| The London Regiment | |
|---|---|
Regimental crest of the London Regiment |
|
| Active | 20 April 1993- |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Territorial Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | TA Reserve |
| Size | One battalion |
| Part of | Guards Division |
| Garrison/HQ | London |
| Commanders | |
| Royal Honorary Colonel | HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex[1] |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash | |
| Tartan | Hodden Grey (A Company) Saffron (D Company pipers kilts) |
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908 to form the Territorial Force. This resulted from the impending insolvency of the Volunteer Force's voluntary civilian administration. The administration was taken over by the War Office, and most volunteer units lost their unique identities, becoming territorial battalions of their regular army county regiment. The London corps were a notable exception, being grouped to form their own regiment, each retaining a measure of its original identity, and independent of any regular army regiment. Following the First World War, the Territorial Force was reorganised and renamed the Territorial Army. The London Regiment ceased to exist in 1938 with the battalions transferring to regular infantry regiments, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers.
The London Regiment was reformed in 1992 through the regimentation of most of the remaining successors of the original regiment (except the Rifles and the Artists' Rifles). It is the only permanent infantry battalion in London District and consists of an HQ and four rifle companies.
They are:
Two companies of Royal Green Jackets, F Company and G Company, formed part of the regiment between 1998 and 2004 thus the Artists' Rifles became the only former unit of the old London Regiment not represented in the regiment during that period (the heritage of the Artists' Rifles is maintained by 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve)). The Honourable Artillery Company is also still separate but, although ordered to do so, never actually became part of the original London Regiment.
In October 2003 120 members of regiment were called up for active service in Operation Telic. They were deployed in areas around Basra in southern Iraq in January 2004. This group made up a company known as CAMBRAI company as part of the Multi-National Division (South East), a UK commanded division. In May 2004 they were replaced by MESSINES company, this was made up from an HQ and two platoons from across the London Regiment, along with a platoon from the Royal Irish Rangers.
Following the restructuring of the British Army in 2004, it was announced that the Guards Division would gain a TA battalion. This saw the London Regiment retaining its name and multi-badge structure, while transferring from the Queen's Division to the Guards Division. The two RGJ companies were transferred to the Royal Rifle Volunteers in preparation for the formation of The Rifles in 2007, leaving the remaining companies in their present multi-badge formation.
Contents |
The London battalions formed the London District, which consisted principally of the 1st and 2nd London Divisions.
| Unit | Formerly | Headquarters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st London Division | ||||
| 1st London Brigade | ||||
| 1st (City of London) Battalion, LR (Royal Fusiliers) | 1st Vol Bn, The Royal Fusiliers (late 10th Middlesex RVC) | Bloomsbury | ||
| 2nd (City of London) Battalion, LR (Royal Fusiliers) | 2nd Vol Bn, The Royal Fusiliers (late 23rd Middlesex RVC) | Westminster | ||
| 3rd (City of London) Battalion, LR (Royal Fusiliers) | 3rd Vol Bn, The Royal Fusiliers (late 11th Middlesex RVC) | St Pancras | ||
| 4th (City of London) Battalion, LR (Royal Fusiliers) | 4th Vol Bn, The Royal Fusiliers (late 1st Tower Hamlets RVC) | Shoreditch | ||
| 2nd London Brigade | ||||
| 5th (City of London) Battalion, LR (London Rifle Brigade) | 1st London VRC (City of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade) [9th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Finsbury | ||
| 6th (City of London) Battalion, LR (Rifles) | 2nd London VRC [10th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Finsbury | ||
| 7th (City of London) Battalion, LR, | 3rd London VRC [11th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Finsbury | ||
| 8th (City of London) Battalion, LR (Post Office Rifles) | 24th Middlesex VRC [7th Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | Finsbury | ||
| 3rd London Brigade | ||||
| 9th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Queen Victoria's), Berkeley Square | 1st Middlesex (Victoria and St. George's) VRC [4th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] and 19th Middlesex (St. Giles's and St. George's, Bloomsbury) VRC [6th Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | Westminster | ||
| 10th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Paddington Rifles); disbanded 1912 | 18th Middlesex VRC [4th Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | |||
| 11th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Finsbury Rifles) | 21st Middlesex (Finsbury) VRC [7th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Pentonville | ||
| 12th (County of London) Battalion, LR (The Rangers) | 22nd Middlesex VRC (Central London Rangers) [8th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Holborn | ||
| 2nd London Division | ||||
| 4th London Brigade | ||||
| 13th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Kensington) | 4th (Kensington) Middlesex VRC [3rd Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Kensington | ||
| 14th (County of London) Battalion, LR (London Scottish) | 7th (London Scottish) Middlesex VRC [1st Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | Westminster | ||
| 15th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Prince of Wales's Own Civil Service Rifles) | The Prince of Wales's Own 12th Middlesex (Civil Service) VRC [5th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Westminster | ||
| 16th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Queen's Westminster Rifles) | 13th Middlesex (Queen's Westminster) VRC [6th Vol Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps] | Kensington | ||
| 5th London Brigade | ||||
| 17th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Poplar and Stepney Rifles) | 2nd Tower Hamlets VRC [9th Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | Bow | ||
| 18th (County of London) Battalion, LR (London Irish Rifles), | 16th Middlesex (London Irish) VRC [3rd Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | Chelsea | ||
| 19th (County of London) Battalion, LR (St. Pancras) | 17th Middlesex (North Middlesex) VRC [3rd Vol Bn, The Middlesex Regiment] | Camden Town | ||
| Others | ||||
| 20th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Blackheath and Woolwich) | 2nd Vol Bn, The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) [ex 3rd Kent VRC] | Blackheath | ||
| 6th London Brigade | ||||
| 21st (County of London) Battalion, LR (First Surrey Rifles) | 1st Surrey (South London) VRC [1st Vol Bn, The East Surrey Regiment] | Camberwell | ||
| 22nd (County of London) Battalion, LR (The Queen's) | 3rd Vol Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) [ex 6th Surrey RVC] | Bermondsey | ||
| 23rd (County of London) Battalion | 4th Vol Bn, The East Surrey Regiment [ex 7th Surrey RVC] | Battersea | ||
| 24th (County of London) Battalion, LR (The Queen's) | 4th Vol Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt) [ex 8th Surrey RVC] | Southwark | ||
| Others | ||||
| 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion, London Regt. | 26th (Cyclist) Middlesex VRC [The Rifle Brigade] | Fulham | ||
| 26th (County of London) Battalion | Title allotted to Infantry Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company but never used | |||
| 27th (County of London) Battalion | Title allotted to The Inns of Court Regiment but never used | |||
| 28th (County of London) Battalion, LR (Artists' Rifles), | 20th Middlesex (Artists) VRC [6th Vol Bn, The Rifle Brigade] | St Pancras | ||
Battle honours were awarded to the individual battalions.[2]
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