[8] By the end of 1860 the strength of the 1st Surrey (South London) RVC was eight companies, recruited across Camberwell, Peckham and Clapham, under the command of Lt-Col John Boucher, formerly of the 5th Dragoon Guards.

[3][4][6][10] Under the Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 the battalion was assigned to the Surrey Volunteer Infantry Brigade, whose place of assembly in case of war was at Caterham to man the outer London Defence Positions.

[3][4][6][15][16][17][18][19][20] The battalion had just arrived at Perham Down on Salisbury Plain on 2 August 1914 for its annual training when the order to mobilise was received, and it immediately returned to Camberwell.

Within four days sufficient volunteers had been recruited to bring it up to full strength, and the battalion marched to billets in St Albans for intensive training.

[17][25][26] The Battle of Festubert began on 15 May, and on 25 May, the 47th Division extended the British offensive by launching an attack from Givenchy just north of the La Bassée Canal.

The lead companies of the First Surreys (B and D), waiting in the British front trenches, were also heavily shelled, and then met with intense small-arms fire when they crossed No-Man's Land to support the attack.

[27][28] After rest and reorganisation, the First Surreys returned to frontline duty in June 1915, holding relatively quiet sectors for the next three months while mentoring the Kitchener's Army men of 15th (Scottish) Division.

142 Brigade's role was to provide a firm flank to the division's attack, and distract the enemy's attention with dummy figures in No-Man's Land.

However, they were unsupported by flanking forces and were compelled to return: 'Nothing was left to show for this gallant and costly action beyond a few yards of our old front line'.

[34][35] The battalion was pulled out the following morning and marched back to collect a draft of 300 inexperienced men from the 2/5th East Surreys (from 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division in England).

B and D Companies jumped off towards the spoil bank at 07.30, but the unit to their left was held up in 'Battle Wood', from which enemy machine-guns enfiladed the battalion as it advanced.

[41] The 47th Division next went to the Arras front, where it held the Gavrelle and Oppy Wood sectors until late November, when it was sent to take over ground captured during the recent Battle of Cambrai.

On the night of 1 December, the First Surreys moved out of divisional reserve to relieve the battered Civil Service Rifles (1/15th Londons) in their isolated forward trenches.

These outposts were slowly pushed in as the enemy infiltrated between them, and it was not until the evening of 24 March that the battalion was once more concentrated, at Bazentin Wood on the old Somme battlefield.

On 25 March the battalion occupied an old trench and caused heavy casualties to German troops pushing past in the direction of Pozieres.

However, the division's leading brigades encountered stiffer than expected opposition, the tanks and cavalry were unable to get through, and the Green Line was not reached.

This surprise night attack was a complete success, the regimental historian reporting that 'In brilliant moonlight, and with a splendid barrage, we went over, and were almost immediately in the trenches which formed our objective'.

The First Surreys had a tough fight to take Moislans trench on 2 September, even though they were officially following up in support, because the attacking forces were also badly thinned – 1/21st Bn itself could only put 100 men into the battle.

Instead, the battalion spent a period holding a quiet sector of the line, and then took part in 47th Division's ceremonial entry into the liberated city of Lille on 28 October.

[17][57][58] Immediately after the Armistice the First Surreys were engaged in repairing the Tournai–Ath railway, and then went into winter quarters in the mining village of Auchel, near Béthune to await demobilisation.

Men began to be demobilised in January 1919, and by 4 May the remaining cadre of the battalion entrained for the UK, for an official welcome at Camberwell and a final march-past to Buckingham Palace by London troops on 5 July.

[6][20][59][60] The following officers commanded the 1/21st Bn during World War I:[61] The 2/21st Battalion was formed on 31 August 1914 began its training in September at Flodden Road, at Ruskin Park and on Wimbledon Common, with a few rifles borrowed from the affiliated cadet corps at Dulwich College.

[17][68][69] After landing at Alexandria, 60th Division moved to the Suez Canal to join the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), where its units were re-equipped and underwent training before crossing Sinai in early July 1917.

After a silent approach march during the night of 30/31 October, the division bombarded and then attacked Hill 1070, a prominent feature in front of the Turkish main defences.

[71] After the fall of Sheria, the division advanced to Nebi Samwil, a strong position in front of Jerusalem, against which the Turks sent a series of counter-attacks.

On 9 December the battalion was marching towards Jerusalem, engaging the Turks in the western outskirts and suffering several casualties while clearing the last ridge with the bayonet.

The cluster system was an attempt to improve the chances of picking up enemy bombers and keeping them illuminated for engagement by AA guns or Royal Air Force (RAF) Night fighters.

[115] The regiment supplied a cadre of experienced officers and men to 230th S/L Training Rgt at Blandford Camp where it provided the basis for a new 521 S/L Bty formed on 14 November 1940.

[4][6][114][134][139] The following served as Honorary Colonel of the regiment:[11] The 1st Surrey Rifles received the following Battle Honours: those shown in bold type were borne on the drums and bugles (as a rifle regiment, no colours were carried):[4][141] South Africa 1900–02 Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Le Transloy, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917, Cambrai 1917, St Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Ancre 1918, Amiens, Albert 1918, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1915–18, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1916–17, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jerusalem, Jericho, Jordan, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917–18.

The two wooden memorial crosses erected at High Wood and Eaucourt l'Abbaye by 47 Divisional Engineers in 1916[147] were falling into disrepair by 1925, when they were replaced in stone.