The
Tower of London was normally garrisoned by a small force of
Yeoman Warders, but these were supplemented by sometimes large numbers of local Hamlets men, known as
Hamleteers. The area also provided the Tower Hamlets Militia, which could be deployed in the field in the event of invasion or rebellion. There was no peacetime standing army in England until the
interregnum, and when regular units were formed they were typically raised from wider geographical districts than the Tower Hamlets; however, the area has provided some examples of regular forces.
Origins The earliest surviving reference to the inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets having a duty to provide a guard for the Tower of London dates from 1554, during the reign of
Mary I.
Sir Richard Southwell and Sir Arthur Darcye were ordered by the
Privy Council in that year to muster the men of the Hamlets "whiche owe their service to the Towre, and to give commaundement that they may be in aredynes for the defence of the same. This was long before the creation of the Liberty, and as the Hamlets are described as "owing" service there must have been a customary duty long before that date. Some believe the relationship goes back to the time of the Conqueror, but others suggest it came later in the medieval period when the Hamlets had a higher population. This wasn't always a militant radicalism though, as evidenced when the war-weary poor of Stepney, seeking compromise with the King, partially demolished a parliamentarian strongpoint in the
Lines of Communication, a ring of parliamentary fortifications around London. Despite this the support for Parliament remained generally robust throughout the coming war. The strategic importance of the Tower, together with its money and munitions meant Charles I was careful to install a
Constable of the Tower,
John Byron, who was loyal to him. In late December 1641 and early January 1642 Byron brought in stores of artillery and other armaments, parliament responded by putting a guard, a limited siege, using the
City of London Trained Bands (the Tower Hamlets Trained Band garrisoning the Tower were separate from the City of London Trained Bands) under the popular
Philip Skippon from 12 January. Around 20 January, the Constable (with the permission of the King) answered a summons and appeared before a House of Lords committee in Westminster to answer for his build-up of armaments. That night, with the Constable away, Skippon led a force of 500 men of the London Trained Bands under the cover of darkness, to the narrow streets of
St Katharines district, by the riverside, just east of the Tower. Skippon and his men approached the
Iron Gate, a small now lost feature (its site, on the east bank of the moat, is under the Tower Bridge Approach Road), outside the moat which protected a postern which opened out from the Develin Tower. The Tower was protected by a force of Hamleteers, but Skippon knew the areas political loyalties were with Parliament. Skippon believed he could seize the fortress in a
coup de main by persuading the Hamleteers to let his force into the Tower, hold it and thereby transform the strategic and political situation in the capital. Skippon called on the Sergeant on the
Iron Gate to let his men through so that the Tower would fall into Parliament's hands. The Serjeant would not let them in, and the force waited for some time in the hope that he could be talked round. The Sergeant refused a second attempt to persuade him and Skippon's force dispersed when the Constable returned from parliament just before 10pm. It seemed that the historic local bonds proved more powerful than the highly charged political affiliations of the day. Under normal circumstances Skippon would have been put on trial and executed for his actions, but Parliament swiftly exonerated him. Before the outbreak of the first English Civil War, parliament had managed to use political pressure to get the King to install a Constable, Sir John Conyers, sympathetic to their cause. Knowing his position in London was weak, the King fled the capital before war broke out in the summer. The Tower proved an extremely valuable asset to Parliament throughout the war.
Hostilities In the early years of the
English Civil War both Parliament and the King relied on local Militias such as that of the Tower Hamlets. Generally speaking these forces were county based and very reluctant to leave their home areas. A notable few organised "Trained Bands" of more highly motivated and reliable men willing to spend more time training – Tower Hamlets had a large Trained Band ready to serve outside the Liberty and this would later be organised into two regiments. By early 1643, the Tower Hamlets forces, together with those of
Westminster and
Southwark joined those of the
City under the command of
Sir Philip Skippon, who had previously tried to get the Tower Hamlets troops to betray the Tower to him before the start of the war. By 1644
The regiment of the Tower Hamlets is estimated to have 2-3000 men, while the strength of the reserve
Yellow regiment of the Auxiliaries of the Tower Hamlets is not known. The profusion of units, some very short lived before being amalgamated or discontinued, makes the lineage of Tower Hamlets units sometimes unclear. The
Cardwell Reforms of 1871 saw the volunteer element of the armed forces re-organised and given more supervision and support from central government. The local engineer unit became known at this time as the
2nd Tower Hamlets (East London) Engineer Volunteers. The infantry units retained their local identity but became reserve forces attached to a regular regiment,
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own). The Militia became the 7th Battalion, the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 9th Battalion and the
1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) also joined the regiment but retained its own name. In 1881 these latter two unit became part of the
East London Brigade for training and mobilisation purposes but remained part of The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment. The 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) used the
White Tower as its cap badge at this time and used the Tower of London moat for training and drilling. Machine Gun elements of this unit were sent to the
2nd Boer War and earned a battle honour at
Colenso. In 1904 the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) was transferred from
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment to the Royal Fusiliers a historic regiment originally formed in 1685 primarily from Tower Hamlets men.
First World War In 1908
London's reserve infantry forces were re-organised to form a new
London Regiment, though the Tower Hamlets units retained their local identities and traditions and affinities gained while attached to regular regiments. The 4th Bn Royal Fusiliers (previously the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade) became the
4th Bn while the 9th Bn
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) (previously the 2nd Tower Hamlets) became the
17th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Poplar and Stepney Rifles). Both these units saw extensive combat in the
First World War. The army's need for expansion saw the
4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment "duplicated" to form four battalions (1/4th, 2/4th, 3/4th and 4/4th); while the Poplar and Stepney Rifles were "duplicated" to form the 1/17th, 2/17th and 3/17th. The Tower Hamlets Engineers, by now a part of the wider
Royal Engineers and retaining their local identity but not their name, was also heavily involved in the conflict. In 1926 the Poplar and Stepney Rifles was renamed the 17th London Regiment (Tower Hamlets Rifles).
Second World War In 1937 the London Regiment was abolished and the Tower Hamlets Rifles were transferred back to
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment, seeing action in North Africa and Italy. The increasing importance of aerial warfare saw the former 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment being transferred to the
Royal Artillery (RA) as an Anti-aircraft artillery unit, the
60th (City of London) AA Brigade, RA (TA). The unit retained its Tower Hamlets identity, if not its name, and saw action on the home front and in continental Europe. Descendant units of the Tower Hamlets Engineers were also extensively involved in the conflict.
Cold War After the war the Tower Hamlets units lost their identities through a series of amalgamations. The longest to bear the local name were the Tower Hamlets Rifles who went through the Second World War as infantry. Both these Tower Hamlets Battalions (9th and 10th) of the
Rifle Brigade were amalgamated to form 656th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (Tower Hamlets) TA in 1947 and from 1961 to 1967 were known as the
300th (Tower Hamlets) Light Air Defence Regiment RA (TA). In 1967 a further amalgamation saw the loss of local identity in this last Tower Hamlets unit and the last of the Tower Hamlets name in the British Army. Some current British Army units, recruited on a much broader geographical basis, count Tower Hamlets units as part of their historic lineage. == Extent ==