Isle of Wight Rifles

The Isle of Wight Rifles were also known as the "8th (territorial) Battalion The Hampshire Regiment, Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles", or informally "The Isle of Wight Rifles". They also gained the Nickname "The Isle of Wight Gurkhas" due to a similarity in Rifles uniform and drill, and possibly because they tended to be shorter than the average height of the time. The Isle of Wight had long been fortified against invasion, due to its strategic position. It had also had numerous troops billeted in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1859 the Artillery and Infantry Volunteer Corps were raised in response to an invasion scare following the perceived resurgence of French naval power under Louis Napoleon III, along with major fortification building, constructing Forts Victoria, Albert, Golden Hill, and Culver Fort in addition to batteries at Sandown, Puckpool, Bouldnor and the Needles. Newtown ranges were set aside for their training. Those who served in the Corps paid for their own kit and expenses. They formed throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight formed six units- 1st & 3rd at Ryde, 2nd at Newport, 4th at Nunwell, 5th at Ventnor and 6th at Sandown. Although these were originally independent they were amalgamated in on 6 July 1860 into the "1st Administrative Battalion, Isle of Wight Volunteer Corps". They were now 3,000 strong. With another 4,000 troops from the mainland soldiers comprised 1 in 4 of the local population. By this time Queen Victoria had moved to the Isle of Wight at Osborne House. The name was changed to the "1st Isle of Wight Volunteers" under Colonel Dunsmore of the 42nd Highlanders and later in 1880 the 5th Isle of Wight Volunteer Corps and the 5th (Isle of Wight, Princess Beatrice's Own) Volunteer Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment.

Boer Wars

When volunteers were asked for in 1890 for South Africa only twenty riflemen were accepted as the "1st Active Service Section of the Isle of Wight Rifles". They served with other Hampshire volunteers in a support capacity and distinguished themselves by marching thirty-five miles in twelve hours to cover the withdrawal of a detachment under fire near Mafeking. In 1901, despite many volunteering, only ten were accepted and only three passed the medical. Even so the unit was able to display "South Africa 1900-01" on its badge. In 1907 their name was changed again to "Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles, 8th Battalion the Hampshire Regiment". The volunteers were now paid an annual bounty of £5 and the weekend and annual two-week camps, for which wages were received, which were very popular socially.

First World War

In 1913, Lieutenant Colonel John Rhodes took command. He offered a £1 bounty for joining and as a result a number of men from the mainland joined up in preference to other units. In 1914, the Rifles were mobilised to man local fortifications. The First Battalion of 900 men were raised for foreign service and a second battalion of 900 raised for home service. Training commenced, firstly at Parkhurst and then at Bury St. Edmunds and Watford. On 30 July 1915 they sailed from Liverpool aboard the Aquitania (some wood of which now forms a bar in Sandown Broadway) as part of the 163rd Infantry Brigade, 54th East Anglian Division to Gallipoli.

Suvla Bay

An Allied force under Lieutenant General Frederick Stopford had landed at Suvla Bay on 7 and 8 August 1915. The beach led to a plain overlooked by a range of hills. Stopford (who set up his command post in a sloop - HMS Juno- anchored offshore) took the beaches but waited whilst stores were landed before occupying the empty hills. By the time he decided to move upon them the Turks had filled them full of artillery and infantry. The 163rd Brigade, consisting of the 1/5th Suffolk 4th & 5th Norfolk, & 1/8 Hampshires (I.W.Rifles) were landed on 10 August 1915 in order to attack the Turkish positions on Anafurta Ridge. Stopford delayed the attack wishing to make good losses in his lines until pressured by the overall commander, General Hamilton, to order the attack thus giving the Turks full warning of the impending attack. On 12 August 1915 the attack was ordered across terrain varying from thick scrub to abandoned fields, all cut with dried watercourses. The purpose of the advance was to clear the area of snipers prior to a Divisional attack on Anafarta Ridge the next day. Muddle and confusion hampered the planning with the individual Battalions not receiving the warning orders that the advance was to take place and no clear objective was indicated. Eventually at 16:45 the order to advance was sounded. The start line that had been doglegged around a small hill was then subject to a muddled order that changed the direction of the Norfolks at the moment of advance. Rather than straightening the line, the bend was amplified and as the Norfolks charged a gap that opened up between them and the 8th Hants and the rest of 163 Brigade. Advancing 1,500 yards across the more favourable terrain, the Norfolks took nearly forty percent casualties. The Norfolks' Company, including men from the Royal Estate of Sandringham, were able to advance the furthest but were cut off. Mystery and fantasy has dogged this action ever since. The Brigade held a temporary line formed along a road edge for 48 hours until relieved by the Essex Brigade. From the Rifles, 3 brothers from the Urrey family together with their brother-in-law were killed, whilst among the officers two brothers, Clayton and Donald Ratsey of the legendary sailmaking firm Ratsey & Lapthorn, both Captains, were killed. Losses in each of the Battalions involved were counted in the high 300's including missing and wounded. The Rifles lost 89 men killed in action once the missing men were reclassified "presumed killed in action". In September 1915 they were moved back to Anzac Cove and evacuated in November.

