The London Militia were the part-time military forces in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. From their formal organisation as the

London Trained Bands The London Trained Bands (LTBs) were a part-time military force in the City of London from 1559 until they were reconstituted as conventional Militia regiments in 1794. They were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army must ...

in 1559 they were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army mustered at

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

during the Armada Campaign of 1588. They saw a great deal of active service during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, including the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Second Battles of Newbury and the battles of Cheriton and

Cropredy Bridge Cropredy Bridge is a bridge in north Oxfordshire, England, that carries the minor road between Cropredy and the hamlet of Williamscot. It spans the River Cherwell, which is also the boundary between the Civil parishes in England, civil parishes ...

. Throughout their history they were used to suppress civil disorder and insurrection around the capital. In 1794 the London Trained Bands were reconstituted as part of the national

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, and in 1881 the Royal London Militia became a battalion of the

Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

. Although intended to be a reserve unit, the battalion saw considerable action on the Western Front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.

Early history

The

English militia The Militia of England were the principal military reserve forces of the Kingdom of England from the 10th-18th century. For the period following the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, see Militia (Great Britain). Origins The origin ...

was descended from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Fyrd A fyrd () was a type of early Anglo-Saxon army that was mobilised from freemen or paid men to defend their Shire's lords estate, or from selected representatives to join a royal expedition. Service in the fyrd was usually of short duration and ...

'', the military force raised from the freemen of the

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

s under command of their

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

. London was reoccupied, refortified and garrisoned by

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

in 886 after a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

occupation. In 1006 the citizen-garrison repelled an assault by King

Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( non, Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg ; da, Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of D ...

of Denmark. Later, as the capital and largest population centre in the kingdom, the defence of London was politically and strategically important. King Harold marched through London on his way to the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...

, so it is highly probable that a sizeable portion of the ''fyrdmen'' in his army at the battle were Londoners.Holmes, pp. 90–100. The universal obligation to serve continued under the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

and

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in batt ...

kings and was reorganised under the Assizes of Arms of 1181 and

1252 Year 1252 ( MCCLII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * April 6 – Saint Peter of Verona is assassinated by Carino of Balsamo. * May 15 – P ...

, and again by the

Statute of Winchester The Statute of Winchester of 1285 (13 Edw. I, St. 2; Law French: '), also known as the Statute of Winton, was a statute enacted by King Edward I of England that reformed the system of Watch and Ward (watchmen) of the Assize of Arms of 1252, and rev ...

of 1285.Nagel, pp. 6–8. In the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III, led initially by the king himself and later by his son, the fut ...

of 1264 the City supported

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

and the barons against King Henry III, and Londoners formed one division of the baronial army at the

Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made h ...

. However, even though they were on the winning side the London footsoldiers were routed and cut down by a fierce cavalry charge led by Prince Edward. Copperplate_map_Moorfields_crop

During the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

there was a brief Siege of London when a naval expedition from

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

under the

Bastard of Fauconberg Thomas Fauconberg or Thomas Neville, sometimes called Thomas the Bastard, or the Bastard of Fauconberg (1429 – 22 September 1471), was the natural son of William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, who was a leading commander in the Hundred Years' War ...

allied with Kentish rebels attacked the city in 1471. Led by the

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

, John Crosby, the Londoners (tradesmen and apprentices who practised archery in the fields on a Sunday and the richer merchants who aspired to be gentlemen and possessed good armour) beat back attacks on

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

and the eastern gates of the city.

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

strengthened the military capability of the country: in Acts of 1511 (An Act concerning shooting in Long Bows., 3 Hen. 8. c. 3), 1514 ( 6 Hen. 8. c. 2) and 1541 (the Unlawful Games Act),

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

reiterated the obligation on boys aged from 7 and upwards, and all men of military age, to practise archery (with

English longbow The English longbow was a powerful medieval type of bow, about long. While it is debated whether it originated in England or in Wales from the Welsh bow, by the 14th century the longbow was being used by both the English and the Welsh as a ...

s, not crossbows) and for all towns and villages to set up

Archery butt A butt is an archery shooting field, with mounds of earth used for the targets. The name originally referred to the targets themselves, but over time came to mean the platforms that held the targets as well. For instance '' Othello,'' V, ii, 267 ...

