LAST Saturday The Rifles, the Army’s largest infantry regiment, exercised their Freedom of Sherborne by marching through the streets of the historic West Dorset town to the accompaniment of their regimental band, The Band and Bugles of The Rifles.
Current and past members of The Rifles and its antecedents in the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment gathered with dignitaries and guests in Sherborne Abbey for a remembrance service before The Rifles contingent paraded through the town centre where the salute was taken by Major General Rupert Jones, along with Lord Lieutenant of Dorset Angus Campbell and the Mayor of Sherborne, Cllr Dominic Elliott, who had extended the invitation to march.
The following day saw The Rifles paraded in Lyme Regis where the Dorsetshire Regiment first exercised their freedom to march in 1945. The Regiment’s link with Sherborne originates with the Dorsetshire Regiment and its predecessor, the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot, first raised in 1702.
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