15th (Co. of London) Battalion, 4th London Brigade.
The Battalion, under the title of the “15th (County of London) Battalion the London Regiment,” was placed in the 4th London Brigade of the 2nd London Division, the brigade being constituted as before (the old “Grey Brigade”), and still under the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Scots Guards Regiment.
The first training camp of the Territorial Brigade was held at West Down, Salisbury Plain, from August 2nd to 16th, 1908, Colonel Inigo Jones, Scots Guards, in command. The Civil Service were by far the strongest battalion in the camp; the London Scottish and other corps having as yet been able to raise but a few companies for the new Force. This result had been achieved in spite of the fact that Treasury Regulations had been issued, regarding leave to be granted to Territorials in Government Departments for camp training, in which the conditions were much less generous than those formerly accorded to volunteers by Heads of Departments.
Fortunately, an officer of the Corps, Lieutenant F. H. D. Acland, having been elected M.P. for Richmond (Yorks), had been given the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the War Office. By his influence the Secretary of State for War, Mr. Haldane, commenced a tour of inspection of Territorials by visiting the camp at Salisbury Plain and lunching with the “Civil Service.” On his attention being drawn to the new leave conditions, Mr. Haldane was good enough to attend the Regimental Prize Distribution at the close of the year and publicly announced that more generous conditions should be issued.