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The Liverpool Rifles was a unit of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, formed in Lancashire as a 'Rifle Volunteer Corps' (RVC) in 1859, becoming a battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in 1881. It saw action on the Western Front in World War I and later became a searchlight unit of the Royal Artillery in World War II. ==Origins== The Liverpool Rifles was raised as the 5th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corpsby Adam Steuart Gladstone (1814–63) in 1859, during a French invasion scare. Gladstone was a wealthy East India merchant and first cousin of William Ewart Gladstone, the future Prime Minister.〔(Robert Gladstone (father) at Legacies of British Slave-ownership database. )〕〔(Adam Steuart Gladstone at Ancestry.com )〕 He convened a meeting at Liverpool Session House on 20 May 1859 that became unruly when Robert John Tilney (founder of the Liverpool stockbroking firm RJ Tilney & Co) and his associates smashed up the ballot-boxes 'by the use of which the founders had hoped to exclude undesirables from membership'.〔Beckett, p. 50.〕〔Westlake, p.141.〕 Despite this altercation, when the first commissions to the 5th Lancashire RVC were issued on 19 August that year, Gladstone and Tilney were listed as the captains of its two companies.〔 Gladstone was a leading figure in the Volunteer Movement at that time, serving on the War Office committee that drew up rules for RVCs in August 1859, and on the founding committee of the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom in October that year.〔Beckett, pp. 24 & 33.〕 In 1860 he leased land from Lord Sefton to create the Altcar Rifle Range.〔(Adam Steuart Gladstone at Genealogy Links )〕 Gladstone died in 1863.〔 As the number of RVCs grew rapidly during 1860, the smaller company-sized units were grouped into Administrative Battalions. The 5th Lancashire RVC was the senior unit included in the Liverpool-based 2nd Administrative Battalion Lancashire Rifle Volunteers when it was formed in May 1860 (dates are of first commissions issued):〔〔(Lancashire Record Office Handlist 72: ''Sources for the history of the militia and volunteer regiments in Lancashire''. )〕〔Becket, Appendix VII.〕 * 5th (Liverpool Volunteer Rifle Brigade) Lancashire RVC, 19 August 1859 * 14th (2nd Southport) Lancashire RVC, 16 February 1860 –'' joined 13th (1st Southport) in 1st Admin Bn in 1862'' * 19th (Liverpool Lowland Scottish) Lancashire RVC, 18 January 1860 * 39th (Liverpool Welsh) Lancashire RVC, 9 February 1860 – ''comprised clerks and book keepers raised under the auspices of the Welsh Literary Society; instituted an instalment plan to help the less well-off members to pay their subscriptions; elected their officers''〔Beckett, pp. 49, 61, 175.〕 * 63rd (Toxteth) Lancashire RVC, 9 April 1860 * 64th (Liverpool Irish) Lancashire RVC, 25 April 1860 * 68th (Lyceum Corps) Lancashire RVC, 31 May 1860 * 71st (Liverpool Highlanders) Lancashire RVC, 24 May 1860 * 81st (Withnell) Lancashire RVC, 20 February 1861 – ''to 8th Admin Bn in 1862'' * 86th (Liverpool) Lancashire RVC, 18 May 1861 In March 1862 the 2nd Admin Battalion was consolidated as a single unit under the title of its senior subunit, the 5th (Liverpool Rifle Brigade) RVC. Two new companies joined at this time: * 32nd (Liverpool) Lancashire RVC, first commissions 28 January 1860 * 79th (Liverpool) Lancashire RVC, 16 February 1861 However, the Liverpool Irish became an independent battalion, while the Liverpool Highlanders also remained independent but disbanded in 1863.〔〔〔 The individual character of the companies was lost in the reorganisation, but a new Liverpool Scottish battalion reformed in 1900, and the 46th (Liverpool Welsh) Royal Tank Regiment was formed in 1939. The 5th Lancashire RVC was designated as the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881.〔〔〔(King's Regiment (Liverpool) at Regiments.org )〕 By that time Robert Tilney was the Commanding Officer with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, when he was awarded a CB.〔(''London Gazette'' 24 May 1881. )〕 He died in1882.〔(Fletcher of Cockermouth Hall, Cumberland, England, at Rootsweb )〕 Volunteers served in the Second Boer War, gaining the battalion its first Battle Honour: South Africa 1900–1901.〔Leslie.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Liverpool Rifles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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