Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, created in 1903; the Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. The Royal Naval Reserve has its origins in the Register of Seamen, established in 1835 to identify men for naval service in the event of war, although just 400 volunteered for duty in the Crimean War in 1854 out of 250,000 on the Register; this led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858, which in turn led to the Naval Reserve Act of 1859. This established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy; the RNR was a reserve of seamen only, but in 1862 was extended to include the recruitment and training of reserve officers. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique and distinctive lace consisting of stripes of interwoven chain.
A number of drill-ships were established at the main seaports around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, seamen left their vessels to undertake gunnery training in a drill-ship for one month every year. After initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navy's fleet for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. Although under the operational authority of the Admiral Commanding, the RNR was administered jointly by the Admiralty and the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at the Board of Trade throughout its separate existence. In 1910, the RNR was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers and other small warships. Officers and men of the RNR soon gained the respect of their naval counterparts with their professional skills in navigation and seamanship, served with distinction in a number of conflicts including the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. Prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—later referred to as "the hungry hundred".
In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some held senior positions in the shipping industry and the government. At the turn of the 20th century, there were concerns at the Admiralty and in parliament that the RNR was insufficient to bolster the manning of the greatly-expanded fleet in the event of large-scale war. Despite the huge growth in the number of ships in the British merchant service since the RNR's foundation, many of the additional seamen were from the colonies or were not British subjects; the pool of potential RNR officers had shrunk since 1859 and experience in the Boer War showed that it would not be possible to call up a sufficient number of reservists without negatively impacting the work of the merchant and fishing fleets. In 1903 an Act of Parliament was passed enabling the Admiralty to raise a second reserve force – the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. While the RNR consisted of professional civilian sailors, the RNVR was open to civilians with no prior sea experience.
By the outbreak of the First World War there were six RNVR divisions in major ports around the UK. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of men. Officers of the permanent RNR on general service took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in larger units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel and at Jutland. Fishermen of the RNR section served with distinction onboard trawlers fitted out as minesweepers for mine clearance operations at home and abroad throughout the war, where they suffered heavy casualties and losses. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion that killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was subsequently buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Kent. A number of RNR officers qualified as pilots and flew aircraft and airships with the Royal Naval Air Service, whilst many RNR ratings served ashore alongside the RN and RNVR contingents in the trenches of the Somme and at Gallipoli with the Royal Naval Division.
Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries and transports were entered in the RNR for the duration of the war on special agreements. Although smaller than both the RN and the RNVR, the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses. On commencement of hostilities in the Second World War, the RN once again called upon the experience and professionalism of the RNR from the outset to help it to shoulder the initial burden until sufficient manpower could be trained for the RNVR and'hostilities only' ratings. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers and aircraft carriers. In convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was an RNR officer; as in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well. On the outbreak of the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR and new intake to the RNR stopped.
The RNVR became the route by which all new-entry commissioned officers joined the naval service during the w
Royal 22nd Regiment
The Royal 22nd Regiment, or rather the Royal 22e Régiment in both English and French correct usage, colloquially in English The Van Doos, or, in French, le Vingt-deuxième, is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The francophone regiment comprises three Regular Force battalions, two Primary Reserve battalions, a band, making it the largest regiment in the Canadian Army; the "maison-mère" or home of the regiment is La Citadelle in Quebec City and is where the regimental museum is housed. The regimental headquarters is located in Quebec City, with all three of its regular battalions stationed at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier in Quebec; the regiment serves as the "local" infantry regiment for Quebec. While the Royal 22e Régiment commemorates the history and traditions of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry from the War of 1812, the modern ancestor of the regiment was formed in the early days of the First World War as part of the British Army, when volunteers from all over Canada were being massed for training at Valcartier, just outside Quebec City.
The first contingent of 30,000 volunteers, which became the 1st Canadian Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, were grouped into numbered battalions, regardless of origin. The existing reserve regiments were not mobilized, due to the belief of the Defence Minister, Sam Hughes, that a new "efficient" structure was required. In the process, the new structure failed to create French-speaking units, such as those that had existed in the reserves. Over 1000 French-Canadian volunteers were scattered into different English-speaking units; this was not an oversight. Ontario was in the process of forbidding teaching in French, or of French, in the school system, causing outrage in French Canada and a lack of support for the war of the "King and country", perceived as seeking to destroy the Francophone community in Canada; the second contingent was based, more logically, on battalions raised and trained in the various military districts in which they had been recruited, but still on an impersonal numbered basis.