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, i ...

and

Finsbury Fields Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the ...

were popular archery grounds for Londoners. In 1537 Henry issued a charter to the Fraternity of St George whereby the citizens of London could practise with 'artillery' (missile weapons including longbows and handguns), and in 1539 he called out a 'Great Muster' across the country, when the 16,000-strong ‘Citie Forces’ marched through London from their muster at

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

and

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

.History 1537–1799 at HAC.
/ref>

London Trained Bands

The legal basis of the

Shire levy A shire levy was a means of military recruitment in medieval England and Scotland. As opposed to a levy of noble families, a shire levy was effected within a geographical administrative area (a shire), entailing the mobilisation of able-bodied men ...

was updated by two Acts of 1557 ( 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2 and c. 3), covering musters and the maintenance of horses and armour, which placed the county militia under a

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

appointed by the monarch, assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and

Justices of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. In the City of London the elected Lord Mayor and

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

fulfilled these roles and appointed the militia officers. The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised militia in England. Regulations for mustering the militia of the City of London were issued by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

in 1559.Hay, pp. 258–61.Roberts, pp. 7–8. Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so after 1572 the practice was to select a proportion of men for the

Trained Bands Trained Bands were companies of part-time militia in England and Wales. Organised by county, they were supposed to drill on a regular basis, although this was rarely the case in practice. The regular army was formed from the Trained Bands in the ev ...

, who were mustered for regular drills. In theory the Trained Bands met for a day’s training in each of the summer months, but for most of the country this was perfunctory, and they were in fact Untrained Bands, who would not serve outside their own district. London was the exception to the rule: its regiments were well trained, capable of putting up a stout defence, and the men were even prepared to leave their businesses for short campaigns. The Fraternity of St George had developed into the ‘Artillery Company of London’ (later the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

, HAC) with a drill ground and firing ranges at the Old Artillery Garden outside the city walls at

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...

. With similar groups it provided much of the officer corps for the LTBs and ensured that they were among the best-trained and equipped in the country.Money Barnes, pp. 40, 80.

Tilbury

When the militia were mobilised during the Armada Crisis in 1588, the London Trained Bands (LTBs) mustered 6000 men in four regiments (East, North, West and South) for the army assembled at the great camp at

, where Queen Elizabeth gave her Tilbury speech on 9 August. The LTBs were associated with the forces raised in the suburbs (the 'City Liberties' of

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

and

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

).Leslie, ''Muster''.
/ref>

Civil War

Control of the trained bands was one of the major points of dispute between King Charles I and

that led to the

, but with a few exceptions neither side made much use of the trained bands during the war beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops. The most notable exception was the LTBs, which were solidly behind Parliament. Increased to six large regiments just before the outbreak of war, they marched out to confront the Royalist army at the

Battle of Turnham Green The Battle of Turnham Green took place on 13 November 1642 near the village of Turnham Green, at the end of the first campaigning season of the First English Civil War. The battle resulted in a standoff between the forces of King Charles I an ...

in November 1642, saving the capital for Parliament. In 1643 the LTBs were increased by six regiments of Auxiliaries, together with the TBs and Auxiliaries of the suburbs of Westminster, Southwark and the Tower Hamlets, brought under the control of the London Militia Committee. For the next two years brigades of City and Suburban TBs and Auxiliaries were regularly loaned to the small Parliamentary armies for specific campaigns.Emberton.Nagel.Roberts.London Trained Bands at British Civil War Project.
/ref> A City Brigade marched with the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

through Royalist-held territory to relieve the

Siege of Gloucester The siege of Gloucester took place between 10 August and 5 September 1643 during the First English Civil War. It was part of a Royalist campaign led by King Charles I to take control of the Severn Valley from the Parliamentarians. Follow ...

and distinguished itself at the subsequent

First Battle of Newbury The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following ...

