The Rifles

The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of five Regular and two Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division (with the exception of the 1st Battalion, which is an amalgamation of two individual regiments). Since formation the regiment has been involved in combat operations, first in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.

History

The Rifles was created as a result of the Future Army Structure. Under the original announcement, the Light Division would have remained essentially unchanged, with the exception of the Light Infantry gaining a new battalion through the amalgamation of two other regiments, and both gaining a reserve battalion from within the Territorial Army (TA) as it was then called. However, on 24 November 2005, the Ministry of Defence announced that the four regiments would amalgamate into a single five-battalion regiment. The Rifles was formed on 1 February 2007 by the amalgamation of the four Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments of the Light Division:

The Rifles (band)

The Rifles are an English indie rock band from Chingford, London.

Their debut album No Love Lost was released on 17 July 2006 and reached No. 68 in the UK charts. Their follow up album, Great Escape, was released on 26 January 2009 and came in at No. 27 in the UK charts. Their third album Freedom Run was released on 19 September 2011 reaching No. 37 in the UK.

The band currently consists of Joel Stoker (vocals, guitar), Lucas Crowther (guitar, vocals), Rob Pyne (bass guitar), Grant Marsh (drums).

History

Formation and No Love Lost (2003–2006)

Joel Stoker and Lucas Crowther met at Redbridge College in 2003 (which is where they also met Rob Lloyd from Chingford punk outfit Betamax). They were both inspired by an Oasis concert the two attended in Knebworth, England. Guitarist Crowther revealed "From that moment on we knew we had to start a band." After adding bassist Rob Pyne, who Joel knew from school, and drummer Grant Marsh, who Luke met in the Candy Box club, The Rifles performed their first gig at The Bull & Gate pub in Kentish Town, London in 2004.

The Rifles (novel)

The Rifles is a 1994 novel by American writer William T. Vollmann. It is intended to be the sixth book in a planned seven-book cycle entitled Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes. As of 2015, however, only five of the seven have been published, The Rifles being the third to reach print.

Unlike the other books in this series so far, The Rifles is not wholly an historical novel, as it primarily takes place in the early 1990s, although the storyline depicting the trials and challenges of modern Inuit life is tied to the ill-fated exploration of the Arctic region by Sir John Franklin in the mid-19th century. The novel also discusses the 1955 forced migration of Inuit from Inukjuak, Quebec to Resolute, Nunavut.

References

External links

  • Time on "The Rifles"

  • Podcasts:

    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Toe Rag

    by: Rifles

    Walk out of the door and make my way up the street
    Cold wind in my eyes runs a tear down my cheek
    Not a soul to be heard so no point to complain
    At least the sound of the birds compensates for the
    rain
    Hit the queue for the bus and then join the line
    Same faces for the last ten years of my life
    See them more than my friends I couldn't tell you their
    names
    Shattered glass on the floor the kids have run out of
    games
    And I don't see that's ever gonna change
    One hour passes till I'm back on my feet
    A stone's throw I will be walking till I'm off the
    street
    Hang my coat to dry, settle down with the herd
    Some I really don't mind, some just get on my nerves
    Turn my back to the clock cause it slows the time
    Take out a cigarette and hear the match strike
    Turn the radio on to drown the sound of the rain
    Same bands same songs play again and again
    And I don't see that's ever gonna change
    Tell me I'm not right say what you like I'm miles away
    And expect nothing changing except for the name of the
    day.
    From my place of work I move away in haste
    Time there moves slow but rushes when I'm away
    Pass a girl from my school the conversation's brief
    Gotta catch that train, get myself some relief
    I meet up with friends and they knock off at six
    I pull at five and walk about for a bit
    Watch the world go by through an empty glass
    And I know that won't be the last 'so'
    Tell me I'm not right say what you like I'm miles away
    And expect nothing changing except for the name of the
    day.
    Creep back into bed and I pull up the sheet
    High over my head and undercover my feet
    Till the room goes dark and i'm miles away




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