Special Reserve: recruitment

[Muerrisch]

As a spin-off to the regimental numbering project, I need to know if Special Reserve enlistments continued throughout the war. I cannot believe they did, but have no documentation.

The Special Reserve [sR] [usually 3rd bn in a two-regular-battalion regiment] was constituted in 1908 to provide reasonably well-trained reserves [6 months continuous] to serve as drafts to the line battalions in time of war, replacing casualties. Once war was declared, these SR battalions were to:

absorb unfit regulars

absorb ex-wounded men

absorb under-age regulars

absorb regulars whose training had not been completed and,

in most cases, to undertake some Depot functions including training new recruits.

The SR did its job magnificently in 1914, the men poured out their blood in Flanders.

But once the New Armies were recruiting, the 3rd battalions grew rapidly from all sorts of causes, and, with the army overwhelmed with '3 years or the duration' volunteers, it can scarely have needed men on the 4 year SR commitment. This was particularly so after conscription was introduced in 1916.

So, as the army was a pragmatic organisation, why bother with men on SR engagements?

And if they did not, when did they stop?

I would be grateful for comment .... 'last known dates of SR enlistment' would be most welcome, also an AO or ACI reference ending the process.

[charlesmessenger]

Grumpy

Thanks for your PM. I have not come across an ACI/AO which states that Special Reserve recruitment was formally ended. But, like you, I am convinced that it was terminated shortly after the outbreak of war. An War Office Instruction (predecessor to the ACI) dated 30 Aug 14 states in the context of K1 (First New Army) that the priorities were to bring its Service bns up to strength, raise the strength of Reserve bns to 2,000 men and Extra Reserve bns to 1,000 men. A further WOI of 1 Sep 14 also raised Extra Reserve bns to 2,000 men. This implies that they were now to be used in part to train Kitchener volunteers for service in Regular bns.

It should also be remembered that Special Reserve battalions had a parallel home defence role, which is why most of them were deployed to ports shortly after the declaration of war. To this end a meeting of the Army Council on 16 Aug 14 laid down that National Reserve Class I members should be posted to Reserve bns. Many, however, found themselves being sent as reinforcements to bns in France.

Others may well have more concrete evidence, but I hope that this helps a little.

Charles M

[6th Shropshires]

Hi David

I still have a lot to do on the K.S.L.I.'s Special Reserve but have just looked at one chaps papers, which record him as Special Reserve and he attested on 10-4-15. On the main attestation page the Army Reserve Special Reserve (One year service) as been crossed but the Medical History page still gives his details under the Special Reserve section. I have lots of Special Reservist papers but just do not have the time at moment to sit down go through all info.

Annette

[jim_davies]

David,

I have service papers of a few Stamford men showing enlistment into the Special Reserve, Lincs Regt in Aug and Sept 1914.

Jim

PS-What would the benefit be for a man to enlist as a SR rather than anything else once war had been declared?

[Richard Jones]

Hi Grumpy,

Most Special Reserve soldiers from August 1914 on, only joined for 1 year. Everyone knew the war would be over by Christmas, so why saddle yourself with 4 years in the S.R.. It seems that soldiers with previous military experience could join on better terms. Due to a computer crash, I lost lots of work but 2 Attestation papers survived. An ex-Militia man, Oliver James Ridgeway re-joined 6.10.1914. He joined on ARMY RESERVE (SPECIAL RESERVIST) ONE YEAR SERVICE, terms.

Regards Mike Jones

[Muerrisch]

Gentlemen, thank you all. I have been doing a little delving too.

AO 341 of 30 Aug 1914 amended previous enlistment criteria for the Special Reserve and Regular Army. In essence, all who had been regular NCOs above sergeant would be accepted up to 50 years of age, and all men with at least one year's service regular, militia, SR or VF TF with a character not less than 'fair' up to 45 years,

would be attested to the SR,

and of these, all of those NCO irrespective of age, and men under 35 years

would be posted to the New Armies [my phrase].

Men not fulfilling this last condition to be posted to reserve units of the regular army [which I take to be the SR battalion of the regiment].

To be attested on AF B 248.

I have one such, dated 28th Aug,

Army Reserve [special Reservists] One year's service, an ex-regular RWF who subsequently earned the DCM.

