Defending Albion: Britain’s Home Army 1908–1919

295 Pages·2005·57.702 MB·English

by  K. W. Mitchinson (auth.)

Defending Albion
Also by K. W Mitchinson
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Defending Albion
Britain's Home Army 1908-1919
K.W. Mitchinson
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* © K.W. Mitchinson 2005
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-3825-1
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ISBN 978-1-349-51931-6 ISBN 978-0-230-51211-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230512115
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mitchinson, K. W., 1951-
DefendingAlbion: Britain's Home Army, 1908-1919/
by K. W. Mitchinson.
p. em.-(Studies in military and strategic history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Great Britain-History, Military-20th century. 2. Great Britain -
Defenses-History-20th century. 3. Civil defense -Great Britain
History-20th century. 4. World War, 1914--1918-Great Britain. I. Title.
II. Studies in military and strategic history (Palgrave Macmillan (Firm))
DA69.M57 2005
940.3' 41-dc22 2004056892
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 OS
Transferred to Digital Printing 2011
For my parents
When the day that they must go hence was come, many accompanied them
to the river side, into which, as they went, they said, 'Death, where is thy
sting?' And as they went down deeper, they said, 'Grave, where is thy victory?'
So they passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for them on the other side.
(After John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress)
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Preface and Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xiv
Introduction: The Invasion Issue 1
1 Supplementing the Home Army 13
2 Planning for Defence 34
3 Mobilization and New Auxiliaries 52
4 Protection Companies and Invasion Scares 76
5 The Home Army in 1915 98
6 Reforming and Expanding the Home Army 123
7 Restructuring and Compulsion 14 7
8 'A Sham or a Real Thing'? The Volunteer Force in 1917 166
9 The Diminishing Threat 178
Epilogue 194
Appendix I Extra Reserve Battalions 205
Appendix II Home Defence Scheme, July 1914 206
Appendix III Provisional Units 208
Appendix IV The Home Army in November 1918 209
Appendix V Coastal Fortresses and Garrisons 211
Notes 213
Bibliography 248
Index 254
vii
List of Illustrations
1 The pre-war Territorial Force was often accused of being 'plagued by inex
perience and youth'. Perhaps in an attempt to demonstrate both matu
rity and sophistication, these young soldiers of the London Regiment
pose with pipes at their 1913 annual camp. (Author's collection)
2 Six scouts of the London Scottish rode to their 1913 camp at
Abergavenny on motorcycles. These privately owned machines, all of
which are of different make, illustrate the problems Territorial
battalions experienced in trying to secure a degree of homogeneity in
much of their pre-war equipment. (London Scottish Museum)
3 Providing sufficient accommodation for the burgeoning New Army
and Territorial Force was a major problem for the War Office. These
Birmingham Boy Scouts are erecting huts for troops of the home
army in February 1915, possibly on Cannock Chase. (IWM QS3647)
4 In August 1914, the Fusilier Brigade of the 1st London Division was
deployed to guard the railway network which would carry the BEF to
Southampton for embarkation. These Third Line troops of the 2nd
(City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers) are thought to have been
billeted in railway carriages at Epsom for a period in early 1915. (IWM
QS3968)
5 Using what are probably jam tins as 'grenades' and almost devoid of
other equipment, Territo rials of the 11th (Co. of London) Battalion
(Finsbury Rifles) take part in a cheery bomb and bayonet charge for
the benefit of the camera. The First Line battalion, which in 1914 was
meant to be part of the Central Force, was transferred to the 54th
(East Anglian) Division in April 1915 and landed at Suvla Bay in
August 1915. These troops are probably the Second Line in training
near Ipswich. (IWM QS3973)
6 The exclusive Territorial battalions of the London Regiment placed
great emphasis on their men's physical prowess. Inter-regimental
speed marches, tugs of war and efficiency competitions were annual
events. Several units also ran Schools of Arms. This photo shows what
is probably the London Rifle Brigade's Third Line at Tadworth giving
a fencing exhibition. (IWM QS3850)
7 With the 1st Battalion already overseas and soon to see action on
Messines Ridge, members of the Second Line London Scottish enjoy
their beer ration on Wimbledon Common in October 1914. Despite
viii
List of Illustrations ix
Kitchener's assurance that First Line units of the home army would
not go abroad until their Second Line was trained and equipped,
some of the Scottish are still in civilian clothes. Presumably the boy
