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Origins of the Museum

The museum’s origins trace back to the aftermath of World War I. In 1917, the British Government decided to establish a National War Museum, which was later named the Imperial War Museum. Opened by King George V on 9 June 1920, it inspired many regiments to form their own collections – including many of the antecedent regiments of The Rifles.

The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Museum was established in 1925 in Oxford and relocated several times before moving to Woodstock in 2011. The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and Rifle Brigade collections were housed where space could be found for the at The Rifle Depot, Winchester. It wasn’t until the rebuild of Peninsula Barracks in 1964 that the collections were house on the first floor of the Depot headquarters building – the building now occupied by the Rifleman’s Museum.

The King's Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade Museums in the 1970s

In 1986, the closure of Peninsula Barracks as a training depot provided The Royal Green Jackets an opportunity to establish a permanent regimental museum in the former Depot headquarters building. With the Ministry of Defence’s approval, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and Rifle Brigade collections were unified in 1989, forming The Royal Green Jackets Museum, which occupied half of the ground floor and the entire first floor. The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry contributed by lending a significant part of its Oxfordshire collection for display.

From The Royal Green Jackets Museum to The Rifleman’s Museum

On 1st December 1989, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, then Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Green Jackets, opened the new Royal Green Jackets Museum, which was dedicated to the history of the Regiment and its antecedents. Since then, the museum has developed and evolved, introducing new displays and exhibits, although the basic layout and space have remained unchanged.

In 2009, the museum was renamed The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum to better connect the past with the present and future, acknowledging the history of The Rifle Brigade and its continuation in today’s regiment, The Rifles, which was formed in 2007 by combining the Royal Green Jackets with several other regiments.

In 2013, The Rifles Collection was established to showcase the history of The Rifles since 2007. In 2024, the Rifles Council entrusted their collection to the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) museum, creating a unified rifle regiment museum experience from 1741 to the present. The museum was renamed The Rifleman’s Museum in mid-2025 to reflect its comprehensive collection.