Battalions of the Regular Army

1st Battalion
August 1914 : in Jersey.
21 August 1914 : landed at Le Havre and joined Lines of Communication Defence Troops.
14 September 1914: joined 8th Brigade, 3rd Division.
30 September 1914 : transferred to 14th Brigade, 5th Division.
12 January 1916 : transferred to 95th Brigade in same Division.
Proceeded to Italy with the Division in November 1917 but returned to France on 7 April 1918.

2nd Battalion
August 1914 : in Cairo, Egypt. Returned to England 1 October 1914 and attached to 23rd Brigade in 8th Division.
6 November 1914: landed at Le Havre.

3rd (Reserve) Battalion
August 1914 : in Exeter but moved to Plymouth on 8 August, returning on 28th of the same month. Moved to Devonport in May 1915. A training unit used as the garrison for the defences of Plymouth, it remained in UK throughout the war.

Battalions of the Territorial Force

1/4th Battalion
August 1914 : in Exeter. Part of Devon & Cornwall Brigade, Wessex Division.
9 October 1914 : sailed for India, landing Karachi 11 November 1914. Came under orders of 3rd (Lahore) Divisional Area at Ferozepore.
February 1915: moved to the independent 42nd Brigade of the Indian Army.
2 March 1916 : landed at Basra with the independent 41st Indian Brigade andthereafter remained in Mesopotamia for the rest of the war.
5 May 1916: transferred to 37th Brigade in 14th (Indian) Division.
February 1917: moved to Amara and came under orders of the Tigris Lines of Communication.

1/5th (Prince of Wales's) Battalion
August 1914 : in Millbay, Plymouth. Part of Devon & Cornwall Brigade, Wessex Division.
9 October 1914 : sailed for India, landing Karachi 11 November 1914. Came under orders of 3rd (Lahore) Divisional Area at Multan. December 1915 moved to Lahore.
4 April 1917 : landed at Suez, Egypt.
25 June 1917 : transferred to 232nd Brigade, 75th Division.
1 June 1918 : landed at Marseilles and proceeded to the Western Front.
1 June : transferred to 185th Brigade in 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division.

1/6th Battalion
August 1914 : in Barnstaple. Attached as Army Troops to Wessex Division. On 16 September 1914 came under orders of Devon and Cornwall Brigade.
9 October 1914 : sailed for India, landing Karachi 11 November 1914. Came under orders of 3rd (Lahore) Divisional Area at Lahore.
January 1916: joined independent 36th Brigade in Indian Army.
5 January 1916 : landed at Basra, and remained in Mesopotamia for the rest of the war.
12 May 1916: 36th Brigade came under orders of 14th (Indian) Division.
September 1916 : came under orders of the Tigris Lines of Communication.

1/7th (Cyclist) Battalion
August 1914 : in Exeter, unallotted to a higher formation.
oved to Seaton Carew on North East coastal defences by by 1916 was at Bawdsey in Suffolk. In early 1918 moved to Canterbury and came under orders of 11th Cyclist Brigade in the Cyclist Division.

2/4th Battalion
Formed at Exeter in September 1914 as a Second Line battalion. Became part of 2nd Devon and Cornwall Brigade, 2nd Wessex Division.
12 December 1914 : sailed for India and came under orders of the Southern Brigade, 9th (Secunderabad) Division.
15 October 1917 : left for Egypt, landing at Suez on 26 October. Came under orders of Lines of Communication.
13 December 1917 : attached to 234th Brigade, 75th Division. Left Division in July 1918.
17 August 1918 : disbanded in Egypt.

2/5th (Prince of Wales's) Battalion
Formed at Plymouth in September 1914 as a Second Line battalion. Became part of 2nd Devon and Cornwall Brigade, 2nd Wessex Division.
17 September 1915 : landed in Egypt.
June 1916 : disbanded in Egypt.

2/6th Battalion
Formed at Barnstaple on 16 September 1914 as a Second Line battalion. Became part of 2nd Devon and Cornwall Brigade, 2nd Wessex Division.
12 December 1914 : sailed for India. Came under orders of 6th (Poona) Divisional Area at Bombay.
March 1916: moved to 7th (Meerut) Divisional Area.
August 1916: moved to Peshawar Brigade in 1st (Peshawar) Division.
Left for Mesopotamia, landing at Basra on 14 September 1917 and then remaining until the end of the war as Lines of Communication troops.

2/7th (Cyclist) Battalion
Formed at Totnes in October 1914. Remained in UK throughout the war, moving to Sevenoaks in 1916, Margate in 1917 and Southminster in 1918. By November 1918 was at Maldon.
Under orders of 73rd Division from October 1917 to January 1918.

