The Army Reserve

The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force component of the British Army and the largest part of the UK’s Reserve Forces. It provides support to the Regular Army at home and overseas and has a crucial role in national security from countering security threats, peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts abroad to supporting communities at home. Almost every major operation undertaken by the British Armed Forces in the past has had Reservists operating alongside their Regular counterparts. In recent years this has included London Regiment formed companies deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falkland Islands, in addition to numerous individuals deploying to these theatres and to support other operations wherever the British Army has been operating such as Uganda, Bosnia and Kosovo. 

The photo shows WO2 Sebukima, serving with 1 AGRM (Assault Group Royal Marines) in Uganda as part of BPST (British Peace Support Team) Africa, preparing the Ugandan Marines for Operations in Mogadishu with AMISOM.

It was at this point that many of the antecedent units of the Companies of the current London Regiment were formed; for example, the London Irish Rifles were founded at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street on 5th December 1859 and later became the 28th Middlesex (London Irish) Rifle Volunteer Corps; and the London Scottish stable belt still has ‘London Scottish Rifle Volunteers’ written on it.

A year later, in 1860, it was recognised that the large number of small independent corps across the country proved difficult to administer and it was felt necessary to create some type of higher formation to manage these units. In London, consolidated Volunteer Force battalions were proposed, although most of the companies still continued to wear their own uniform. 

by 1861, most of these units had been formed into battalions, either by ‘consolidation’, increasing an existing corps to battalion size (usually in large urban areas); or by forming administrative battalions or brigades by the grouping of smaller corps (typically in rural areas).

In 1862, a royal commission was appointed “…to inquire into the condition of the volunteer force in Great Britain and into the probability of its continuance at its existing strength”. According to the report, as of 1 April 1862, the Volunteer Force had grown to an impressive strength of 162,681 volunteers, consisting of:

• 662 light horse

• 24,363 artillery

• 2,904 engineers

• 656 mounted rifles

• 134,096 rifle volunteers

The report also made a number of recommendations and observations on funding and training. In order to carry these recommendations into effect, and to replace earlier legislation, the Volunteer Act of 1863 was passed. 

Under the provisions of the Regulation of the Forces Act 1871, jurisdiction over these Volunteer Force units was removed from the County Lord-Lieutenants and placed under the Secretary of State for War. As a result, these previously highly-independent units became increasingly integrated into the Army. 

Later in 1873, the Cardwell Reforms, introduced 'Localisation of the Forces'.

Further rationalisation in 1880, saw disbandment and amalgamations among some of the less successful Volunteer Force units. Shortly after, in 1881, further reforms were carried out by the new Secretary of State for War, Hugh Childers, which led to most infantry units being reorganised into infantry regiments of the Army. 

Throughout this time, Volunteer Force units were still providing soldiers to support of the Regular Army with volunteer soldiers engaged in the Egyptian and Sudanese campaigns of 1882 and 1885. The ‘Stanhope Memorandum’ agreed in December 1888 proposed a comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer Force units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. 

At the turn of the century, detachments from units of the Volunteer Force saw active service in the Second Boer War, when the prolonged campaign and heavy losses in South Africa of the Regular Army (such as during ‘Black Week’ in December 1899) necessitated an increase in the size of British forces.

Volunteer battalions formed Volunteer Active Service Companies which joined the Regular battalions of their county regiments. The 24 Middlesex Regiment, later to become 8th Battalion, City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles), sent 16 officers and over 1,000 men to South Africa. Volunteers from the antecedent London Regiment units were involved in the battles of Houtnek Poort, Doornkop and the Battle of Diamond Hill.

In recognition of this, following the war, the battle honour ‘South Africa 1900-02’ was awarded to all volunteer units who provided detachments for the campaign. As an example, the cap badge worn by members of A (London Scottish) Coy of the London Regiment has the battle honour of ‘S Africa 1900-02’ engraved on it.

By 1907, with the UK’s civilian administration teetering on the brink of insolvency, the Volunteer Force had become an indispensable part of British defence planning. The force was seen as being a key enabler that allowed the Regular Army to move its soldiers away from defending home stations. By now, the Volunteer Corps had grown to be an extraordinary size, with the volunteer infantry alone having 221 battalions. Consequently, the Government initiated the important Haldane Reforms leading to the ‘Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907’.

