The 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (6th Royal Warwicks) was a unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1908 until 1961. Recruited from Birmingham, it served as infantry in some of the bloodiest fighting on the Western Front and in Italy during World War I. Converted to an Anti-Aircraft (AA) role, it defended the West Midlands during The Blitz in the early part of World War II, and then joined Eighth Army in North Africa, including service in the famous Siege of Tobruk and in the Italian Campaign. It served on in the air defence role in the postwar TA until 1961. Volunteers The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One such unit was the 1st (Birmingham Rifles) Warwickshire RVC. Under the 'Localisation of Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell reforms, the Volunteers in Warwickshire were grouped with the two Regular battalions of the 6th Foot (Royal Warwickshire Regiment) and following the Childers Reforms, the battalion was designated the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1883. On 1 January 1891 the unit reorganised as a double battalion (referred to as A and B Battalions, or more confusingly as 1st and 2nd Battalions). Territorial Force When the Volunteers were subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908 as part of the Haldane Reforms, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Birmingham Rifles became the 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment respectively and adopted the red uniform with blue facings of the Royal Warwickshires. The 5th and 6th Battalions continued to share a drill hall at Thorp Street, Birmingham, and both were in the Warwickshire Brigade of the TF's South Midland Division. World War I Mobilisation On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the units of the South Midland Division had just set out for annual training when orders recalled them to their home depots for mobilisation. 6th Royal Warwicks mobilised at Thorp Street under its commanding officer (CO) Lt-Col E. Martineau, VD. The division then concentrated around Chelmsford where it formed part of Central Force. While the battalions trained for overseas service, so-called 2nd-Line battalions were authorised on 31 August to be formed at the home depots from men who either had not