London Regiment (1908–1938)

Last updated

London Regiment
Active1908–1938
AllegianceFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Infantry
Role Territorial Force / Territorial Army

The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). The regiment saw service in the First World War and was disbanded in 1938, shortly before the Second World War, when most of its battalions were converted to other roles or transferred elsewhere, and reformed in 1993. The London Guards date their formation to that of this regiment in 1908. [1]

Contents

History

1908

Battalions of the London Regiment early 1900s by Richard Caton Woodville (1856-1927) Battalions of The London Regiment early 1900s by Richard Caton Woodville.jpg
Battalions of the London Regiment early 1900s by Richard Caton Woodville (1856–1927)
A 1915 recruitment poster for 2nd City of London Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. 2nd City of London Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. Recruits required at once to complete this fine battalion LCCN2003668164.jpg
A 1915 recruitment poster for 2nd City of London Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
Recruitment poster for the London Regiment during the interwar years. 17th LONDON REGIMENT TOWER HAMLETS RIFLES c1930.jpg
Recruitment poster for the London Regiment during the interwar years.
The London Regiment on the Western Front, c.1914-1918 The London Regiment on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q7945.jpg
The London Regiment on the Western Front, c.1914–1918

The regiment was first formed in 1908 to regiment the 26 Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. [2] The London battalions formed the London District, which consisted principally of the 1st and 2nd London Divisions. [3]

First World War

Now part of the Territorial Force, the London Regiment expanded to 88 battalions in the First World War. Of these, 49 battalions saw action in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Flanders, six saw action in the Gallipoli campaign, 12 saw action at Salonika, 14 saw action against the Turks in Palestine, and one saw action in Waziristan and Afghanistan. [4]

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, the formation of Reserve or 2nd-Line units for each existing Territorial Force unit was authorised. They were distinguished by a '2/' prefix from their parent unit (prefixed '1/'). Initially these were formed from men who had not volunteered for overseas service, and the recruits who were flooding in. Later they were mobilised for overseas service in their own right and new 3rd Line units were created to supply drafts to the two service battalions. Unusually, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th London Battalions each sent three battalions overseas and formed 4th Line reserve units. Thus the 26 pre-war battalions of the London regiment became 82 battalions. [5] [3]

In June 1915, men of Territorial Force units who had only volunteered for Home service were formed into composite Provisional Battalions for coast defence. In 1916 the Military Service Act swept away the Home/Overseas service distinction and the provisional battalions took on the dual role of home defence and physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas. For example, the 100th Provisional Battalion was formed from Home Service men of 173rd (3/1st London) Brigade (3/1st, 3/2nd, 3/3rd and 3/4th Bns London Regiment). 104th and 105th Provisional Battalions were assigned to the Honourable Artillery Company (which was nominally a battalion of the London Regiment but never accepted that identity), whilst 100th–103rd and 106th–108th Provisional Battalions were assigned to the London Regiment in general. [6] [7] [8]

Post-war

The London Regiment was reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1920s and its individual battalions were granted battle honours in 1924. [9] However, the regiment ceased to exist in 1938 and the battalions were all transferred to regular infantry regiments, the Royal Artillery or the Royal Engineers. [4] For example, 5th Battalion became 1st Battalion, London Rifle Brigade, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own). [10]

The London Regiment was reformed in 1993 through the re-regimentation of some of the remaining successors of the original regiment (not including, for example, the Artists Rifles or Kensington Regiment (Princess Louise's)), which were part of a number of different TA infantry units: [11] In 2021, under the Future Soldier it was announced that the London Regiment would be re-designated as 1st Battalion London Guards by February 2024. [12]

