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1st Battalion, London Regiment
1st (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers), The London Regiment were a unit of the Territorial Force with their HQ in Handel Square, St Pancras. They were part of the 1st London Brigade, 1st London Division when war broke out in august 1914. They were at once mobilised for war, taking up position guarding the London to Newhaven railway line. On the 4th of September 1914 they were dispatched to Malta to relieve a unit of the regular army and 1st London Brigade sailed from Southampton to Malta, arriving in Valetta on the 14th. They were stationed in Malta until the 11th of February 1915 when they sailed for Avonmouth, arriving on the 21st. They proceeded to France, landing at le Havre on the 11th of March and joined the 25th Brigade, 8th Division. They were in action at The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, The Battle of Aubers and The action of Bois Grenier. On the 8th of February 1916 they transferred to 167th Brigade in the newly reformed 56th (1st London) Division. in the Hallencourt area in February. In 1916 they were in action on The Somme taking part in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt on the 1st of July. Also The Battle of Ginchy, The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, The Battle of Morval in which the Division captured Combles and The Battle of the Transloy Ridges. In 1917 they were in action during The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battles of Arras in April, then The Battle of Langemarck in August, then the Cambrai Operations in November. On the 6th of February 1918 when the army was reorgansised, they absorbed the disbanded 2/1st London Battalion. In 1918 They were in action on The Somme, in the Second Battles of Arras, the Battles of the Hindenburg Line and the Final Advance in Picardy. At the Armistice the infantry were in a rest period, whilst the artillery were in action. The Division received orders to join the British force to occupy the Rhine bridgeheads, but these orders were cancelled on the 21st of November, when they were in the area of Harveng undertaking road and railway repairs. Demobilisation was completed on the 18th of May 1919.
4th Apr 1915 1st Londons relieve 13th Londons
7th Apr 1915 13th Londons relieve 1st Londons
21st Apr 1915 1st Londons relieve 13th Londons
2nd of September 1915 Machine Guns
25th Sep 1915 In Action
25th Sep 1915 In Action
25th Sep 1915 In Action
25th Sep 1915 In Action
10th of October 1915 Bombardment
14th of October 1915 Reliefs
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
18th of October 1915 Reliefs
22nd of October 1915 Reliefs
26th of November 1915 Special Order - To be read to all men
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
7th Jan 1916 On the March
9th February 1916 Call Ups
4th July 1916 Relief
5th July 1916 Relief Complete
26th Sep 1916 Combles Captured 
16th August 1918 Operational Orders No.50.
16th August 1918 Administrative portion to 6th (Ser) Cameron Highlanders O.O.50.
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 1st Battalion, London Regiment? There are:5254 items tagged 1st Battalion, London Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with1st Battalion, London Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Allcroft Frank Charles. Cpl. (d.6th Nov 1918)
- Appleford MM John David. Rflmn.
- Baird James Frederick. Pte. (d.16th Jun 1917)
- Chipperfield Edward. Pte. (d.3rd May 1917)
- Clay George Thomas. L/Cpl.
- Houghton John Reginald. Cpt. (d.21st March 1918)
- Maynard Thomas Walter. Pte. (d.3rd May 1917)
- Norman David. Pte. (d.28th Oct 1918)
- Ridout Arthur Frederick. RSM. (d.15th Sep 1916)
- Simpson George. Pte.
- Toms Arthur. L/Cpl. (d.3rd Nov 1914)
- Toomey Jeremiah. Pte.
- Webster William. Pte. (d.31st July 1917)
- Whelan Frank Edward. Pte.
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 1st Battalion, London Regiment from other sources.
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Pte. William Webster 1st Battalion London Regiment (d.31st July 1917) My uncle, Billy Webster, was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchaendale, we know very little about him other that his name is on the Menin Gate as he has no known grave. He did once joke with his sisters (prior to him enlisting, possibly even before 1914) that after he was dead his name would be inscribed in "letters of gold". Sadly, I'm sure none of them realised how true that would become.
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Pte. David Norman 1st Btn London Regiment (d.28th Oct 1918) David Norman served with the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment, 12th Royal Fusiliers, 10th Royal Fusiliers and 1st London Regiment.
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RSM. Arthur Frederick Ridout 19th (County of London) Btn. London Regiment (d.15th Sep 1916) Arthur Ridout was born in 1883 in Okeford Fitzpaine, Dorset, the second child of three of Frederick and Elizabeth Ridout (formerly Trent, nee Ross). His mother had lost her first husband and carried on farming the family farm. Arthur had two sisters, the elder dying in infancy and his younger sister Mary Minnie, known as Min throughout her life. He had 6 half-brothers and -sisters. By 1901, Arthur was living with his eldest half brother, John Ross Trent, and his wife in Mitcham, Surrey. His occupation was railway clerk. He met his future wife, Ella Jessie Arthur, and they married in 1911 in Tonbridge Kent. His sisterm Min stayed in touch with her brother and became good friends of his wife Ella who was a very good pianist. As a result of her meeting with Arthur and Ella, she met a friend of Arthur's and he became the love of her life. He too served in the First World War but none of the family remembers his name, and unfortunately he was killed. Min hadn't been able to marry her betrothed, and she led a very sad life with very little money. Arthur joined up on 5th September 1914, naming his wife Ella, his half-brother John Trent, and his sister Minnie as relatives.