(20 September 1643). Thereafter, brigades of London troops participated in the

Siege of Basing House The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke in Hampshire, was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three major engagements. John Paulet ...

and the battles of

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

(13 December 1643), Cheriton (29 March 1644) and

(29 June 1644). However, the men were usually unwilling to serve longer than their first paid month, and later brigades suffered from desertion: sometimes whole regiments set up a cry of 'Home, Home!' The brigade that marched with Essex into

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

found itself taken prisoner or locked up in besieged garrisons after the disastrous

Battle of Lostwithiel The Battle of Lostwithiel took place over a 13-day period from 21 August to 2 September 1644, around the town of Lostwithiel and along the River Fowey valley in Cornwall during the First English Civil War. A Royalist army led by Charles I of En ...

(21 August–2 September). The

Second Battle of Newbury The Second Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War fought on 27 October 1644, in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The battle was fought close to the site of the First Battle of Newbury, which took place in la ...

(27 October 1644) saw the last participation by a London brigade in the field, but a number of regiments remained in garrisons until the end of 1645. The creation of the

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

(NAM) in 1645 relieved the citizen-soldiers of these duties, but the Army Crisis of 1648 saw Parliament try to use the LTBs as a counterweight to the NAM. The response was poor, but just weeks later the LTBs cheerfully turned out to defend the city against a Royalist force in the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641� ...

. They also guarded the city during the

Third English Civil War Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of 1650. Under the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

the English Militia were reformed and integrated into the system of military government. However, the LTBs retained their special status and were not required to serve outside the City without their consent.

1660–1794

After the crisis following

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's death, the City welcomed the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, and the LTBs lined the streets for the arrival of Charles II. They were soon in action in the suppression of Venner's Rising. The LTBs were routinely called out to suppress riots in London, notably by weavers in 1675 and 1689, and trained bandsmen patrolled the streets during the time of the

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate C ...

and the

Exclusion Crisis The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Sc ...

of 1678–81. The LTBs were not employed during the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1688, when London transferred its loyalty to

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, or during the subsequent wars. Generally the militia declined after the

Peace of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

, effectively disappearing in most counties, but not London where the LTBs and HAC continued to play a role in civic ceremonies. During the

Jacobite Rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...

the LTBs were employed to guard the approaches to London. The LTBs were deployed on the streets of London during the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

of 1780, opening fire on the rioters in defence of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. Following the riots a permanent

Bank Picquet The King's Guard and King's Life Guard (called the Queen's Guard and the Queen's Life Guard when the reigning monarch is female) are the contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in the ...

was stationed every night until 1973, usually provided by the

Brigade of Guards The Brigade of Guards was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1856 to 1968. It was commanded by the Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and was responsible for administering the guards regiments. After the Second Wor ...

, but by the LTBs or HAC during elections (when it was illegal for the army to be stationed in the city).

Royal London Militia

The London Trained Bands, with their own Act of Parliament, remained outside many of the 18th Century reforms of the militia system. When the City militia were finally reorganised in 1794 the traditional six regiments were reduced to two, the East London Militia and the West London Militia under the Commissioners of Lieutenancy for the City. Unlike most county militia regiments which could be 'embodied' for permanent service anywhere in the country, one of the London regiments had to remain in the city at all times and the other could not legally be employed more than 12 miles away. Both regiments were awarded the prefix 'Royal' in 1804. They were amalgamated into the Royal London Militia in 1820, under its own Act of Parliament (the Militia (City of London) Act 1820).Frederick, p. 284.Parkyn.
/ref>
/ref> After years of decline following the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, the

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

was revived by the Militia Act 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment. Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:Dunlop, pp. 42–5. # 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'. # 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'. # 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'. Now, rather than being drawn from city merchants, many of the Royal London regiment's officers were retired from the regular army, including a number of members of the

Gentlemen at Arms His Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834, they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. Formation The corps was formed as the Troop of G ...

