8th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Rifles

The 8th Battalion, The Rifles (Volunteers) or officially (8 RIFLES) is an Army Reserve infantry battalion of the British Army formed on 1 November 2017.

History
8 RIFLES is The Rifles' Reserve Infantry Battalion of the North East, Yorkshire and West Midlands and is paired with 2 RIFLES. It will form in 2017, comprising of 500 part-time soldiers from a wide variety of backgrounds and has bases in North East, South and West Yorkshire, Birmingham and Shropshire. The Battalion will have three rifle companies and a headquarters company, each comprising approximately 100 soldiers, building upon existing RIFLES Reserve elements that already exist. The Battalion's principle mission is to train and prepare Reserve Riflemen for front line operations, where they serve alongside and integrated within Regular RIFLES units.

The battalion is currently paired with the 2nd Battalion.

On 1 November 2018 the battalion had their first reunion and anniversay. Former members of the battalion and the battalion's senior D Company celebrated.

Organization
Today the battalion is organized as follows:
 * Battalion Headquarters at Bishop Auckland, County Durham
 * Headquarters Company at Bishop Auckland
 * Assault Pioneer Platoon at Sunderland
 * D Company
 * Company Headquarters at Durham
 * No. 1 Platoon at Bishop Auckland
 * No. 2 Platoon at Sunderland
 * No. 3 Platoon at Sunderland
 * E Company
 * Company Headquarters at Shrewsbury
 * No. 4 Platoon
 * No. 5 Platoon at Sparkbrooke
 * No. 6 Platoon
 * Y Company
 * Company Headquarters at Pontefract
 * No. 7 Platoon
 * No. 8 Platoon at Doncaster
 * No. 9 Platoon