No

Date Died

Surname

Forenames

Rank

Decs

Age

Cause

Country

Location/Sector

Cemetery/Memorial

Notes

 Died in 1915

1

29th June

COMBER

Andrew Pater

Capt

-

49

DOI

UK

QA Military Hospital, Millbank, London

Kensal Green (All Souls) Cemetery (213.9.5)

(1)

Notes:

1.   COMBER, late RN, was appointed Captain in the General List of the Territorial Force Reserve on 11th November 1914 and was assigned to the Battalion.    He died of ?   At the time of his death he commanded a detachment guarding an internment camp, possibly at Dorchester.

7th (Cyclist) Battalion

The Battalion was formed in 1908, part of the new Territorial Force.   Its primary role was Home Defence and Coastal Protection duties.   The Battalion HQ was based at Exeter with Companies and Detachments widely dispersed throughout the County of Devon.

At the outbreak of war on 4th August 1914 the Battalion was attending Annual Camp at Curston Racecourse, Paignton and sub-units of the Battalion were quickly deployed to pre-planned strategic locations along the southwest coast to assist other Home and Coastal Defence forces in the event of a German invasion.   By the autumn of 1914, the Battalion had concentrated and redeployed along the coast north of Scarborough to Northumberland.   The Battalion became 1/7th (Cyclist) Battalion TF when a Second Line unit , the 2/7th (Cyclist) Battalion TF was formed in September 1914.  

1/7th Battalion.   Between February and November 1915 the Battalion were based at Seaton Carew in Northumberland,, after which it was re-deployed to Kent.   In 1916 and 1917 their area of operations had moved north to Bawdsey in the county of Suffolk.   In early 1918 the Battalion was moved to Canterbury under the command of 11th (Cyclist) Brigade in the Cyclist Division.   The Battalion was disbanded in early 1919.

2/7th Battalion.   After formation in September 1914, the Battalion, based at Totnes, came under command of Southern Command for Home Defence and its duties included reconnaissance and patrolling the coastal areas between Lyme Regis and the River Yealm to the east of Plymouth, and from Rame Head westwards to Polruan.   In November 1915 the Battalion was moved to St Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex, where it remained until June 1916 when the Battalion was moved to Sevenoaks.   The Battalion was under command of 73rd (Home Service) Division between October 1917 and January 1918 in the Essex area.  At the end of the war the Battalion was based at Maldon in Essex and was disbanded in early 1919.

3/7th Battalion.   The Battalion was formed in late 1915 at Totnes as a depot, training and reinforcing unit supplying trained drafts to the 1/7th Battalion and the 2/7th Battalion.   The unit was disbanded in March 1916 with its responsibilities taken over by the 2/7th Battalion.

The Devonshire Regiment was formed on 1st July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, which saw the two Battalions of the 11th (North Devon) Regiment of Foot being renamed and reconstituted as the Regular 1st and 2nd Battalions of the new Regiment, with the Regimental Depot based at Topsham Barracks, Exeter.  The 1881 reforms also redesignated the Militia and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVC) units within the Regimental District of Devon as Battalions of the new Regiment  - the East Devon Militia forming the 1st (Militia) Battalion and the South Devon Militia forming the 2nd (Militia) Battalion.   Five Volunteer Battalions of the new Regiment were formed from the county Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVC) units: 1st Devonshire (Exeter and South Devon) RVC , the 2nd Devonshire (Prince of Wales's) RVC, the 3rd Devonshire RVC, the 4th Devonshire RVC and the 5th Devonshire RVC.  In 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, the two Militia Battalions were amalgamated, reorganised and restructured forming the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and the five Volunteer Battalions were reorganised and formed the 4th Battalion, 5th Battalion, 6th Battalion and 7th Battalion of the Regimental Territorial Force (TF).   After the Declaration of War on 4th August 1914 and at various stages up to 1st June 1918, the order of battle of the Devonshire Regiment was made up of 30 Regular, Territorial Force, Service, Labour, Works, Garrison, Reserve and Graduated Battalions.

A detailed history of the Devonshire Regiment can also be viewed here, here and here.

The "Devonshire Regiment 1914 - 1918" (by C T Atkinson - ISBN 13: 978-184342150 ) provides a detailed account of the operations of the Battalions of the Regiment which took an active part in the Great War.