23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment
military unit
The 23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment was an auxiliary unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer units in the Surrey suburbs of London that dated back to 1859, it was part of the London Regiment in the Territorial Force (TF). Its battalions served on the Western Front, at Salonika and in Palestine during World War I. When the London Regiment was abolished the unit reverted to the East Surrey Regiment but just before World War II it was converted to armour as two battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment. In this role it fought in North Africa, including the Battle of Alamein, and in Italy and North West Europe. Postwar it reverted to infantry in 1956 and later was amalgamated with other Surrey battalions into the Queen's Regiment. Its successors continue in today's London Guards.
Volunteer Force
The invasion scare of 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm for joining Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). Among the RVCs raised in the county of Surrey at this time was the 7th Surrey or Southwark Rifle Volunteers recruited from Southwark in South London. It was formed on 30 November under the command of Captain Francis Marcus Beresford. The new corps obtained permission to use Bermondsey Grammar School as its depot, and to carry out live firing practice on Plumstead Marshes.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment” is military unit. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through 23rd, County and London, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “military unit” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q55639054. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1908, 1859 and 1956.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment primary sources, 23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment archive and 23rd research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.