The jury is still out, but the signs are that conventional 4 year SR terms had ceased, and conventional posting into 3rd battalions had ceased, within months of outbreak of war.

I will PM some respondents with a few more follow-ups, and thank you all again.

[clive_hughes]

Grumpy,

maybe this isn't going to help much but I thought I'd add it.

In his autobiography Gwr O Baradwys (Gwasg Gee, ?Denbigh, 1963), Ifan Gruffydd relates how he joined the RWF sometime early in the War. A farm servant from Anglesey, he happened to go into Llangefni one evening out of curiosity having heard that there was a "high ranking military officer" (actually a recruiting sergeant named Hennessey of the RWF) in town complete with red jacket, "velvet cap" and spurs!!

The way he tells it, before he knew what was happening he was sat in the Red Lion, putting his name to a "blue paper" whose content he was ignorant of, and being told to report at Menai Bridge next day. From there, still bemused (being virtually monoglot Welsh), he was packed off to the Depot at Wrexham. It took him days to realise that he was now Private "Evan Griffith/s", and to be issued (probably being undersized) with a makeshift set of scarlet & blue uniform.

One of his new companion recruits he forgets the name of, but he came from Caernarfonshire and was numbered 5710. At the start of 1915 Ifan was evidently posted to Tenby, Pembrokeshire. Of his actual overseas service he says alarmingly little, but he was wounded at Loos on 25 September 1915, and spent some time recuperating at Ashridge, Herts. At the time of the Armistice he was back on the Western Front; and while others were being demobilised, to his dismay he found that in 1914 he had signed up to a six-year enlistment (he specifies the term twice in his narrative). He was obliged to serve a further year, in a garrison force in Egypt, before being discharged as a Warrant Officer.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out the fact that early in the War he signed up for at least 6 years with the colours. This might have been a regular engagement, or as an SR? There are only 11 Evan Griffiths and 3 Evan Griffith RWF on the NA online Medal Cards, so it might not be impossible to detect which he was, especially as some of them are clearly TF, and others transferred out of the Regiment.

Apologies if this just confuses the issue.

LST_164

[Muerrisch]

Thank you: I think from the evidence it was a regular engagement of 7 with the colours and 5 on the reserve. The one problem with that is his friend's very low number, which makes a case for the SR! If it was indeed a 6 year SR hitch, I cannot see how, after the Armistice, he could be compelled to soldier on.

The jury, as they say, is out.

[Muerrisch]

On a more general note on the purpose of this thread:

The status of ‘New Army’ soldiers, Special Reservists and, from 1916, conscripts.

Army Council Instruction (ACI) 123 of 12th October 1914 entitled ‘Status of Special Reserves, New Armies, and Regular Army’ said:

‘From representations made to the War Office it would appear that there is still some misapprehension with regard to the status of the Special Reserve, and the new armies in process of formation, when compared with the regular army as it existed before war was declared.

It is therefore explained that the New Armies, the reserve units and the Special Reserve are, since mobilisation, to all intents and purposes, portions of the regular army.

It is thus apparent that soldiers, whether attested under the ordinary terms of service in the force before mobilisation, or attested for the duration of the war under the conditions of AOs 295 and 296 of 1914, are, during the period of embodiment, regular soldiers, and are therefore eligible for posting to any of the units of the corps to which they have been appointed, at the discretion of the competent military authority’.

One of the effects of this instruction was (should have been) that members of the reserve forces and the new armies should be numbered in the regular regimental series. Most were, although batches were issued to new formations and transferees.

[love4history]

Hi,

Not sure how this fits in with your data but I have a chap who re-upped in 14 with his paperwork being a mixture of Special Reserve and others (see below):

1458 Serjeant William John Payne

1872, September 23rd (?) : born in Acton, Middlesex

1881: living in Ealing Road n° 53 in Ealing, Middlesex as the second son of 5 children. Father George, age 33, born in St Marylebone, was a bargebuilder. Mother Matilda from Chiswick was 29 years of age. William had a brother George H who was 2 years older then him, and two younger brothers: Alfred Charles, 4 years old, and little Wallace, who was only born 16 days before the census. His only sister Edith Clare was two years old at the time. All three of the youngest children were born in Brentford, and the oldest George H was born in Ealing.

