The regiment was formed as the Wessex Volunteers on 1 April 1967 as successors to the former Territorial Army infantry battalions of the regiments of the Wessex Brigade, that had been reduced to cadre following the 1966 Defence White Paper and the subsequent formation of the TAVR.

It was the only reserve regiment in the South West with an active role as part of 1 Brigade (UKMF) NATO.

The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment was in the process of raising their own territorial infantry battalion, and as a result, the regiment lost the previously Devon and Dorset affiliated companies to form the new battalion in 1986.

In light of this, the battalion raised E (HSF) Company in Reading, Maidenhead, Winchester, and Portsmouth.

In line with the territorial reductions at the end of the Cold War, the battalion was reduced to a three rifle company establishment.