3/4th, 3/5th and 3/6th Battalions
Formed at Exeter, Plymouth and Barnstaple respectively on 25 March 1915. Moved to Bournemouth in August 1915.
8 April 1916 : became Reserve Bns and 4th then absorbed 5th and 6th on 1 September 1916 at Hursley Park near Winchester.
Remained in England (moving to Bournemouth in October 1916, Sutton Veny in March 1917 and Larkhill in early 1918), until going to Ireland in April 1918. Thereafter stationed at various times at Belfast, Londonderry and Clonmany.

3/7th (Cyclist) Battalion
Formed in late 1915, possibly only as a depot rather than a fully-fledged training battalion. Disbanded March 1916.

15th Battalion
Formed on 1 January 1917 from what had previously been the 86th Provisional Battalion of the TF. It had been formed in August 1915 from "Home Service only" personnel and was under command of 227th Brigade. Moved to Aldeburgh in 1918.

16th (Royal 1st Devon & Royal North Devon Yeomanry) Battalion
Formed at Moascar in Egypt on 4 January 1917 from two dismounted Yeomanry units.
January 1917 : attached to 229th Brigade in 74th (Yeomanry) Division.
1 May 1918 : embarked at Alexandria for Marseilles, landing 7 May.

Battalions of the New Armies

8th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Exeter on 19 August 1914 as part of K1 and attached as Divisional Troops to 14th (Light) Division.
May 1915 : left Division and landed at Le Havre 26 July 1915.
4 August 1915 : attached to 20th Brigade, 7th Division.
Moved with the Division to Italy in November 1917.

9th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Exeter on 15 September 1914 as part of K2 and attached as Divisional Troops to 20th (Light) Division.
April 1915 : left Division and landed at Le Havre 28 July 1915.
8 August 1915 : attached to 20th Brigade, 7th Division.
September 1918 : left Division in Italy and moved back to France.
16 September 1918 : attached to 7th Brigade, 25th Division.

10th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Exeter on 25 September 1914 as part of K3, coming under orders of 79th Brigade, 26th Division.
23 September 1915 : landed at Boulogne.
November 1915 : moved with the Division to Salonika

11th (Reserve) Battalion
Formed in Exeter in November 1914 as Service battalion, part of K4.
November 1914 : attached to 100th Brigade, original 33rd Division.
10 April 1915 : became a Reserve battalion.
1 September 1916 : converted into 44th Training Reserve Battalion in 10th Reserve Brigade.

Other Battalions

12th (Labour) Battalion
Formed in Devonport in May 1916. June 1916 : landed in France and joined to Fourth Army.
April 1917 : transferred to Labour Corps as 152nd and 153rd Labour Companies.

13th (Works) Battalion
Formed in Saltash in June 1916. Moved to Plymouth. April 1917 became 3rd Labour Battalion.

14th (Labour) Battalion
Formed in Plymouth in August 1916. October 1916 : landed in France and joined to Third Army.
April 1917 : transferred to Labour Corps as 154th and 155th Labour Companies.

1st (Garrison) Battalion
Formed in Weymouth on 8 August 1915. Moved to Egypt on 27 September 1915 and on to Palestine in 1917.

2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion
Formed in Exeter in July 1916. Moved to Plymouth and Falmouth. Converted and became 5th Battalion of the Royal Defence Corps in August 1917.

51st (Graduated) Battalion
Up to 27 October 1917, this was known as 206th Graduated Battalion and had no regimental affiliation. Before that it had been 33rd Battalion of the Training Reserve and up to September 1916 had been the 13th (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. A training unit based at North Walsham, it was part of 192nd Brigade in 64th (2nd Highland) Division. It moved to Norwich by late 1917 and was at Holt by May 1918.

52nd (Graduated) Battalion
Up to 27 October 1917, this was known as 210th Graduated Battalion and had no regimental affiliation. Before that it had been 37th Battalion of the Training Reserve and up to September 1916 had been the 9th (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment. A training unit based at Taverham, it was part of 193rd Brigade in 64th Division. It moved to Norwich by late 1917 and was at Cromer by May 1918. It transferred to 192nd Brigade in 64th Division on 26 February 1918.

53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion
Up to 27 October 1917, this was known as 35th Young Soldier Battalion and had no regimental affiliation. A basic recruit training unit based at Sutton Mandeville, it was part of 8th Reserve Brigade. In January 1918 it moved to Rollestone Camp.

This page is dedicated to the memory of men like
Robert Bromfield, a Section B reservist recalled to 1st Battalion after eight years as a civilain, only to be killed at Givenchy on 30 October 1914; Harry Johns, a pre-war Territorial of 6th Battalion who served in Mesopotamia and went on attachment with 25th Londons and saw action in Afghanistan in 1919; Victor Hobbs, who served in France with the 6th Labour Company of the Devonshire Regiment, later 171 Company, the Labour Corps; Frank Baker who served in India and Afghanistan with 1/4th and 2/6th Battalions; and Albert Crew who enlisted into the 8th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, became a PT instructor with the Training Reserve and ended his war serving with the 9th Devons.
All of these men were researched in detail by fourteeneighteen|research