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The Territorial Army (TA) is a part of the British Army, the land armed forces of the United Kingdom. It is composed of reserve units, or part-time soldiers. It was created in 1908, when the War Office took over, and reorganised the previously civilian-administered Volunteer Army, folding its remaining Militia and Yeomanry units into it.

World War I and earlier

The Territorial Force was originally formed by the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane, following the passage of the "Territorial and Reserve Forces Bill" on August 2, 1907 and contained 14 infantry divisions, each administered by a County Association. There were also 14 mounted yeomanry brigades.

The use of the word territorial signified that the volunteers who served with the force were under no obligation to serve overseas — in 1910, when asked to nominate for Imperial Service overseas in the event of mobililzation, less than 10% of the Force chose to do so. In August 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, Territorial units were given the option of serving in France and by August 25 in excess of 70 battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of Territorial divisions for overseas service was one of Lord Kitchener's motivations for raising the New Army separately.

The original divisions of the Territorial Army were:

The divisions were assigned numbers in April 1915 so that, for example, the 'East Anglian Division' became the 54th Division.

Territorial Force battalion numbers were prefixed with '1', for instance the 1/5th Battalion, the East Surrey Regiment. A second line of Territorial units were raised by the respective County Associations in August and September of 1914. These battalion and division names were prefixed with '2' to distinguish from the originals. For instance, the second line 'Wessex Division' was originally called the '2nd Wessex Division' (later the 45th Division) and the second line battalion for the 1/5th East Surreys was the 2/5th East Surreys. When a first line battalion was sent overseas, a third line battalion, prefixed with '3', was raised thus enabling the second line battalion to be released for overseas service as well. By the end of the war 692 Territorial Force battalions had been raised. In total, nine second line divisions were raised. No complete divisions of third line battalions were raised.

The second line Territorial Force divisions were:

Also considered divisions of the Territorial Force were:

  • 71st - 73rd Divisions which were formed late 1916 as Home Service divisions. All broken up early 1918
  • 74th (Yeomanry) Division, formed early 1917 from dismounted Yeomanry
  • 75th Division, formed early 1917 from various Territorial Force and Indian Army battalions

Territorial units initially saw service in Egypt and India and other Empire garrisons such as Gibraltar, thereby releasing regular units for service in France and enabling the formation of an additional five regular army divisions (for a total of eleven) by early 1915. The first Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915. The 42nd and 52nd divisions were sent to Gallipoli as reinforcements for the Helles front in May and June of 1915.

As the war progressed and casualties mounted, the distinctive character of Territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript and New Army drafts. Upon the closure of the Great War all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disembodied. Recruiting started early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920 the Territorial Force was renamed Territorial Army.

See Also: List of British divisions in WWI

World War II

Postwar

The TA kept its former role of supplying complete divisions to the regular Army for twelve years after WWII. It also furnished much of the anti-aircraft cover for the United Kingdom during that period. However, as the 1950s drew to a close, British forces contracted dramatically as the end of conscription in 1960 came in sight. The TA was thus re-roled into its modern form. Instead of supplying complete combat divisions, its function was to round out regular formations by supplying units of up to battalion size (including infantry and light artillery, but not tracked armour), and supply extra support functions such as engineers, medical units and military police.

After the Strategic Defence Review of 1998, the TA's size was further reduced. As of 2006 it has an authorised strength of 42,000 though recruiting difficulties put the actual strength of the TA below that figure (manning is currently at approx 82% which equates to 34,440).

TA soldiers have seen service in almost every conflict the UK has been involved with since 1945. However, they served in particularly large numbers in three conflicts. The Korean War and Suez Crisis were during the 1950s, when the UK still had an imperial role. However, in 2003, 9,500 reservists, the vast majority of them from the TA, were mobilised to take part in Operation Telic, the invasion of Iraq. Given the current state of world politics and security, it seems inconceivable that the TA will not see further extensive service during the remainder of the early part of the 21st century.

Present-day units

Royal Armoured Corps

Infantry

Royal Artillery

Though not part of the Royal Artillery, the Honourable Artillery Company is a further artillery unit within the Territorial Army.

Royal Engineers

Royal Signals

Army Air Corps

  • 6 (Volunteer) Regiment AAC (due to be formed shortly)
  • 7 (Volunteer) Regiment AAC

Intelligence Corps

Overseas territories

During the imperial age, home defence units were raised in various British colonies with the intention of allowing Regular Army units tied-up on garrison duty to be deployed elsewhere. These have generally been organised along Territorial Army lines. There are three units, today, in the remaining British Overseas Territories (BOT): the Bermuda Regiment, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, and the Falkland Islands Defence Force. Although the British Government, as national government, is responsible for the defence of the territories, and holds direct control of military units raised within them, the local forces are raised and funded by the governments or the territories. These units must meet British Army standards in organisation and efficiency. Their officers are commissioned by Sandhurst, and their sergeants attend the Platoon Sergeants course at Brecon (itself having been begun as a course for Parachute Regiment NCOs, created by a Bermudian officer, Major-General Glyn Charles Anglim Gilbert). Although OT units may have no tasking under the Ministry of Defence, and members may not be compelled to serve outside their territory, many serve voluntarily on attachment to Regular Army units. In the 1980s, a cadre of officers and NCOs from the Bermuda Regiment was briefly attached to a battalion of the affiliated Royal Anglian Regiment deployed to Belize, guarding against a threatened invasion by Guatemala. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is moving towards integration with the British Army, having been added to the Army List, and with one of its three rifle companies having become full-time, following the withdrawal of the Regular Army garrison in 1991.

Services

In addition to the combat units, there are Territorial Army units in the Adjutant General's Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Logistic Corps and Army Medical Services. Many universities also have Officer Training Corps units, which allow students to experience military life and provided a source of TA officers; for a long time, this was the only route by which it was possible to become a British Army officer without attending RMC Sandhurst, but this anomaly was removed in the mid 1980's. University Officer Training Corps(UOTCs) still officially form part of the TA. However, they fall into reserve category "B" meaning they cannot be called up for service unless there is a national emergency.

Restructuring

On December 16 2004, then Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced a major restructuring of the infantry. The 40 battalions of the regular army will be reduced to 36, with the majority of those remaining being amalgamated into larger regiments. The 14 TA infantry battalions will be included in this structure, with each regiment having at least one TA battalion (the Royal Regiment of Scotland will have two); the Guards Division will also have an affiliated TA battalion.

See also

External links

British Army | Military of the United Kingdom

Territorial Army

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Territorial Army".

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