The 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) recruited from East London. During World War I it raised four battalions, which carried out garrison duty in Malta and Egypt, served at Gallipoli and against the Senussi, and saw a great deal of action on the Western Front, notably in the Attack on the Gommecourt Salient in 1916, at Bullecourt in 1917 and at Oppy Wood and Chipilly Ridge in 1918. During World War II it served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the Battle of France and during the Blitz in 1940 and in North West Europe in 1944–45. It continued in the TA until 1961. Volunteer Force An invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm for joining local Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). The Tower Hamlets area of East London was no exception. The first RVC in the area was short-lived, but the 2nd Tower Hamlets RVC formed on 6 April 1860 at Dalston soon had seven companies: No 1 Company at Hackney No 2 Company at Dalston No 3 Company at Bow Nos 4, 5 & 6 Companies at Poplar and Limehouse No 7 Company at Clapton By the end of the year the HQ had moved to South Hackney. One of the original officers was Captain Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda, a Thames-side shipbuilder. Similarly, the 4th Tower Hamlets RVC was formed in June 1860 at St Leonard's, Shoreditch, initially with five companies, and the 6th Tower Hamlets RVC at Dalston in September 1860, with eight companies by the end of the year (many recruits probably coming from the failed 1st Tower Hamlets RVC). The 4th Tower Hamlets RVC moved its HQ to Robert Street, Hoxton in 1864, and in 1868 merged with the 2nd Corps to form the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB), with 15 companies (seven from the 2nd, eight from the 4th), adopting Robert St as its HQ. The 6th Corps adopted the title of North East London Rifles in 1865, and on 1 January 1874 it too merged its 12 companies into the 1st Tower Hamlets, initially giving 27 companies, soon reduced to 16 and later 12. By now the unit had moved its HQ to the former 6th Tower Hamlets RVC HQ at 112 Shaftesbury Street, off City Road in Hoxton. Its regimental badge was