London Regiment

London Regiment
Regimental crest of the London Regiment
Active	20 April 1993–
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Army Reserve
Size	Battalion
Part of	Guards Division
Garrison/HQ	St John's Hill drill hall[1]
March	Londons return
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 infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Army Reserve. The regiment saw distinguished service in World War I and was disbanded in 1938, shortly before World War II, when most of its battalions were converted to other roles or transferred elsewhere. However, the regiment was raised again in 1993 and continues an existence in the present day.

History

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

First raising

The regiment 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] The London battalions formed the London District, which consisted principally of the 1st and 2nd London Divisions.^[4]

First World War

A 1915 recruitment poster for 2nd City of London Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

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.^[6]

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.^[7][8]

In June 1915, men of TF 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). Nine provisional battalions (100th–108th) were associated with the London Regiment and Honourable Artillery Company.^[9][10][11]

On 1 January 1917, these provisional battalions were constituted as battalions of the London Regiment:^[8][11][12]

• 29th (City of London) Battalion (from 100th and 102nd Provisional Battalions)^[9][10]
• 30th (City of London) Battalion (from 101st and probably 103rd Provisional Battalions)
• 31st (County of London) Battalion (from 107th Provisional Battalion)
• 32nd (County of London) Battalion (from 106th and 108th Provisional Battalions)

None of these 2nd-Line units battalions saw active service. However, two further battalions were formed in June 1918, and these went to the Western Front in the last months of the war:^[8]

• 33rd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), absorbed the surviving cadre of 7th Bn Rifle Brigade and joined 14th (Light) Division as 33rd Bn London Regiment (Rifle Brigade)^[8][13]
• 34th (County of London) Battalion, absorbed the cadre of 7th Bn Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and joined 16th (Irish) Division as 34th Bn London Regiment (KRRC)^[8]

Inter-war

The London Regiment was reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1920s but ceased to exist in 1938 and the battalions were all transferred to regular infantry regiments, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers.^[6] For example, the 10th London Regiment (Hackney) was transferred to the corps of the Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's), becoming the 5th (Hackney) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment.^[14]

Second raising

Pipes & drums of A (London Scottish) Company and D (London Irish Rifles) Company and the Corps of Drums of C (City of London Fusiliers) Company at the Lord Mayor's Show, together with the pipes & drums of the Toronto Scottish (an affiliated regiment).

The London Regiment was reformed in 1992 through the regimentation of most of the remaining successors of the original regiment (except the Artists Rifles). It is the only reserve infantry battalion in London District and consists of an HQ and four rifle companies. They are:^[15]

• HQ (Anzio) Company
• A (London Scottish) Company
• B (Queen's Regiment) Company
• C (City of London Fusiliers) (to transfer to 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 2017)^[16]
• D (London Irish Rifles) Company

Two companies of the Royal Green Jackets, F Company and G Company, formed part of the regiment between 1998 and 2004.^[17]

In May 2004 Messines company, which was made up from an HQ and two platoons from across the London Regiment deployed to Iraq.^[18]

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.^[19]

Battle honours

Battle honours for the First World War were awarded to the individual battalions in 1924.^[20]

Notes

References

Sources

• Becke, Major A.F., (2007) History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, ISBN 1-847347-39-8.
• Becke, Major A.F., (2007) History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3a: New Army Divisions (9–26), London: HM Stationery Office, 1938/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, ISBN 1-847347-41-X.
• Grey, Major W.E., (2002) 2nd City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) in the Great War 1914–19, Westminster: Regimental Headquarters, 1929/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, ISBN 978-1-843423-69-0
• Grimwade, Captain F. Clive, (2002) The War History of the 4th Battalion The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 1914–1919, London: Regimental Headquarters, 1922/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, ISBN 978-1-843423-63-8.
• Osborne, Mike (2012). Defending London: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War. History Press. ISBN 978-0752479316. 

External links

• London Regiment