Helmet plate, officer, Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteers, 1878-1882

White metal badge in the form of an eight-pointed, rayed star, the topmost point of which is displaced by a monarchial crown. A laurel wreath encloses a garter. Within the garter bearing the unit title, on a black velvet ground, is a depiction of the White Tower, the central keep of the Tower of London.

he Tower Hamlets Rifles was an London-based auxiliary unit formed in 1861. Originally a volunteer corps, the unit became a volunteer battalion of the Rifle Brigade in 1881, with members seeing active service in South Africa, during the Boer War (1899-1902). In 1908 the battalion became part of the London Regiment.