.''Army List'', various dates.''Hart's''. The Royal London Militia was embodied for full-time duty from 20 February 1855 to 12 June 1856 during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

The Commission of Lieutenancy for the City built

Finsbury Barracks The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the ...

for the Royal London Militia on a site adjacent to the HAC's headquarters at Armoury House. The building was designed by Joseph Jennings and was completed in 1857. Militia battalions now had a large

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

of permanent staff (about 30). Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the Regular Army. The Militia Reserve introduced in 1867 consisted of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war. Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with Regular battalions and their local

Rifle Volunteer Corps The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

– for the Royal Londons this was in Brigade Nos 51 and 52 with the

60th Rifles The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

and the 2nd Middlesex Militia. This was not particularly convenient, when the regimental depot for the Rifles was in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. These were purely administrative arrangements, but a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the ''Army List'' from December 1875. This assigned Regular and Militia units to places in an order of battle of corps, divisions and brigades for the 'Active Army', even though these formations were entirely theoretical, with no staff or services assigned. The Royal London Militia were assigned to 1st Brigade of 3rd Division,

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

. The brigade, consisting of three Irish Militia regiments as well as the Royal Londons, would have mustered at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

in time of war.

Royal Fusiliers

The

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, formally turning the militia regiments into battalions of their linked regular regiments. However, while the 2nd Middlesex remained with the 60th Rifles, the Royal Londons were transferred to the

, a much more convenient arrangement. Consequently, the regiment became the 4th (Royal London Militia) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers on 1 July 1881. When the Royal Fusiliers raised two additional regular battalions in 1898, the Royal Londons became the 6th Battalion. The battalion was embodied from 1 May to 18 October 1900 during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

Special Reserve

After the Boer War, the future of the militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia,

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by the

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

St John Brodrick William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...

. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out. Under the more sweeping

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the Haldane Reforms, military reforms im ...

(SR), a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for regular units serving overseas in wartime, rather like the earlier Militia Reserve.Frederick, pp. vi–vii. The battalion became the 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, on 28 June 1908.

World War I

The 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion was one of only a few SR battalions that was employed for combat during

, probably because the Royal Fusiliers had three SR battalions supporting four regular battalions instead of the usual 1:2 ratio. 7th Royal Fusiliers served (alongside the HAC) in

63rd (Royal Naval) Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

on the Western Front, seeing a considerable amount of action from the

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the last ...

in late 1916. It fought at

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

and Passchendaele, against the German spring offensive and in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. It was disembodied for the last time on 3 June 1919.Royal Fusiliers at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> The SR resumed its old title of Militia in 1921 and then became the Supplementary Reserve in 1924, but almost all militia battalions remained in abeyance after World War I. They remained in the ''Army List'' , but by 1939 the 7th Royal Fusiliers had no officers listed. The militia were not activated during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and were all formally disbanded in April 1953.

