Yeomanry House is a

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

in Handel Street,

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, London.

History

The building was designed as offices for 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 ...

Association and completed in 1913. The building has two halls and is therefore designed to accommodate two military units, typically a cavalry or infantry regiment in one hall and an artillery regiment in the other hall. In early 1914 the cavalry / infantry hall became the headquarters of the

1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) was an infantry battalion in the British Army. Rifle Volunteers 1859-1908 It originated in 1859 as the 19th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps, being renumbered the 10th Middlesex Rifl ...

and the artillery hall became the headquarters of the London Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. The 1st (City of London) Battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 and was deployed on railway guarding duties before sailing for

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and, ultimately, for the Western Front. By 1936 the London Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery had been replaced by the 90th Field Brigade Royal Artillery in the artillery hall. When the London Regiment was broken up and the battalions reallocated to other units in August 1937, the cavalry / infantry hall became the home of the 8th (1st City of London) Battalion The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). In December 1946 the 8th (1st City of London) Battalion was placed in suspended animation and the cavalry / infantry hall fell vacant. In 1947 the City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) occupied the cavalry / infantry hall which became known as "Yeomanry House". At the same time there was a re-organisation in the Royal Artillery, and 240 Field Regiment (City of London) Royal Artillery occupied the artillery hall, by then known as "Artillery House". The whole complex was taken over by 3 Military Intelligence Battalion in 1965 and by London University

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

in 1992. It is also the home of the Army Training Unit London.

References

{{reflist, 30em Drill halls in London Buildings and structures in Bloomsbury