List of battalions

UnitRVC identityVolunteer Battalion identityHeadquarters1938 identity
1st London Division
1st London Brigade
1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 10th Middlesex RVC1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers Bloomsbury (Handel Street)8th (1st City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
2nd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 23rd Middlesex RVC2nd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers Westminster (Tufton Street)9th (2nd City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
3rd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 11th Middlesex RVC 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers St Pancras (Edward Street) [lower-alpha 1] 10th (3rd City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 1st Tower Hamlets RVC 4th Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers Shoreditch (Shaftesbury Street) [lower-alpha 2] 60th (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
2nd London Brigade
5th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade)1st London VRC (City of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade)9th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps Finsbury (Bunhill Row) [lower-alpha 2] 1st Battalion, London Rifle Brigade, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
6th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (City of London Rifles) 2nd London VRC 10th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle CorpsFinsbury (Farringdon Road)31st (City of London Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers [later 31st (City of London Rifles) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery]
7th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment 3rd London VRC 11th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle CorpsFinsbury (Sun Street) [lower-alpha 2] 32nd (7th City of London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers [later 32nd (7th City of London) Searchlight Regiment Royal Artillery]
8th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) 24th Middlesex VRC 7th Volunteer Battalion, Rifle Brigade Finsbury (Bunhill Row) [lower-alpha 2] n/a [lower-alpha 3]
3rd London Brigade
9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's), Berkeley Square 1st Middlesex (Victoria and St. George's) VRC 4th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle CorpsWestminster (Davies Street)Queen Victoria's Rifles, King's Royal Rifle Corps
19th Middlesex (St. Giles's and St. George's, Bloomsbury) VRC 6th Volunteer Battalion, Rifle Brigade
10th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Paddington Rifles); disbanded 1912 18th Middlesex VRC 4th Volunteer Battalion, Rifle Brigade Paddington (Harrow Road) [lower-alpha 2] n/a
10th (County of London) Battalion (Hackney), London Regiment n/aformed in 1912 to replace the Paddington Rifles Hackney (The Grove) [lower-alpha 2] 5th (Hackney) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment
11th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles) 21st Middlesex (Finsbury) VRC 7th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps Pentonville (Penton Street) [lower-alpha 2] 61st (Middlesex) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery
12th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (The Rangers)22nd Middlesex VRC (Central London Rangers)8th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps Holborn (Chenies Street)The Rangers, King's Royal Rifle Corps
2nd London Division
4th London Brigade
13th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Kensington) 4th (Kensington) Middlesex VRC3rd Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps Kensington (Iverna Gardens)Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment, Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
14th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Scottish)7th (London Scottish) Middlesex VRC1st Volunteer Battalion, Rifle BrigadeWestminster (Buckingham Gate) [lower-alpha 2] London Scottish, Gordon Highlanders
15th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles)The Prince of Wales's Own 12th Middlesex (Civil Service) VRC5th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle CorpsWestminster (Somerset House)n/a [lower-alpha 4]
16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen's Westminster Rifles)13th Middlesex (Queen's Westminster) VRC6th Volunteer Battalion, King's Royal Rifle CorpsKensington (Buckingham Gate)Queen's Westminsters, The King's Royal Rifle Corps [Later 11th & 12th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalions, King's Royal Rifle Corps]
5th London Brigade
