The Queen Victoria’s Rifles could trace their origins back to the old volunteer regiments of the Napoleonic Wars when the Duke of Cumberland's Sharpshooters were formed as a Corps of Riflemen on 5 September 1803.

[2][3] One of the first officers of the Regiment was Captain Hans Busk - a key lobbyist in getting the Government to raise the Volunteer Force.

The plan was to detonate large mines under the hill to destroy the enemy and their positions, then the 13th Brigade would occupy the area.

Woolley refused verbal and written orders to withdraw, saying he and his company would remain until properly relieved.

[1] At the outbreak of the Second World War, 1/QVR was serving as part of the 1st London Division and was designated a motor-cycle reconnaissance battalion, armed with revolvers instead of rifles.

In May 1940, the battalion was transferred to the 30th Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier Claude Nicholson, and was hurriedly sent across the English Channel, but, due to an error, their motor cycles and sidecars were left in England.

[11] Although understrength and ill-equipped, they fought in the desperate siege of Calais between 23 and 26 May, which bought valuable time for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to be evacuated from Dunkirk.