Bedfordshire Militia

The Bedfordshire Militia, later the Bedfordshire Light Infantry was an auxiliary military regiment in the English county of Bedfordshire. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands, in 1572 and their service during the Armada Crisis and in the English Civil War, the Militia of Bedfordshire served during times of international tension and all of Britain's major wars. The regiment provided internal security and home defence, relieving regular troops from routine garrison duties and acting as a source of trained officers and men for the Regular Army. It later became a battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment, and prepared thousands of reinforcements for the fighting battalions of the regiment in World War I. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.