London Regiment

The London Regiment
Regimental crest of the London Regiment
Active	20 April 1993-
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Reserve
Size	One battalion
Part of	Guards Division
Garrison/HQ	27 St John’s Hill, London[1]
Commanders
Royal Honorary Colonel	HRH The Earl of Wessex[2]
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Tartan	Hodden Grey (A Company) Saffron (D Company pipers kilts)

The London Regiment is an Army Reserve infantry regiment in the British Army that saw service in World War I and was disbanded in 1938. However, it was raised again in 1993.

History

It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the 26 Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform.^[3]

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 France and Flanders, 6 saw action at 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]

The London Regiment ceased to exist in 1938 and the battalions transferred to regular infantry regiments, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers.^[4]

Battalions of the London Regiment early 1900s by Richard Caton Woodville (1856–1927)

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:^[5]

• HQ (Anzio) Company
• A (London Scottish) Company
• B (Queen's Regiment) Company
• C (City of London Fusiliers) Company
• D (London Irish Rifles) Company

Two companies of Royal Green Jackets, F Company and G Company, formed part of the regiment between 1998 and 2004.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Original London Regiment battalions

The London battalions formed the London District, which consisted principally of the 1st and 2nd London Divisions.^[9]

Battle honours

Battle honours for the First World War were awarded to the individual battalions in 1924.^[10]

References

External links

• London Regiment

British Army Infantry Regiments Guards Division Grenadier Guards Coldstream Guards Scots Guards Irish Guards Welsh Guards London Regiment Line Infantry Royal Regiment of Scotland Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Duke of Lancaster's Regiment Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Royal Anglian Regiment Yorkshire Regiment Mercian Regiment Royal Welsh Royal Irish Regiment Rifles Royal Gurkha Rifles Rifles Airborne Parachute Regiment