extra reserve vs territorial

[nevgeoran]

hi all,can somebody please tell me the difference between an extra reserve battlion in a irish regiment and an territorial battlion in an mainland uk regiment.i dug up the,pre war, service record of a soldier in the 4th [extra reserve]leinster regiment.it shows me that they spent nearly two weeks every year on the shooting ranges at the curragh,kildare.is that the norm for a territorial unit or did they train more?thanks for your help.

[Waddell]

This may help you from the long long trail site-

http://www.1914-1918.net/recruitment.htm

It gives explanations for territorials, regulars and special reservists.

Scott

[BrendanLee]

As I understand it (I could be wrong), reserves in Ireland were battle ready troops 'on leave' or 'training' away from the Front, special reserves were full-time regular troops of an older age group held in reserve should trouble start in Ireland. From 1914 on there were several large armed quasi-military groups such as the Ulster Volunteers, Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army operating in Ireland.

I have put a link to a page on my website below which gives an account of the British forces in Ireland during the 1916 Rising, you can see from the list that there were several Reserve and Extra Reserve regiments or corps stationed in Ireland at the time. You can also see further down the page there was what General Maxwell referred to as an 'inlaying piquet' ready for immediate action.

The web-page also gives information on The Volunteer Training Corps which was a type of Home Guard.

http://irishmedals.org/gpage5.html

[corisande]

The quote from LLT is correct

"The Special Reserve was another form of part-time military service. Special Reservists enlisted for 6 years and had to accept the possibility of being called up in the event of a general mobilisation and to undergo all the same conditions as men of the Army Reserve. This meant that it differed from the TF in that the men could be sent overseas. Their period as a Special Reservist started with six months full-time training (paid the same as a regular) and they had 3-4 weeks training per year thereafter. A man could extend his SR service by up to four year, but could not serve beyond the age of 40. A former regular soldier whose period of reserve obligation had been completed could also re-enlist as a Special Reservist and serve up to the age of 42."

You will find may Irish men joined the Special Reserve at a (very) young age, and would sometimes (often) transfer to the regulars.

[joseph]

The Irish Regiments did not have 'Territorial Battalions' so overcome this lack by having Extra Reserve Battalions to the Special Reserve.

Regards Charles