Considerable political pressure in Quebec, along with public rallies, demanded the creation of French-speaking units to fight a war that many viewed as being right and necessary, despite Regulation 17 in Ontario. In September 1914, French Canadian pharmaceutical entrepreneur Arthur Mignault communicated with Prime Minister Robert Borden, to incite the formation of a French Canadian regiment. Mignault offered the government $50,000 to pursue this end. Borden had committed his country into the providing of half a million soldiers to the Allied cause, was just realising how demanding honouring this promise would show. Borden eagerly accepted Mignault's proposal and accordingly, on 14 October 1914, the 22nd Battalion, CEF, was authorized. Mignault participated in the recruitment campaign. Arthur Mignault is as such considered the founder of the 22nd regiment; the 22nd went to France as part of the 5th Canadian Brigade and the 2nd Canadian Division in September 1915, fought with distinction in every major Canadian engagement until the end of the war.
While other French-speaking units were created, they were all broken up upon arrival in France to provide reinforcements for the 22nd, which suffered close to 4000 wounded and killed in the course of the war. Two members of the 22nd were awarded the Victoria Cross in that war, Lieutenant Jean Brillant and Corporal Joseph Kaeble. After the war, the 22nd Battalion was disbanded on 20 May 1919, sharing the fate of the other numbered battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. However, in the post-war reorganizations of the army, public pressure, such as resolutions by the Legislative Assembly of Quebec as well as the City Council of Quebec City, demanded that a permanent French-language unit be created in the peace-time Regular Force, accordingly a new regiment was created, made up of veterans of the 22nd Battalion, on 1 April 1920; the regiment, given the guard of the Citadelle of Quebec, was the 22nd Regiment, but in June 1921 King George V approved the renaming of it as The Royal 22nd Regiment.
In 1928, the anomaly of a French-language unit with an English name was resolved, the regiment became the Royal 22e Régiment in both languages. While in the Canadian Armed Forces, unit names are translated into the language of a text, traditional combat arms regiments are identified only in the single language of their troops, either English or French. However, the English version of the R22eR is still seen but speaking it is incorrect. In 1940, the regiment became the first Francophone Canadian unit to mount the King's Guard in London and was the first of the three current Regular Force infantry regiments to do so. In the Second World War, the regiment was part of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade and the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and was involved in intense combat in Italy, in the Netherlands and northwest Germany. During the Korean War, 1951–1953, the regiment expanded to three battalions, each serving in turn as part of the Canadian brigade in the 1st Commonwealth Division, thus the "Van Doos" represented one-third of Canada's infantry contingent throughout the war.
During the Cold War the regular battalions of t
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they created their own honours; the five classes of appointment to the Order are, in descending order of precedence: Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross, Knight or Dame Commander, entitle their members to use the title of Sir for men and Dame for women before their forename.
Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, may permit use of post-nominal letters but not the title of Sir or Dame. Honorary appointees are, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bob Geldof, for example. Honorary appointees who become a citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. An example is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan, appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship, was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan. King George V founded the Order to fill gaps in the British honours system: The Orders of the Garter, of St Patrick honoured royals, peers and eminent military commanders.
In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War. When first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was formally divided into Military and Civil Divisions; the Order's motto is For the Empire. At the foundation of the Order, the'Medal of the Order of the British Empire' was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the'British Empire Medal', it stopped being awarded by the United Kingdom as part of the 1993 reforms to the honours system, but was again awarded beginning in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. In addition, the BEM is awarded by some other Commonwealth nations. In 2004, a report entitled "A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System" by a Commons committee recommended to phase out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of the country's population".
The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, appoints all other members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales; the Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 Officers and 1,464 Members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British Orders of Chivalry, with over 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, second-lowest of knighthood.
