The Volunteer

On Baker Street, within sight of the fictional lodgings of Sherlock Holmes, a Victorian pub stands that has served military men since the days when volunteer soldiers represented a particular kind of patriotic service. The Volunteer takes its name from these volunteer soldiers—men who enlisted for service rather than being conscripted, whose military commitment was chosen rather than compelled. Throughout the Victorian era and across both World Wars, The Volunteer served as a gathering place for soldiers, a pub where military men could drink, talk, and find the camaraderie that military service creates. The pub witnessed generations of soldiers passing through London—volunteers heading to colonial wars, doughboys preparing for the trenches of France, servicemen on leave from the campaigns of World War II. Some of these soldiers returned from their wars; others did not. And some, it seems, returned not to their homes but to the pub where they spent hours in the company of their comrades. The Volunteer is haunted by soldiers from multiple eras, their uniforms marking them as belonging to different periods of military history, their presence united by their common connection to this establishment. The ghosts of The Volunteer do not threaten or disturb; they simply continue what they did in life—drinking, talking, enjoying the fellowship of the pub, their eternal rest taking the form of eternal recreation. The soldiers who haunted The Volunteer in life, filling its rooms with stories and songs, haunt it still in death, their presence making it one of London’s most affectionately haunted locations.

The Volunteer Tradition

The concept of the volunteer soldier carried particular meaning in British military history.

Before conscription became routine, Britain’s military included both regular soldiers—professional military men—and volunteers—civilians who enlisted for specific conflicts or as part of local defense forces. The volunteer regiments drew from all levels of society, men who believed in causes enough to risk their lives for them.

The volunteer tradition was particularly strong during the Victorian era, when the rifle volunteer movement created local defense forces throughout Britain. These volunteers trained, drilled, and stood ready, their service a form of civic participation that combined military discipline with civilian life.

Pubs associated with volunteer regiments became social centers, places where volunteers gathered after drill, where bonds formed, where the social aspect of volunteer service was as important as the military training. The Volunteer on Baker Street served this function, its name declaring its connection to the volunteer tradition.

The Victorian Soldiers

The oldest ghosts at The Volunteer date to the Victorian era.

The Victorian soldiers appear in the uniforms of their period, the distinctive dress of nineteenth-century British military men. Their uniforms identify their regiments and their eras, their appearance placing them in specific moments of Victorian military history.

These soldiers are seen sitting at tables or standing at the bar, their postures those of men at leisure, their manner relaxed rather than military. They appear to be off duty, enjoying the freedoms that pub time provided, the contrast with drill and discipline making the pub a valued space.

The Victorian soldiers seem unaware of the modern era, their attention on each other, their conversation with comrades who are equally ghostly. They exist in their own time, sharing moments of camaraderie that the pub once provided, their fellowship preserved in spectral form.

The Great War Ghosts

Soldiers from World War I appear among The Volunteer’s ghosts.

The Great War soldiers wear the uniforms of that terrible conflict, the khaki that replaced the colorful dress of earlier armies, the practical clothing designed for trench warfare. Their appearance places them in the years 1914-1918, when Britain sent millions of men to France and other fronts.

The term “doughboys,” technically an American nickname, appears in witness descriptions, perhaps reflecting the international character of London during the Great War, when American forces joined the British and French against Germany. Soldiers from multiple nations passed through London, and some may have found their way to pubs like The Volunteer.

The Great War soldiers appear tired in ways the Victorian soldiers do not, their manner suggesting the exhaustion that trench warfare produced. Even in spectral recreation, they carry the weight of what they experienced, their rest earned through suffering that the Victorian volunteers did not face.

The Second World War Presence

World War II servicemen complete the military eras represented at The Volunteer.

The World War II soldiers wear uniforms that distinguish them from earlier periods, the battle dress of the 1940s, the equipment that served in North Africa, Italy, Normandy, and beyond. Their appearance places them in the years 1939-1945, when another generation served and died.

London during World War II was a city under siege, the Blitz bringing war to civilian streets in ways previous conflicts had not. Soldiers on leave in London knew that their city was also a front, that the homes they defended were themselves under attack. The wartime atmosphere gave pub visits particular intensity.

The World War II soldiers appear more varied than earlier eras, their ranks and services more diverse, the expanded military of total war represented in The Volunteer’s ghostly population. The diversity suggests that the pub served widely during the war years, welcoming soldiers from throughout the armed forces.

The Appearing and Vanishing

The soldier ghosts manifest and disappear in consistent patterns.

The soldiers appear solid and real, detailed enough that witnesses often believe they are seeing living people until the impossible occurs. Their uniforms, their equipment, their manner all suggest actual military men rather than obvious apparitions.

Some witnesses report making eye contact with the soldiers, the moment of mutual recognition when living eyes meet dead eyes. The eye contact suggests awareness, the soldiers perceiving the living even if they do not interact with them. The moment of contact is often when vanishing occurs, as if attention triggers disappearance.

The vanishing is sudden rather than gradual, the soldiers simply no longer present from one moment to the next. They do not fade, do not walk away, do not provide warning—they are there, and then they are not. The sudden vanishing confirms their supernatural nature.

