19th Surrey Rifle Volunteers 4th Volunteer Bn, Queen's Regiment 24th Bn, London Regiment (Queen's) 7th (Southwark) Bn, Queen's Regiment 622 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA | |
---|---|
Active | 13 March 1860–1 May 1961 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Role | Infantry |
Size | 1–3 Battalions |
Part of | Surrey Brigade 47th (2nd London) Division |
Garrison/HQ | Lambeth/Southwark |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | William Roupell, MP |
The 24th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (The Queen's) was an auxiliary unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer units in the Surrey suburbs of London that dated back to 1860, it was part of the London Regiment in the Territorial Force (TF). Its battalions served on the Western Front at Salonika and in Palestine during World War I. When the London Regiment was abolished the unit reverted to the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and served in the Battle of France, in North Africa, including the Battle of Alamein, and in taly and North West Europe as part of the 7th Armoured Division (the 'Desert Rats'). Postwar it was converted to an anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery.
The invasion scare of 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm for joining Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). [1] [2] [3] Among the RVCs raised in the county of Surrey at this time was the 19th Surrey (or Lambeth) Rifle Volunteers recruited from Lambeth in South London. It was formed on 13 March 1860 and soon reached a strength of eight companies under the command of Major-Commandant William Roupell. Roupell was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lambeth and an enthusiast for the Volunteer Movement. His brother Richard was one of the captains. The unit recruited artisans and mechanics from a wide variety of employers in South London. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
William and Richard Roupell were convicted and imprisoned for perjury and forgery in 1862 and were obliged to resign, so a number of new officers were commissioned into the 19th Surrey Rifle Volunteers (referred to as a battalion) on 4 February 1862. [11] [12] Valentine Hicks Labrow, formerly of the 2nd West Yorkshire Light Infantry Militia, was appointed as Major on 2 June 1863 [13] and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 21 November 1864. [14] [15]
The smaller 10th (Bermondsey) and 23rd (Rotherhithe) Surrey RVCs were attached to the 19th (Lambeth) for administrative purposes from 1863 until 10 October 1868 when they left to form the 4th Administrative Battalion, Surrey Rifle Volunteer Corps. The 19th's headquarters (HQ) was at 71 New Street, Kennington Park from 1869. [6] [7] [15]
Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and Militia battalions – Sub-District No 48 (County of Surrey) for the 19th Surrey RVC, grouped with the 2nd (Queen's) Regiment of Foot [15] [8] [16] [17]
Volunteer corps were consolidated into larger units in 1880, when the 19th Surreys was redesignated the 7th on 7 September, corrected to 8th Surrey Rifle Volunteers four days later. [5] [6] [7] [8]
The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, and the Volunteers were formally affiliated to their local Regular regiment, the 8th Surrey RVC becoming a Volunteer Battalion (VB) of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) on 1 July. The 8th Surrey RVC changed its designation to 4th Volunteer Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) on 1 March 1883. It was increased to 10 companies in 1890, and a cyclist company was added in 1901. [5] [6] [7] [8]
While the sub-districts were later referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the Cardwell system. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. [18] [19] [20] Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions of the Queen's (West Surrey) and the East Surrey Regiment formed the Surrey Brigade. The brigade's assembly point was at Caterham Barracks, the Brigade of Guards' depot conveniently situated for the London Defence Positions along the North Downs. [15]
A cadet corps was formed at Mayall College, Herne Hill, in 1888 and affiliated to the 4th VB, but it transferred to the 22nd (Central London Rangers) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1891. Another cadet corps was proposed in January 1889, with Maj Salmond of the 3rd (Derbyshire Militia) Bn, Sherwood Foresters being asked to take charge. Viscount Wolseley made a speech at Red Cross Hall in Southwark on 30 May that encouraged sufficient boys to come forward to form two companies. A third followed in 1889, then a fourth, which led to War Office to form it into a battalion as the 1st Cadet Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), the first independent battalion of its kind in London. By 1891 it had six companies, making it the strongest in England. Recruited from schools and boys' clubs, by 1904 the battalion was distributed as follows: [6] [7] [15]
A 2nd Cadet Bn, Queen's, of four companies was formed in November 1890. Its HQ was originally at Lambeth Polytechnic, later moving to Kirkdale in Clapham, and then to Brockwell Hall in Herne Hill. It was increased to six companies in 1891. In 1894 it was redesignated 1st Cadet Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps and its HQ moved to Finsbury Square. [6]
A new 2nd Cadet Bn, Queen's, was raised in October 1901 from boys of 1st Peckham Lads' Brigade, first formed in 1894. It had six companies, with HQ at 53 Copeland Road, Peckham. [6]
After Black Week in December 1899, the Volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the Second Boer War. The War Office decided that one company 116 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. [21] The Queen's VBs accordingly raised a service company that served in South Africa and earned the volunteer battalions their first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02. [15]
