DEATH OF BRITAIN'S VOLUNTEER FORCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 22 May 1908, Page 2

DEATH OF BRITAIN'S VOLUNTEER FORCE.

THE NEW ARMY'S MIDNIGHT REVEILLE. SCENES AT THE BtJRIAL OF THE AMATEUR ARMY. There is a sound of thunder afar, Storm in the South that darkens the day 1 Storm of battle and thunder of war! Well if it do not roll our way. Storm, storm, Riflemen storm I Ready, be ready against the storm 1 Riflemen, Riflemen,' Riflemen, form! — Tennyson. Vigil was kept among volunteers ia all parts of Britain on March 31 until, with the fateful stroke of midnight, the ! volunteers ceased to be. But the passing bell of cherished memories and asso- 1 ciations was itself the herald of the birth of a new force to which the country looks to replace, and^ more than replace, the vanished legions. The passing of the volunteer force is an event which will cause many pangs of grief and bring the rupture of many associations, though it is a necessary step in the pathway towards perfection. Forty-nine years have elapsed since in 1869 the volunteers arose spontaneously, in answer to foreign threats of invasion. Now they have vanished, and the Territorial Army reigns m their stead. , , The strength of the volunteers and yeomanry on the eve of their dissolution was as follows : — Volunteers 239,8/o Yeomanry 25,812 Total 265,688 The numbers were thus nearly 100,000 below the establishment for 1907-8, which stood at 361,938. NEW ORGANISATION. The new Territorial Army will be organised on severer principles than the volunteers. All the battalions will be of one strength, 1009 officers and men, whereas one volunteer battalion might number 1800 men and the next 750. Further, the troops ot the new army will be formed into brigades and divisions comprising all the arms. The future organisation is to be seen as follows :—: — 14 Mounted Brigades, each composed of— 3 Yeomanry Regiments. 1 Horse Artillery Battery. Transport and Ambulance. 14 Infantry Divisions, each composed of— 3 Infantry Brigades (12 battalions). 3 Field Batteries. 1 Howitzer Battery. 1 Heavy Battery. Divisional Cavalry. Ammunition Column, Transport and Supply, Ambulance, and three companies of Engineers. In addition there will be a number of battalions of infantry for use as army troops, and' an establishment of garrison artillery and engineers for fortresses. ■ , ' STRENGTH OF. THE NEW FORCE. The County Associations are to find i the recruits and attend to the finance of t^e new army, for which purpose they will receive^'grants from the War Office. The total strength is to be 314,094 officers and men, which is 48,000 above the force of the old volunteers and yeomanry. The main difference between the old and new forces is that whereas in the former men were "enrolled," in the latter they are "enlisted" in the same manner as the regulars. Enlistment will Be for four years, and volunteers have till June 30 next to decide whether they are going to join. The service uniform will be of drab color; the annuaji training will include eight days in canjp,, which will be compulsory for efficiency. When the Army Reserve is called out, the Territorial Army may be called out, for service in Britain, and kept embodied. Unbounded enthusiasm marked the farewell dinner of the famous London Scottish corps — in future 14th County of London Battalion — at the Hotel Cecil. All the six commanders of the corps since 1859 were present. The haggis, Great chieftain o' the puddin' race, Weel worthy ar' ye o' a grace As lang's my ,airm, was piped into the dining hall, and the toast of the corps, proposed by the Duke of Argyll, was honored with great feeling and enthusiasm, the Scotsmen singing "Auld Lang Syne" with one foot on the chair and the other on the , table.

The 12th Middlesex (Civil Service) Volunteer Rifles, who to the number of 750 are transferring to the Territorial Army, and will in future be known as the 15th County of London Regiment, held their last parade at headquarters, Somerset House. At the close of a smoking concert the regiment lined the four sides of the quadrangle at Somerset House, with the officers in the centre. The bugles sounded the Last Post, the band played the regimental march, the national colors were hoisted, and "Auld Lang Syne" followed. The buglers then sounded the reveille, the function terminating with cheers for the colonel and the new 15th County of London Regiment. A picturesque scene was witnessed at the last roll-call the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers at the headquarters in Shaftesbury street, City road.

All the officers and men attended in uniform, and were received by the commanding officers, who later delivered a farewell address. Then, at 9.50, the "Last Post," and a firing party, consisting of one sergeant, one corporal, and twelve privates of the battalion^ fired three volleys to the accompaniment of the (regimental drums. At midnight "Lights , out" was sounded, and five minutes late came the "Reveille," when the "Union Jack was unfurled by the junior subaltern, and, amid impressive silence, the chaplain asked for a blessing ' on his Majesty' s new Territorial battalion. Having thus signalised the birth of i the new • force, the commanding officer 1 proposed the toast of the King, and the , whole battalion gave three ringing 1 1 cheers for his Majesty. Other toasts ' followed, and "Auld Lang Syne" con-} eluded a memorable evening. | i COMEDY IN WHITEHALL. ' A party of ex-volunteers, who are ; I said to have been members of one of the units, carried a mock coffin into (Continued! on pbge.,3.)

Whitehall, followed by a crowd of amused spectators. They were dispersed by the police when in the act of depositing their burden at the foot of the Duke of Cambridge's statue opposite the new War Office. The coffin bore on its lid the inscription : In memory of VOLUNTEER CORPS, Killed by Act of Parliament, March 31, 1908, After fifty years' faithful service. 'Driving from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, to a hill eight miles away, the 3rd V.B. Gordon Highlanders solemnly buried in a coffin 'the records of the brigade and a quantity of newspapers. Returning at 3 a.m. the driver of an omnibus, named Edmund Beattie, drove under a low archway, and, forgetting to stoop, sustained a blow on the head which killed him on the spot. MIDNIGHT REVEICLES. Mock funerals \took place at Dover and Manchester, "corpses" being laid on stretchers and solemnly "resurrected" when the reveille was sounded after elaborate funeral rites, including the firing of volleys. Flags were half-masted by the Lanark Volunteers in Glasgow, and the "Last Post" was sounded at the first stroke of midnight. Here, and in many other places, among them Scarborough and Cambridge, the "Last Post" was followed bx the "Reveille" proclaiming the birth of the Territorial Force. Every w)ht" were heard the strains of "Auld Lino; Syne" and of the swansong of th^ Volunteers: John Brov/n's body lies a-mouldering in

the grave, John Bronn's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, But his soul goes marching on!

Many names are suggested for the new Territorial Force, for which a portmanteau word is sought. None is so striking as that suggested by the Duke of Argyll at the gathering of the London Scottish. He stated that he preferred to call the new force "The Home Guardsmen."

Among the designations which are being discussed among officers and men are: — Home Guards, Terriers, Home Defenders, Landguards, Second Linesmen, Imperials, Volunterriers, Last Ditchers.