Post-World War I
Between the wars, the QVR was affiliated to the KRRC and re-constituted as two motorized battalions.
At the outbreak of World War II, 1/QVR and 2/QVR were formally made part of the KRRC, becoming the 7th and 8th KRRC Battalions respectively. The 7th KRRC (1st Queen Victoria's Rifles) were designated a motor-cycle reconnaissance battalion and armed with revolvers instead of rifles. As part of 30th Infantry Brigade, they were hurriedly sent across the English Channel, but due to an error, their motor cycles and sidecars were left in England. They fought in the desperate operation at Calais between 23 and 26 May 1940, which bought valuable time for the main Battle of Dunkirk. All were either killed or captured and the battalion had to reconstitute from scratch.
Both battalions served with distinction throughout the rest of the war.
Queen Victoria's Rifles were merged with The Queen's Westminsters to form the Queen's Royal Rifles on May 1 1961.
Read more about this topic: Queen Victoria's Rifles
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