(Elcho was already a very active commanding officer of the London Scottish RVC; Enfield also held the ceremonial position of Honorary Colonel of the 2nd or Edmonton Royal Rifle Regiment of Middlesex Militia.)

They were immediately recalled to Camden to complete their mobilisation and by mid-August the battalion had reached its war station at Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

Its CO, Lt-Col Collison-Morley, was killed at the head of the battalion soon after leaving the trenches, and the 1/19th encountered stiff opposition in Loos cemetery before pushing on to clear houses and cellars in the village.

[22][23] During 1916 the battalion was engaged in the following operations:[12][19][20][21] 47th Division moved into the Hill 60 sector of the Ypres Salient in October 1916 and took part in regular raids and crater fighting for a number of months.

[26] It then took part in the following operations:[12][19][20][21] By early 1918 the British Army was suffering a severe manpower shortage and a number of battalions were disbanded to bring others up to strength.

[12][30][31] When the German Spring Offensive opened on 21 March, 47th Division had just relieved another formation in the line and were holding the right flank of Third Army.

The main blow fell on Fifth Army to the south, but the Londoners were heavily bombarded and later in the day the Germans attacked behind a smoke screen.

[12][37] The following officers commanded 1/19th Londons during World War I:[38] In the enthusiasm of August 1914, it took only a fortnight to recruit the 2/19th battalion to full strength.

One whole company was enlisted from the Railway Clearing House and the rest of the battalion from other local businesses and organisations such as London Zoo in Regent's Park.

The Sheria position remaining untaken, the brigade attacked again the following day, and the 2/19th suffered heavy casualties, the acting commanding officer, Major A.W.

[48] The pursuit through the Judaean Hills saw the battalion engaged at the Battle of Mughar Ridge and by 25 November it took over the Nebi Samwil position a few miles from Jerusalem.

Sergeants Hurcomb and Sedgewick went out to reconnoitre and met the Mayor of Jerusalem and a party of civilians who offered them the keys of the abandoned city.

On the first occasion (the Battle of Hijla) the leading elements of the 2/19th struggled across the river by swimming and rafting during the night of 21/22 March while other battalions were driven back.

2/19th Londons remained, however, as the sole British battalion in 180th Bde, alongside three newly recruited Indian Army units.

The 2/19th Londons then passed through, forced the passage of the shallow Nahr el Faliq with some losses, and established a bridgehead on the far side by 07.20.

Parties of the battalion had already been sent home for demobilisation, and in October 1919 a large draft of men arrived from the Suffolk Regiment to maintain numbers.

[70][71] 334 Company was newly raised by the Hertfordshire (rather than London) Territorial Association, which provided a new drill hall in St Albans Road, Barnet, opened in April 1938.

The brigade ordered the construction of a concrete pillbox at each S/L site and each company and section HQ – a total of 75 in 33rd Bn's area.

These were to provide defended patrol bases in the event of attack by enemy paratroops, and each site was joined by an infantry detachment and equipped with a wireless set.

[72][89] 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 520 S/L Bty formed on 14 November 1940.

[74] In May 1941 the regiment was required to form a composite troop of six searchlights withdrawn from cluster sites to defend the new night-fighter base at RAF Hunsdon.

Between 21 January and 14 March 1944 the Luftwaffe carried out eleven night raids on London in the so-called 'Baby Blitz': two sites of 334 Bty shared another Cat 1 kill on 22/23 February.

[72][94] From September 1943 the regiment had been carrying out experiments on new combinations of S/Ls and SLC; in July 1944 this was stepped up with the start of the V-1 flying bomb campaign against London, though Kent was on the fringe of the V-1s' route.

Seven members of the detachment were commended for bravery in rescuing survivors from the burning wreck, and Lance-Bombardier Harkness and Gunner Bateman were later awarded the British Empire Medal.

[96] At the same time the Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted.

[1][2][104][105][109][110][111] The 19th Londons were awarded the following honours:[2] South Africa 1900–02 (1/19th): Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917, Langemarck 1917, Cambrai 1917, St Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Ancre 1918, Albert 1918, Pursuit to Mons (2/19th): France and Flanders 1915–16, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1916–17, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jerusalem, Jericho, Jordan, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine 1917–18 Bold text indicates those honours selected to be displayed on the regiment's Colours.

[112] During the Munich crisis mobilisation, a group of sergeants from 334 Company stole a cockerel with saddle and reins from a roundabout at Baldock Fair.

This subsequently became the inanimate mascot of the sergeants' mess, and a colour picture of it was adopted as the company's emblem, used as a vehicle marking in the early part of World War II.

[72] The following were appointed Honorary Colonel of the regiment: The 1914–18 war memorial panel of the 19th Londons, formerly at the old drill hall in Camden High Street, is now in the South Vestibule of St Pancras Parish Church.

The 19th London's regimental badge is also included in the stained glass war memorial window in the North Gallery at St Pancras Church.