THE CASE FOR A VOLUNTEER FORCE
By SIR PERCY HARRIS, M.P.
VERYWHERE I go I meet persons who are anxious to rA serve the State at this time of crisis, and yet cannot find an outlet for their energies. Many want to shoulder a rifle, but are now told that they must wait till their class is called up, or that they are too old. The compulsory system, no doubt.. leads to an ordered use of the nation's man-power, but it does discourage the voluntary spirit which is characteristic of the British people. There is no reason why we should not now combine the advantages of both systems. I am satisfied before we have finished we shall want the services of every man. Here we can take a lesson from the last war.
On August 5th, 1914, I suggested in a letter to The Times " the forming in the parks of evening camps on the lines of the Irish Nationalist and Ulster Volunteers." Next morn- ing my letter-box was crammed with cffers of service from all over the country. A meeting followed, when Lord Desborough was elected president and myself honorary secretary. The movement spread, and units started training up and down the country. It grew to such proportions that the War Office got alarmed and issued an order prohibiting any kind of volunteer training. However, my committee had promises of vast sums of money to train and equip units. It seemed a pity to throw away this enthusiasm. As a result of a talk with the then Under-Secretary for War, I was authorised to keep the committee together for future possible action, but there did not then seem much possi- bility of our services being required.
In November, the unexpected did happen. There was talk of possible raids to demoralise the civil population. Lord Kitchener therefore told Lord Desborough that the Army Council had decided to authorise our committee to organise training corps which, in the last resort, could be used for home defence. The conditions were stringent. First, only those were to be registered who were " not eligible through age to serve in the Regular or Territorial Army, or are unable to do so for some genuine reason to be recorded in the Corps Register, and in the case of the latter, they must agree in writing to enlist if specially called upon to do so." Those were the days of voluntary enlistment. Lord Kitchener was anxious that this volunteer force should not interfere with his great recruiting campaign. Another stipulation was that " No arms, ammunition or clothing will be supplied from public sources, nor will financial assist- ance be given." There could be uniformity of dress pro- vided that no badges or rank were worn and provided the dress is distinguishable from that of Regular and Territorial units." The War Office did, however, provide a red armlet with letters " G.R." on it, to be worn on the left arm. Unkind critics came to speak of these volunteers as the " Gorgeous Wrecks." My association was responsible for distributing these armlets, without which no one could drill or carry a rifle.
It might have been thought that the stringent conditions would damp down martial ardour. But, on the contrary, units throughout the length and breadth of the land clamoured for affiliation. We appointed a Military Com- mittee of retired generals, under the direction of Sir O'Moore Creagh, to inspect each unit before recognition. But so many corps sprang into existence that it was impossible to administer them all from a central office. We therefore got in touch with the Lords Lieutenants of the counties and persuaded them to take over the local administration of their corps and form them into County Regiments. They became members of our Central Association, and met quar- terly in London at the old County Hall, with Lord Desborough in the chair, when we were able to advise them on problems of administration. Our offices were in the old temporary Law Courts inside the Royal Courts of Justice, lent to us by Lord Haldane. This setting provided an amusing atmosphere to the otherwise dull routine of organisation.
One of our many difficulties was the prohibition of the use of woollen cloth for uniforms because of the wool shortage. The unfortunate elderly soldiers found little pro- tection from wind and rain in the standard cloth, a cotton drill of green grey. But such was the enthusiasm of those days that it was estimated at one time there were a million men in these corps. Service rifles were not available, and the units had to buy or borrow any old weapon they could lay hands on. Thousands of old Winchester repeating rifles were brought into use. Many units, however, could not get as much as that, and had to be content to learn their drill with dummy rifles. The corps that H. G. Wells organised in Essex drilled with hog spears.
The Central Association organised Officers Training Corps largely in co-operation with Chelsea Barracks and, of course, many an old soldier came to our aid. The commissions were signed by the Lords Lieutenants of the counties, other titles being used than the ordinary military ranks.
In June, 1916, Field Marshal Lord French reviewed in Hyde Park the London section of the force, when he said: " You are regarded by the Government as a most valuable force. For myself, I can say that it has been a deep pleasure to come here today and see so fine a parade."
Meanwhile, there was a demand for a more regular status for the force, as under the original regulation corps were nothing much more than bands of irregulars. In October, 1915, Lord Lincolnshire introduced on our behalf into the House of Lords a Bill, which obtained a second reading, which Lord Lansdowne accepted in principle. Early in the following year the Government decided to legalise the force by reviving the old Volunteer Act of 1863, which had never been repealed. This was a triumph for two years' struggle against every obstacle without a penny of public money. The much-despised force after that got every possible ad- vantage. Money was poured on it, paid adjutants provided, proper khaki uniform given out, and the officers received His Majesty's commissions. The Association continued as an advisory body, and I was given the position of an honorary Assistant Director at the War Office.
The question naturally arises, was the force of any use? The answer is emphatically " Yes." In the crisis of March, 1918, when the Allies were in full retreat, the call came to send overseas every available man. I remember attending a conference at the War Office to discuss how far it was safe to rely on the Volunteer Force for Home Defence. The experts agreed that by this time the force was so efficient that for all practical purposes home defence could be left to the Volunteers. The result was it was possible to denude the country of troops. The force more or less continued a part-time force very much like the Territorials in peace time. But they were available and could be embodied for Home Defence at short notice. They did actually take over much defence work, such as coast patrol, searchlight work, digging trenches, miles of which were constructed in the London area at week-ends. Besides, hundreds of thou- sands of men passed through its ranks in the early days of the War and entered the regular Army as trained men instead of as raw recruits.
If this is to be a long war, I am sure there is an unanswer- able case for revival in some form or other of the Volunteer Force. Perhaps once again a Voluntary Association should be entrusted with the task of its creation. Great Britain is not France: we have our own way of doing things, and if the best is to be got out of our national effort, our character- istic voluntary spirit should be exploited to the full.
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