The London Rifle Brigade 1914 - 1918

The London Rifle Brigade were part of the London Regiment, at eighty battalions, the largest Territorial Force Regiment of the Great War. Those men who enlisted in the 5th Battalion, The London Regiment, The London Rifle Brigade before the outbreak of the war were of the same educated social class, worked and socialised together and served with a self-discipline unknown to their regular army comrades. This pre- war pride in their battalion proved vital as the London Rifle Brigade went off to war in November 1914. A second and then a third battalion were formed to provide reinforcements for the first battalion as casualties mounted in 1915 and 1916. These new riflemen were enthused with the record of their comrades fighting on the Western Front, and soon the second battalion joined the first in Belgium. Although the men now were of a different social class, the spirit and discipline of the old pre- war battalion lived on for they, as well as the rest of the British Army, faced defeat in March 1918 as the German Spring Offensive might force an outcome in any peace negotiations in Germany's favour. The London Rifle Brigade would find themselves in the thick of the action once more, and in the advances of The Hundred Days which led to the Armistice in November 1918.