The majority of these new Territorial Force units from in the Home Counties received their Colours from HM King Edward VII at Windsor Great Park on June 19th 1909. However, in further cost cutting measures, these infantry battalions were given the opportunity of receiving Colours - but on the condition that they were paid for by the battalion. Those battalions that elected to remain as ‘Rifles’ did not receive Colours as is the tradition. 

The formation of The London Regiment - 1st April 1908

As part of these Haldane Reforms, The London Regiment was formed to organise some 26 Territorial Force battalions contained in the newly created County of London. These London Regiment battalions were to be formed as part of London District, which consisted principally of the 1st and 2nd London Divisions.

The London Regiment was unique at that time in that it had no direct affiliation with any parent Regular Army unit, although all the battalions prior to 1908 had been part of a form of regimental system, and many still retained strong associations with their former parent Regiments, such as the Royal Fusiliers.

The newly formed battalions of The London Regiment took over the Drill Halls from their Rifle Volunteer Corps predecessors with many of the battalions keeping their Volunteer Rifle Corps heritage in their new titles, such as the 21st (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles), which paraded in Flodden Road, Camberwell, where D Coy now has its Army Reserve Centre (ARC). Others took titles referring to local connections, such as the 11th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles), based at 17 Penton Street, Finsbury.

 The conditions of enlistment into The London Regiment and this new Territorial Force laid down at its creation in 1908 did not allow for soldiers to be sent on service overseas against their will. The Territorial Force was only intended for use on home defence. However, in 1910 the government decided to see how many members of the Territorial Force would be willing to serve overseas if asked to do so. Any man could volunteer for the Imperial Service Section in his unit and serve abroad in times of war. This entitled him to wear a silver ‘Imperial Service’ badge on the right breast of his uniform. Units that achieved over 90% of their establishment volunteering were to be awarded the title ‘Imperial Service’ in the unit’s official name. 

The first battalion to volunteer was the 7th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge’s Own, (Middlesex Regiment) with its Headquarters at Hornsey, North London. Only two other units volunteered before the Great War; these were the 8th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment) with its Headquarters at Hounslow in Middlesex and the 6th Battalion, The East Surrey Regiment, with its Headquarters at Kingston in Surrey where The London Regiment’s current G Coy has its ARC.

The London Regiment in The Great War

On the outbreak of the First World War, on the 4th August 1914, the Territorial Force was mobilised and the drill halls were inundated with new recruits wanting to join the London Regiment battalions. On the 31st August, the War Office gave approval for the formation of a Reserve, or a 2nd-Line battalion, for each existing battalion. These units were distinguished by a '2/' prefix from their parent unit (prefixed '1/').

As an example of this the 2nd Bn was formed of the 20th Londons and called: 2/20th (County of London) Battalion, the London Regiment.

The initial intention was that troops from the second battalion would supply trained battle casualty replacements to the first line battalions. However, within a few weeks of the outbreak of hostilities the second battalions would take their place in the conflict as combat formations in their own right, prompting the reserve status to be handed over to a 3rd or even 4th Battalion. within a short period of time, the 26 pre-war battalions of the London Regiment became 88 battalions. 

In June 1915, the men of this Territorial Force who had only volunteered for Home Service were formed into composite Provisional Battalions for coastal defence. However, by 1916, as demand for manpower at the Front increased, and 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 get the men fit for drafting overseas. 

Since it was appreciated that most mobilised soldiers could not be accommodated in their Drill Halls for any more than a few days, part of the mobilisation plan was for the first line battalions from within the City or County of London, once mobilised were to move to tented camps set up on the fringes of or within the parks of London to complete their mobilisation procedures. Once this task was complete, most first line London Regiment battalions moved on to training camps set up in Hertfordshire where they began a mandatory 6 months training before deployment. Each newly formed second line battalion, once up to strength and issued with basic equipment, would follow the same procedure although now destined for the new training areas that had rapidly been established in the home counties.

By August 1915, one of the London Regiment Battalions was on Home Service duties, two were taking part in the Gallipoli campaign and the remaining 23 were serving on the Western Front. Eventually,

• 49 London Regiment Battalions served in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Flanders

• Six were involved in the Gallipoli Campaign

• 12 fought in Salonika

• 14 were engaged against the Turks in Palestine

• One saw action in Waziristan and, with a strange connection with London Regiment solders a century later, also in Afghanistan

Several of The London Regiment battalions, such as the London Scottish, also became vital sources of officers for the rapidly expanding Army. The 28th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Artists Rifles) record in their 1914-1919 Roll of Honour the following:

“… that within a few months of the outbreak of hostilities ex-Artists (over 1,000 in number) would have been gazetted to every regular infantry regiment in the British Army including all Foot Guards.” 

