It went on to become the parent unit of the Territorial Army battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment, which served on the Western Front during World War I.

An additional company had been formed at Market Harborough in 1882, and in 1900 four more were added at Leicester (two), Wigston and Mountsorrel, after which it operated as a double-battalion unit.

[4][5][6][8] The battalion provided detachments of volunteers to serve alongside the Regulars during the Second Boer War, earning the Battle honour South Africa 1900–1902.

The battalion went forward in four waves, each of which was caught by machine gun and artillery fire; few of the men got into the German line, and they were unable to maintain their position.

[12][11][25] In March and April 1916 1/4th Bn held trenches in the Vimy Ridge sector and then went into reserve before moving into the line opposite Gommecourt in late May to prepare for the forthcoming Somme Offensive.

[28] In April 1917 the division moved to the Lens area and became involved in 10 weeks' bloody fighting round Hill 70, during which the battalion suffered many casualties.

[29][30][31] 46th (North Midland) Division was not used offensively again until September 1918, spending its time in tours of duty holding the front line in quiet sectors.

4th Leicesters had the task of making a preliminary attack on Pike Wood and Peg Copse on the night of 27 September, supported by the guns of an Australian field artillery brigade.

Pike Wood was put in a state of defence and was intermittently attacked during the night, with German bombing parties trying to work their way back up trenches into the position.

Before Zero Hour the battalion moved up through the morning fog, under gas shelling that caused significant casualties (No 4 Platoon losing 22 men out of 26).

The battalion took up position along the railway embarkment from Ramicourt to Montbrehain and held it through the night under attack by German aircraft using parachute flares.

[38][39] On 10 October, patrols of 4th Leicesters, advancing cautiously along the Bohain–Aisonville road, were met by heavy machine-gun fire from the fringes of Riqueval Wood, and all attempts to enter it were repulsed.

The battalion took its objectives, which consisted of hastily dug trenches and rifle pits, and mopped-up the machine-gun nests left behind by the retreating Germans.

[48][49][50][51] In April 1916 the 2/4th battalion was sent to Dublin to help quell disturbances following the Easter Rising – the troops of the 59th Division were the first TF units to serve in Ireland.

[12][18][32] The 59th Division took part in following the German Retreat to Hindenburg Line in March and April, but it was not until September that it was engaged in its first full-scale action, the phase of the 3rd Ypres Offensive known as the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge.

At 14.30 on 6 December a hostile barrage came down on 59th Division's positions and an hour later German infantry advanced, the defenders in Flesquières inflicting heavy casualties on them before withdrawing as planned at 17.30.

[56] When the German spring offensive opened on 21 March 1918 (the Battle of St Quentin), 59th Division was holding the line of the Bullecourt Salient.

The German attack followed a hurricane bombardment and was covered by morning mist, and quickly overran the defences of the division's Forward Zone.

It was sent straight back up to assist in the defence of Ecoust, but the leading company found that the village had already fallen, and was unable to do more than cover the retreat of the gunners of a field battery which had removed the breechblocks of their guns before being overrun.

Under the inspiring leadership of their CO, Lt-Col Sir Iain Colquhoun, 7th Baronet, and Regimental Sergeant-Major 'African Joe' Withers, the battalion held off the Germans for the rest of the day, with modest casualties of 12 killed and 18 wounded.

Over the next few days the composite force was slowly pushed from one fallback position to another, making local counter-attacks, until it was relieved in turn by 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, brought up in buses on 25 March.

[4][6][64][65][73][74][75][76] During the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, and more especially during the night-bombing Blitz that followed, the units of 32nd AA Bde defended the industrial towns and airfields of the East Midlands.

The brigade now had responsibility for Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, and immediately after arrival the regiment was in action against daylight attacks by German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bombers, which caused numerous casualties to civilians and AA personnel.

[85][87][88][89] The brigade remained part of Home Forces until March 1944 when it joined Second Army in preparation for the invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord).

[92] After the heavy fighting in Normandy, VIII Corps was 'grounded' during the breakout and pursuit,[93][94][95] and then had to rush forwards 300 miles to play a supporting role during Operation Market Garden.

[98][99] During the fighting in the Klever Reichswald (Operation Veritable) in early 1945, 100th AA Bde was assigned to protect VIII Corps, which had taken Venlo.

[100] 121 LAA Regiment reverted to the direct control of the CCRA during the Rhine crossings (Operation Plunder (23–30 March)), when the corps was in Second Army Reserve and 100 AA Bde was protecting the bridgehead.

This coincided with the last peak of Luftwaffe activity, with 100 AA Bde reporting about 60 attacks by Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bombers against the bridgeheads.

[116] After conversion to the RE and then the RA, 44th S/L Rgt continued to wear Leicester Regiment buttons and cap badge bearing the 'Royal Hindoostan Tiger'.

After World War II, 579 LAA Rgt wore an embroidered arm badge consisting of the tiger in green on a black rectangle.