The regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the
Gloucestershire Regiment and the
Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire). It was the only regiment in the British Army whose members were permitted to wear a
cap badge on both the front and the rear of their headdress. The back badge was awarded to the
28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the
Battle of Alexandria in 1801 when the regiment fought on whilst completely surrounded by the enemy. The regiment was also unique in the
British Army in that it was permitted to wear the United States
Presidential Unit Citation, which it inherited from the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment which was awarded for their defence of
Gloster Hill during the
Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the
Korean War. Between 2002 and 2005, the 1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment served as a
public duties battalion in London, where its duties included providing the
Queen's Guard. It was while the RGBW was on guard at
Buckingham Palace that the
Fathers 4 Justice protest took place. In April 2004, 16
Territorial Army soldiers from the regiment joined the TA Force Protection Company, Salamanca Company, and deployed to Iraq as part of
Operation Telic. On 16 December 2004, the
Ministry of Defence announced a reorganisation of the infantry regiments. In preparation for this, the regiment was moved from the
Prince of Wales' Division to the
Light Division and renamed the
Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry in July 2005. On 24 November 2005, the
Ministry of Defence announced further changes to the amalgamations. The regiment would amalgamate with the
Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, the
Royal Green Jackets and
The Light Infantry to form a new large regiment to be called
The Rifles. The new regiment came into existence in 2007. The Colours of the 1st Battalion were laid up at the
Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum in
Gloucester and the Colours of the 2nd Battalion were laid up at the Wardrobe, home of
The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum in
Salisbury. ==Volunteers==