The British Army's component parts

This post will aim to give a concise overview of the component parts of the British Army between, for the sake of convenience, 1881 and 1918.

The Regular Army
Until July 1881 the majority of infantry regiments had been designated as Regiments of Foot but by July 1881 these designations had been swept away and replaced with 'territorial' or county titles. This was all part of Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell's army reforms, carried through in 1881 by his successor, the then Secretary of State for War, Hugh Childers. 

The first 25 Regiments of Foot were all two-battalion regiments but the Regiments of Foot from the 26th Foot onwards were all single battalions which were now paired with another battalion. Thus, for example, the 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot was paired with the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) to form The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). This was a logical pairing of two Scottish regiments whereas the pairing of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers made no sense at all to many an outraged retired colonel.

Men joining the army enlisted for 12 years in total, this term comprised of colour service and reserve service. The periods of colour and reserve service varied according to the corps the man signed up with, and according to when he signed up. Typical terms of enlistment with the infantry were seven years with the colours and five years on the reserve. A man served his first seven years in army uniform but when he was transferred to the reserve he handed in his uniform and returned to civvy street, albeit with the liability to be recalled to the colours if his country needed him. Men were recalled from the reserve in 1899 and in 1914.

Regular regiments typically had two battalions, one serving at home in the United Kingdom and one serving overseas. However, this being the British Army there were exceptions to every rule. The Cameron Highlanders was a single-battalion regiment until 1897 whilst there were a number of regiments which had four battalions at different points in time.

The Militia 
The militia was seen by many young men as a good testing ground for military life. By 1881 each infantry regiment had between one and three (in Ireland) militia battalions comprised of men who committed to serve a term of six years in total. The militia trained with and shared a depot with the infantry regiment and both the militia and the regular battalions were funded and governed by the War Office.

Militia commitment was very much a local and a part-time affair. New recruits signed up to serve in the county in which they were resident and typically drilled for 49 days on enlistment before returning to their civilian lives. Their only commitment thereafter was regular training and an annual two-week camp. 

The militia could be embodied for war service and this happened in 1899, forty militia battalions being approached to volunteer. 

The Militia Reserve
The militia reserve was a reserve for the regular army. It consisted of militia-men who, in return for a bounty of £1 a year, committed to remain with the militia either six years or the whole time of their service. In the event of war they were to enter the regular army on the same terms as men on the army reserve men and could be sent anywhere in the world and assigned to any regiment to which the army deemed it fit to send them.

The Volunteer Force & Territorial Force
The Volunteer Force (VF) was established in 1859 and quickly grew as a citizen army managed and funded by local worthies rather than the War Office. In 1908 the VF was superseded by the Territorial Force (TF), run by County Associations which, nonetheless, had no jurisdiction over their operational deployment. Men joining the TF did so for four years, and for service in the United Kingdom only, although they could also volunteer to serve overseas. Ireland had no Territorial Force battalions. As indicated, the TF was organised on a county level although some battalions found themselves being administered by more than one county association. The 5th, 6th and 7th Battalions of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, for instance, were each administered by two different county associations. 

The Special Reserve and Extra Reserve
The Special Reserve replaced the militia in 1908, just as the Territorial Force replaced the Volunteer Force in the same year. Men joining the Special Reserve enlisted for six years' service but with the understanding that in the event of war they could be sent out as part of draft to replace casualties in the regular battalions. The Special Reserve attracted men who had no prior military service and, later, men who were time-expired regulars. See this post of mine detailing the Special Reserve attestation form to be used. 

Albert Franklin, an Oxfordshire volunteer

My thanks to Jennifer Madden in the USA, for sending me this superb photograph of men of the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Oxfordshire Light Infantry. Along with this photo there was also the certificate of service, below, which was issued to Albert Owen Franklin of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Oxfordshire Light Infantry.

The Volunteer Force ceased to exist from 31st March 1908 and the following day the Territorial Force came into being. Certificates like this were issued to men who had served with the Volunteer Force, and we can see quite clearly that Albert had originally joined on the 9th January 1908 and had served for eighty-three days by the time the VF was wound up at the end of March.

But what of the man? I checked various online resources which lead me to conclude that Albert Owen H Franklin was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire on the 23rd July 1890. He appears on the 1891 census as an eight-month old baby, the son of Owen Franklin (aged 28, a tailor) and Cecilia Franklin (aged 23, his wife). At the time the census was taken, the family was living at 21 Queen Street, Neithrop, Banbury.

Ten years on and the family had expanded. The 1901 census shows Owen and Cecilia living at 6 Milton Street, Neithrop, with Albert by now ten years old, and accompanied by a sister, Ethel Franklin, aged eight.

Ten years on again and by now, Albert, aged 20, is also working as a tailor and still living at home - given as 9 Castle Street West, Banbury - with his parents and Ethel (working as a fancy box maker), as well as another sister, Kathleen Franklin, aged 18 months.  The census also notes that Owen and Cecilia had been married for 22 years and had had four children, one of whom had died. This was probably another daughter, Florence Edith Franklin, who was born in the first quarter of 1905 and whose death was registered in the same quarter.

