The Regiment Moves On
On 01 February 2007, The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment Light Infantry, The Royal Regiment of Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry, The Light Infantry and The Royal Green Jackets merged to form one large Infantry Regiment titled The Rifles. It is in this new Regiment that the infantrymen of Devon and Dorset now serve.
The final parade of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment was held in Exeter, in broad sunshine, on 27 January 2007. Led by the Regimental Band, Regular, Territorial Army and Army Cadet Force officers, soldiers and cadets marched through Exeter, along with hundreds of members of the Regimental Association with their Branch Standards. The salute was taken by our Colonel in Chief; HRH The Duke of Kent.
Thousands of Exeter citizens turned out to watch and applaud. The march finished at Exeter Cathedral where, during a moving service, the Regimental Colours were laid up in our Regimental Chapel. The service was followed by a Beating of Retreat, and sounding of the ‘last post’. This most poignant, memorable occasion marked the end of a 49-year chapter in the military life of Devon and Dorset that had begun with the amalgamation of The Devonshire Regiment with The Dorset Regiment in 1958.
The photographs below illustrate the day.
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