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 PALST

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 Irish Rifles, 9th Battalion THE ROYAL IRISH RIFLES 9th BN WEST BELFAST 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 SOUTH AFRICA YPRES 1914-15

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.