17th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Poplar and Stepney Rifles)2nd Tower Hamlets VRC9th Volunteer Battalion, Rifle Brigade Bow (Tredegar Road) [lower-alpha 2] Tower Hamlets Rifles, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) [later 9th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) (Tower Hamlets Rifles); 656th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery (Rifle Brigade)]
18th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Irish Rifles)16th Middlesex (London Irish) VRC3rd Volunteer Battalion, Rifle Brigade Chelsea (Duke of York's Headquarters)London Irish Rifles, Royal Ulster Rifles
19th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (St. Pancras) 17th Middlesex (North Middlesex) VRC3rd Volunteer Battalion, Middlesex Regiment Camden Town (High Street) [lower-alpha 2] 33rd (St. Pancras) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers [later 33rd (St. Pancras) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Artillery]
20th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Blackheath and Woolwich) 3rd Kent VRC 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) Blackheath (Holly Hedge House)34th (The Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers [later 34th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery (Queen's Own Royal West Kent)]
6th London Brigade
21st (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles) 1st Surrey (South London) VRC 1st Volunteer Battalion, East Surrey Regiment Camberwell (Flodden Road) [lower-alpha 5] 35th (First Surrey Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers [later 35th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery (First Surrey Rifles)]
22nd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen's) 6th Surrey RVC3rd Volunteer Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Bermondsey (Jamaica Road) [lower-alpha 2] 6th (Bermondsey) Battalion, The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment 7th Surrey RVC4th Volunteer Battalion, East Surrey Regiment Battersea (St John's Hill) 42nd (7th (23rd London) Bn, The East Surrey Regiment) Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment
24th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen's) 8th Surrey RVC4th Volunteer Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Southwark (New Street)7th (Southwark) Battalion, The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
Others
25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion, London Regiment.26th (Cyclist) Middlesex VRCRifle Brigade Fulham (Fulham House)n/a [lower-alpha 6]
26th (County of London) BattalionTitle allotted to Infantry Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company but never used
27th (County of London) BattalionTitle allotted to the Inns of Court Regiment but never used
28th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Artists Rifles)20th Middlesex (Artists) VRC6th Volunteer Battalion, Rifle BrigadeSt Pancras (Dukes Road)Artists Rifles, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) [later 163 Officer Cadet Training Unit]
29th (City of London) Battalion [lower-alpha 7]
30th (City of London) Battalion [lower-alpha 8] [lower-alpha 9]
31st (County of London) Battalion [lower-alpha 10] [lower-alpha 9]
32nd (County of London) Battalion [lower-alpha 11] [lower-alpha 9]
33rd (City of London) Battalion London Regiment (Rifle Brigade) [lower-alpha 12] [lower-alpha 13]
34th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (King's Royal Rifle Corps) [lower-alpha 12] [lower-alpha 14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Edward Street drill hall was damaged during the blitz and demolished after the war; the street is now known as Varndell Street [13]
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Drill hall demolished and the site redeveloped [13]
  3. ↑ Absorbed by 7th Battalion London Regiment in 1921.
  4. ↑ Amalgamated into 16th Battalion London Regiment in 1921.
  5. ↑ The Flodden Road drill hall was demolished and replaced with a modern structure in 1986 [13]
  6. ↑ Absorbed by 47th (2nd London) Divisional Signals, Royal Signals in 1922.
  7. ↑ Formed from 100th and 102nd Provisional Battalions; second-line formation; never saw active service. [3] [8] [14] [6] [7]
  8. ↑ Formed from 101st and probably 103rd Provisional Battalions. [3] [8] [14] [6] [7]
  9. 1 2 3 Second-line formation; never saw active service.
  10. ↑ Formed from 107th Provisional Battalion. [3] [8] [14] [6] [7]
  11. ↑ Formed from 106th and 108th Provisional Battalions [3] [8] [14] [6] [7]
  12. 1 2 Formed in June 1918 and went to the Western Front in the last months of the war [3] .
  13. ↑ Absorbed the surviving cadre of 7th Bn Rifle Brigade and joined 14th (Light) Division [3] [15] .
  14. ↑ Absorbed the cadre of 7th Bn Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and joined 16th (Irish) Division [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st London Field Company Royal Engineers</span> Military unit

