2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers

The 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers was a Volunteer unit of the British Army recruited in Gloucestershire from 1859. After becoming a Volunteer and later Territorial Force battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment (the 'Glosters'), it fought on the Western Front and in Italy during World War I. Its 1st Line battalion fought a last-ditch defensive action at the Piave and one of its number won a Victoria Cross in the closing weeks of the war. The 2nd Line battalion was involved in an epic rearguard action at Holnon Wood during the German spring offensive. In the early part of World War II the battalion distinguished itself at the defence of Ledringhem before being evacuated from Dunkirk. It then served as a unit of the Reconnaissance Corps with 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division through the campaign in North West Europe. It returned to the Glosters in the postwar Territorial Army until amalgamated with other units in 1967.