Athletes Volunteer Force

[Roy Evans]

I recently came across reference to the above named force. Does anyone have any information on them?

Roy

[Wienand Drenth]

Hello Roy,

Following the outbreak of the war in August 1914, we of course know the enthousiams by which men joined the army. However, at the same time we also see the formation of many many many units intended for local defence. These were the equivalent of the Home Guard of a later war.

Quite a few of such units around the country bore the title "Athletes". Perhaps someone else can comment on the origin of this title. [it may have to do with sport clubs, from which member organised into a defence unit, but I am not sure.] In mid 1916 these units thus formed from 1914 on were reorganised into county volunteer regiments.

Hope this helps to answer your question a little.

Cheers,

Wienand

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

The AVF Formed in 1914,subsequently Amalgamated with the Central Asson of Volunteer Corps,circa April 1916 to Become the Central Asson Of Volunteer Regiments,In October of that year individual Cap & Lapel Buttonhole badges were replaced by a Small Royal Arms Badge{Similar to LC or the WW2 GSC,but the size of a WO Badge}

In July 1918 All these units except those of the London Regiments became Volunteer Battalions of Line Regiments,wearing Line Regt Badges without Battle Honours{in theory,however,in practice the War ended before implementation was completed}

Below are the Athlete's Volunteer Force 1914 Cap Badge & that of the City of Exeter AVF

[Graham Stewart]

Roy,

Harry is slightly incorrect here as the affiliation to line regiments actually began in July 1918 and by the end of the war badges as worn by regular units were actually being worn. This information comes from Army Council Instructions, Volunteer Force Orders, files held in the MOD Library and photographs in my collection.

Members of these units could still be identified from the fact that many still had white worsted embroided shoulder titles on their shoulder straps which were the county title i.e. "Northumberland", with the letter "V" above. Some units took to having special metal shoulder titles manufactured in brass, which still had the "V" over the county title and a battalion number. These shoulder titles are not to be confused with the whitemetal shoulder titles of the earlier 1881-1908 Volunteer units.

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

Members of 'A' Coy, 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers of Blyth in 1918 with their Hotchkiss M.G. wearing the regimental cap badge. The lad laying to the right wth the H.G. in wreath badge on his forearm has the "V/Northumberland" title, but it can only be seen using a strong magnifying glass.

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

A Northumberland Volunteer Cadet 1918 wearing a cloth shoulder title at the top of his shoulder and a blackened brass Northumberland Fusilier cap badge. This was taken in Blyth in late 1918 and is caption on the reverse. Cadet units were an integral part of the Volunteer movement during WWI.

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

The Northumberland Volunteer Cadet shoulder title as worn by the Cadet in the last post.

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

This photo shows that the adoption of regular cap badges wasn't restricted to the infantry, but was adopted by Corp's also. This is actually a named photo taken in November 1918 which I havd had to trim drastically to fit this post.

Graham.