In the reorganisation after the end of the Boer War in 1902, the large Surrey Brigade was split into separate East and West Surrey Brigades, under command of the respective regimental districts. [15]
Under the Haldane Reforms of 1908 the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF), administered by county Territorial Associations. [22] [23] [24] The volunteers in rural Surrey came under the Surrey Territorial Association; however, because many of the North Surrey suburban parishes had been included in the new County of London since 1889, the battalions recruited in South London were included in a new all-TF London Regiment under the County of London TA. Consequently the 4th VB Queen's became 24th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen's). [5] [6] [7] [8] [25] [26] [27] [28]
The four former Surrey battalions of the London Regiment (now 21st–24th Londons) comprised the 6th London Brigade in the TF's 2nd London Division. [29] [30] [31] [32]
The 23rd Londons served on the Western Front with the 47th (1/2nd London) Division. [29] [30] [31] [32]
A 2/23rd Battalion was formed, which served at Salonika and in Palestine with 60th (2/2nd London) Division before returning to the Western Front at the end of the war. [29] [30]
In 1937 the battalion reverted to the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), as the 7th (Southwark) Battalion. The 1/7th and 2/7th Battalions served through World War II. [5] [7]
After the World War the battalion became the 622nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. [5] [7]
The 19th (Lambeth) Surrey RVC claimed to be the lineal descendant of the Lambeth Volunteers, one of the Volunteer Associations raised in SouthLondon in 1798 during an earlier invasion scare. [8] [33]
The uniform of the 19th Surrey RVC and 4th VB, Queens, was Rifle green with scarlet facings, similar to that of the 60th Rifles. [6] [7] [15] [34] The battalion adopted the Paschal Lamb badge of the Queen's Regiment. On conversion to the TF the battalion adopted the full dress of the Queen's (scarlet with blue facings), but khaki service dress was worn on most occasions. [7] [15]
The following served as Honorary Colonel of the battalion: [15]
The battalion was awarded the following Battle honours: [15] [28]
Second Boer War:
South Arica 1900–02
World War I:
Aubers, '"Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916, '18, Flers-Courcelette, Le Transloy, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917,Cambrai 1917, St Quentin, Ancre 1918, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épehy, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1915-18, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1916-17, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jerusalem, Jericho, Jordan, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917-18
The honours listed in bold were inscribed on the colours.
Battle honours for World War II were awarded as part of the Queen's Regiment, attributable as follows: [7] [28] 1/7th Battalion:
Villers Bocage, Mont Pinçon, Lower Maas, North West Europe 1940, '44–45, Deir el Munassib, El Alamein, Advance to Tripoli, Medenine, Tunis, North Africa 1940–43, Salerno, Monte Stella, Scafati Bridge, Volturno Crossing, Italy 1943–44
2/7th Battalion:
North West Europe 1940, Salerno, Monte Stella, Scafati Bridge, Volturno Crossing, Monte Camino, Garigliano Crossing, Damiano, Anzio, Gothic Line, Gerinano Ridge, Senio Pocket, Senio Floodbank, Casa Fabbri Rdge, Menate, Filo, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943–45
The 24th Bn London Regiment is listed on the City and County of London Troops Memorial in front of the Royal Exchange, with architectural design by Sir Aston Webb and sculpture by Alfred Drury. The right-hand (southern) bronze figure flanking this memorial depicts an infantryman representative of the various London infantry units. [35] [36]
The battalion's own World War I memorial was unveiled at the entrance to Kennington Park in 1924, with an inscription to its World War II dead added later. [37] [38] [39]
The Regimental Colours presented to the 24th Londons at Windsor Castle on 19 June 1909 are laid up in St Mary's Church, Kennington Park Road. [40]
The Isle of Man Volunteers was a nominal battalion of Britain's Volunteer Force formed during the 1860s and disbanded in 1920. Its service companies saw active service in the Second Boer War and World War I. During its existence, the battalion had the distinction of being the only representative of the Isle of Man in the British Army, and the last Volunteer Force unit.
The Liverpool Brigade, later 165th (Liverpool) Brigade was an infantry brigade of Britain's Volunteer Force that served during World War I with the 55th Division of the British Army. During World War II, again as part of the 55th Infantry Division, the brigade remained in the United Kingdom.
The 140th Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army's Territorial Army (TA) that had its origins in a South London Brigade of the former Volunteer Force. It served on the Western Front in the First World War and was recreated during the Second World War where it served only in the United Kingdom as a training formation.
The Paddington Rifles was a unit of the Territorial Army.
The 17th Battalion, The London Regiment , was a unit of Britain's Territorial Force formed in 1908 from Volunteer corps dating back to 1859. It saw considerable service on the Western Front, at Salonika and in Palestine during the First World War. It served as a motorised infantry regiment during the Second World War before conversion to an artillery unit in 1947 and subsequent amalgamation in 1967.
The Rangers was a volunteer unit of the British Army, originally formed in 1860. It provided a detachment for service in the Second Boer War, saw intensive action on the Western Front in the First World War, and served as motorised infantry during the Second World War during the campaigns in Greece and the Western Desert.
The St Giles's and St George's Bloomsbury Rifle Volunteer Corps, more familiarly known as the Bloomsbury Rifles, was a Volunteer unit of the British Army in London from 1803 to 1814 and from 1860 until 1908.
