THE LEGION OF FRONTIERSMEN OF THE COMMONWEALTH

(COUNTESS MOUNTBATTEN’S OWN)

In London, on December 26th 1904, the establishment of a worldwide voluntary service organisation for former British military personnel was announced.  The object of the new organisation was to channel the huge range of their collective skills in ways which would continue to benefit Britain and the Empire.  Within weeks many hundreds had become members and the Legion of Frontiersmen was born.

The Secretary of State for War granted formal recognition as an Auxiliary Unit of the British Armed Services on February 15th 1906.  The membership, soon to be numbered in five figures, rapidly developed a working presence not only in all parts of the United Kingdom, British Dominions and Colonies but also in Europe, South America, China and other areas not connected to the British Crown. The variety of experience, specialised knowledge and linguistic fluency demonstrated by Frontiersmen then and since has probably never been equalled in any other single military unit.   Many famous figures of the day became members or supporters, one of the initial founders being Lord Louis Mountbatten’s father, HRH Prince Louis of Battenberg.  The Mountbatten family connection continues to this day in the person of our Patron, The Rt Hon Countess Mountbatten of Burma and is reflected in the regimental title “Countess Mountbatten’s Own”. 

On the outbreak of the First World War, in response to a general request for help from King Albert of the Belgians, 30 Manchester-based Frontiersmen, with horses and full equipment, travelled to Ostende and were seconded to the 3rd Belgian Lancers with whom they fought during the opening phases of the Great War.  Pre-empting the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force, these men were the first British nationals to engage the enemy and their exploits marked the start of the Legion’s distinguished service record during the Great War.

Some 9000 Frontiersmen enlisted between 1914 and 1918, many famous Canadian, Australian and New Zealand regiments drawing the great majority of their soldiers from the ranks of the Legion.  British Frontiersmen formed the 25th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and served from 1915 in the East African Campaign, less than 100 returning from a force of over 1500.   Typical of the variety of experience to be found in a Frontiersmen unit, the first detachment of the 25th to arrive on station in East Africa included stockbrokers, a circus clown, former members of the French Foreign Legion, a servant from Buckingham Palace, dance band musicians, a millionaire, ex-cavalry officers from the 9th and 12th Lancers, a former Royal Navy wireless operator, a lighthouse keeper from Scotland and several noted explorers, big-game hunters and naturalists.   Also serving in the 25th was a former actor, Lt Wilbur Dartnell, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in September 1915.  During the First and Second World Wars a further nine Victoria Crosses were awarded to former Frontiersmen serving with other units.

Between the wars the Legion saw active service in various overseas theatres whilst at home establishing and administering a School of Instruction for Defence against Aerial and Chemical Warfare, a Maritime Command and an Air Command.  No named Frontiersmen unit was established during the Second World War but Frontiersmen from 33 countries served in every branch of the armed services and in home services such as the Auxiliary Fire Service, Special Constabulary and Civil Defence.  The Legion was also instrumental in the founding of the Local Defence Volunteers, later to be known as the Home Guard.