relieved the battered 1/2nd Londons, and the fighting continued the next day until the German advance was held. The division was relieved and sent to a quieter sector on 3 December. At the end of the battle, the 1/3rd with 850 all ranks was one of the stronger battalions in the battered division. Due to manpower shortages, the BEF disbanded one in four of its infantry battalions in January 1918. 1/3rd Londons was selected for disbandment from 167th Bde. It supplied drafts to each of the remaining battalions in the brigade, and the remainder went to reinforce the 'new' 2/3rd Londons in 58th Division. Henceforward, the 2/3rd was referred to as simply the 3rd Londons (see below). Commanding Officers 1/3rd Battalion London Regiment was commanded by the following officers: Lt-Col A.A. Howell, appointed 8 March 1910; became Brig-Gen commanding 1st London (Reserve) Bde in 1916 Lt-Col F.D. Samuel, DSO, TD, from June to September 1916 and March 1917 to March 1918, when 1/3rd and 2/3rd Bns merged, after which he went to Palestine to command 40th Bn Royal Fusiliers Lt-Col A.E. Maitland, DSO, MC, (Essex Regiment) until March 1917, when he was transferred to 1/4th Bn 2/3rd Londons After serving in Kent, the 2/3rd Battalion disembarked at Malta on 31 December 1914, allowing the 1/3rd Battalion to embark for France on 2 January 1915 (see above). Gallipoli While on Malta the 2/3rd Bn continued training. It was still regarded as a draft-finding unit for 1/4th Bn. On 13 April they moved to Egypt, landing at Port Said before going on to garrison Khartoum in Sudan. On 15 September, they left Khartoum and returned to Port Said before carrying on to Mudros, where they arrived 18 September. It entered the Gallipoli Campaign on 26 September when it landed at Suvla and was attached to the Regulars of 86th Brigade in 29th Division. Here, it was assigned to 'C' section of the 'Dublin Castle' sector of the line, with A Company attached to 2nd Bn Royal Fusiliers for training. During two months of trench holding, the battalion lost approximately half its strength. Then, on 26 November, a great thunderstorm hit the peninsula and their trenches were flooded, followed by snow. The 2/3rd Londons were the worst hit of any unit: 50 men drowned and another 30 were evacuated with frostbite, leaving the battalion with an effective strength of just six officers and