The Battalion went on to establish one of the first Officer Training Schools on the Hare Hall Estate, Gidea Park, in Romford, Essex and the unit history records:

“By the end of the war this Territorial unit had furnished over 10,000 Officers to our big Armies…in addition to maintaining latterly a fighting battalion in the line”.

Throughout the first World War the drill halls remained open under the administrative control of the Territorial Associations as the TF units HQ/Depot dealing with recruiting and coordinating welfare efforts for the members of the regiment on active service.

It is not possible to record in any detail that does them justice, the breadth of engagement and the activity of all these 88 battalions . However, in all this service by the London Regiment there are some significant actions carried out by its battalions. 

Hallowe’en 1914

1914. The 1/14th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (London Scottish) arrived in France on the 16th September 1914 and at first were employed on garrison duties. However, on Hallowe’en on the 31st October 1914, the 700 strong Battalion was rushed into the front line on the exposed Messines Ridge in order to prevent a German break through. Such was the urgency that the previous day the Battalion had made the journey from Ypres to the forming up point in a fleet of London buses. Dressed in their distinctive kilts of Hodden Grey, the London Scottish were involved in ferocious hand to hand fighting. An additional disadvantage of having new magazines that in many cases did not function well, meant that rounds had to be fed into the breech by hand. The next day revealed that out of the 700 officers and men, 394 had been killed or severely wounded, but critically the line had held. The London Scottish was the first infantry unit of the Territorial Force to see action in WW1.

Battle of Loos 1915

On the morning of the 25th September 1915 was the first day of the Battle of Loos. This took place in an area of coalmines and mining villages near the town of Lens, north of Arras. The battle stretched out until Oct and was the first genuinely large scale offensive launched by the British. It was the first time the British decided to use chlorine gas to support their advance.

It was also the where the first major attack by the volunteer soldiers of the New Armies took place. During the battle, Rifleman Frank Edwards of the 1/18th Battalion, the London Regiment (London Irish Rifles) was waiting for the order that would send the Battalion ‘over the top’. When he heard the whistle sound, he threw a football into ‘no-man’s land’ and with a cry of ‘Play up the London Irish’ proceeded to dribble the ball towards the German trenches. 

Rifleman Edwards was wounded but both he and the football survived. His football was found after the battle, lodged in the German barbed wire.

Battle of Loos 1915

The 27th September 1915 six British divisions attacked strong German defences in support of French offensives to the south.

The stongest part of the line was the infamous Hohenzollern Redoubt. At the start of the batttle the newly formed Guards Division was advancing by platoons to attack Hill 70.

So impressive was the steadiness of their advance, that when it was seen that they would have to pass through the lines of the 23rd (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment, who were based at the Drill Hall now occupied by the London Regt Bn HQ. The Territorials, of their own accord, climbed out of their trenches, cleared the barbed wire and threw duckboard bridges across the ditches to facilitate their advance. All in the face of heavy machine gun fire. 

Hill 60 1915

On 17 April 1915, the British mounted an attack on the infamous Hill 60, which is a small promontory of great tactical significance on the edge of the Ypres Salient that afforded good views for the Germans across the British lines and into Ypres. Prior to the attack, the hill had been undermined with five galleries being driven under the German positions. The plan was to detonate large mines under the hill and then 13th Brigade would occupy the area. The hill was captured on 17 April, and on 20 April two and a half companies of the 9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) were ordered up to the front line as the enemy made a counterattack. 

At dawn on 21 April the Germans began bombarding the Queen Victoria’s Rifles (QVR) with hand grenades. Casualties were heavy and Lieutenant Geoffrey Harold Woolley eventually took command of the soldiers on the hill. The situation quickly deteriorated, with many men and all the other officers on the hill being killed. Woolley refused verbal and written orders to withdraw, saying he and his company would remain until properly relieved. They repelled numerous attacks through the night. 

When they were relieved the next morning, he returned with 14 men remaining from the 150-strong company. For his gallantry Lieutenant Woolley was awarded the Victoria Cross, the first to be won by the Territorial Force.

Capture of Jerusalem 1917

On the 9th December 1917, the Turkish army having evacuated Jerusalem, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Dr Hussein Salim al-Husseini (seen in the photo with walking-stick and cigarette), with his party under a white flag-of-truce, attempted to deliver the Turkish Governor's letter surrendering the city and the Keys of the City to the advancing units of the 60th (2/2nd Londons) Division (TF). 

