Devon Brochure Final(4) - Flipbook - Page 10
LOCAL INTEREST
CONTACT US
The Devons' Headquarters and training
depot was at Higher Barracks in Exeter,
and moved to Topsham Barracks after
WWII. Later this was re-named Wyvern
Barracks, which is now home to 6th
Battalion, The Rifles.
REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS THE RIFLES
Peninsula Barracks, Romsey Road,
WINCHESTER, SO23 8TS
01962 828 527 | rhq@the-rifles.co.uk
The Devons' motto was Semper Fidelis
(Always Faithful), after the City of Exeter.
The motto was granted to the city in 1588
by Queen Elizabeth I.
Snooker was invented in 1875 at
the Officers' Mess of the 11th (North
Devonshire) Regiment in Jabalpur, India
by Lieutenant Neville Chamberlain.
In 1908 when the Territorial Force of parttime soldiers was created, the Devons
had Territorial battalions in Exeter,
Plymouth and Barnstaple.
In 1916, Devonshire Regiment Private
Theodore 'Teddy' Veale from Dartmouth
won one of the Regiment's three Victoria
Crosses for rescuing a badly wounded
officer under fire. The officer was
Lieutenant Eric Savill. He recovered from
his wounds and after the war became a
famous horticulturalist, founding Savill
Gardens in Windsor Great Park. Teddy
Veale and Sir Eric Savill both lived long
lives and died in 1980.
In the First World War, battalions of The
Devons fought not only throughout
France and Belgium, but in Palestine
(Jordan, Israel and Palestine today),
Mesopotamia (Iraq), Macedonia, Greece
and Italy.
In the Second World War, 12th Devons
was a glider-borne battalion. In March
1945 the Battalion crossed the River
Rhine by glider as part of an airborne
operation that started the final Allied
attack against Germany itself.
The Devonshire Regiment amalgamated
with the Dorset Regiment in 1958,
forming the Devonshire and Dorset
Regiment. Between 1958 and 2007,
The Devon and Dorsets served with
distinction around the world including in
Cyprus, British Guyana, Malta, Germany,
Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq.
The Devon and Dorsets had the
freedoms of five cities and towns in
Devon: Barnstaple, Exeter, Exmouth,
Plymouth and Torbay.
The Devonshire Regiment's marches
were the traditional tunes Widecombe
Fair and We Lived and Loved Together.
These were both incorporated into the
Devon and Dorsets' Regimental March,
along with The Maid of Glenconnel, The
Dorset Regiment's march.
In 2007, The Devon and Dorsets and
three other regiments formed The Rifles.
The Devonshire Regiment's and some of
the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment's
old Colours hang in the Regimental
Chapel in Exeter Cathedral.
The 'Croix de Guerre' Ribbon
REGIONAL OFFICES:
North (Pontefract) | 01977 703 181 |
yorkshire@the-rifles.co.uk
Midlands (Shrewsbury) | 01743 842 030 |
shrewsbury@the-rifles.co.uk
London (Kensington) | 0207 414 5441 |
london@the-rifles.co.uk
South (Winchester) | 01962 828 501 |
salisbury@the-rifles.co.uk
West (Taunton) | 01823 333 434 | taunton@
the-rifles.co.uk
South West (Exeter) | 01392 492 435 |
exeter@the-rifles.co.uk
JOIN US:
Regular & Reserve Officer |
armyjobs@the-rifles.co.uk
Regular & Reserve Soldier |
enquiry@the-rifles.co.uk
ARMY CADET FORCE
www.armycadets.com
THE RIFLEMAN'S ASSOCIATION:
SWIFT - www.theriflesnetwork.co.uk |
swift@the-rifles.co.uk
FORMING & ANTECEDENT REGIMENTAL
ASSOCIATION BRANCHES:
•
Exeter
•
Plymouth
•
Torridge
MUSEUMS:
The Rifles Regimental Museum | www.
riflesmuseum.co.uk
Military Museum of Devon and Dorset,
Dorchester |
www.keepmilitarymuseum.co.uk