Because of this, an appointment as Dame Commander is made in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor. For example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges
Imperial crown
An Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors. Crowns in Europe during the medieval period varied in design: An open crown is one which consists of a golden circlet elaborately worked and decorated with precious stones or enamels.... The medieval French crown was of this type.... The closed crown, which had bands of metal crossing from one side to the other and from back to front so that they met in the middle, at the top of the head.... These arches are in part utilitarian, since they serve to strengthen the crown, in part decorative, since they are made to serve as supports for a central cross or jewel, in part traditional, since a contributing element to the evolution of many medieval crowns was the structure of the early Germanic helmet, which had metal bands crossing at the top of the head to protect the skull from injury. A special case of a closed crown was that of the Holy Roman Empire; this was an open crown, made up of eight separate richly jewelled sections incorporating four magnificent enamelled plaques, but the Emperor Conrad II had added to it a kind of jewelled crest, running from front to back, to which he had thoughtfully attached his name, CHVONRADVS DEI GRATIA ROMANORV IMPERATOR AVG.
This jewelled crest was so associated with the notion of the imperial office that when the Hapsburgs made a new imperial crown in the 15th century in which they incorporated two large cusps resembling a mitre seen sideways, they provided it with a similar crest running from front to back and topped with a central jewel.... Speaking, the only type of crown whose characteristics can properly be regarded as imperial was one with a single crest running from front to back. In practice, in countries unfamiliar with closed crowns at all, any kind of closed crown was assumed to be imperial in character. During the medieval era the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed and open designs; this was in contrast with kings of France. However, there is academic debate on how closed crowns were used in England during this period, as the first unequivocal use of the closed crown was by Henry IV at his coronation on 13 October 1399; however his effigy on his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral wears an open crown so the link in England between the style of the crown and its representation as that worn by a king and an emperor was not established.
The use of a closed crown may have been adopted by the English as a way of distinguishing the English crown from the French crown, but it had other meanings to some. For example, Henry V wore a helmet-crown of the arched type at the Battle of Agincourt which the French knight St. Remy commented was "like the imperial crown"; the association of the closed crown with imperial crowns was established in Continental Europe by the late 14th century, for example the florins minted for Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor) sometimes show him with a closed crown. A miniature picture in the Chronica Aulae Regiae written in the great abbey outside Prague depicts his mother Elizabeth, a queen of Bohemia, wearing an open crown, while his two wives, who had imperial titles, have closed ones. During the machinations that surrounded the introduction of the imperial crown under Henry VIII, the closed crown, became associated as a symbolic representation of the English Crown as an imperial crown, has remained so until this day.
The Silk Imperial Crown of Russia was used as an official coronation gift of the Russian Empire for the coronation of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Romanov line. Nicholas II was the only monarch to be presented with such a monumental coronation gift, it was not intended as ceremonial regalia, but as private Imperial property - a memento to his coronation event. A list of prominent examples of depictions of imperial crowns displayed atop heraldic achievements or as heraldic charge includes: Because Pope Clement VII would not grant Henry VIII of England an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the English Parliament passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals in which it was explicitly stated that Where by divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this realm of England is an empire, so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one supreme head and king, having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial crown of the same.
The next year the Act of Supremacy explicitly tied the headship of the church to the imperial crown: The only supreme head in earth of the Church of England called Anglicana Ecclesia, shall have and enjoy annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm. During the reign of Mary I the First Act of Supremacy was annulled, but during the reign of Elizabeth I the Second Act of Supremacy, with similar wording to the First Act, was passed in 1559. During the English Interregnum the laws were annulled, but the acts which caused the laws to be in abeyance were themselves, deemed to be null and void by the Parliaments of the English Restoration, so by act of Parliament The Crown of England and are imperial crowns. Consort crown Coronation crown Royal crown State crown Grierson, The origins of the English sovereign and the sybolism of the closed crown, British Numismatic Society
Mentioned in dispatches
A member of the armed forces mentioned in dispatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which his or her gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described. In some countries, a service member's name must be mentioned in dispatches as a condition for receiving certain decorations. Service men and women of the British Empire or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches are not awarded a medal for their action, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon. Prior to 2014 only one device could be worn on a ribbon, irrespective of the number of times the recipient was mentioned in despatches. Where no campaign medal is awarded, the oak leaf is worn directly on the coat after any medal ribbons. In the British Armed Forces, the despatch is published in the London Gazette. Before 1914 nothing was worn in uniform to signify a mention in despatches, although sometimes a gallantry medal was awarded.