The first attempt was to Privates A. Church and R.W.J. Andrews of the 2/20th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Blackheath and Woolwich). Overwhelmed, they refused to accept the surrender. The Mayor and his party then met Sergeants James Sedgwick and Frederick Hurcombe of 2/19th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (St Pancras) just outside Jerusalem's western limits in the early morning of 9 December. The two sergeants who were scouting ahead of General Allenby's main force, also refused to take the letter directed the Mayor and his party back to officers of the Divisional Artillery staff. It took the Mayor six attempts to surrender the city which was eventually accepted by Brigadier-General C F Watson, Commanding 180th Infantry Brigade. 

Sergeants James Sedgwick and Frederick Hurcombe of 2/19th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (St Pancras). The figure at far left is Habj Abd al-Kadir, Chief of the Jerusalem Police Force.

When the war ended on 11 November 1918, a total of 129,806 of the nation’s Territorial Volunteers had fallen. London Territorial units had served on the Western Front, the Dardanelles, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, East Africa, Italy, North Russia and India with London Regiment soldiers being involved in nearly every theatre of the war. In most Drill Halls there are stark memorials to the numbers of London Regiment soldiers who gave their lives during the war. 

As an example of the contribution made by the London Regiment during the Great War the following is a list of the Battle Honours awarded to just one of the battalions of the Regiment, the 22nd (County of London) Battalion, the London Regiment (The Queen’s). The ten Battle Honours (shown in bold type) were selected by the Battalion to be displayed on the King's Colours: 

Aubers

Festubert 1915

Loos

Somme1916’18,

Flers- Courcelette

Le Transloy

Messines 1917

Ypres 1917

Cambrai 1917

St Quentin

Bapaume 1918

Ancre 1918

Albert 1918

Persuit to Mons

France and Flanders 15 – 18

Dorian 1917

Macedonia 16-17

Gaza

El Mughar

Nebi Samwil

Jerusalem

Jericho

Jordan

Tel Asur

Megiddo

Sharon

Palestine 1917-18

It is sobering to reflect that the London Regiment Battalions did so much.

The introduction to the The Roll of Honour of the 28th Bn contains this significant table:

1921 - Creation of the Territorial Army  

As a mark of gratitude for its service to the country in WW1, on the 1st October 1921, the Territorial Army and Militia Act of 1921 officially reconstituted the Territorial Force as the Territorial Army. The London Regiment was reformed the 1920s with its war battalions disbanded and its original Territorial Force battalions reformed and, in many cases, renamed.

In 1924, the individual London Regiment Battalions were granted the battle honours shown above. 

Winston Churchill, the Secretary of State for War responsible for reconstituting the Territorial Army, considered a mandatory ‘imperial obligation’ unfair and resisted its imposition. However, the Territorial representatives recognised the necessity of this obligation and they also opposed the force being used simply as a reserve of manpower for the army, preferring the TA to operate as a second line in its own brigades and divisions, as Haldane had intended. Territorial support for the ‘imperial obligation’ eventually persuaded Churchill to accept the condition. Concerns about unit integrity were also allayed by "The Pledge" which was Churchill's promise that the force would be deployed as complete units and fight in its own formations.

1921 to 1967 - Territorial Army

A major difference between the Territorial Force and the newly created Territorial Army (TA) was that all members of the new Army had now to be prepared to serve overseas, if required. The key role of the TA was that it was intended to be the system of expanding the size of the British Armed Forces when required. This was in contrast to the varied methods used during the First World War, such as the creation of Kitchener's Army.  

In 1926, the TA was embodied for ninety days during the General Strike and used for guarding warehouses and factories as well as for providing drivers for public transport.

During the 1930s, with the threat of another war against Germany looming seven TA infantry battalions were converted to an anti-aircraft role and transferred to the Royal Artillery or Royal Engineers. 

On the 29 March 1939 Secretary of State for War, Leslie Hore-Belisha, announced plans to increase the TA from 130,000 volunteers to 340,000 and double the number of TA divisions. After many years of having to use obsolete equipment and weapons, new items began to be issued. These included the Bren Light Machine Gun for the infantry and Battledress replaced Service Dress, which had been worn since the early 1900s.

