War Memorial #687 ~ London Regiment - Bermondsey
This war memorial to 22nd Battalion The London Regiment (The Queen's) on Old Jamaica Road is listed at Grade II as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by this battalion in World War I. It is of strong historic and cultural significance both at a local and a national level. The memorial commemorates the role of a Territorial unit in World War I, the first time that part-time volunteers, with civilian occupations, served en mass in a war abroad. It is a restrained but handsome monument, on a scale which is uncommon for memorials dedicated to individual battalions.
The Battalion traces its origins to the19th century. In 1859, fear of a French invasion led by Napoleon III, and the resulting wave of patriotism which this invoked, resulted in a national movement for improved civil defence, and the formation of a large number of Rifle Volunteer units. The 26 Rifle Volunteer Corps which were based in Surrey were later grouped into the Surrey Rifle Volunteer Battalions. In 1908 the Territorial Force (later to become the Territorial Army) was formed with the merging of the various volunteer, militia and yeomanry units across the country into a unified structure which could be called upon for a national emergency. As part of this reorganisation, the 4th Battalion of the Surrey Rifle Volunteers, became 22nd Battalion of the London Regiment (The Queen's). In 1937, the battalion was reorganised as the 6th (Bermondsey) Battalion of The Queen's Royal Regiment.
Following the end of World War II, a plaque was added to the memorial to commemorate those of the 6th (Bermondsey) Battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment (as the battalion was by this time known), who fell in the 1939-1945 conflict. Originally located in the old barracks, and then in 1953 the drill hall was extended and the memorial was incorporated into the exterior wall of the new building. The memorial originally had a chain across the front which hung from the inside of the flank walls and was supported along its length by two low tapering stone piers. The chain and the piers have now been lost. In 1994 the memorial was restored; the lettering was re-cut into the stone where it had suffered from environmental damage. Following the mass sell off of MOD land, the memorial was removed from the old drill hall before it’s demolition and then incorporated into it’s current site in 2014.
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