was not on strength. (IWM Q53967)
8 The good-natured pre-war rivalry between Territorial battalions con
tinued into the war. Having equipped themselves with blankets as
kilts, scarves, towels and shaving brushes as sporrans, and pillows
and swagger canes for bagpipes, these 1916 recruits to the Reserve
Battalion of the 5th (City of London), demanded a transfer to the
London Scottish. (Author's collection)
9 Having first erected the pontoon bridge, sappers of the 3/1st London
RE haul their tool carts across it in October 1915. Owing to the
shortage of equipment, Second and Third Line RE spent much of
their early months of training undertaking far more mundane
duties: they were used extensively on wiring and digging coastal
defences. (IWM Q53809)
10 A battery of the 2/2nd Co. of London RFA training in 1915. These
Second Line men are members of either the Woolwich or Eltham
batteries and are practising with a 15 pdr. Most first line RFA units
of the home army used 15 pdr guns rather than the 18 pdr issued to
Regular batteries. Depending upon exactly when in 1915 the photo
was taken, these gunners were probably fortunate to have any sort
of working gun. (IWM Q54287)
11 Personnel of the Territorial Force, Kitchener's Army and the VTC
were often used to clear up after Zeppelin and Gotha raids. These
Territorial troops are going through the debris of a house near King's
Lynn in January 1915. (IWM Q53589)
12 A task common to all infantry units of the home army - digging.
Troops of the 3/22nd (The Queen's) London Regiment practise
trench construction in September 1915. Many Third Line or Reserve
battalions of the Territorial Force were used to dig coastal defences
as part of their training. (IWM Q53838)
13 In the days before wearing a brassard became compulsory, members
of the Wandsworth Home Defence Battalion practise with dummy
weapons under the eye of their Commandant, F.A. Webster. (IWM
Q53426)
14 The 3/llth (Co. of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) undergoing
rifle instruction in the autumn of 1915. By that time, the supply of
SMLEs had improved for troops serving with the Expeditionary
Forces, but most training units were still using the older pattern Lee
Enfield or weapons purchased from overseas. (IWM Q53823)
x List of Illustrations
15 VTC despatch riders, some perhaps anticipating a chilly alfresco
night, on parade in November 1914. (IWM Q53425)
16 Elements of the 2/1st Kent Cyclists in April 1915. In addition to the
ten Territorial regiments which formed cyclist battalions, there were
another four Territorial cyclist units. Their role was to patrol the coast
during the Precautionary Period and, if an enemy landed, to deploy
as skirmishers and provide a link between the forward defenders and
reinforcement units of the Central Force. (IWM Q53673)
17 Rare photos of a 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in training. These men
are from the 3/Bedfordshire at a camp probably in the Harwich area.
These photos were taken in October 1915. Fourteen months into the
war, the only pre-war Special Reservists still with 3rd Battalions would
be recovering wounded or instructors. Although these battalions were
filled with recruits, their emergency role as coast defence troops was a
vital element in the home army's strategy. By late 1915, 3rd Battalions
generally possessed sufficient equipment to allow rudimentary train
ing with specialized equipment but it was not until mid-1917 that
Field Marshal Sir John French, C-in-C Home Forces, expressed con
tentment with the number of machine guns available for coast
defence. (IWM Q53842/Q53844)
18 Like all home service units, field ambulances trained with whatever
supplies they could obtain. Most of their medical work involved
dealing with scabies, flu and tonsilitis but they were also responsi
ble for inspecting billets and VAD hospitals, for checking the qual
ity of food supplies, arranging bathing facilities and organizing the
disinfecting of clothes. There was a perpetual shortage of MOs and
the units for which they were responsible were frequently scattered
up to 20 miles from the ambulance. (IWM Q53720)
19 In late 1916 a scheme was prepared by which up to 26 MG companies
would be sent from the MG Training Centre at Grantham as rein
forcements to Eastern, Northern and Scottish Commands. In an
emergency, the Commandant of the Training Centre was to requisi
tion sufficient private cars to convey four companies; the remaining
units were to move by rail. Motor MG batteries patrolled the
Lincolnshire area as part of their training. (IWM Q53903)
20 By late 1917, cyclist units were the front line anti-invasion forces of
the home army. The sergeant is probably a member of the 2/1st
Dorset Yeomanry which converted to a cyclist unit in July 1916.
(IWM Q30429)
21 The call up notice for a Special Reservist of the 3/Loyal North
Lancashire Regiment. Most such notices were despatched on 4 August