The 1st London Field Company, Royal Engineers was a Territorial engineer unit of the British Army active during World War I. Formed in 1908, it was based in Bethnal Green in East London.

The Welsh Horse Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that served in the First World War. The regiment was raised shortly after the outbreak of the war. Initially it served in East Anglia on anti-invasion duties, before being dismounted in 1915 and sent to take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. After withdrawal to Egypt, it was amalgamated with the 1/1st Montgomeryshire Yeomanry as the 25th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers and served as such throughout the rest of the war. It took part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in 1917 and 1918, before being transferred to the Western Front where it remained until the end of the war. The regiment formed 2nd and 3rd Lines in 1914, but these never left the United Kingdom before being disbanded in 1916 and early 1917, respectively. The 1st Line was disbanded in 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">58th (2/1st London) Division</span> Military unit

The 58th Division was an infantry division created in 1915 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during the First World War. It was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 56th Division. After training in Britain, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in 1917. It saw action at the battles of Arras and Passchedaele in 1917 and the German spring offensive in 1918. It then took part in the Battle of Amiens and the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive of the war. The division was recreated during the Second World War, as an imaginary deception formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Army First World War reserve brigades</span>

The article lists British Army reserve brigades in World War I. At the start of the war volunteers in the vast majority of cases joined their local infantry regiment's reserve battalion. As the army expanded rapidly, further reserve battalions and brigades were formed. After conscription was introduced in 1916 the existing regimental system could not cope with the large influx of recruits and the existing reserve brigades were incorporated into the Training Reserve, with an official complement of over 209,000 soldiers, in addition to the regimental training units.

The 2/1st London Brigade was a 2nd Line formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army. It was formed at the start of World War I and served in overseas garrisons in Malta and Egypt. Although it never saw action as a formation, its constituent battalions fought at Gallipoli and served against the Senussi tribesmen. The brigade was then sent to the Western Front where it was broken up to provide drafts for 1st Line units.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">140th (4th London) Brigade</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">141st (5th London) Brigade</span> Military unit

The 141st Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, that served in the First World War and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the Second World War.

The 2nd Kent Brigade was a 2nd Line Territorial Force Brigade of the British Army in World War I. The brigade was formed as a duplicate of the Kent Brigade in October 1914 as part of the 2nd Home Counties Division. As the name suggests, the brigade recruited in Kent. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force brigades, it was numbered as 202nd Brigade. Between September 1917 and the end of the year, the brigade was extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 202nd Brigade.

The 206th Brigade was a formation of the British Army during World War I. It was raised as a 2nd-Line duplicate of the Essex Brigade of the Territorial Force and formed part of the 69th Division. It served as a training formation in the United Kingdom without going overseas.

The 222nd Infantry Brigade was a Home Service formation of the British Army that existed under various short-lived titles in both the First and Second World Wars

221st Mixed Brigade was a Scottish Home Service formation of the British Army that served under various titles throughout World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">223rd Brigade (United Kingdom)</span> Home Defence formation of the British Army

The 223rd Brigade was a Home Defence formation of the British Army in the First and the Second World Wars. It existed under several variations of the 223 Brigade title, and was eventually converted into an airborne formation.

The 224th Brigade was a Home Defence formation of the British Army in World War I and World War II. It existed under several variations of the 224th Brigade title.

71st Division was a short-lived infantry division of the British Army during the First World War. It served in the Home Defence forces and never went overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment</span> Military unit

The 6th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment was an infantry battalion of the British Army. Part of the Volunteer Force, later the Territorial Force, the battalion was part of the Hampshire Regiment and recruited from Portsmouth, Hampshire. It served as infantry during World War I and as a Royal Artillery regiment during and after World War II.

The Glasgow Brigade was an infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force from 1890 to 1902. It was the forerunner of two formations of the Territorial Force that saw service in both World Wars.

References

  1. ↑ "London Guards". The British Army.
  2. ↑ "1st (City of London) Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)". Battlefields. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "London Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 "London Regiment". Queen's Royal Surreys. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. ↑ Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Grimwade, p. 117.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Grey, pp. 87–8.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "David Porter's research on Provisional Battalions at the Great War Forum". Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Battle Honours. London and Scottish Regiments". The Times . p. 11.
  10. ↑ "The Hackney Battalion". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Queen's Regiment" (PDF). Queen's Regimental Association. Queen's Regimental Association. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Future Soldier" (PDF) (Press release). London: Ministry of Defence. British Army. 25 November 2021. p. 93. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 Osborne, Mike (2012). Defending London: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War. History Press. ISBN   978-0752479316.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 101–5.
  15. ↑ Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 45–52.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.