The plan was for existing TA units to recruit over their establishments (helped by an increase in pay for Territorials, the removal of restrictions on promotion, construction of better-quality barracks and an increase in supper rations) and to form Second-line Divisions from cadres that could then, in turn, be increased, if required. In April, limited conscription was introduced resulting in 34,500 twenty-year-old Territorials being conscripted into the Regular Army to be trained for six months before deploying to the forming Second-Line units. 

The total strength of the TA was eventually to be 440,000: the field force of the TA was to rise from 130,000 to 340,000, organised in 26 divisions, while an additional 100,000 all ranks would form the anti-aircraft units. The newly formed Second Line formations were given liberty to be numbered and named as they saw fit, with some using related names and numbers from the First World War.

The TA's war deployment plan envisioned the divisions being deployed, as equipment became available, in waves to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that had already been dispatched to Europe. The divisions would join Regular Army divisions once they had completed their training, with the final divisions of the entire force deployed a year after the war began. Eventually, a mixture of First and Second-Line formations were deployed for combat overseas. 

 The London Regiment between the Wars

In 1921 the Drill Halls of The London Regiment reopened for recruiting soldiers into the Territorial Army but this was a period marked by continued reduction and amalgamation of units.

In 1922, the 7th and 8th Battalions of The London Regiment amalgamated to become the 7th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Post Office Rifles). At the same time, the 15th and 16th were amalgamated to become the 16th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Queen’s Westminster and Civil Service Rifles). 

Later in1929, the 10th Battalion, London Regiment (Hackney) transferred to the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the 28th Battalion, London Regiment (Artists Rifles) became part of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own).

Just before WW2, in 1935, the government decided to entrust the air defence of the UK to the Territorial Army. The 4th (Royal Fusiliers) and the 11th (Finsbury Rifles) became Anti-Aircraft Brigades of the Royal Artillery. At the same time the 6th (City of London Rifles), the 7th (Post Office Rifles), the 19th (St Pancras), the 20th (The Queen’s Own) and the 21st (First Surrey Rifles) were transferred to the Royal Engineers as Searchlight Battalions.

However, recruitment thrived as war approached, to the extent that the London Scottish, who had so many volunteers, were permitted to raise a third battalion, as long as it was an anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery. This was called the 97th (The London Scottish) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, and defended London during the Blitz before going overseas and serving in Sicily and Italy, both in the anti-aircraft (AA) and medium artillery roles.

Finally, the range of employment allocated to these battalions could not comfortably be encompassed in one Regiment and, in 1937, the remaining 16 London Regiment Battalions were renamed as regiments in their own right.

As an example, the 6th City of London Regiment (City of London Rifles) once again moved back in to the 168th (2nd London) Brigade of 56th (1st London) Division. Others became battalions of their parent Regiments, such as the London Irish Rifles who became known as ‘London Irish Rifles, The Royal Ulster Rifles’ and the London Scottish who appeared in the Army List as a Territorial Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders. 

After 26 years the original London Regiment disappeared from the Army List

Many of the current London Regiment companies formed battalions in WW2 and fought with distinction as part of Regiments such as the Gordon Highlanders, The Royal Ulster Rifles or the King’s Royal Rifle Brigade and Rifle Brigade. In many cases, though these units were incorporated as part of Regular Army units, they continued to wear their own cap badges and be called their original titles. Indeed, if a soldier of today in the London Scottish met a London Scottish soldier of 1940, he would immediately recognise him as being in the same unit.

1939 – All these units were fully engaged in the war, and in all theatres, but not as London Regiment units and their own unique and important histories are recorded elsewhere. 

However, at the outbreak of WW2 the successors to the origional London Regiment Battalions served as:

1908 Bn Royal Armoured Corps

23 42nd Royal Tank Regiment

23 48th Royal Tank Regiment

Royal Regiment of Artillery

4 60th (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Regiment

11 1st (Finsbury Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Regiment

11 12th (Finsbury Rifles) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment

Corps of Royal Engineers

6, 3 1st (City of London Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Battalion

7, 8 2nd (7th City of London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion

19 33rd (St Pancras) Anti-Aircraft Battalion

20 34th (The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent) Anti-Aircraft Battalion

21 35th (First Surrey Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Battalion

Royal Corps of Signals

25 2nd Corps Signals

25 5th Corps Signals

The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey)

22 1/6th (Bermondsey) Battalion

22 2/6th (Bermondsey) Battalion

24 1/7th (Southwark) Battalion

24 2/7th (Southwark) Battalion

The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

1 8th (1st City of London) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

1 11th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

2 9th (2nd City of London) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

2 12th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

3 10th (3rd City of London) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) (69th Searchlight Regiment)

