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, which placed selected men, the 'Trained Bands', under the command of Lords Lieutenant appointed by the monarch.

It was an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s, and control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War.

An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits.

En route the two battalions passed through London and under Orford's command were reviewed by King George II in front of Kensington Palace.

[23] Hilsea Barracks proved to be infected with Smallpox, Dysentery and Typhus, and the men from isolated Norfolk villages with little immunity succumbed in large numbers.

Annual training continued thereafter – the West Norfolks usually at East Dereham – ballots were held regularly, and officers were commissioned to fill vacancies.

[4][12][16][27] It became normal policy to gather the militia regiments into encampments during the summer months where they could be exercised in larger formations, but the West Norfolks spent most of their embodied service camped by themselves on coast defence duties.

The regiment benefited from the training opportunities of these camps even though isolated from other units, and despite Orford's bouts of mental illness he was enthusiastic and enterprising.

At the end of the camp the inspecting officer observed that 'they must have been a great deal manoeuvred and likely to be ready and attentive to orders in the noise and confusion of service', though he complained that they were not so good on parade.

One company that consistently won the shooting competitions was accused of loading with two balls instead of one, so Orford carried out experiments to see if this was a good idea.

A little later a landing was made at Dunwich, and 20 militiamen mounted on baggage horses chased the smugglers for 40 miles (64 km) in 4 hours, capturing a letter giving details of the next run.

The camp at Caister broke up in mid-November and the battalion marched back through Norwich to winter quarters in Dereham, Swaffham, King's Lynn and Downham Market.

[4][12][34][35] The French Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the Regular Army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits.

[9][36] In August 1793 the West Norfolk regiment, with 8 companies, was at Lexden Camp in Essex, along with the East Kent and South Lincolnshire Militia.

[38] In September 1798 the officers and most of the men of the West Norfolk Militia volunteered for service in Ireland during the Irish Rebellion, but their offer was not accepted.

[45][46] During the invasion crisis of 1805, while Napoleon assembled an expeditionary force across the English Channel at Boulogne, the Norfolk Militia were stationed in the Southern District (Sussex), the most vulnerable sector.

Together with the Nottinghamshire Militia the East and West Norfolks formed a brigade under Maj Gen Alexander Mackenzie Fraser, defending Dungeness, with headquarters (HQ) in Winchelsea.

[47][48] On 16 August 1809 the West Norfolk Militia, under the command of Col Walpole (now the 2nd Earl of Orford of the third creation), marched from Colchester into Norwich, the first time the regiment had been stationed in the city for nearly 30 years.

However, on his escape from Elba, the West Norfolks were assembled by beat of drum in April 1815, preparatory to being re-embodied in June during the Hundred Days campaign.

After Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo the bulk of the British Army was engaged in occupation duties in France, and the West Norfolks volunteered for service in Ireland.

Although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia and ballots were still held, the regiments were rarely assembled for training and the permanent staffs of sergeants and drummers were progressively reduced.

On 4 April it concentrated at Bethulie in the Orange Free State and then went to Springfontein and Edenburg, dropping off small detachments to guard bridges and culverts along the way.

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

The 10th (Reserve) Bn (see below) was formed alongside it in the Harwich Garrison in October to supply drafts to the 'Kitchener's Army' battalions of the Norfolks that were being raised.

In June–July 1915 a draft of 300 volunteers from the battalion for the 1st Essex was aboard HM Transport Royal Edward when she was torpedoed and sunk in the Aegean Sea on the way to Gallipoli.

When the 2nd Norfolks was besieged at Kut al Amara from December 1915 the relieving force included a large draft for the battalion, which had arrived from the UK.

[12][77][78][79][80] Hostilities ended with the Armistice with Germany in November 1918, but in March 1919 the 3rd Bn was moved to Ireland, where it was quartered in Victoria Barracks, Belfast.

[91] The officers' Coatee buttons 1833–55 had the number '39' within a crowned circle with the regimental title inscribed on it, all superimposed on an eight-pointed cut star.

In that year the King drew the lots for individual regiments and the resulting list remained in force with minor amendments until the end of the militia.

[16][57][15][35][92] The names of the officers and men of militia and volunteer battalions of the Norfolk Regiment who died during the Second Boer War are engraved on a brass plate in Norwich Cathedral.