re-designation of 1st Battalion the London Rifle Brigade in January 1941. The battalion became part of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, then serving under the 8th Armoured Division, and was sent with the division to Egypt in July 1942 where it played a role in the First Battle of El Alamein before, the following month, becoming a part of the 7th Motor Brigade, part of the 1st Armoured Division. It later transferred to the independent 9th Armoured Brigade and finally to the 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade and was engaged throughout the Italian Campaign from May 1944 onwards, commanded throughout by Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Darling.
  The 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade was formed in early January 1941 by the redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, London Rifle Brigade, spent most of its existence in the United Kingdom and took part in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, as part of the 29th Armoured Brigade in the 11th Armoured Division, and saw action in the North West Euro
caption: A Universal Carrier crew of the 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade hands out chocolate to Dutch civilians during the advance of 11th Armoured Division in the Netherlands, 22 September 1944.
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