By the time, the 1911 census was taken, Albert was almost certainly a member of the 4th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the regimental name having changed on the 16th October 1908. I am assuming that the photograph at the top of this post was taken within a year or two of the battalion's formation in April 1908 and as Mike Briggs points out, none of the men wear Imperial Service badges (introduced in 1910) and so the photograph almost certainly pre-dates this.  I was unsure whether this photograph showed men of the VF or the TF but again, as Mike points out, the men wear metal shoulder titles and not the cloth titles commonly seen on VF uniforms.  The shoulder title would have looked like this (courtesy of British Military Badges):

There are a number of other interesting points of note on this splendid photograph.  For a start there are 83 men pictured. We known that Albert was based in Banbury and so this suggests that the photograph shows men of C or G Company, 4th Ox & Bucks, which were the two Banbury companies. 

Seven men in the photograph wear efficiency stars on their lower right sleeves:

Each star was awarded for four years' service which means that the youthful looking chap on the left had served at least eight years in the TF/VF whilst his companion on the right had served at least four years. Some men, like this partially out-of-shot private, had served even longer:

The only officer in the group looks as though he's about fourteen years old. On his right sits a colour-sergeant instructor and Boer War veteran. On his left sits another colour-sergeant. This second colour-sergeant also has at least one efficiency star which is partially visible.

Apart from the badges of rank, there are also skill-at-arms badges visible. The sergeant seated to the Boer war veteran's right has the crossed musket's denoting a marksman's qualification:

whilst the man in the centre of the group below, had qualified as a signaller, hence the crossed flags on his lower left sleeve:

One of the men in this photograph is presumably Albert Owen Franklin, but which one? It is impossible to tell. The photograph was taken by Norman Taylor of Oxford but there are no other marks of identification on this photograph.

If Albert went on to serve in the First World War, I have yet to find him. He does not appear on First World War campaign medal rolls for the 4th Ox and Bucks and there is no surviving service or pension record for a man of this name born in Banbury.  Joining the TF in 1908 and attesting for four years' service, he would have been discharged by 1912 and may not have re-engaged for further periods of service. If he did serve in the First World War - and I would think it likely that he did so - this part of his life is a mystery to me.

Albert appears on the 1939 Register, still single, still living with his parents and two sisters, and still working as a tailor. When the Register was taken, the family was living at 9 Castle Street West, Banbury.

Albert Franklin died in 1974, his death registered at Banbury in the first quarter of that year. He is presumably buried in Banbury. How his photograph and Volunteer Force certificate ended up in North America is currently a mystery, and I shall be pleased to hear from anyone who can shed more light on this man and his life.



Company organisation in the VF and TF

Referring to the entry on the 1871 census which recorded my great great grandfather as a sergeant instructor of Volunteers, I recently wrote, "This was possibly the 1st or 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as he was by then living in St Austell."  Actually, I should have known better.

There is enough published material to hazard a pretty good guess as to likely Volunteer Force (VF) or Territorial Force (TF) service for relatives whose home locations are known. 

Using my great great grandfather as an example, in 1871 what would become the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, was the 2nd Admin Battalion of Cornwall Rifle Volunteers. The battalion had been formed in 1859 and would retain its Rifle Volunteer title until 1880.  From 1908, with the creation of the Territorial Force, the battalion became the 5th Battalion, DCLI.

In Ray Westlake's, Tracing The Rifle Volunteers, he gives the 1880 location of companies in the 2nd VF battalion as follows:

A Company: Liskeard
B Company: Callington
C Company: Launceston
D Company: St Austell
E Company: Bodmin
F Company: Wadebridge
G Company: St Columb
H Company: Camelford
I Company: Saltash

Writing in 1909, Walter Richards, in His Majesty's Territorial Army, gives the company organsiation of the newly created 5th Battalion (by now, reduced to eight companies instead of nine) as:

A Company: Liskeard
B Company: Callington
C Company: Launceston
D Company: St Austell
E Company: Bodmin
F Company: Wadebridge
G Company: Newquay
H Company: Bude

Five year's later, on the eve of the First World War, the battalion (headquartered at Bodmin) breakdown had changed again:

A Company: Liskeard
B Company: Saltash, with a drill station at Callington
C Company: Launceston
D Company: St Austell, with a drill station at St Stephen
E Company: Bodmin, with a drill station at Lostwithiel
F Company: Camelford, with drill stations at Wadebridge and Delabole
G Company: St Columb, with a drill station at Nequay
H Company: Bude, with drill stations at Stratton, Kilkhampton and Morwenstow

From this brief snapshot it can be seen that whilst some company locations changed, the locations of A, C and D companies remained the same, at least from 1880 until 1914.  As far as my relative, a St Austell man, was concerned, it looks a good bet that he served with D Company.

My recommended reading for all those interested in the VF and TF would be:

Tracing The Rifle Volunteers; Ray Westlake
His Majesty's Territorial Army (four volumes); Walter Richards
The Territorial Year Book 1909
The Territorial Year Book 1910
The Territorial Battalions, A Pictorial History 1859-1985; Ray Westlake
The Territorial Force 1914, Ray Westlake

Also have a look at the excellent Drill Hall Project.