The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s)

10 5th (Hackney) Battalion

10 7th (Stoke Newington) Battalion

The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge’s Own)

13 1st Battalion, Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment

13 2nd Battalion, Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment

The King’s Royal Rifle Corps

9 1st Battalion Queen Victoria’s Rifles

9 2nd Battalion Queen Victoria’s Rifles

12 1st Battalion The Rangers

12 2nd Battalion The Rangers

15 1st Battalion The Queen’s Westminsters

15 2nd Battalion The Queen’s Westminsters

The Gordon Highlanders

14 1st Battalion The London Scottish

14 2nd Battalion The London Scottish

14 3rd Battalion The London Scottish (97th Anti-Aircraft Regiment)

The Royal Ulster Rifles

18 1st Battalion London Irish Rifles

18 2nd Battalion London Irish Rifles

The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own)

5 1st Battalion London Rifle Brigade

5 2nd Battalion London Rifle Brigade

17 1st Battalion Tower Hamlets Rifles

17 2nd Battalion Tower Hamlets Rifles

28 The Artists Rifles

1945 – 1960 The post war Territorial Army

After VJ Day in August 1945, the TA was significantly reduced, with all Second Line and several First-Line Divisions disbanded. However, the TA was not fully demobilised until 1947. On 1st January 1947, the Territorial Army was reconstituted with many of the battalions being merged. Surprisingly, following further restructuring and using the remaining numbers of Reservists, the TA in some places expanded with the reactivation of some of the 1st Line Divisions that had been initially disbanded after the war. One of these re-established divisions was the 56th (London) Armoured Division. 

In the early 1950s, TA units received Regular Army Training Majors to help Commanding Officers with training their units. In 1952, many London Territorial Army soldiers lined the route of the procession of the funeral of King George VI, and in the following year the TA was represented by one officer and 17 soldiers on street lining duties for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

During the 1950s, the TA was not mobilised as a whole despite a war in Korea and the ‘Emergencies’ in Malaya, Kenya and Suez.

1960 – The Cold War and the Territorial Army

With the spectre of nuclear war, the 1960 Defence White Paper resulted in a new role for the TA, Civil Defence. This role included training exercises with the Police, the Auxiliary Fire Service and other emergency services, and one annual camp in three was to be focused on training for response to nuclear incidents.

However, on smaller scale, TA individuals were deployed to support Regular Army units during the Aden crisis in 1965. 

Throughout this period, the TA still continued to provide much of the anti-aircraft cover for the United Kingdom up to 1956 and retained its former role of supplying complete divisions to the Regular Army until 1967.

The London Regiment’s antecedent units post WW2

The London Regiment was not reformed after WW2, but the antecedent units of some of the current serving Companies did survive. As an example, the 1st Battalion, London Irish Rifles was re-formed at the Duke of York’s Headquarters as part of the 44th (Home Counties) Division. Interestingly, in 1956, The London Regiment did briefly reappear when the 42nd Royal Tank Regiment in 56 London Div re-roled as the 23rd London Regiment.

This whole period is punctuated with a series of several significant reorganisations of the Army and on the 20 July 1960, a reorganisation of the TA was announced in the House of Commons with reductions carried out in 1961, mainly by amalgamating units. One of these was the 23rd London Regiment which was amalgamated to become a TA battalion in the Queens Royal Surrey Regiment in 1961.

1967 to 1979 - The Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR)

In 1967, Dennis Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence, revealed the plans for the new TA. This complete reorganisation was set out in the 1966 Defence White Paper. The title Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) was adopted, which abolished the former regimental and divisional structure of the TA. The establishment of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve in 1967 involved a restructuring and revised doctrine leading to the provision of routine support for the regular army overseas. 

Units in the new TAVR were divided into four categories: 

• The Volunteers - units given designation of (V)

  • TAVR I - Special Army Volunteer Reserve - 'Ever Readies': six battalions ready for UN duty, bringing the Regular Army to war establishment and replace casualties.

  • TAVR II - forces called 'The Volunteers'

    • TAVR IIA (Independent) - ie: 51st Highland Volunteers.

    • TAVR IIB (Sponsored).

  • TAVR III - The Territorials

    • TAVR III (Independent) - units are given (T) designation, mostly cadres, maintaining law and order in the event of nuclear attack and were available for home defence, service, and help in case of emergencies.

  • TAVR (Sponsored) - University OTC (UOTC), bands, and other miscellaneous units.

