D Company (London Irish Rifles) The London Regiment

General information

The London Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908 to form the Territorial Force. This resulted from the impending insolvency of the Volunteer Force's voluntary civilian administration. The administration was taken over by the War Office, and most volunteer units lost their unique identities, becoming territorial battalions of their regular army county regiment. The London corps were a notable exception, being grouped to form their own regiment, each retaining a measure of its original identity, and independent of any regular army regiment. Following the First World War, the Territorial Force was reorganised and renamed the Territorial Army. The London Regiment ceased to exist in 1938 and the battalions transferred to regular infantry regiments, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers.

The London Regiment was reformed in 1992 through the regimentation of most of the remaining successors of the original regiment (except the Rifles and the Artists' Rifles). It is the only permanent infantry battalion in London District and consists of an HQ and four rifle companies. In 2013 the name of the Territorial Army was changed to the Army Reserve.

The Companies of the London Regiment are:

HQ Company
A (London Scottish) Company
B (Queen's Regiment) Company
C (City of London Fusiliers) Company
D (London Irish Rifles) Company

Following the restructuring of the British Army in 2004, it was announced that the Guards Division would gain a TA battalion. This saw the London Regiment retaining its name and multi-badge structure, while transferring from the Queen's Division to the Guards Division.

More than 450 London Regiment soldiers have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.

2014 has seen the Regiment completed its first United Nations Tour to Cyprus, supporting its regular Guards Battalion the Irish Guards. Over 50 London Regiment soldiers mobilised and deployed.