DEVONSHIRE
& DORSET
REGIMENT
The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry is the County Regiment of both Devon and Dorset, and is the Senior County Regiment in the British Army. The Regiment was formed on 17 May 1958 at Minden in Germany with the amalgamation of the two famous former Regiments, The Devonshire Regiment and the Dorset Regiment. On 22 July 2005, the Regiment converted to Light Infantry and assumed the title The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry (DDLI)
The Devonshire Regiment was raised in Bristol in 1685 as the Duke of Beaufort's Musketeers to help crush the Duke of Monmouth's West Country uprising. Only a few years later during the War of Spanish Succession, the Dorsets, or Colonel Coote's Regiment, was raised in Ireland in 1892. The Regiment eventually numbered the 39th was raised as part of the doubling in size in the Army,which was to take part in the Duke of Marlborough's campaigns on the continent in Europe
It was not until 1755 during the period of tension prior to the Seven Years War, when a further expansion of the Army was required that the 54th of
The Regimental Association
Newsletter is published
in March
Foot was raised in Salisbury, Wiltshire, by Lieutenant-Colonel John Campbell. Throughout the 18th century, soldiers were recruited in the West Country to form units in local defence of the south coast but most were disbanded or placed on a lower state of readiness once the immediate threat had subsided.
Check out the Devonshire and Dorset website to read about the Regiment's exploits in the many major conflicts, their many battle honours, their role in the two world wars and their more recent contributions in Northern Ireland and Bosnia.
The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry will merge with The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry , The Light Infantry and The Royal Green Jackets to form The Rifles in February 2007.