Throughout this period The London Regiment was in abeyance, but its companies were involved with this restructuring; for example, The London Scottish was disbanded as a regiment in its own right and became G (London Scottish) Coy, 1st Bn 51st Highland Volunteers. 

1979 to 2014 - The Territorial Army

In 1979, the Territorial Army title was restored, and, in the following years, its size was slightly increased, with the regimental system being progressively reinstated and some brigades re-formed which consisted mostly of TA units. The TA was re-roled into something resembling its modern form. Instead of supplying complete combat divisions, its function was to fill out Regular formations by supplying units of up to battalion size (including infantry, artillery and Formation Reconnaissance units), and to supply extra support functions, such as engineers, medical units and military police.

Following the break-up of the former Soviet Union in 1989, the ‘Peace Dividend’ initiated another review of the TA. As a result, the national strength of the TA was reduced from 91,000 to 63,000. In this reorganisation, the template of the 8th Battalion, The Queen’s Fusiliers (City of London), comprising multiple cap badges within a battalion, was developed.

With the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in 1991 and the associated conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, London Territorial units continued to provide individual reinforcements to the Regular Army.

1993 The London Regiment is formed

THE REGIMENT PROUDLY BEARS THE TITLE GIVEN TO THE TERRITORIAL FORCE INFANTRY OF LONDON IN 1908

Following the ‘Options for Change’ review in 1993, the title of The London Regiment was revived, and on 20th April the battalion was created by bringing together one company each from the London Scottish and the London Irish, together with two companies from the 8th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Queen’s Fusiliers (City of London) which then ceased to exist.

The newly created London Regiment had a Headquarter Company and four Rifle Companies organised as:

• HQ Company – Battersea and Camberwell

• A (London Scottish) Company – Westminster and Catford

• B (Queen’s Regiment) Company – Edgware and Hornsey

• C (City of London Fusiliers) Company – Balham and St Mary Cray

• D (London Irish Rifles) Company – Duke of York’s Headquarters, Chelsea

The formation parade took place at the Duke of York’s Headquarters on 1st August 1993. The London Regiment was also presented with its new Colours at the Duke of York’s Headquarters on 26th July 1997. 

In February 1995 The London Regiment provided a platoon for a three-month period of voluntary mobilisation in support of the Regular Army as the Falkland Islands Reinforced Infantry Company (FIRIC). The deployment was not an exercise, but a first test of a more flexible use of the TA for many years, with the FIRIC taking sole responsibility for the ground defence of the Islands.

Since then, there have been over 550 reservists from the Regiment deployed on operations in support of the Regular Army, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Cyprus (UN Peacekeeping) and again the Falkland Islands.

London Regiment deployments to Iraq - Operation TELIC

The final years of the 1990s and the turn of the Millennium saw the TA assume a more high-profile role. As the Regular Army became increasingly engaged in overseas operations, the TA moved from being a ‘force of last resort’ to become the ‘reserve of first choice’ in supporting the Regulars. Some 6,900 Reserve personnel were mobilised for Operation TELIC, the invasion of Iraq; this included a significant number of London Regiment officers and soldiers compulsorily mobilised for Op TELIC 1, which included the ground war phase in March 2003. For the duration of this operation, until 2009, the TA continued to provide around 600 troops each year, on deployments lasting approximately six months, to support the Regular Army in Iraq. 

• Cambrai Coy – TELIC 3 2004

• Messines Coy – TELIC 4 2004

The London Regiment was tasked to provide formed Company Groups for both Op TELIC 3 and Op TELIC 4. As a result, Cambrai Company deployed to Iraq from January to May 2004 and Messines Company deployed from May to November 2004.

 In 1999, F and G Companies from the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets were added to The London Regiment, uniquely giving the Regiment six Rifle Companies.

In the restructuring of the British Army in 2004, it was announced that the Guards Division would finally gain a TA battalion. This saw the London Regiment retain its name, gain a Regimental cypher but keep its multi-badge structure, while transferring from the Queen's Division to the Guards Division on 18th November 2005. 

Deployments to Afghanistan - Operation HERRICK

• Somme Coy - Op HERRICK 6 - 2007

• Amiens Coy - Op HERRICK 12 – 2010

• Arras Coy - Op HERRICK 13 - 2011

The most significant contribution by The London Regiment since the end of WW2 has been our provision of formed companies in support of the Army on Op HERRICK, which was the name under which all British operations in Afghanistan were conducted since 2002. This consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and support to the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). In 2003, HERRICK increased in size and breadth to match ISAF’s growing geographical intervention in Afghanistan. As a result, many Territorial Army soldiers were mobilised to support the Regular Army and The London Regiment contributed more than most to this challenging deployment. 

