The Chief Langalibalele Rifles (formerly known as the Cape Town Rifles and Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles) is a reserve infantry regiment of the South African Army. History Origin The Regiment was founded on 28 November 1855, as the Cape Rifle Corps. It was the first volunteer unit in the Cape Colony. Other names It was also known as the Cape Royal Rifles, and later as the Cape Town Volunteer Rifles. Association with Prince Alfred On 30 September 1867, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh granted the CTVR the title the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles, after it had formed a guard of honour for him during a visit to Cape Town. The nickname "the Dukes" appears to have come into use in the 1880s. Role The Regiment's original purpose was home defence, to supplement the British Army garrison which was stationed in Cape Town. It initially consisted of two companies, but later grew to five, the fifth (formed in 1859) being a Scottish company. The Scottish company left the Regiment, and became a unit in its own right, in 1861, and disbanded in 1866. During the depression of the 1860s and early 1870s, the Regiment shrank to only one company, and was one of the few volunteer units to remain in existence Early Campaigns On the outbreak of the 9th Frontier War in 1877, the Regiment volunteered for active service, and fielded a small contingent which served in the Transkei from October 1877 to January 1878. Hundreds of volunteers joined the Regiment, and it was reorganised in April 1878, into six companies. Another contingent served in the Transkei from February to May 1879, to take the place of a British garrison unit which had been re-deployed to Zululand because of the Anglo-Zulu War. Half the Regiment served in the Basutoland Gun War in Basutoland (now Lesotho) from September 1880 to March 1881, and it was there that the Regiment suffered its first casualties. The Regiment continued to grow after this period of campaigning, and a new Scottish company was formed in 1882. It transferred to the newly formed Cape Town Highlanders in July 1885. In 1891, the Dukes took over the Cape Town Irish Volunteer Rifles, and in 1894 the Regiment formed a mounted company. From February to August 1897, the Dukes were on active service in Bechuanaland, as part of a government military operation to capture dissident Tswana leaders