The

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

was established on 1 April 1908 as a volunteer auxiliary to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. It was formed by the amalgamation of the former auxiliary institutions of the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

and the

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

. Designed primarily as a home defence force, its members could not be compelled to serve overseas unless they volunteered to do so. On the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, many did. The first units were deployed piecemeal in support of the regular army as it defended against the opening German offensive in Belgium and France in 1914. The first territorial divisions to be deployed were used to free up imperial garrisons overseas, but in 1915 they began to be deployed to the front lines on the Western Front and at Gallipoli. The pre-war territorial divisions were numbered in May 1915 in order of their deployment. As they were deployed, second-line divisions were raised to replace them at home, and in 1916 these began to be deployed to combat zones. By the end of the war in 1918, the Territorial Force had provided 28 divisions and 14 mounted brigades.

Infantry divisions

Mounted units

The original mounted brigades were: * Eastern Mounted Brigade * Highland Mounted Brigade *

London Mounted Brigade London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

Lowland Mounted Brigade The Lowland Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 1st Dismounted Brigade in February 1916. Formation Under the terms ...

North Midland Mounted Brigade North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

* Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade * South Eastern Mounted Brigade * 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade * 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade * South Wales Mounted Brigade * 1st South Western Mounted Brigade * 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade * Welsh Border Mounted Brigade * Yorkshire Mounted Brigade A number of yeomanry divisions were also formed:

Other divisions

Also considered divisions of the Territorial Force were: * 71st Division (United Kingdom), 71st, 72nd Division (United Kingdom), 72nd and 73rd Division (United Kingdom), 73rd Divisions – formed late 1916 as Home Service Battalions, Home Service divisions; all broken up early 1918. * 75th Division (United Kingdom), 75th Division – mixed Territorial Force and British Indian Army, Indian Army division formed in June 1917.Becke 2B pp. 129–130

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Divisions of the British Territorial Force 1914-1918 Lists of British Army units and formations, Territorial Force Divisions of the United Kingdom in World War I, British Territorial Force 20th-century history of the British Army Lists of divisions (military formations), British Territorial Force 1914-1918