From research, he went out to France with the 1st Battalion, London Regiment on 9th March 1915 and at the time of his death was acting RSM. He had one stripe when the Battalion landed in France and became a sergeant when the Battalion went to Loos and he came through unwounded. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted to CSM of D Company. When RSM King left to take up a Commission, Arthur was promoted to RSM in about May 1916. He was a very popular figure, and his influence and example brought his NCOs to a high standard of efficiency. During a relief of Vimy Ridge when shelling was severe, Arthur refused to leave until the last man had left the trenches. The only way back was across the Souchez Valley, but they had only just arrived when the Germans shelled them, with shrapnel falling like rain. Arthur and three others ended up in a trench, exhausted. Arthur met his death on 15th September 1916 after a couple of days hidden in the Happy Valley. The Battalion marched off to High Wood and one of the soldiers remembers acting upon impulse and shook the hands of some of the men including Arthur. He says he was glad he did because he never saw Ridout again. Arthur met his death by an unlucky shell at High Wood.
He was apparently "sincerely missed, he had endeared himself to all and such was the affection felt for him and that I have often seen tears in the eyes of a comrade when speaking of him." – JWW (Memories, the Journal of the 19th London Regiment OCA. No 2,Vol2, Summer 1922).
Arthur is remembered at the London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval and on the Shillingstone, Dorset, War Memorial - his mother Elizabeth was living there in 1922. Shillingstone is a village near Okeford Fitzpaine, Dorset.
I have a picture of a soldier who I think is Arthur but no one can confirm it now. If anyone has further information, please let me know.
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Pte. George Simpson 1st Btn. London Regiment George Simpson was born at 21 Wardlaw Place in Edinburgh on 11th September 1899. At the arrival of the war, he was working as a turner for the foundry at Alex Mather & Son on Dalry Road.
He was in the 1st London Regiment. In among the paperwork is a personal letter of a friend we assume he met during his time in the army, named Harold "Harry" Edgington, residing at the Hope and Anchor Pub on Crowndale Road in Camden Town.
We do not have much history on where he served, but one letter does refer to time in France, and we have photographs of the battalion in Mons.
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Rflmn. John David Appleford MM 1st (Surrey Rifles) Btn. London Regiment John David Appleford signed up at Flodden Road, Camberwell, London. He received the Military Medal aged 19 on 10th May 1916.
He survived the war, but shot himself in the chest with a service revolver in January 1919, being unable to get work. John took 10 months to die in hospital in Peckham, London. The coroner's verdict was "suicide whilst of
unsound mind".
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Cpl. Frank Charles Allcroft 13th (Kensington) Btn. London Regiment (d.6th Nov 1918) My Great Uncle Frank Allcroft, enlisted 1st Btn London Regiment in November 1914. He was with the London Regiment throughout and was killed in action in Angre, Belguim on 6th of November 1918. This was the units last day on the front line before the war ended.
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Pte. Thomas Walter Maynard 1st Btn. London Regiment (d.3rd May 1917) All I know is that Thomas Maynard was only 19 years old when he died, he has no grave. Wish I could find out more.
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Pte. James Frederick Baird 1st Btn. London Regiment (d.16th Jun 1917) James Baird was born in Dublin and resided in Holborn, London.
He enlisted at Handel St and served with the 1st Battalion London Regiment. He was killed in action in Flanders in June 1917.
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Pte. Jeremiah Toomey 1st Btn. London Regiment Jeremiah Toomey, I was told, was killed in action in WW1 and his name is on the Menin Gate. I have Jeremiah's death plaque. I started by looking for him on the CWWGC site nothing showed for him, then it was on to the Imperial War Museum and was informed the next of kin could claim it if his wounds had contributed to his death. He was medically discharged in 1919 where had been since being wounded in 1916. I then went to the National Archives checked the medal index from which I learned when he was wounded and when he was discharged. And from the war dairy of the 1st London Regiment have obtained his date of enlistment, as for the name on the Menin Gate, when my uncle died in 2006 it confused things even more. On clearing a garden shed not only was the plaque discovered but a very badly damaged photograph of a solider in a seargent's tunic taken in the London E14 area of London. The photographer's name is on it and I can't be sure but there was writing on the back in pencil but is so faded you can only make out what may be words. I would like to know if there is anything more of Jeremiah.
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