The London Regiment was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, part of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

(renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). The regiment saw distinguished service in the

First World War 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 ...

and was disbanded in 1938, shortly before the

Second World War 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 ...

, when most of its battalions were converted to other roles or transferred elsewhere. The lineage of some (but not all) of its former battalions is continued by the current regiment of the same name.

History

1908

Battalions of The London Regiment early 1900s by Richard Caton Woodville

The regiment was first formed in 1908 to regiment the 26

Volunteer Force 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 ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s in the newly formed

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The London battalions formed the

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...

, which consisted principally of the 1st and 2nd London Divisions.

First World War

Now part of the

, the London Regiment expanded to 88 battalions in the

. Of these, 49 battalions saw action in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

of the Western Front in France and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, six saw action in the Gallipoli Campaign, 12 saw action at

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, 14 saw action against the Turks in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, and one saw action in

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Shortly after the outbreak of the

, 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. 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 The 173rd (3/1st London) Brigade was a formation of the British Army's Territorial Force that was raised in 1915. It was assigned to the 58th (2/1st London) Division and served on the Western Front during World War I. Its number was used for a ...

(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.Grimwade, p. 117.Grey, pp. 87–8.

Post-war

The London Regiment was reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1920s and its individual battalions were granted battle honours in 1924. However, the regiment ceased to exist in 1938 and the battalions were all transferred to regular infantry regiments, the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

or the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. For example, 5th Battalion became 1st Battalion, London Rifle Brigade, The

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

List of battalions

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, . * 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, . * 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, * 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, . * {{DEFAULTSORT:London Regiment (1908-1938) Infantry regiments of the British Army Regiments of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations in London 1908 establishments in the United Kingdom category:1938 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1908 category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 Army Reserve (United Kingdom) County of London