The Marching Footsteps

Auditory phenomena fill The Volunteer with sounds of military life.

The sound of marching boots echoes on the upper floors, the rhythmic tread of soldiers in formation, the disciplined movement that military training produces. The marching occurs when the upper floors are empty, the sound of boots on floors where no boots walk.

The marching may be residual, the accumulated drilling of volunteer regiments whose training included marching in formation. Or it may be intelligent, the ghosts of soldiers maintaining the discipline that defined their service, continuing to march in death as they marched in life.

The footsteps are distinct from the random sounds that old buildings produce, their rhythm too regular, their character too specifically military. Whatever produces the sound is not building settlement or water in pipes—it is marching, the movement of soldiers in step.

The Military Songs

Songs associated with military service are heard when no one is singing.

Military songs being hummed fill the pub at times, the melodies that soldiers sang on march, in barracks, in pubs, wherever military men gathered. The humming suggests individual soldiers rather than groups, solitary figures producing the music of their service.

The songs are described as period-appropriate, melodies that match the eras of the ghostly soldiers rather than contemporary military music. The period character confirms the connection to the pub’s military history, the songs belonging to the soldiers who sang them.

The humming has a ghostly quality, too quiet for the space it fills, seeming to come from everywhere rather than from a specific location. The diffuse character of the sound makes it difficult to investigate, the humming persisting as background rather than identifiable source.

The Pipe Tobacco

The smell of old pipe tobacco fills the pub despite modern smoking bans.

The tobacco smell is distinctive, the particular quality of tobacco smoked in pipes rather than cigarettes, the fragrance that characterized earlier eras of smoking. The smell manifests in spaces where no smoking has occurred for years, appearing and disappearing without environmental explanation.

Pipe smoking was common among military men of earlier generations, the pipe a companionable practice for leisure hours, the tobacco a comfort during stress. Soldiers at The Volunteer would have smoked their pipes while drinking, the two pleasures combined.

The tobacco smell is often described as pleasant rather than offensive, the fragrance of quality tobacco rather than stale smoke. The pleasantness reinforces the benign character of The Volunteer’s haunting, the ghosts bringing the comforts they enjoyed rather than disturbances they might cause.

The Self-Raising Glasses

Physical phenomena at The Volunteer include glasses that move on their own.

Glasses are reported to raise themselves from surfaces as if being lifted for a toast, the movement suggesting the ritual of drinking together, the gesture that soldiers would have made countless times during their visits to the pub. The raising continues until the glasses tip over, falling and often breaking.

The toast interpretation gives meaning to the movement, the gesture of fellowship, the raising of drinks to comrades, the ritual that bound military men together. The interpretation suggests that the ghosts are not randomly moving objects but performing a specific action, continuing in death what they did in life.

The breaking may be incidental, the glasses falling because invisible hands cannot maintain their grip. Or it may be intentional, the soldiers making their presence known through the dramatic sound of breaking glass, the crash an announcement of ghostly presence.

The Phantom Touch

Physical contact from invisible presences occurs at The Volunteer.

The sensation of hands on shoulders is commonly reported, the touch that comrades would exchange, the physical contact of fellowship. The touch is not aggressive but friendly, the gesture of greeting or acknowledgment that soldiers would have given each other.

Whispered conversations in accents from bygone eras accompany the touches, voices too quiet to understand but clearly speaking in the speech patterns of earlier periods. The accents place the speakers in their eras, their speech confirming their historical origins.

The combination of touch and speech suggests interaction, the ghosts reaching out to the living even if full communication is not possible. The interaction is friendly, the soldiers treating modern patrons as they would have treated fellow drinkers in their own times.

The Benign Haunting

The overall character of The Volunteer’s haunting is positive rather than threatening.

The soldiers seem to be enjoying their eternal rest, their manifestations suggesting pleasure rather than disturbance. They drink, they talk, they toast, they touch shoulders in friendship—all the activities of pleasant pub time, all the recreations that pubs have always provided.

The benign character makes The Volunteer different from many haunted locations, where ghosts are associated with tragedy, violence, or unfinished business. The ghosts of The Volunteer have no apparent agenda, no message to communicate, no grievance to express. They simply continue what they enjoyed.

The benignity may reflect what the pub represented to these soldiers—a place of comfort, of fellowship, of relief from the stresses of military life. That positive association may shape the haunting, the ghosts remaining in a space that brought them happiness, their presence a continuation of pleasure rather than suffering.

The Soldier’s Rest

The Volunteer continues to serve as a pub, its living patrons sharing space with ghostly soldiers who never left.

The Victorian volunteers still gather at tables they knew. The Great War soldiers still find rest from their suffering. The World War II servicemen still enjoy London leave. The sounds of marching, singing, and toasting continue.

The pub that served generations of military men serves them still, its hospitality extending to the dead as well as the living. The soldiers who found camaraderie at The Volunteer find it still, their fellowship unbroken by death, their presence making the pub a memorial as well as a business.

The beer flows. The soldiers drink. The fellowship continues.

Forever toasting. Forever comrades. Forever at The Volunteer.

Sources

• Wikipedia search: “The Volunteer”
• Historic England — Listed Buildings — Register of historic sites
• British Newspaper Archive — UK press archive