In 1900 the University of Birmingham raised a company, sanctioned by the War Office, which was known as U Company of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Captain W. E. Bennett, one of the staff of the University, was given the command. The Company held its first parade in May 1900 and the occasion was celebrated by the presentation of the Inter-Section Challenge Cup by the Chancellor of the University, Joseph Chamberlain. In 1900 the Volunteers, of which U Company was part, were 1,406 strong.