The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two acts of 1557 (4 & 5 Ph.

[1][2][3] Although control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the First English Civil War, most of the county Trained Bands played little part in the fighting.

Two, later four (Exeter, North, East and South), battalions were formed in Devon under the command of the Duke of Bedford as Lord Lieutenant.

The Duke of Bedford died in 1771, and Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Bampfylde, 4th Baronet, MP, resigned, so the new Lord Lieutenant, Earl Poulett, recommended the son of a local landowner, Major John Dyke Acland, 20th Foot, for the colonelcy.

After the outbreak of the War of American Independence in 1775 Lord North's government introduced a Bill in Parliament to 'Enable His Majesty to call out and assemble the Militia in all cases of Rebellion in any part of the Dominion belonging to the Crown of Great Britain'.

[23] In 1776–7 Col Acland served in his Regular Army rank of major in the Saratoga campaign under his friend and fellow MP Maj-Gen John Burgoyne.

[24] The militia was called out when Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain, and the regiment was embodied at Exeter on 20 April 1778.

The East Devons remained at Exeter until November, when the companies were distributed to winter quarters in Somerset, at Wells, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet.

Each battalion had two small field-pieces or 'battalion guns' attached to it, manned by men of the regiment instructed by a Royal Artillery sergeant and two gunners.

[17][12][27][28] From 1787 to 1793 the East Devon Militia was assembled for its annual 28 days' training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were mustered each year.

In view of the worsening international situation the whole Devonshire Militia was embodied for service on 22 December 1792, even though Revolutionary France did not declare war on Britain until 1 February 1793.

The winter of 1795–6 was spent in barracks at Plymouth Dock, guarding the Mill Prison, which posting continued during 1796 apart from autumn manoeuvres at Roborough.

Bread riots and looting broke out in Plymouth on 31 March 1801 and the magistrates were unable to restore order with the detachments of militia available.

It was several months before disturbances in the West Country were put down: the regiment remained on standby to march at short notice, all leave was cancelled, and the men who had been disembodied were recalled to the colours.

In August the 1st Devons camped at Wembury a few miles from Plymouth, where they helped to build a redoubt at the mouth of the River Yealm.

On 10 June 1803 part of the detachment at Yealm battery rowed out in boats to help recover a collier that had been attacked by a French Privateer.

The regiment was concentrated for training in the summer of 1803, then went to Mill Bay Barracks for the following winter, with the exception of detachments at Yealm battery, Berry Head, and manning warning beacons.

Its 664 men under Lt-Col Edmund Bastard were deployed with 8 companies in Plymouth Dock Barracks and a detachment at Yealm Redoubt.

In April 1806 it moved to Lewes in Sussex, where it formed part of the Brighton brigade, and then in July to Eastbourne where the men assisted in the construction of Martello towers.

In November it moved to winter quarters in Chelmsford, Essex, where duties were light, though they included marching parties of prisoners of war to the great camp at Norman Cross.

Having concentrated at Winchester it moved in April to Warwick, then to Derby, Burton upon Trent, Loughborough and Lichfield, with detached companies going to other towns.

On 16 June the warrant for disembodying the Devonshire Militia was signed and the regiment returned to Exeter to complete the process by 9 August.

However, in the absence of a fresh ballot only a small number of men whose time was not yet expired were available: the regiment mustered 25 sergeants, 17 drummers and 130 rank and file.

In 1834 the permanent staff had been under arms during trade union disturbances in Exeter, but an inspecting officer found nine of them unfit due to age or infirmity.

Again in 1847 the permanent staff and pensioners were called out to assist special constables to put down food riots in Exeter.

On 21 December the regiment marched to Pontypool, where it boarded trains for Liverpool and embarked for Ireland, where it was stationed at Castle Barracks in Limerick.

In November 1867 the permanent staff were called out to help deal with bread riots in Exeter, several times charging at the rioters with bayonets to disperse them.

That year the Militia Reserve Act came into force, whereby in exchange for a bounty the militiamen could sign up for service with the Regulars in time of war; however, there was little take-up among the 1st Devons.

There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War.

In May 1915 it moved to Devonport where it formed part of the Plymouth Garrison for the rest of the war, but its primary role was to train reinforcement drafts for the battalions serving overseas.