Territorial Regiments
An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcards is the standard reference book on embroidered silk postcards. It contains references to over 2600 different cards with over 270 illustrations. The section on Territorial Regiments lists 74 cards. The cards listed below are additional cards discovered since the book was published. The latest additions are shown in RED.
The Territorial Forces were formed in 1908 from the established Volunteer Battalions. Most of them were incorporated into Regular Infantry Regiments and numbered as the 4th, 5th, etc Battalions, depending on how many men were involved. The London Regiment had 28 Territorial Battalions, all part of the Royal Fusiliers (The London Regiment), before the outbreak of the First World War. Embroidered silk postcards are known for 16 of these Battalions.
The vast majority of men called to arms, or who were conscripted, during the First World War were known as "Kitchener's Army" and were allocated to Territorial Battalions. By the end of the war, the Northumberland Fusiliers had a total of 51 Battalions and the Middlesex Regiment had 49 Battalions.
Despite the large number of men in Territorial Battalions, embroidered silk postcards for them are rare. Most soldiers considered themselves to be part of the parent Regiment, not the Battalion.
Images of a representative selection of cards are shown beneath the listings.
Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.
No part may be reproduced, stored, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.
COUNTY TERRITORIAL INFANTRY REGIMENTS
The Cambridgeshire Regiment THE CAMBRIDGESHIRE REGIMENT 1st CAMBS REGT
THE CAMBRIDGESHIRE REGT SOUTH AFRICA 1900
INDEPENDENT TERRITORIAL REGIMENTS
The Honourable Artillery Company (Badge only)
(Officer star rank badge with motto: ARMA PACIS FULCRA)
TERRITORIAL BATTALIONS OF REGULAR INFANTRY REGIMENTS
The Duke of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Regiment, 7-9th Battalions
MIDDLESEX REGT MIDDLESEX REGT SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02
The King's Liverpool Regiment, 17-20th Battalions, The Liverpool Pals
THE KING'S LIVERPOOL REGT PALS
THE LIVERPOOL PALS
The Northumberland Fusiliers, 20-23 &29th Battalions, The Tyneside Scottish
TYNESIDE SCOTTISH 1914-1916
TYNESIDE SCOTTISH TYNESIDE SCOTTISH
TYNESIDE SCOTTISH 1914 1916 GREETINGS FROM FRANCE
The Royal Irish Rifles, 8th Battalion ROYAL IRISH RIFLES 8thBN GREETINGS FROM
The Royal Sussex Regiment, 8th Battalion THE ROYAL SUSSEX REGT ROYAL SUSSEX 8BON 1916
The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 6th Battalion
6TH ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE
THE LONDON REGIMENT
The 7th City of London Battalion 7 7TH CITY OF LONDON FUSILIERS
The 8th City of London Battalion, The Post Office Rifles
8TH BATTALION CITY OF LONDON POST OFFICE RIFLES POST OFFICE RIFLES
POST OFFICE RIFLES CITY OF LONDON POST OFFICE RIFLES
The 9th County of London Battalion, Queen Victoria's Rifles
QUEEN VICTORIA'S RIFLES SOUTH AFRICA
QVR
The 10th County of London Battalion, The Hackney Regiment
TENTH LONDON HACKNEY 10TH LONDON HACKNEY
The 12th County of London Battalion, The Rangers
THE RANGERS THE RANGERS 12TH COUNTY OF LONDON
The 13th County of London Battalion, The Kensington Regiment
(Badge only)
FROM A SOLDIER OF THE KING
LONDON 13
The 20th County of London Battalion, Blackheath and Woolwich
20TH BATT THE LONDON REGT
The 21st County of London Battalion, The First Surrey Rifles
FIRST SURREY RIFLES 22 (sic) LONDON REGT
TERRITORIAL UNITS OF OTHER REGIMENTS
The Royal Engineers, The London Electrical Engineers
THE LONDON ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02
The Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery SHROPSHIRE RHA
The Orkney Royal Garrison Artillery RGA ORKNEY
The Staffordshire Royal Field Artillery RFA (with Staffordshire Regiment knot badge)
COUNTY AND INDEPENDENT TERRITORIAL REGIMENTS
The Brecknockshire Battalion of the South Wales Borderers.
The Buckinghamshire Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
The Honourable Artillery Company.
TERRITORIAL BATTALIONS OF REGULAR INFANTRY REGIMENTS
The 7th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry were clearly a "Sapper" or "Pioneer" Battalion, responsible for the repair and construction of fortifications and other engineering duties.
The Leeds Rifles were the 7th Battalion of the Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment.
The Liverpool Pals were the 17th to 20th Battalions of the King's Liverpool Regiment.
The Liverpool Rifles were the 6th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment.
The Liverpool Scottish were the 10th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment.
The badge of the Price of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Regiment, 7-9th Battalions with the South Africa 1900-2 battle honour in the badge.
Seaforth Highlanders, 5th Battalion
The twin tower badge of the Suffolk Regiment Territorials
The Tyneside Scottish were the 20th - 23rd and 29th Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
THE LONDON REGIMENT
The 5th City of London Battalion, The London Rifle Brigade
The 9th County of London Battalion, Queen Victoria's Rifles
TERRITORIAL UNITS OF OTHER REGIMENTS
