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The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry into a unified auxiliary, commanded by the War Office and administered by local County Territorial Associations. The Territorial Force was designed to reinforce the regular army in expeditionary operations abroad, but because of political opposition it was assigned to home defence. Members were liable for service anywhere in the UK and could not be compelled to serve overseas. In the first two months of the First World War, territorials volunteered for foreign service in significant numbers, allowing territorial units to be deployed abroad. They saw their first action on the Western Front during the initial German offensive of 1914, and the force filled the gap between the near destruction of the regular army that year and the arrival of the New Army in 1915. Territorial units were deployed to Gallipoli in 1915 and, following the failure of that campaign, provided the bulk of the British contribution to allied forces in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. By the war's end, the Territorial Force had fielded twenty-three infantry divisions and two mounted divisions on foreign soil. It was demobilised after the war and reconstituted in 1921 as the Territorial Army.
The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex.
The 54th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and Second World Wars.
The North Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Regiment of Foot. In 1881, under the Childers Reforms, the 64th Regiment of Foot was merged with the 98th Regiment of Foot to form the Prince of Wales's . In 1921 the regimental title was altered to the North Staffordshire Regiment .
The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Richard Haldane, the Secretary of State for War, which also created the Territorial Force. Haldane originally intended that the Militia would provide the reserve, but opposition from its representatives forced him to abolish it and create the Special Reserve instead. Only 60 per cent of the Militia transferred into the new reserve, and it was consistently under strength, particularly in officers. Reservists enlisted for a six-year term of service, and had to undergo six months of basic training on recruitment and three to four weeks training annually. The Special Reserve was organised into battalions, providing a third for each of the regular army's 64 two-battalion infantry regiments and a fifth and sixth for the five four-battalion infantry regiments. In addition to providing replacements to the regular army, the Special Reserve was deployed on home defence duties guarding the coast and key installations during the First World War. The routine nature of its duties meant that scant attention was paid to it in regimental histories. After the war, the Special Reserve was abolished and the Militia was resurrected in 1921 to take on its former role. No effort was made to restart recruitment, and in 1924 the new Militia's functions were absorbed into the Supplementary Reserve.
The 53rd Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and Second World Wars. In the First World War, the brigade served with 18th (Eastern) Division and during the Second with the 18th Infantry Division.
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The Volunteer Training Corps was a voluntary home defence militia in the United Kingdom during World War I.
The 224th Brigade was a Home Defence formation of the British Army in the First and the Second World Wars. It existed under several variations of the 224th Brigade title.
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The Home Service Battalions were a force of the British Army in both the First and Second World Wars, intended for home defence and other duties. Those who joined these battalions were exempted from service outside of the United Kingdom.
The 6th Battalion, Essex Regiment was a volunteer unit of Britain's Territorial Army. First formed in the docks of East London in 1860, it served as infantry at Gallipoli and in Palestine during the First World War. It later formed searchlight units of the Royal Artillery (RA), serving during the Blitz.
The 2nd Home Counties Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Force division of the British Army in World War I. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 44th Division in November 1914. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force divisions, it was numbered as 67th Division. Between September 1917 and the end of the year, the division was extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 67th Division.
The Northern Cyclist Battalion was a bicycle infantry battalion of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army. Formed in 1908, it served in the United Kingdom throughout the First World War and in 1920 it was converted as part of the Royal Garrison Artillery.
The Kent Cyclist Battalion was a bicycle infantry battalion of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army. Formed in 1908, it was sent to India in the First World War and saw active service during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In 1920, it was converted as part of the Royal Artillery.
The National Reserve was created in 1910 as a means of retaining the option to call on the services of ex-military personnel to augment the regular and auxiliary military forces of the United Kingdom in the event of a major war. At its inception it was little more than a register of men with previous military experience who would be willing to return to arms should their services be required. The government refused to grant the reserve any funding, and until three weeks after the start of the First World War, could not definitively say how it would be used. On the outbreak of the war, many of the younger, fitter reservists re-enlisted in the British Army or Territorial Force on their own initiative, without waiting to be called up. When the reserve was finally called to duty, it was used to augment the home defence forces in the guarding of key installations and infrastructure. The older reservists, considered unfit for more active duties, played a leading role in the creation of the Volunteer Training Corps, a civilian auxiliary recruited from those ineligible for military service, largely on account of age. The introduction of conscription early in 1916 resulted in the younger reservists being called up for service in the army. The remaining reservists were transferred into the Royal Defence Corps, established in March 1916 as part of the re-organisation of the home defence forces, and the National Reserve effectively ceased to exist as a distinct organisation.
The British home army in the First World War served the dual purpose of defending the country against invasion and training reinforcements for the army overseas. Initial responsibility for defending the nation lay with the Territorial Force, a part-time auxiliary designed in 1908 as a means of expanding the army in a major foreign conflict but, as a result of political compromise, implemented as a home defence army. It was supported in this role by 42,000 regular army troops, primarily belonging to the Royal Garrison Artillery and the Royal Engineers. The 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted brigades of the Territorial Force were mainly allocated either to the Local Force, stationed near the coast and tasked with disrupting an invasion at the point of landing, or the Central Force, a mobile element tasked with defeating the invading force as it marched on London. The Local Force was augmented by units of the Special Reserve and Extra Reserve, which were the third battalions of the regular army line infantry regiments established to recruit and train replacements for their regiments' two combat battalions. The home army was also largely responsible for guarding vulnerable points, such as the communications infrastructure, rail network and munitions works.
References
- ↑ "The Times". 20 March 1916.
- ↑ Army Council Instruction (ACI) 841 of 19 April 1916 reproduced at The Long, Long Trail - Royal Defence Corps 1916-1918
- ↑ Royal Defence Corps Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Osborne, M. Grandad's Army Volunteers Defending the British Isles in the First World War (2021) Appendix 4 Royal Defence Corps lists these battalions, their previous designations and garrison locations Google Books preview
- ↑ Mitchinson, K.W. Defending Albion: Britain's Home Army 1908-1919 (2005) pp. 133–135
- ↑ Wartime Memories Project - Royal Defence Corps duting the Great War
- ↑ Imperial War Museum - badge, headdress, British, Royal Defence Corps
- ↑ The Long, Long Trail - Royal Defence Corps 1916-1918
- ↑ Mitchinson 2005 pp. 196, 201, 203