page_title: South Devon Militia
section_title: Devonshire Regiment
hierarchical_section_title: South Devon Militia / Devonshire Regiment
caption_attribution_description: English: An original digital image of the Devonshire Regiment Badge.
context_page_description: The South Devon Militia was a part-time military unit in the maritime county of Devonshire in the West of England. The Militia had always been important in the county, which was vulnerable to invasion, and from its formal creation in 1758 the regiment served in home defence in all of Britain's major wars, later as a reserve battalion for the Devonshire Regiment. It was disbanded in 1908.
context_section_description: The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, and the Militia regiments became integral parts of their Regular county regiment, with the 11th Foot becoming the Devonshire Regiment of two battalions and the two Devon Militia regiments becoming the 3rd and 4th battalions. This caused some confusion: because there had been no established order of precedence, when Militia regiments were brigaded together they had traditionally drawn lots for precedence in that year's camp; this became an annual ballot between the counties. Then in 1833 individual regiments were balloted for a permanent order of precedence and this list was continued in 1855: the East Devons were drawn as No 41, the South Devons as No 25. Normally this only affected matters such as positions on the parade ground, but when the militia became numbered battalions it meant that the former South Devons (now the 2nd) became the 3rd Battalion, (2nd Devon Militia) Devonshire Regiment by virtue of their higher precedence, while the 1st Devons became the 4th Battalion (1st Devon Militia).
  Training was now more realistic, often carried out at annual camps, but there was a falling-off in recruitment and the Devon Militia regiments were each reduced by two companies in 1876, and by a further two, to a total of six, in 1890.
caption: The badge of the Devonshire Regiment, adopted by the whole regiment in 1883.
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