In 1930, the 4th Battalion was one of four Territorial Battalions of the Essex Regiment with the members holding normal jobs and living at home but training regularly in the evening or at weekends with yearly training camps.

A Company was at Dagenham, B Company at Burnham on Crouch C Company at Epping D Company at Manor Park.

By the start of the Second World War the 6th and 7th Battalions had been re-designated which left the 4th and 5th Battalions operational.

With the threat of war the 4th battalion ( 1/4th Battalion) had recruited a second line battalion known as the 2/4th Battalion with a HQ at Ilford.

1/4th Battalion

The 1/4th Battalion which was part of the 161st Infantry Brigade was allocated a home defence role for coast and aerodrome..

Mobilistaion took place at Epping followed by a move on 2 December 1939 to Witham with companies serving at Maldon, North Weald and Hornchurch.

On 10 April 1940 the battalion moved to Wooler, Northumberland for defence duty on the Northumberland coast which was one of the most likely invasion sites.

In July 1940, tropical kit was issued as on 5 August 1940 the battalion sailed on SS Monarch of Bermuda to Wilberforce Barracks, Freetown, Sierra Leone which they garrisoned.

On 27th July 1941 they sailed for the Maaten Bagush, about 60 miles west of El Alamein in in Egypt but on 5 November 1941 they moved again to Famagusta in Cyprus where they were engaged in defensive duties in case there was an invasion by the Germans.

A move to Karkur in Palestine followed in April 1942 with responsibility for the defence of Jenin and Nablus.

On 11 June 1942 the battalion moved back to the western desert and had several short postings with a general retreat in the face of German advances eventually arriving at El Alamein on 29 June 1942. The Battalion were then heavily involved in the defence of El Alamein. By the end of the defence the strength of the battalion was 230 which was 645 less than there strength when they arrived in Egypt just a year earlier.

On 3 November 1942, a counter attack was mounted with the Battalion taking a central role which saw them punch a hole through German lines large enough to allow a column of tanks through that destabilised the German lines leading to their retreat effectively ending the battle of El Alamein. The next 6 months saw a continual advance with many small and larger actions before finally taking the hills of Medez overlooking Tunis on 6th May 1943 as their last action of the North African Campaign.

A period of recuperation saw the Battalion stationed at Misurata in Tunisia and then on 6 July 1943 to Alexandria in Egypt.

On 22nd November 1943 the Battalion embarked on a troopship to take part in a new campaign in the advance through Italy.

After a short spell with the Eights Army at Salarolo on 2 February 1944 the battalion transferred to the 5th Division and the fight to take Monte Cassino.

On 15th March 1944 there was an attempt to take Monte Cassino which included the 4th Essex . After a series of tough battles the battalion reached the upper slopes before losses to the attackers were too great and the attack stalled. Casualties were heavy with over 150 men lost with only two officers surviving the assault.

Injured 4th Essex men at Monte Cassino

On 2 April 1944 the battalion returned to the Eight Army and the frontline at Consalvi on the Adriatic coast. In June 1944 the Battalion left the front line for training at Campobosso before entering the front line again near Sienna.

On 20 August 1944 the battalion was withdrawn from the front line having been involved in fighting for nearly two years. During the next 6 weeks recruits boosted the strength up to 30 Officers and 700 other ranks

On 1 October 1944 the battalion rejoined the fray with 10th Division on the Lombardy Plains in Savio Valley where it continued the fight against the Germans until the campaign was effectively won.

The next move was on 7 December 1944 when the Battalion sailed for Greece to support the small British contingent around the port of Piraeus. The next month saw a number of engagements in the Athens peninsula with Greek resistance fighters who supported factions opposed to the new Government set up once the German evacuated from Greece. Short term  bases included Kifisia, Portaria, Leehonia and Edhessa which is where the battalion celebrated VE Day with a service to honour their colleagues lost since entering the war at El Alamein in 1941.

They remained in Greece dealing with armed bandits while the Greek Army was being formed and trained and by 1946 duties were more guard duty with many of the men released back to civilian life. For practical purposes in May 1946 the battalion ceased to exist  until May 1947 when it was reintroduced in Essex once again as an infantry territorial battalion.

Bases were established at Ilford, Manor Park, Barking, Becontree, Dagenham, Southminster, Burnham on Crouch, Epping, Buckhurst Hill and Woodford.

2/4th Battalion

The 2/4th Battalion has been recruited and partly trained by the start of the war and immediately was allocated guard duties at the Essex Coast at Shoeburyness and Clacton on Sea and inland at Romford and Dagenham.

On 2 November 1939 the battalion moved to Saxmundham, Suffolk where they were responsible for guarding the coastline from Leiston to Aldeburgh.

On 18 April 1940 the battalion moved again, this time to Hexham in Northumberland and then a month later to Lambton Caste in Durham.

On 11 October 1940 the battalion moved to Chester le Street, Durham and remained there until 21 March 1941 when they moved to Fairford in Gloucester for 4 months of training.

There was another move on 22nd July 1941 to Henley on Thames before a move back to Aldeburgh and Leiston on 21 November 1941.

On 12 April 1943 the battalion moved to the Old Park Barracks at Dover for 6 weeks before moving to Bradford Down Camp at Dorchester for another 6 weeks followed by a short stay at Southampton and then a move to the Isle of Wight.

In January 1944 they moved to Hutton Rudby, Yorkshire where they took part in an exercise which was part of the D Day training.

March 1944 saw a move to Gosport where they were responsible for security around the growing D Day preparation area.

After D Day, the battalion was stripped of all fit men who were posted to other Battalions which left just 200 men.

An amalgamation took place with the 12th Royal Fusiliers who were similarly weak in manpower and on 30 August 1944 the new 2/4th battalion moved back to Southold to act as a training battalion for young soldiers.

The final  wartime move came on 1 November 1944 when the battalion moved to Shorncliffe where they were serving on VE Day following which they were slowly demobilised until the battalion was formally disbanded at the end of 1945.