The 4th Middlesex or Royal South Middlesex Militia was an auxiliary regiment raised in Middlesex in the Home counties of England just before the Crimean War. It later became part of the Royal Fusiliers. Primarily intended for home defence, it served in England and Ireland during Britain's major wars. It was converted to the Special Reserve under the Haldane Reforms and supplied reinforcements to the Royal Fusiliers' fighting battalions during World War I. After a shadowy postwar existence the unit was finally disbanded in 1953.
Background
The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two Acts of 1557, which placed selected men, the 'Trained Bands', under the command of Lords Lieutenant appointed by the monarch. This is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England. It was an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s, and control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War. The English Militia was re-established under local control in 1662 after the Restoration of the monarchy, but between periods of national emergency the militia was regularly allowed to decline.
Under threat of French invasion during the Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 reorganised the county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. Middlesex was given a quota of three regiments to raise, but failed to do so until the war was nearly over. In peacetime the militia assembled for 28 days' annual training. The Middlesex Militia were first 'embodied' for permanent service in home defence in 1778 during the War of American Independence, and served throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
In 1797 an additional ballot was carried out to raise men for the 'Supplementary Militia' to be trained in their spare time, to reinforce the standing militia regiments if required and to form additional temporary regiments. Middlesex had to find an additional 5280 militiamen and form two new regiments, one of which (the 4th Middlesex Militia) was the South Middlesex Militia. The regiment was reduced in 1799.
During the French wars, the militia were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the Regular Army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, for internal security, and later for limited overseas service, primarily for garrison duties in Europe. However, after the Battle of Waterloo the militia were disembodied and once again was allowed to decline in the years of the long peace that followed.
Royal South Middlesex Militia
The Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Militia Act 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the militia ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time service in three circumstances: 1. 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'. 2. 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'. 3. 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'.
One of the new regiments created was the Royal South, or 4th Middlesex Militia, formed on 3 May 1853 at Hounslow. The Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex transferred Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Bagot (a half-pay Regular Army officer, formerly of the 60th Rifles), from command of the Royal Westminster Militia to command the new regiment. The 5th Middlesex Militia (the Royal Elthorne Light Infantry) was formed the same month, giving Middlesex a total of five regiments: 1st or Royal East Middlesex Militia 2nd Middlesex, or Edmonton Royal Rifle Regiment 3rd Middlesex, or Royal Westminster Light Infantry 4th or Royal South Middlesex Militia 5th Middlesex, or Royal Elthorne Light Infantry