1891: living in Poplar East London and working as ‘small arms laborer’ (gun) as does his brother George.

1900, November 24th, Saturday : marries Mss. Sarah Lavinia Petty in St Giles, Cripplegate

1901: in 4/Middlesex, living in London Tower barracks and garrison together with his wife

(1902/1904: 4/Middlesex in Dublin)

1903, March 2nd, Monday: daughter Elizabeth is born in Dublin

1910, December 27th, Tuesday (Bank Holiday): twin-brothers Herbert en Henry are born in the Louise Margaret Hospital in Ald?

1914, March 3rd, Tuesday: discharged from 4/Middlesex Regiment after 2nd Period of Engagement

(note: 2nd period of engagement would in most cases mean 7 years active and 5 reserve BUT we know that in 1901 he already was in the army. So perhaps here we have an extended 12 years active and 9 years reserve. Which would mean enlisted in 1893 at the age of 21 which is theoretically possible. The 4/Middlesex only was created in 1900 so service prior would have been in a different unit, perhaps 1st or 2nd Bn?)

1914, September 25th, Friday: attested as private N° 1458 at Tottenham. He’s 42 at the time and a handyman by trade. His medical examination has him weighing 126 lbs (57,3 kg) and 5 ft 6 ins (1,67 m) tall. His chest measurements are 36, ½ ins with 2 ins range of expansion. His vision is perfect. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. He’s quite extensively tattooed with a ship on his chest, 2 birds, a butterfly, a woman’s head and a star on his right arm, snakes a star and a flag on his left arm. He also has a scar on his right buttock.

(note that the attestation form is for the Army Special Reserve (one years service) but the Medical history dated 2x Sept 1914 is on a form which states“to be used for recruits enlisting direct into the Regular Army only. Army Form B 178A (?) to be used for Special Reserve recruits and special reservists enlisting into the Regular Army" )

cheers

[Michael]

The Buffs continued to recruit into the Special Reserve and the numbering started again at S1 in August 1914. This continued until the last recruit was S892 on 5/11/1914. Before August 1914 they had got up to about S11000.

Mick

[Muerrisch]

Thanks to all, again. This data hoisted on board.

Phew!

[Michael]

I've just been looking at one of these Special Reservists. He attested on 28/9/1914 on army form B248

Mick

[charlesmessenger]

This is all most interesting. What would be good to know is whether the post outbreak of war Special Reserve enlistments were all men with previous military service or if volunteers without military experience were accepted for this one year term of service. My own suspicion is that it is the former case and that these men were National Reserve Class I. Since this involved their names merely being kept on a roll and they carried out no training I presume that they would have to re-enlist.

I would welcome any thoughts on this and am quite happy to be shot down!

Charles M

[Muerrisch]

Charles:

AO 295 of 6th Aug 1914 'Re-enlistment of ex-regular soldiers in the Special Reserve' offers SR enlistment for one year or the duration.

Conditions: at least 'fair' character, not less than 30 or over 42, and otherwise eligible in all respects.

By 1915, and probably even earlier, most if not all SR enlistments were on a form ARMY RESERVE (SPECIAL RESERVE) ONE YEAR SERVICE with a condition 'or for the duration'. I think these were all sorts, not only ex-regulars, I have some enlistment forms with 'no previous service' annotated.

[charlesmessenger]

Grumpy

Many thanks for that. I wonder to what degree the 1 year or duration SR term was advertised to those with no previous military background.

Charles M

[Michael]

I've just finished looking at a large sample of men and have the following conclusion.

When the war broke out The Buffs continued to recruit men into the Special Reserve. By 4th August 1914 the numbering system had reached S10695. Recruitment continued until the last week of August by which time 377 men had been attested.

In parallel with this, the Regiment recruited men with previous military experience into the Special Reserve and they started the numbering system at S1 on the outbreak of war. They all signed on for a period of 1 year and many were promoted on attestation. Due to their previous service, some of them were sent overseas quickly with 65 of them being entitled to the 1914 Star.

There isn’t any evidence that they were part of the Reserve; some of them had been discharged in the 1890’s . Although many of the men had previous service with The Buffs, some came from other units. This system of recruitment continued until the first week of November 1914 when nearly 900 men had been attested. Nearly 300 of these men served overseas, the rest were kept at home as instructors or clerks at the depot.

