The first battalion, which accepted men up to the age of 45, was formed at the Hotel Cecil in The Strand in early September 1914[2][3][4] by Mrs E. Cunliffe-Owen after she gained permission from Lord Kitchener.

[1] It included several first class cricketers, the lightweight boxing champion of England, an ex-mayor of Exeter, and the author John Chesshire.

Taking Surrey County Cricket Club as an example, Ernie Hayes, Bill Hitch and Andy Sandham joined the battalion.

The cap badge of the Royal Fusiliers was a 'grenade' with the Tudor rose surrounded by a garter with the motto 'Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense' superimposed on the 'bomb' of the grenade.

On 3 April 1919 it was absorbed into 17th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Empire), serving as part of the British Army of the Rhine.