Egypt and Palestine

The 1st Battalion sailed to Alexandria and to an acclimatisation camp at Sidi Bish, then to Mena Camp by the Pyramids of Giza. They moved into deployment at the Bitter Lakes on the Suez Canal. In January 1917 they marched to Mazar and in February marched across the Sinai Desert 145 miles in 12 days to El Arish. On the night of 6 April 1917 the offensive against the Turkish line at Gaza began, supported by tanks. After some success at night, the Rifles sustained major casualties in day attacks. Two hundred were kept in reserve but out of 800 who went into action only two officers and ninety men answered roll call the following evening, some being taken prisoner and subsequently transferred to Austria. At the end of April the survivors took part in a further push by General Allenby against the Gaza-Beersheba Line, attacking Gaza once again, taking few casualties. The Rifles then fought their way into Palestine, fighting in the Judaean Hills as Allenby entered Jerusalem. They remained in Palestine until the final defeat of the Turks in September 1918 when they sailed from Beirut to Alexandria and were demobbed in Cairo. When rioting broke out a cadre joined the Army of Occupation in the Sudan, eventually returning to the Isle of Wight in 1920.

Mesopotamia

In August 1916 the 2nd Battalion, manning the forts on the Isle of Wight, sent 250 men to join the 4th Hampshires at Romsey. In September they were shipped to India. From here they were landed at Basra with the Indian Army. They fought no major battles but were involved in constant skirmishing through Amarah, Kut, Ctesiphon, Persia, Turkestan, Constantinople, Salonika, Italy and France, returning home in 1919.

Inter-war

The Rifles were stood down, but were not disbanded due to Princess Beatrice's (Governess of the IOW) intervention. They were mobilised at Albany Barracks during a coal-strike in 1921. They were converted to artillery in 1937, becoming the "530 Coast Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, The Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles.

Second World War

The 530 Coast Defence Regiment was called up on 25 August 1939. Although the Regiment was employed manning the extensive coastal defences many personnel were drafted to service in other units. A contingent sailed to Alexandria on the Empress of Canada in 1941 and sent to reinforce Tobruk, aboard HMAS Voyager- a number being captured when it fell to Rommel on 21 June 1942. Another contingent was sent to Gibraltar aboard the S.S.Aquila to prepare defences against Franco's Spain. Another battery served with General Alexander in Burma.

Post war

In 1947 the regiment was reformed as 428 (Mixed) HAA Regt RA The Princess Beatrice's IoW Rifles with three batteries based at Ryde, Newport and Cowes with RHQ at Newport. They were armed with 3.7 HAA Guns and associated radars and predictors. They were briefly at the end years of AA Command and AADUK responsible for the manning of the 5.25 gun sites on the Island. After the demise of AA Command the Rifles were once again renamed, now becoming the "P (Princess Beatrice's IoW Rifles) Battery, 457 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery, now equipped with mobile 3.7 guns. When the regiment was equipped with Thunderbird SAMs the battery became P HQ Bty 457 Heavy Air Defence Regt RA TA (The IoW Rifles) The Hampshire Caribineers Yeomanry. The main element of the battery was the Regimental Surveillance Troop with 4 mk 7 & height finding radars They had received two Distinguished Service Orders,a Distinguished Conduct Medal, four Military Crosses, seven Military Medals and various mentions in despatches during their wartime service.

