The Post Office Rifles was a unit of the British Army formed in 1868 from volunteers as part of the Volunteer Force, which later became the Territorial Force (and later the Territorial Army). The unit evolved several times until 1935, after which the name was lost during one of many reorganisations.
History
Beginnings – 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers Corps (Post Office Rifles)
When the Volunteer Force was formed in 1859/60 Viscount Bury raised the 21st Middlesex Rifles Volunteer Corps (Civil Service Rifles) drawing its recruits from civil servants based in London. There were sufficient recruits from the GPO staff to form a Post Office company, which was placed under Captain John Lowther du Plat Taylor's command.
thumb|left|Ambulance detachment, 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Post Office), 1897
On 13 December 1867 a bomb exploded outside Middlesex House of Detention, Clerkenwell. It was an attempt to rescue two members of Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) detained there awaiting trial. The Government's response was to raise special constables to protect London buildings against future "Fenian outrages".
The GPO special constables had been supervised and trained by Major JL du Plat Taylor (and Civil Service Rifles' NCOs). After the crisis was over the GPO special constables approached du Plat Taylor to request that they be formed into a Rifle Volunteer unit. Du Plat Taylor, who was the Private Secretary to the Postmaster General,
Territorial Force
More changes were introduced upon the creation of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907. This Act brought the part-time Volunteer Force infantry artillery and engineer units and Yeomanry (mounted) regiments from across the country together into a single Territorial Force in 1908. As a result of this, the 24th Middlesex became the 8th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles). In 1915 a third line battalion, the 3/8th was formed.
At the Capture of Wurst Farm, in September 1917, the 2/8th lost over half its fighting strength, dead or wounded, but its men were awarded a total of 40 gallantry medals. These included a Victoria Cross won by Sergeant A. J. Knight, making him the only Post Office Rifleman to win this honour.
Battle honours
The battle honours awarded to the 8th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) for the "Great War" were announced in March 1924. Ten honours (shown in bold type) were selected by the regiment to be displayed on the King's Colours:
There is no formal memorial to the Rifles in France, but many of the fallen from the Great War have their names recorded on memorials such as the Menin Gate at Ypres and Sir Edwin Lutyens's memorial to the missing at Thiepval. Also on the Pozieres Memorial to the missing of 1918 and notably the Arras memorial. Men of the Rifles are buried in Bedford House Cemetery outside Ypres (Ieper) in Belgium.
See also
- Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
- Territorial Army (United Kingdom)
- British Army
- Militia (United Kingdom)
- Honourable Artillery Company
- The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)
- Yeomanry
- 1st Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood) Volunteer Rifle Corps (VRC)
- Artists' Rifles
- The Liverpool Scottish
- Home Service Force
References and sources
;Notes
;Sources
- The British Postal Museum & Archive
Further reading
- A list of those who served and lost their lives in World War I
- Post Office Rifles British Postal Museum & Archive Information Sheet
- Terriers in the Trenches : The Post Office Rifles at War 1914–1918 by Charles Messenger – (1982)
- Men of Letters: The Post Office Heroes who Fought the Great War by Duncan Barrett – (2014)
- Postmen at War by Col ET Vallance CBE ERD – (2015)
- THE POST OFFICE RIFLES, 8th Battalion City of London Regiment 1914 to 1918 – (1919)
- The Regimental History of the 32nd Searchlight Regiment Royal Artillery (7th City of London TA) – Whittington Press (1943)
- Londoners on the Western Front, a history of the 58th Division 1914–1919 by David Martin (2014)
- Peronne communal cemetery extension