Army Reserve (Regular) Historically The Regular Reserve of the
British Army was originally created under the '
(22 & 23 Vict. c. 42) by Secretary of State for War Sidney Herbert, and re-organised under the ' (
30 & 31 Vict. c. 110). From the end of the Napoleonic Wars until 1847, men were enlisted for twenty-one years, practically for life. Thereafter, the term of enlistment was ten years, then twelve years. On completion of their enlistment, soldiers had the choice between accepting discharge without pension or to extend so as to accumulate 21 years of service. After many years with no trade other than that of soldiering, more than half of all discharged soldiers chose to re-enlist immediately. Of those who took a voluntary discharge, fully one in five signed on again within six months. The Army's existing system of enlistment therefore produced an army of experienced or even veteran soldiers, but no class of reserves that could be recalled to serve in case of a national emergency. Under the Reserve Force Act 1867 (
30 & 31 Vict. c. 110), a "First Class Army Reserve" had been created, of soldiers released from active service who had not completed their terms of service, to have an establishment of 20,000 men in theory. In practice, as of 1868, only 2,033 were in this body of men. The "Second Class Army Reserve" was to consist of army pensioners and of discharged soldiers having at least five years regular service. The First Class Army Reserve was liable for overseas service in the event of war, whereas the Second Class Army Reserve was for home service to defend against invasion. Cardwell therefore brought before Parliament the idea of "short service". The
Army Enlistment Act 1870 (
33 && 34 Vict. c. 67) allowed a soldier to choose to spend time in the reserves after service with the colours. As to the proportion of time spent on active service with the colours versus the balance in the reserve, this was to be laid down from time to time by the Secretary of State for War. Upon transferring to the Army Reserve, for the remainder of their 12 years, the soldier would be transferred to Section A or Section B, with Section C being subsumed into Section B in 1904. Section A was voluntary and limited, each infantry regiment being permitted about 50 men on their books. Section B was the normal destination for the balance of the 12 years enlistment. Among the other benefits, this thereby enabled the British Army to have a ready pool of recently-trained men to draw upon in an emergency. The name of the Regular Reserve (which for a time was divided into a
First Class and a
Second Class) has resulted in confusion with the
Reserve Forces, which were the pre-existing part-time, local-service home-defence
forces that were auxiliary to the British Army (or
Regular Force), but not originally part of it: the
Honourable Artillery Company,
Yeomanry,
Militia (or
Constitutional Force) and
Volunteer Force. These were consequently also referred to as
Auxiliary Forces or
Local Forces. In 1881, under the
Childers Reforms short service was increased to seven years with the colours, and five with the reserve, of the twelve-year
enlistment period that the
Cardwell Reforms had introduced. This also introduced the ability for time-served soldiers to extend service in the reserve by four years, albeit classed as the second division, or Section D, of the First Class Army Reserve. The '''''' (
45 & 46 Vict. c. 48) consolidated acts relating to the reserve. By 1900 the reservists numbered about 80,000 trained men, still relatively young and available to be recalled to their units at short notice in the event of general mobilisation. In August 1914, the line infantry could call upon 80,688 men of the
Army Reserve, in addition to the Special Reserve. The Army Reserve soldiers were the first to be sent as drafts, with the
Special Reserve second in precedence. Sixty percent of the infantry consisted of men recalled from the reserve. The Official History notes that Special Reserve drafts were despatched a month into the fighting, with the Army Reserve component having already being depleted. To help remedy this, Army Council Instruction 118 dated 16 January 1915 was requesting
Territorial Force men volunteering to transfer to the Army Reserve battalions. The
New Army was formed and recruited, following the outbreak of war. It required six months of training, and in theory, would be ready by late February 1915 at the very earliest. The challenge for the Special Reserve was to provide sufficient numbers of trained Reserves to offset casualties suffered by the regular battalions of the British Expeditionary Force, during this time. By the end of March 1915 more than thirty infantry regiments would see their trained reserves drop below 100 men. As a cost-saving measure, the Special Reserve, renamed as the Militia once more, remained in abeyance. In March 1923 a special measure was introduced, whereby 10,000 men with war training were permitted to enlist directly into Class D of the Reserve, to increase the number of reservists.
Present day Today, the Army Reserve (Regular) of the
British Army consists of Regular Reserves serving under a fixed-term reserve contract and are by far the largest of the armed forces Regular Reserves. As of 2014 they numbered 30,030 personnel The Royal Fleet Reserve Class C came into existence in 1903. There was a
Royal Fleet Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in place from 1922 onwards, in tandem with similar awards to the
Royal Naval Reserve & Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. When war broke out in 1914, there was a surplus of men. As a consequence, some men of the Royal Fleet Reserve were posted to the
Royal Naval Division.
Present Day The RFR, in its original form as a separate grouping of trained ratings/ORs, ceased to be under the amended regulations of the
Reserve Forces Act 1996. The successor to the Royal Fleet Reserve consists of ex-Regulars, having enlisted since 1 April 1997, serving under a fixed-term reserve contract. As of 2014, they had a strength of 7,960 personnel. Upon postwar demobilisation, airmen were transferred to RAF Reserve, Classes A-E & RAF Reserve Class G subcategories.
Present Day As in the Army, Royal Air Force
airmen serve the remainder of their 12-year contract in the Reserve, after being transferred to civilian life. The Air Force Reserve consists of ex-Regulars serving under a fixed-term reserve contract. As of 2014, they had a strength of 7,120 personnel. ==Other Regular Reserves and the Reserve Forces Act 1996==