For 1914–1918 and up to 10 August 1920, the device consisted of a spray of oak leaves in bronze worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal. Those who did not receive the Victory Medal wore the device on the British War Medal. Established in 1919, it was retrospective to August 1914, it was not a common honour with, for example, only twenty-five members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the First World War mentioned in despatches. In all, 141,082 mentions were recorded in the London Gazette between 1914 and 1920. From 1920 to 1993, the device consisted of a single bronze oak leaf, worn on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal, including the War Medal for a mention during the Second World War; the Canadian Armed Forces still use the bronze oak leaf device. Since 1993 a number of changes have been made in respect of United Kingdom armed forces: For awards made from September 1993, the oak leaf has been in silver; the criteria were made more specific, it now being defined as an operational gallantry award for acts of bravery during active operations.
From 2003, in addition to British campaign medals, the MiD device can be worn on United Nations, NATO and EU medals. In a change introduced in 2014, up to three MiD devices may be worn on a single campaign medal and ribbon bar for those with multiple mentions, backdated to 1962. Prior to this change if the serviceman was mentioned in despatches more than once, only a single such device was worn. Prior to 1979, a mention in despatches was one of three awards that could be made posthumously, the others being the Victoria Cross and George Cross; the 1979 reform allowed. Soldiers can be mentioned multiple times; the British First World War Victoria Cross recipient John Vereker Field Marshal Viscount Gort, was mentioned in despatches nine times, as was the Canadian general Sir Arthur Currie. The Australian general Gordon Bennett was mentioned in despatches a total of eight times during the First World War, as was Field Marshal Sir John Dill. Below are illustrations of the MiD device being worn on a variety of campaign medal ribbons: Australian service personnel are no longer eligible to be mentioned in dispatches.
Since 15 January 1991, when the Australian Honours System was established, the MiD has been replaced by the Australian decorations: the Commendation for Gallantry and the Commendation for Distinguished Service. The equivalents of the MiD for acts of bravery by civilians and by soldiers not engaged with the enemy have been reformed; the reformed and comprehensive system is now as follows: The Commendation for Gallantry is now the fourth level decoration for gallantry. The Commendation for Brave Conduct recognises acts of bravery carried by soldiers not directly fighting the enemy and by civilians in war or peace; the Commendation for Distinguished Service, a third level distinguished service decoration, recognises distinguished general service, for exemplary performance in fields such as training and administration. A mention in dispatches – in French, Citation à l'ordre du jour – gives recognition from a senior commander for acts of brave or meritorious service in the field; the Mention in dispatches is among the list of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada.
Mention in dispatches has been used since 1947, in order to recognize distinguished and meritorious service in operational areas and acts of gallantry which are not of a sufficiently high order to warrant the grant of gallantry awards. Eligible personnel include all Army and Air Force personnel including personnel of the Reserve Forces, Territorial Army and other lawfully constituted armed forces, members of the Nursing Service and civilians working under or with the armed forces. Personnel can be mentioned in dispatches posthumously and multiple awards are possible. A recipient of a mention in a dispatch is entitled to wear an emblem, in the form of a lotus leaf on the ribbon of the relevant campaign medal, they are issued with an official certificate from the Ministry of Defence. Under the current Pakistani military honours system, the Imtiazi Sanad is conferred upon any member of the Pakistani Armed Forces, mentioned in dispatches for an act of gallantry that does not qualify for a formal gallantry award.
