Early history The Queen Victoria’s Rifles could trace their origins back to the old volunteer regiments of the
Napoleonic Wars when the '''
Duke of Cumberland's Sharpshooters''' were formed as a Corps of Riflemen on 5 September 1803. The regiment was raised as the 1st (Victoria Rifle Club) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps and became the
1st Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps on the formation of the
Volunteer Force in 1860. One of the first officers of the Regiment was Captain
Hans Busk - a key lobbyist in getting the Government to raise the Volunteer Force. By 1892 the 1st Middlesex and 6th (St George's) Rifle Volunteer Corps were linked together with Headquarters at St John's Wood and Davies Street, near Berkeley Square, respectively. Both were also linked as Volunteer Battalions of the
King's Royal Rifle Corps.
Territorial Force In 1908 the
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act came into effect and the new
Territorial Force was created. At this time the regiment amalgamated with the
19th Middlesex (St Giles and St George’s, Bloomsbury) Volunteer Rifle Corps to form the
9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles). they were attached to the
13th Brigade of the
5th Division. : Memorial to the Queen Victoria's Rifles On 17 April 1915, the 13th Brigade mounted an attack on
Hill 60. The Hill was a small promontory on the edge of the
Ypres Salient that afforded good views for the Germans across the British lines and in to Ypres. It was therefore of great tactical significance to both sides who "fought with great gallantry". Prior to the attack, the hill had been undermined for days with five galleries being driven under the German positions. The plan was to detonate large mines under the hill to destroy the enemy and their positions, then the 13th Brigade would occupy the area. The Hill was captured on 17 April, and on 20 April two and a half companies of the QVRs were ordered up to the front line as the enemy made a counter-attack. At dawn on 21 April the Germans began bombarding the QVRs with
hand grenades. Casualties were heavy, including two officers, Major Lees and Lieutenant Summerhays who were killed. It was then that
Lieutenant Geoffrey Harold Woolley left a position of safety to take command of the soldiers on the Hill. The situation quickly deteriorated, with many men and all the other officers on the hill being killed. Woolley refused verbal and written orders to withdraw, saying he and his company would remain until properly relieved. They repelled numerous attacks through the night. When they were relieved the next morning, he returned with 14 men remaining from the 150-strong company. For his gallantry Lieutenant Woolley was awarded the
Victoria Cross, the first to be won by the Territorial Force.
Inter-war In 1937, on the break-up of the London Regiment, the regiment was again linked with the King's Royal Rifle Corps and became the
Queen Victoria's Rifles, The King's Royal Rifle Corps and converted to motor cycles. Although understrength and ill-equipped, they fought in the desperate
siege of Calais between 23 and 26 May, which bought valuable time for the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to be
evacuated from Dunkirk. Suffering very heavy losses, almost the entire force was either killed or captured and the battalion had to be reconstituted from scratch. After returning to the United Kingdom, in December, the battalion became part of the war-raised
27th Armoured Brigade, then serving under command of the
9th Armoured Division, and was designated as the 7th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps on 1 April 1941. The 2nd Battalion was, like 1/QVR, originally serving in a motorised reconnaissance role as part of the
2nd London Division, until, in December 1940, it was transferred to help create the
28th Armoured Brigade, then part of the 9th Armoured Division. The battalion was redesignated as the 8th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps the following month.
Postwar After the war, the Queen Victoria's Rifles was merged with the
Queen's Westminsters to form the
Queen's Royal Rifles on 1 May 1961. ==Memorials==