The Staffordshire Militia was an auxiliary[a] military force in Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands in 1572 and their reorganisation in 1662 and 1777, the Militia regiments of Staffordshire served during times of international tension and all of Britain's major wars. They provided internal security and home defence but in the Crimean War were stationed in the Mediterranean relieving regular troops from routine garrison duties. They also acted as a source of trained officers and men for the Regular Army. By the later 19th Century there were four battalions, assigned to the South and North Staffordshire Regiments. All the battalions went on active service during the Second Boer War and all served as Special Reserve training units in World War I, with two battalions seeing considerable action on the Western Front. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.
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