In 1967 457 Regiment RA was disbanded and reconstituted as C (Wessex Royal Artillery, Princess Beatrice's) Company, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Territorials in TAVR III before being reduced to cadre in 1969. In 1971 the cadre was reconstituted as 6 Platoon, B Company (Hampshire), 1st Battalion, Wessex Regiment (The Rifle Volunteers) in TAVR II - a mobilisation component of 1 (Guards) Infantry Brigade (the Guards title being dropped during the 1970s). In 1986 the company (including 6 platoon) was moved to the 2nd Battalion and the mobilisation role was changed to home defence in 43 (Wessex) Infantry Brigade.

Under the 1992 drawdown ("Options for Change") The Queen's Regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, despite much displeasure, to create the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshire's). A and B companies of 2 Wessex were amalgamated as C (Duke of Connaught's) Company, 6th/7th Battalion PWRR, and the Isle of Wight Rifles became 9 (Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles) Platoon, awkwardly placing C company in 145 (Home Counties) Brigade district (re-designated 145 (South)Brigade in 1994) whilst the remainder of the battalion (and the sister 5th Battalion) were in 2 (South East) Brigade district. It also gave the unit the distinction of having the longest name of any unit in the British Army of the time and due to the platoon's continued connection it's members were fondly nicknamed "The Isle of Wight Rifles" throughout the rest of 6/7PWRR. The 1998 Strategic Defence Review reorganised the TA infantry along brigade lines, and the Isle of Wight Rifles became 9 (Princess Beatrice) Platoon, D Company of a new battalion, 3rd PWRR (The Royal Rifle Volunteers) formed by all the TA infantry in 145 Brigade in 1999. Despite the Royal Rifle Volunteer designation the unit continued to be badged to the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. Under SDR New Chapter the high operating costs of the platoon due to its remote location and Hampshire lineage led to a successful campaign in RHQ PWRR to divest itself of the platoon, although the attempt to reject the rest of the company at Portsmouth failed when the planned formation of a 2 battalion "Royal Wessex Regiment" failed due to objections from the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment's Colonel led to the battalion being chosen for disbandment over the Green Howards (now 3rd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment). 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps had an interest in the Island as they were sponsors of the Army Cadet Force and agreed to take the Island's Territorial unit into their TA counterpart, 165 (Port Support) Squadron, to maintain the TA Centre. Due to the continued use of the Isle of Wight Rifles name and that of Princess Beatrice despite many changes in regimental affiliation, all former members of the unit up to this point are entitled to wear the cap badge of the Isle of Wight Rifles (worn officially 1908-1937) if they so wish, though they would have been required to wear the cap badge of their regular parent Regiment (RA, Wessex or PWRR) whilst serving within the unit. This entitlement sadly ended when the lineage of Princess Beatrice and the Isle of Wight Rifles was officially discontinued upon the takeover by the RLC in 2006 thus ending one hundred and sixteen years of tradition. The unit's personnel either re-badged as RLC or were absorbed into the other platoons within D Company, 3rd Battalion PWRR at their main unit in Portsmouth.

Legacy

The Isle of Wight Rifles are the subject of a "living history group" on the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight Rifles Living History Group was formed to present the WWI uniform and equipment of the IWR to local shows and interested organisations. They have also instigated two remembrance services each year. The first held on the Sunday closest to the 25th April at Hero's Corner, Mountjoy remembers the Islands contribution to the Gallipoli campaign. The August service held at the Chapel of Saint Nicholas in Castro, Carisbrooke Castle held on the Sunday closest to the 12th August commemorates the Isle of Wight Rifles' first action at Suvla Bay 1915.

External links

• http://www.theneedlesbattery.org.uk/rifles.shtml

Isle of Wight Rifles Living History Society http://www.iwight.com/living here/voluntary/vol.org.detail.asp?orgID=1270

• http://www.isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/towns/county.iowr.html
• Tribute to IOW Rifles, YouTube

There was a regiment raised in the American Civil War from http://[Isle of Wight County, Virginia called the "Isle of Wight Avengers" (F Company, 7th Battalion, 61st Virginia Infantry) who fought for the Confederacy.