Initially designated as the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), in 1910 it was separated from the regiment and redesignated as the independent Kent Cyclist Battalion[3] so as to encourage recruitment from the eastern part of the county.

Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units.

[11] On 2 December 1915, it left 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division and moved to Chiseldon (near Swindon, Wiltshire).

They were converted to infantry[b] and formed a brigade, originally intended for service in East Africa.

[10][11][13] The battalion landed at Bombay on 3 March 1916[11] and was assigned to Southern Brigade, 9th (Secunderabad) Division at Bangalore.

[17] It served with the North Waziristan Field Force from 30 May to 18 August, rejoining 44th (Ferozepore) Brigade in July.

[11] The 2nd Line battalion was formed at Canterbury in 1914[2][19] or 1915;[10] it remained in England throughout the war.

[20] In March 1918, the battalion returned to The Cyclist Division where it remained until the end of the war.

[2] On 4 July 1915, the battalion provided personnel for the 9th Provisional Cyclist Company.

[23] One major change with the new Territorial Army had an effect on the number of infantry battalions.

Infantry were no longer to be included as Army Troops or part of the Coastal Defence Forces so the pre-war total of 208 battalions had to be reduced by 40.