The 4th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment was a volunteer unit of the British Army from 1859 to 1961. Beginning from small independent units recruited in the South London suburbs, it was attached to the Queen's Royal Regiment and served in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Before the Second World War, it was converted into a Royal Artillery searchlight regiment that served in the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. Later it became a light anti-aircraft gun unit serving on blockships in the Mulberry harbour during the Normandy invasion, and then defended the port of Antwerp in the closing stages of the war. Postwar it continued in the air defence role before rejoining the Queen's Regiment as infantry.
The 22nd Battalion, London Regiment was an auxiliary unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer units in the Surrey suburbs of London that dated back to 1860, it was part of the London Regiment in the Territorial Force (TF). Its battalions served on the Western Front and in Palestine during World War I. When the London Regiment was abolished in 1937 the unit reverted to the Queen's Royal Regiment and during World War II its battalions fought in North Africa, Tunisia, Italy and North West Europe. It was amalgamated with other battalions into the Queen's Regiment in 1961.
The 23rd Battalion, London Regiment was an auxiliary unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer units in the Surrey suburbs of London that dated back to 1859, it was part of the London Regiment in the Territorial Force (TF). Its battalions served on the Western Front, at Salonika and in Palestine during World War I. When the London Regiment was abolished the unit reverted to the East Surrey Regiment but just before World War II it was converted to armour as two battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment. In this role it fought in North Africa, including the Battle of Alamein, and in Italy and North West Europe. Postwar it reverted to infantry in 1956 and later was amalgamated with other Surrey battalions into the Queen's Regiment. Its successors continue in today's London Guards.
The 6th Battalion, Royal Scots, was a unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Force. Beginning as a Volunteer unit formed from teetotallers in the city of Edinburgh in 1867, it later became affiliated to the Royal Scots. During World War I it served in the Senussi Campaign and on the Western Front. Postwar it was converted into a medium artillery battery.
The 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment was a mobile coast defence unit of Britain's Territorial Force. It was formed in 1908 from a nucleus provided by a Volunteer battalion first raised in 1859. It carried out its defence duties along the East Coast throughout World War I and after the war it was incorporated into a unit of the new Royal Corps of Signals.
The 2nd Northumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps, also referred to as the Tynemouth Rifles, was an infantry unit of Britain's part-time force, the Territorial Army. The corps was raised during the expansion of the Volunteer movement in the 1850s and then served with the Territorial Force during the First World War. It converted to an anti-aircraft role just prior to Second World War, and continued to serve until it was amalgamated in 1950.
The Exeter & South Devon Volunteers was the premier unit of Britain's Volunteer Force. Formed in 1852 it went on to become a battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. Both its active service battalions went to garrison India on the outbreak of the First World War, and then saw action in Mesopotamia and Palestine. In the Second World War, the battalion served in the garrison of Gibraltar. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until it was merged with other West Country units. Its successors today serve in a reserve battalion of The Rifles.
The 5th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, was a part-time unit of the British Army recruited in the county of Devon. It was formed in the Territorial Force in 1908 by amalgamating two existing Volunteer Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment. The battalion served in India and fought in Palestine and on the Western Front during World War I. In World War II it provided two anti-tank artillery units, which served in Tunisia, Italy and North West Europe. They were both merged into other Devonshire units in 1950.
The 6th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. Formed in 1908, from Volunteer units that dated back to 1860, it fought at Gallipoli), in Egypt and Palestine during World War I, and in the campaign in North West Europe during World War II. Postwar it was converted to the anti-aircraft artillery role, then reverted to infantry in 1956 after it amalgamated with a neighbouring unit.
The 1st Sussex Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the county of Sussex in 1859. It later became the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. During World War I it served in home defence in Britain and Ireland, while its 2nd Line battalion served in India and Waziristan. It was not reformed after the war.
The 2nd Sussex Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the county of Sussex in 1859. It later became the 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. A detachment served in the Second Boer War. During the First World War, the battalion fought at Gallipoli, in Sinai and Palestine, and then in the final months of the war on the Western Front. In the Second World War, both the battalion and its duplicate served in the Battle of France and were evacuated from Dunkirk. The 4th Battalion then fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein, and served in the Middle East until the end of the war. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until it lost its individual identity in a series of mergers from 1967.
The 1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the Cinque Ports of Kent and Sussex in 1859. It later became the 5th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. During the First World War, it served on the Western front as pioneers, seeing a great deal of action at Aubers Ridge, the Somme, Ypres, and in Italy. In the Second World War, both the battalion and its duplicate served in the Battle of France and were evacuated from Dunkirk. The 5th Battalion then fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein while its duplicate unit served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the campaign in North West Europe. Neither unit was reformed after the war.
The Brecknockshire Battalion was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1859, it became a Volunteer Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. During World War I it served in garrison at Aden, where it was engaged in the Battle of Lahej. It was amalgamated with another battalion in the 1920s but regained its independence in time for World War II, when it served in home defence and supplied reinforcements to the forces fighting overseas. Postwar it was reformed as a light anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery and was one of the founder units of today's 104th Regiment Royal Artillery in the Army Reserve.