Part-time volunteer units had often been organised in Britain in time of war to serve in local defence and supplement the Regular Army and Militia, but these were always stood down when the threat of invasion had passed.

ministry, Spencer Horatio Walpole, did accept an offer of service arising from a meeting held in January at the Exeter Athenaeum to discuss the dangers to the Devonshire coastline.

The first officers' commissions were signed by Queen Victoria[a] on 4 January 1853, with Sir Edmund Prideaux, 9th Baronet, as Major-Commandant and Denis Moore as adjutant.

[5][7][13][14][15] Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and Militia battalions.

In August 1860 these were formed into the 1st Administrative Battalion, Devonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps with its HQ also at Exeter, under the command of Lt-Col Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet:[2][4][7][13][21] Dyke Acland was an enthusiast for the concept of Mounted Rifle Volunteers and several such units were raised in Devonshire, five by Acland himself, of which the following were attached to the 1st Admin Battalion:[13][21][22] Apart from the mounted riflemen who were generally farmers and members of hunts, the battalion recruited mainly from agricultural labourers, and in 1864 had to arrange its annual camp in July between the hay harvest and the corn harvest.

[4][7] Charles Williams-Troyte of Huntsham, formerly of the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry, took command of the battalion in 1881 when Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (his uncle) became honorary colonel.

After the war Lt-Col Charles Marwood Tucker (who had served in South Africa as a lieutenant in the Imperial Yeomanry), became CO of the 3rd VB.

After retiring from the army he joined his father's former battalion, taking command of the Bampton company and being instrumental in the construction of the new drill hall at Tiverton.

The divisional HQ returned to Exeter and the units took up their precautionary posts, with the infantry brigades at defended ports in South West England.

On 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units.

In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas, and absorbing the large numbers of volunteers coming forward.

[4][45][46][47] On 24 September, the 1st Wessex Division accepted liability for service in British India to relieve Regular units for the Western Front.

The division's infantry battalions and field artillery embarked at Southampton on 9 October and sailed via Gibraltar, Malta, and the Suez Canal.

By 1916 it was clear that the complete 43rd (Wessex) Division could not be returned to the Western Front as intended, so instead training was pushed forwards in India, some drafts were received from home, and the remaining units prepared for service in Mesopotamia.

Although occasionally shelled by the Turks, the battalion's biggest enemy was disease, and during the summer of 1916 some 400 men were admitted to hospital.

A 10.40, after 10 minutes' intense artillery preparation, the two fresh battalions attacked, 1/4th Devons on the left in eight waves on a frontage of 150 yards (140 m).

The survivors spent the rest of the war building roads, guarding prisoners and administering refugee camps.

[42][45][47][52][54] Lieutenant-Colonel Acland Troyte left for the UK on sick leave, and after recovering was sent to command a 'sub-area' behind the lines on the Western Front.

The Corps HQ was back in France at the time of the German spring offensive; Lt-Col Acland Troyte was killed on 17 April 1918, and buried at Berguette Churchyard.

[42][45][47][57][59] At first the battalion was employed on Line of Communication duties at Qantara, but on 13 December 1917 at Ramla in Palestine it joined 234th Brigade in 75th Division.

75th Division attacked on 9 April during the Action of Berukin, with 234th Brigade aiming capturing 'Three Bushes Hill' after a stiff fight.

In April 1918 it left the Wessex Reserve Brigade and was sent to Ireland, where it was stationed at various times at Belfast, Derry and Clonmany, County Donegal.

45th Division HQ assumed control of the brigade on 7 September, and it spent the Phoney War period training in its West Country home area under Southern Command.

[69][70][71] On 17 May 1940, just as the Battle of France was under way, 4th Devons left 45th Division and sailed to Gibraltar, landing on 30 May to reinforce the garrison of this vital base in view of tensions with Italy (which entered the war on 11 June).

On 3 April 1944 4th Devons transferred within the division to 135th Bde, but this was disbanded on 20 July as men were drained away to reinforce units fighting in Normandy.

[69][70][79] By the Spring of 1941 it was in GHQ Reserve in the Midlands, but at the end of the year the division's role was reduced as it was placed on a lower establishment.

[5][82] Meanwhile, the TAVR II element reorganised 1970–71 as E Company (Devon), 1st Battalion, Wessex Volunteers, at Exeter with platoons at Plymouth and Barnstaple.

[85] After the Second Boer War the 3rd VB adopted 'Drab' (light khaki) for its uniform, as popularised by the Imperial Yeomanry (in which their CO had served).

The memorial comprises a small Renaissance pillar by local sculptor Harry Hems, with plaque recording the names of the first officers commissioned, the committee responsible for its formation, and the list of places from which the first recruits were drawn: Exeter, Cullompton, Tiverton, Bovey Tracey, Exmouth, Honiton, Brixham, Torquay and Totnes.

[7] There is a stone plaque in the Devonshire Regiment Chapel in Exeter Cathedral commemorating the men of 1/4th, 2/4th and 3/4th Devons who died in India, Mesopotamia, Palestine and elsewhere during the First World War.