As an example of this continued contribution, in October 2007, The London Regiment deployed a composite company, known as Somme Company, in a Force Protection role for Op HERRICK 6 (March – October 2007). Somme Company deployed a well-trained formed company of around 140 troops, including a platoon of Grenadier Guardsmen, to Helmand Province. With a combination of extensive training and preparation more thorough than any previous TA infantry company in earlier deployments, the Company exceeded all expectations. As a consequence, the Commander of 12 Mechanised Brigade decided to use Somme Company to conduct offensive operations alongside Regular troops. 

This deployment was a challenge and was often very dangerous. It is fair to assert that no other TA unit had conducted such offensive operations since the end of the WW2. 

In 2012, twenty two members of the battalion deployed on Op HERRICK 17, mostly with 1st Battalion Scots Guards, integrated into either Right Flank or Left Flank Companies. Those with Left Flank deployed in August 2012, ahead of most of the brigade, and formed part of the only sub-unit in Warrior infantry fighting vehicles.

Right Flank deployed in October 2012, occupying checkpoints and forward operating bases along Route 611 that runs through the Upper Gereshk Valley north from Highway 1 (Route 611 follows the Helmand river up into Sangin and then on to Kajaki). Right Flank worked with Mastiff armoured vehicles with a platoon from Left Flank in Warrior vehicles and a Fire Support Group in Jackal vehicles as well as, later in the tour, the Recce Platoon, all integrated into one large company.

Route security formed the majority of the tasks for the Scots Guards battlegroup with the aim of securing a ground-based line of communication back to camp Bastion for the US forces in Sangin to the north. This required daily clearance of the terrain around bridges and drainage tunnels. Concurrently, they trained the local Afghan forces to take over these duties. Regular patrols in the surrounding villages were conducted most days, again often partnered with Afghan forces.

Op HERRICK 17 marked the start of reducing numbers of UK deployed personnel, and so the majority of the second half of the tour was consumed by difficult operations to close checkpoints or hand them over the Afghans. Two Right Flank platoons returned to the UK early, followed by the Battlegroup HQ, leaving the rest of the company under the command of 40 Commando Royal Marines for the end of the tour. The threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was a daily presence for most of the LONDONS soldiers, and unlike in much of the wider brigade’s area of operations, there was an active enemy indirect fires capability that regularly targeted much of the battlegroup.

During this period of time, the Regiment contributed solders to five back-to-back deployments of formed companies and smaller groups of individual reinforcements.

This represents a hugely successful set of deployments and demonstrates the utility of the Army Reserves in support of the Regular Army.  

 Following further reorganisation under ‘Army 2020 Refine’, the final incarnation of The London Regiment was organised as follows:

• Regimental Headquarters at Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, Westminster

• Battalion Headquarters at 27 St John's Hill, Battersea

• A (London Scottish) Company at Army Reserve Centre, 76D Rochester Row, Westminster with a Mortar Platoon at Hudson House, Catford

• D (London Irish Rifles) Company at Connaught House, 4 Flodden Road, Camberwell

• F (The Rifles) Company at Army Reserve Centre, 190 Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith

• G (Guards) Company at 19 Portsmouth Road, Kingston upon Thames

Finally, nearly 17 years after transferring from The Queen’s Division to The Guards Division, on 1 May 2022 the serving battalion was re-designated as 1st Battalion London Guards with all personnel (including Extra-Regimentally Employed) transferring to one of the five Foot Guard regiments. Companies have been re-designated as follows:

• Battalion Headquarters at 27 St John's Hill, Battersea

• Ypres Company Grenadier Guards at 19 Portsmouth Road, Kingston upon Thames

• No 17 Company Coldstream Guards at Army Reserve Centre, 190 Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith

• G (Messines) Company Scots Guards at Army Reserve Centre, 76D Rochester Row, Westminster with a Mortar Platoon at Hudson House, Catford

• No 15 (Loos) Company Irish Guards at Connaught House, 4 Flodden Road, Camberwell

• (to be raised) HQ (Anzio) Company at St John’s Hill and Flodden Road

Further details about the activity of the serving 1st Battalion London Guards can be found on their excellent social media pages by using the links below.