Dorset Regiment

The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 1958, after service in the Second Boer War along with World War I and World War II, the Dorset Regiment was amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment. In 2007, it was amalgamated with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, The Light Infantry and the Royal Green Jackets to form a new large regiment, The Rifles.

The Territorials in Dorset trace their origins to the 1st Administrative Battalion, Dorsetshire Rifle Volunteers formed at Dorchester. Its first formation consisted of the following: The first volunteer corps in Dorset had their headquarters in Dorchester. The 1st Dorsetshire Rifle Volunteer Corps (1 Dorsetshire RVC) was at Bridport, 2 Dorsetshire RVC at Wareham, 3 Dorsetshire Rifle Volunteer Corps at Dorchester, 4th Dorsetshire RVC at Poole, 5 Dorsetshire RVC at Weymouth, 6 Dorsetshire RVC at Wimborne, 7 Dorsetshire RVC at Sherborne, 8 RVC at Blandford, 9 Dorsetshire RVC – Shaftesbury, 10 Dorsetshire RVC at Sturminster, 11 Dorsetshire Rifle Volunteer Corps at Gillingham, and 12 Dorsetshire RVC at Stalbridge.

Eventually in 1880 as a result of the Childers Reforms the regiment was re-designated to the 1st Dorsetshire Rifle Volunteers. Just a year later it moved under control of the Dorsetshire Regiment as the volunteer battalion.

The Dorsetshire Regiment was established in the Regular Army in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot and the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot. The 1st Battalion was stationed in Malta from 1888, in Egypt from 1889, and in British India from 1893, where it took part in operations in the Tirah Campaign on the North West Frontier in 1897–98.

The 2nd Battalion was stationed in Ireland from 1893 to 1897, then in Malta from 1899. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War, they were sent to South Africa in November 1899, and was engaged in the hard fighting after the battle of Colenso in December 1899. The battalion was the last to leave Spion Kop following the battle there in January 1900, and covered the retreat on that occasion. It took part in the subsequent movements leading up to the Relief of Ladysmith and was engaged in the operations which resulted in clearing the Boer forces out of Natal. They subsequently took part in the battle of Alleman's Nek (Almond's Nek), west of Volksrust on 11 June 1900, when 50 men were killed. The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which ended in June 1902 with the Peace of Vereeniging. Four months later 300 officers and men left Cape Town on the SS German in late September 1902, and arrived at Southampton in late October, when they were posted to Portland.

In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve battalion and one Territorial battalion.

During the First World War, nine hostilities-only battalions were formed, six battalions serving overseas. The 1st Battalion and 6th (Service) battalion served on the Western Front throughout most of the war. Additional battalions (1/4th Battalion, 2/4th Battalion and 3/4th Battalion) were formed as part of the Territorial Force to meet the demand for troops on the Western Front.

The 1st Battalion was in Belfast when war broke out: it landed at Le Havre in August 1914 forming part of the 15th Brigade in the 5th Division. It transferred to 95th Brigade in the 32nd Division in December 1915 and to the 14th Brigade in the same Division in January 1916.