London Pride: The London Territorial Force in Peace and War, 1908-1921

What’s it all about?

London Pride is an academic research project into the military, social, literary, and cultural aspects of the London Regiment and London Territorial Force (TF) from its formation in 1908, through its service in the Great War, to its disembodiment in 1921.

The project aims to produce a scholarly volume of around 35 essays in an edited volume to be published by Helion & Co. in 2025.

Charles Fair, Richard Hendry, and Dr. Tom Thorpe manage the project. We all have a deep interest in the London Regiment as a result of relatives serving in constituent battalions during the Great War.

The name London Pride comes from a flower, Saxifraga × urbium, seen growing on graves of London Regiment soldiers in The London Cemetery, facing High Wood. As Terry Norman observed in his 1984 classic, The Hell They Called High Wood, ‘Whoever chose [this flower] had chosen well.’

The project is in its early days, and we are seeking authors who may want to contribute articles.

Why the London Regiment and London Territorial Force?

The London Regiment is a formation that has received scant scholarly attention even though it raised a record 88 infantry battalions during the Great War, the highest number for any corps during that conflict.[1] It was also distinctive in certain respects.

Each battalion was regarded as a regiment having distinct badges, uniforms, and traditions reflecting their very different lineages from their predecessor volunteer battalions. The London Regiment was an integral part of metropolitan London’s history and involvement in the Great War, as 80% of the Regiment’s men were London residents.[2] Units also recruited men from distinct areas of London, occupational groups (for example, the Civil Service, the General Post Office, and artists), social classes, and ethnic minorities (notably Scottish and Irish).

The London Regiment cannot be considered independently from the formations and Territorial Force Associations (TFA) of which it was a part. The County of London TFA was the largest TFA in the country, and the City of London TFA was probably the next largest. Together they were responsible for two of the 14 pre-war TF divisions, or roughly one territorial soldier in seven nationwide.

The scope of the publication

London-Pride-Outline-of-chapters-for-London-TF-book-v52

The definitive organisational ‘remit’ for potential inclusion in the book of a piece is its connection with any unit that was the responsibility of the City of London or County of London Territorial Force Associations between 1908 to 1921. Geographically, this is the area of the 28 boroughs which comprised the County and City of London in 1914. The current chapter summary is below:

Conference

A conference on the project was held on Saturday 15 June 2024 at Yeomanry House, Handel St in Bloomsbury, London. This conference was part of the WFA 2024 national programme and is supported by Helion & Co. The programme is below.

London Pride – Draft Conference Running Order 15 June 2024 V7 black textdocx

Contact

For more information on the project contact londonpride@kensingtons.org.uk

Updated: 9.4.24

NOTES

[1] E.A. James, British Regiments 1914-1918 (Dallington, 1974), Table C.

[2] A. Gregory, ‘Lost generations: the impact of military casualties in Paris, London, and Berlin’, in J. Winter & J. Robert (eds), Capital Cities at War (London, 1997), p.63.