Footnotes

Notes

References

W. Marston Acres, 'The Bank of England Picquet', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol 12, No 46 (Summer 1933), pp. 74–83.
* John Adair, ''Cheriton 1644: The Campaign and the Battle'', Kineton: Roundwood, 1973, ISBN 0-900093-19-6. * Maj R. Money Barnes, ''The Soldiers of London'', London: Seeley Service, 1963. * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3b: New Army Divisions (30–41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-41-X. * Lindsay Boynton, ''The Elizabethan Militia 1558–1638'', London: Routledge & Keegan Paul, 1967. * John Childs, ''The Army of Charles II'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976, . * C.G. Cruickshank, ''Elizabeth's Army'', 2nd Edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966. * Col John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * Wilfred Emberton, ''Skippon’s Brave Boys: The Origin, Development and Civil War Service of London’s Trained Bands'', Buckingham: Barracuda, 1984, ISBN 0-86023190-9. * Sir Charles Firth, ''Cromwell's Army: A History of the English Soldier during the Civil Wars, the Commonwealth and the Protectorate'', 3rd Edn, London: Greenhill, 1992, ISBN 1-85367-120-7. * Sir John Fortescue, ''A History of the British Army'', Vol I, 2nd Edn, London: Macmillan, 1910. * S.R. Gardiner, ''History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate'', Vol III, ''1653–1655'', London: Longmans, 1903/Adlestrop: Windrush Press, 1989, . * Lt-Col James Moncrieff Grierson (Col Peter S. Walton, ed.), ''Scarlet into Khaki: The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War'', London: Sampson Low, 1899/London: Greenhill, 1988, ISBN 0-947898-81-6. * Lt-Col H.G. Hart, ''The New Annual Army List, and Militia List'' (various dates from 1840).
Col George Jackson Hay, ''An Epitomized History of the Militia (The Constitutional Force)'', London:United Service Gazette, 1905/Ray Westlake Military Books, 1987
. * Richard Holmes, ''Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors'', London: HarperPress, 2011, ISBN 978-0-00-722570-5. * Brig E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914–18'', London: Samson Books, 1978/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9.
Lt-Col J.H. Leslie, ‘A Survey, or Muster, of the Armed and Trayned Companies in London, 1588 and 1599’, ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', 1925, Vol 4, No 16 (April–June 1925), pp. 62–71.
*

F. W. Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and lawyer who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. Early life and education, 1850–72 Frederic William Maitland was born at 53 Guilford Street, Lo ...

, ''The Constitutional History of England'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1931.
Lawson Chase Nagel, ''The Militia of London, 1641–1649'', PhD thesis, King's College London, 1982.
* Sir

Charles Oman Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British Military history, military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. ...

, ''A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages'', Vol I, ''378–1278AD'', London: Methuen, 1924/Greenhill 1991, ISBN 1-85367-100-2.
H.G. Parkyn, 'English Militia Regiments 1757–1935: Their Badges and Buttons', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol 15, No 60 (Winter 1936), pp. 216–248.

C.F. Richmond, ‘Fauconberg’s Kentish Rising of May 1471’, ''English Historical Review'', Vol 85, No 337, October 1970, pp. 673–692.
* Keith Roberts, ''London And Liberty: Ensigns of the London Trained Bands'', Eastwood, Nottinghamshire: Partizan Press, 1987, ISBN 0-946525-16-1. * Charles Ross, ''Edward IV'', London: Eyre Methuen, 1974/Yale University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-300-07371-2. * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Army and Society 1815–1914'', London: Longmans, 1980, ISBN 0-582-48565-7. * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Late Victorian Army 1868–1902'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992/Sandpiper Books, 1999, ISBN 0-7190-2659-8. * Sir

Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton, FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was edu ...

, ''The Oxford History of England'', Vol II, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', 3rd Edn, Oxford: Clarendon, 1971, ISBN 0-19-821716-1. * Margaret Toynbee & Brig

Peter Young Peter or Pete Young may refer to: Sports * Peter Dalton Young (1927–2002), English rugby union player * Peter Young (cricketer, born 1961), Australian cricketer * Pete Young (born 1968), American baseball player * Peter Young (rugby league) (fl. ...

, ''Cropredy Bridge, 1644: The Campaign and the Battle'', Kineton: Roundwood, 1970, ISBN 0-900093-17-X. * J.R. Western ''The English Militia in the Eighteenth Century: The Story of a Political Issue 1660–1802'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965.

External sources

British Civil War Project

Honourable Artillery Company

Chris Baker, ''The Long, Long Trail''

{{British Militia Regiments

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Military units and formations in London