The Home Service Battalions were a force of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in both the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, intended for home defence and other duties. Those who joined these

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s were exempted from service outside of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

First World War

Before the outbreak of the First World War, volunteer reservists of 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 in ...

could not be ordered to serve outside of the United Kingdom, under the terms of the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ( 7 Edw. 7. c. 9) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territor ...

. When hostilities commenced in August 1914, Territorial soldiers were asked to sign a document called the Imperial Service Obligation which waived their immunity from overseas service. By 26 September 1914, 72% of Territorials had signed; the remainder were consigned to second line battalions. New Territorial recruits continued to be able to enlist for home service only, until March 1915. The

Military Service Act 1916 The Military Service Act 1916 (5 & 6 Geo. 5. c. 104) was an Act of Parliament, act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during the First World War to impose conscription in Great Britain, but not in Ireland or any other British jurisdi ...

forced those under the age of 41 to sign the Imperial Service Obligation or resign. As the Territorial regiments' first and second line battalions were prepared for active service, those who had opted for home service or were unfit were formed into Provisional Battalions that in turn formed the 71st, 72nd and 73rd Home Service Divisions. On 1 January 1917, the remaining Provisional battalions were renamed Home Service Territorial Battalions of the Infantry Regiments. In addition, regular army infantry soldiers who were too old or unfit to serve overseas were formed into (Home Service) Garrison Battalions, which became part of the

Royal Defence Corps The Royal Defence Corps was a corps of the British Army formed in 1916 and disbanded in 1936. As part of the reorganisation of home defence forces by Field Marshal Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, the Royal Defence Corps was crea ...

Second World War

During

British re-armament British rearmament was a period in British history, between 1934 and 1939, when a substantial programme of rearming the United Kingdom was undertaken. Rearmament was deemed necessary, because defence spending had gone down from £766 million in ...

in the mid-1930s, the Royal Defence Corps was disbanded and replaced by the

National Defence Companies The National Defence Companies of the Territorial Army were a voluntary military reserve force of the British Army, for the purpose of home defence in the event of war. Enlistment was limited to former members of the British Armed Forces between ...

, a part-time force which was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and open to ex-servicemen between the ages of 45 and 60 years. The Defence Companies were mobilised during the week before war was declared, their role being the protection of "vulnerable points". In November 1939, two months after Britain's entry into the Second World War, the National Defence Companies were formed into battalions attached to

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

regiments and renamed "Home Service Battalions", to guard vulnerable points and

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POW) camps in the United Kingdom.Perry, Frederick W., 1988
''The Commonwealth Armies: Manpower and Organisation in Two World Wars''
Manchester University Press (p. 53)

References

{{reflist

External links

''"Let 'em all come"'', MEN 41-55, HOME SERVICE BATTALIONS
A World War II recruiting poster. Infantry battalions of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1917 Battalions of the British Army in World War II