At some stage The Buffs started taking men into the Special Reserve again. These men appear to be transferred into the Regiment from other units in 1919 . Further research is required on the higher Special Reserve numbers .

Mick

[Muerrisch]

Thank you both: I shall continue to dig!

[SPotter]

The Dorset Regt appears to have followed a similar line to the Buffs.

On mobilisation they had reached approximately number 3/7320. The highest recorded 3/nnnn number I can find is 3/8996, and the latest enlistment with a 3/nnnn number is the end of March 1915, though by far the majority enlisted in August and September 1914.

Of these 'post-mobilisation' men - some 1676 in total - no less than 234 earned the 1914 Star, being sent, almost to a man, to France on 23rd October 1914. One can speculate easily that these were men returning from recently expired periods in the Army Reserve.

Many more earned the 1915 Star, but these are harder to trace. Virtually all were in France before the end of 1914 though, the last entry into a Theatre of War being early May 1915.

Regards

Steve

[Muerrisch]

Thank you: it is coming together nicely now.

[jaybeebuzz]

Sorry to butt into this thread for (hopefully) my own gains but the subject matter is so close to a question I was about to post as a new thread, it seemed wasteful to start anew.

I had a Great Uncle, John Pinchin, who served with the ASC, Horse Transport. I know that towards the end of the war he had been with 100 FA when awarded the MSM. According to his MIC he was an SSM, then WO Class 1 and posted to France on 18/11/15 at the age of 26. His number was T2/SR/02507. I believe this represents Horse Transport, 2nd New Army, Special Reserve? I also have one earlier photo of him in uniform where, on his sleeve, there appears what looks like "TS2" which on further investigation I have found means "Special Transport".

My question is, is it likely that John Pinchin had served some time in the army prior to war breaking out given the two references to special reserve? If not, I'm finding it difficult to work out the circumstances of his apparent special enlistment and the reasons for it.

Any help very much appreciated!

Many thanks.

Julie

[Max]

Sorry to butt into this thread for (hopefully) my own gains but the subject matter is so close to a question I was about to post as a new thread, it seemed wasteful to start anew.

I had a Great Uncle, John Pinchin, who served with the ASC, Horse Transport. I know that towards the end of the war he had been with 100 FA when awarded the MSM. According to his MIC he was an SSM, then WO Class 1 and posted to France on 18/11/15 at the age of 26. His number was T2/SR/02507. I believe this represents Horse Transport, 2nd New Army, Special Reserve? I also have one earlier photo of him in uniform where, on his sleeve, there appears what looks like "TS2" which on further investigation I have found means "Special Transport".

My question is, is it likely that John Pinchin had served some time in the army prior to war breaking out given the two references to special reserve? If not, I'm finding it difficult to work out the circumstances of his apparent special enlistment and the reasons for it.

Any help very much appreciated!

Many thanks.

Julie

Julie

I am not altogether sure that the references you alude to actually refer to "special reserve" in the conventional sense, but rather something related to "reserve parks" and the "specialist" nature of the transport....I obviously stand to be shot straight down in flames. What part of the country was your great uncle from?

Andy

Edit: I think that I have already shot myself down by looking at the section on Special Reserve on the Long Long Trail.

[jaybeebuzz]

Andy

My Great Uncle was from Pershore, Worcestershire.

I've read up on as much as I can about the ASC and Special Reserve but must admit the "special reserve" bit does still puzzle me which is why I was wondering if anyone on the forum can clarify things. My points of reference are primarily The Long Long Trail site and "Army Service Corps 1902-1918" by Michael Young. The book stated that men in categories SS, TS, R/TS, MS and Expeditionary Force canteens were specially enlisted. Could this mean that they had special skills that the army required and therefore this is why they were classed as specially enlisted? In the case of my Great Uncle, having worked as a cartman on a farm, perhaps he was much sought after for his experience with horses? Or did he have some previous military experience which had put him on special reserve? Or as you suggested, does special reserve mean he was initially stationed at a reserve park? So many possibilities, is there any way of finding the answer?

Julie

[Max]

Hello Julie

To stop this thread from drifting I have sent you a PM

Andy

[jaybeebuzz]

Replied to PM. Thanks.