Summary of the Battle Honours situation for London Units

1. Thus the overall situation with regard to infantry units in Greater London as represented by component parts of The London Regiment of 1908 is likely to be:
1. Some South Africa and Great War Honours will still be recorded and kept by the descendant component sub-units of The London Regiment (1993). These are likely to be those borne by the most easily traceable lineal component parts of The London Regiment. For example, the companies designated as London Scottish and London Irish will have easily traced Honours from their antecedent units, the 14^th and 18^th Battalions of the old 1908 London Regiment. Similarly, the Green Jackets companies now part of 7^th Battalion The Rifles will hold the Honours of the London Rifle Brigade, Queen Victoria's Rifles, The Rangers, and Queen's Westminster Rifles – the 5^th , 9^th , 12^th , and 15^th / 16^th Battalions of The London Regiment of 1908. All these will be recorded and emblazoned in Drill Halls but may not be shown in the Army List. All could be subsumed within the parent regular Regiment's entry.
2. All WW2 Honours are likely also be held by the Regular Army parent Regiment because at that time their Battalions were numbered as Territorial Army Battalions of the parent regular Regiment. Thus the Honours are in some cases replicated and held by the component sub-units of the London Regiment (1993).
3. For Great War Honours, the situation is more difficult. For some, where the linkage of the parent regular Regiment was very close, the Honours may have been subsumed within their own list. For others, unless easily identified as part of the present day London Regiment, they may have been ‘lost'.
2. Returning to the example of The King's Royal Rifle Corps, they had three named Territorial Army units in WW2, each having two Battalions. These were:
   1908 London
   Regiment
   Battalion
   

   Subsidiary Title

   1941 Battalion of
   The King's
   Royal Rifle Corps
   

   9

   Queen's Victoria Rifles

   7^th and 8^th

   12

   The Rangers

   9^th and 10^th

   15 and 16

   The Queen's Westminsters

   11^th and 12^th

   
   All their Honours were shown in The Army List under The King's Royal Rifle Corps. Two of these Honours, Greece 1941 and Crete, were awarded only because of the service of one Territorial Army Battalion (9^th Battalion, The Rangers). No other part of The King's Royal Rifle Corps served there.

3. The situation for The Great War is different. The King's Royal Rifle Corps Honours cover the Western Front, Italy and Salonika, but some of their London Regiment's Battalions also served in the Middle East (Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine and Macedonia) and their Honours are not included in their parent regular Regiment's list.
4. The theatres in which these units served are given below. Many of the France/Flanders Honours will already have been awarded to the parent regular Regiment. None of the Macedonia, Egypt, Gallipoli or Palestine Honours have been carried forward by the parent regular Regiment:
   
   
   1908 London 
   Regiment
   Battalion

   Subsidiary Title

   Served in

   6

   City of London Rifles

   France/Flanders

   9

   Queen Victoria's Rifles

   France/Flanders

   12

   The Rangers

   France/Flanders
   

   11

   Finsbury Rifles 

   France/Flanders
   Egypt/Gallipoli/Palestine
   

   15

   Prince of Wales's Own Civil Service Rifles 

   France/Flanders
   Macedonia/Palestine

   16

   Queen's Westminster Rifles

   France/Flanders
   Macedonia/Palestine
   

    

5. Thus for The Great War, all the relevant Battle Honours won by these units after 1^st July 1916 were also entitled, without any claim being made, to be held by the parent Regiment, The King's Royal Rifle Corps. The pre-1^st July 1916 Honours can also be held by the parent regular Regiment as guardians of the heritage of all their Volunteer or Territorial Army units.
6. The use of the example from The King's Royal Rifle Corps is to illustrate the current anomalies. These will occur with The Rifle Brigade's London Battalions, and perhaps also with those of The Queen's, Royal Fusiliers, Middlesex, Royal Berkshire and others. All descendant units of those regular Regiments are entitled to hold the Battle Honours of their post-July 1916 London Regiment Battle Honours, and should also hold their pre-1^st July 1916 Battle Honours.
7. A large number of those Honours may also be entitled to be held by the component sub-units of The London Regiment (1993), but not emblazoned on their Colours. In addition to the more easily traceable antecedent units, there are a number of other 1908 Battalions of The London Regiment who have a lineal descent to The London Regiment of today. Their Battle Honours should be held by The London Regiment of today, as well as by the parent regular Regiment.