world. By the end of the war over 13,000 men and 750 officers had passed through the battalion. Territorial Force The 1/4th, 1/5th (Prince of Wales's) and 1/6th Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment, all First Line Territorial Force (TF) units, were mobilised upon the outbreak of war, serving together in the Devon and Cornwall Brigade of the Wessex Division, and were sent to India. The 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions later saw action in Mesopotamia, while the 1/5th was transferred to the Western Front. The Second Line battalions (2/4th, 2/5th (Prince of Wales's) and 2/6th) also went to India, with the 2/4th and 2/5th later serving in Palestine and Mesopotamia respectively. The 1/7th and 2/7th (Cyclist) Battalions served in Home Defence. Kitchener's Army The 9th (Service) Battalion was one of the few British units to reach its initial objectives on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, albeit at the cost of 463 dead or wounded of the 775 men who went 'over the top', with only one officer remaining unwounded. The 8th (Service) Battalion, part of 29th Brigade reserve, was committed within 3 hours of the beginning of the attack and suffered 639 casualties on the first day. The 8th Battalion later served on the Italian Front. The 10th (Service) Battalion served at Salonika. The regiment also raised the 11th (Reserve), 12th (Labour), 13th (Works) and 14th (Labour) Battalions. The later years of the war The experience of an 18-year-old volunteer joining the 35th Training Reserve Battalion, part of the Devon Regiment, in 1918, is provided by A S Bullock. Second World War The 1st Battalion was serving in British India when the Second World War broke out, and spent the entire war in India, Ceylon and Burma. In 1942 the battalion joined the 80th Indian Infantry Brigade, attached to the 20th Indian Infantry Division and served with them until 1945 when the battalion was transferred to the British 26th Infantry Brigade. The brigade was part of the British 36th Infantry Division. The 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment was a Regular Army unit that was serving on the island of Malta as part of the 1st Malta Infantry Brigade (redesignated as the 231st Infantry Brigade in April 1943) and was involved in the siege of Malta from June 1940 until November 1942. In July 1943 the battalion, together with the 231st Brigade, fought in the Allied invasion of Sicily,