In 1920 the Minister of Defence of the Union of South Africa was empowered to award a multiple-leaved bronze oak leaf emblem to all servicemen and servicewomen mentioned in dispatches during the First World War for valuable services in action. The emblem, regarded as a decoration, was worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal. Only one emblem was
Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms as the Queen's Own, by the amalgamation of the 50th Regiment of Foot and the 97th Regiment of Foot. In January 1921, the regiment was renamed the Royal West Kent Regiment and, in April of the same year, was again renamed, this time as the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. After distinguished service in the Second Boer War, along with both World War I and World War II, on 1 March 1961, the regiment was amalgamated with the Buffs to form the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, destined to be short-lived. On 31 December 1966, the Queen's Own Buffs was merged with the other regiments of the Home Counties Brigade—the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Regiment—to form the Queen's Regiment, in turn amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment, on 9 September 1992, to form the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
Throughout its existence, the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was popularly and operationally known as the Royal West Kents. When the regiment was formed, Kent was one of five counties, split to create more than one regiment. Kent was split into two areas, with those in West Kent forming the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, while those in East Kent becoming the Buffs; the dividing line that separated the two regimental areas was east of the River Medway. The regiment's recruitment area covered both the towns and rural areas of West Kent and a number of south-east London suburbs that were included in the County of London; the Childers reforms affiliated Militia and Volunteer battalions with their local county regiments, giving the Royal West Kents the following organisation:Regulars 1st Battalion – former 50th Foot 2nd Battalion – former 97th FootMilitia 3rd Battalion – former 1st Battalion, West Kent Light Infantry 4th Battalion – former 2nd Battalion, West Kent Light InfantryVolunteers 1st Volunteer Battalion – former 1st Kent Rifle Volunteer Corps 2nd Volunteer Battalion – former 3rd Kent Rifle Volunteer Corps 3rd Volunteer Battalion – former 4th Kent Rifle Volunteer Corps 4th Volunteer Battalion – new battalion raised in 1900 The 1st Battalion fought at the second battle at Kassassin on 9 September 1882 and at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir a few days during Anglo-Egyptian War.
It spent two years on garrison duty in Cyprus before being transferred to Sudan, where it fought at the Battle of Ginnis during the Mahdist War. It spent the years up to the outbreak of the First World War on garrison duty; the 2nd Battalion was deployed to South Africa shortly after its formation, in the aftermath of the First Boer War. It was posted to Ireland and spent the remaining years of the 19th century in the United Kingdom before being sent to Egypt in 1899. After only six months, they returned to the United Kingdom in March 1900, to mobilize into a new 8th Division going to South Africa, in the middle of the Second Boer War; the regiment's only action was a skirmish at Biddulphsberg, alongside the 2nd battalions of the Grenadier and Scots Guards. It served in Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore and Multan before the outbreak of the First World War. Between 1881 and 1913, the regiment lost 219 men: 22 killed in action or died from wounding, 12 by accident, 185 from disease. A memorial for those who died in service exists in All Saints Church, located next to the regiment's barracks.
By the time the Territorial Force was created in 1908, the suburban area of West Kent had been transferred to the County of London, so the 2nd and 3rd Volunteer battalions became the 20th Battalion in the new London Regiment. The 4th Volunteer Battalion was disbanded, the 1st VB was formed into the 4th and 5th Battalions of the QORWK in the Kent Brigade of the TF's Home Counties Division; the regiment now had one Reserve and three Territorial battalions.. During the First World War, over 60,000 men served with the Queen's Own. Three VCs were awarded. However, 6,866 officers and other ranks lost their lives, with many thousands more wounded; the 1st Battalion, a Regular Army unit stationed in Dublin at the outbreak of war in August 1914, was one of the first units to be moved to France where it became part of the 13th Brigade in the 5th Division. Among its first major engagements were the Battle of Mons on 23 August and the Battle of Le Cateau three days later. In October, the battalion made a heroic stand at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
Out of 750 men, only 300 commanded by a lieutenant and a second lieutenant survived. Apart from a brief period from December 1917 to April 1918, when it was moved with the 5th Division to the Italian Front, the 1st Battalion was stationed on the Western Front for the duration of the war; the 2nd Battalion was shipped from Multan to Mesopotamia, via Bombay, arriving in Basra in February 1915, where it was attached to the 12th Indian Brigade. Two companies were attached to the 30th Indian Brigade and were captured in the Siege of Kut in April 1916; the remaining companies were attached to 34th Indian Brigade, were transferred to 17th Indian Division in August 1917. The 2nd Battalion remained in Mesopotamia for the duration of the war; the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions were both
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