THE NATIONAL RESERVE. , (To THE EDITOR Or THE "Sercesroa."l
Sra,—Inne 18th, 1922, is the twelfth anniversary of the first parade of Surrey Veterans, which, in company with 1,320 other ex-Service men, I attended on the Horse Guards' Parade. Tht small beginning constituted the seed that ultimately blossomed into the National Reserve, the total strength of which three and a half years later (on January 1st, 1914) was 217,680 of all ranks, and probably at the date when the Great War broke out the quarter million figure was reached. This patriotic movement, the firstfruits of voluntary effort pitted against official discouragement of every kind, deserves a page in the
nation's history, but where shall we find any record of it beyond what your oolumns furnished between the summers of 1910 and 1914? It might not be out of place to inquire where would Kitchener's Army have been at the outset had not the National Reserve members, who voluntarily rejoined the Colours in large numbers, supplied N.C.O.s and instructors? My own Weybridge company, at that date mustering 219 (69 above the full strength of 150), had during the two and a quarter preceding years fired over 47.000 rounds of miniature rifle ammunition, and in other ways had prepared itself for eventualities, and doubtless many other units throughout the country had striven equally to become efficient. If only the Government had lent a sympathetic ear to our claims for full recognition as -a military organization what a splendid Home Defence Force might not the National Reserve have constituted at the outbreak of hostilities; but beyond a miserable grant from .public funds equivalent to a halfpenny per man per month, the offer to loan us Service rifles for not more than one-tenth of the establishment, and the privilege of wearing a metal buttonhole badge, we were intentionally cold- shouldered. You may remember how we were successively prohibited from carrying colours and refused permission to wear uniform, even if obtained at our own expense; how the officers had no military status, and how the issue of free prac- tice ammunition was not sanctioned. Yet in spite of all these setbacks we not only managed to make headway, but we succeeded in delivering the goods, as the names of many former National Reservists appearing on the War Memorials up and down the country honourably testify. But, so far as I am aware, not even one word of official thanks has been bestowed -upon those who bore the heat and burden of the day in organizing the National Reserve. Thus, unhonoured and unsung, this great patriotic movement passes into oblivion.—I am, Sir, &c., 25 Harrington Gardens, S.W. 7.
CHARLES WALKER HOLMES
(Certain, late R.F.A.).
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