Welsh Journals

MILITARY HISTORY OF RADNORSHIRE­-II G. Archer Parfitt. 4. "MILITARY SERVICE" 1914-1957. In order to appreciate the military history of the County during this period it is necessary to survey briefly some of the changes which have taken place in the constitution of the British Army since 1914. The following notes are therefore designed firstly to provide such a survey and secondly to record something of the history of the military units of Radnorshire. THE 1st WORLD WAR 1914-1918. At the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914 the Territorial Force was mobilized and in addition the Regular Army was augmented by the enlistment of men for the duration of the war and these volunteers formed the famous Kitchener's New Armies." In 1915 the National Registration Act (5 & 6 Geo V C60) provided for compulsory registration of all persons between the ages of 15 and 65 years who were not members of the forces, and subsequently all men between the ages of 18 and 40 were canvassed with a view to their voluntary enlistment. Lord Derby, the Director General of Recruiting, introduced his scheme under which men were attested, classified into groups and transferred to class B Army Reserve until their group was mobilized. These measures proved inadequate and conscription was introduced in 1916 under the Military Service Acts (5 & 6 Geo V C104 et sequi) which provided that all male British subjects between the ages of 18 and 51 were liable for compulsory military service and were deemed to have been enlisted into His Majesty's' Regular Forces for the duration of the War. Unless they were excepted under the terms of the Acts they were called up in classes in a similar manner to recruits under the Derby Scheme." Conscription was suspended in November 1918 and the Acts expired on the 31st August, 1921 but to provide against a possible outbreak of hostilities in the period between the Armistice in November, 1918 and the ratification of peace in 1920 all men released from service with the Colours were transferred to class Z of the Army Reserve. This class was abolished in March, 1920 and the men were automatically discharged from the Army. In 1914 Colonel A. H. Doyle was called to command the Depot of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry at Copthorne Barracks, Shrewsbury, and the 53rd Regimental Area with competent military authority over the