Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/630



The war organization of the home establishment, with its general and special reserves, aimed at the mobilization and despatch overseas of army divisions, each of battalions in brigades; field batteries in brigades, a brigade of field howitzer batteries, and a heavy battery, each with the appropriate ammunition columns; field companies and company R.E.; companies mounted infantry; and s, columns and parks. In addition to these divisions, there are &ldquo;army troops&rdquo; at the disposal of the -in-chief, consisting of two mixed &ldquo;mounted brigades&rdquo; (cavalry, mounted infantry, and horse artillery) serving as the &ldquo;protective cavalry,&rdquo; and of various technical troops, such as companies and  train. The &ldquo;strategical&rdquo; cavalry is a division of brigades (regiments or squadrons), with brigades (batteries) of horse artillery, &ldquo;field troops&rdquo; and wireless company R.E., and s and supply columns. The peace organization of the regular forces at home conforms to the prospective war organization. In addition to the field itself, various lines of communication troops are sent abroad on mobilization. These number some men, the field about, with field guns, other vehicles and s and s.

But the first condition of employing all the home regulars abroad is perfect security at home. Thus the pivot of the system is the organization of the Territorial Force as a completely self-contained. The higher organization—which the (q.v.) and  (q.v.) never possessed—varies only slightly from that in vogue in the regular. The second line army consists of mixed mounted brigades as protective cavalry and divisions of much the same combatant strength as the regular divisions, the only important variation being that the artillery consists of -gun instead of -gun batteries. In addition to the divisions and mounted brigades there are &ldquo; troops,&rdquo; of which the most important component is the cyclist battalions, recruited in the different coast counties and specially organized as a first line of opposition to an invader. Affiliated to the territorial force are ' training corps, cadets, &ldquo;veteran reserves,&rdquo; and some of the other organizations mentioned below, the scheme having as its express object the utilization of every sort of contribution to national defence, whether combatant or non-combatant, on a voluntary basis.

The conditions of enlistment and reserve in the territorial force are a four years' engagement (former and  being however allowed to extend for one year at a time if they desire to do so), within each year a consecutive training in camp of – days and a number of &ldquo;drills&rdquo; (attendances at company and battalion parades) that varies with the branch and the year of service. The minimum is practically always exceeded, and trebled or quadrupled in the case of the more enthusiastic men, and the chief difficulty with which the responsible for training have to contend is the fact that no man can be compelled to attend on any particular occasion. Attendance at the camp training, in so far as the claims of men's civil employment do not infringe upon it, is compulsory, and takes place at one time for all—generally the first half of August.

Establishment and Strength (April, )

Command and Administration.—The secretary of state for war is the head of the army council, which comprises the heads of departments and is the chief executive authority. These departments (see ) are: the general ; the adjutant general's department; the quartermaster-general's department; the department of the master-general of the ordnance; the civil member's department; and the finance member's department. In addition to these departments, whose heads form the army council itself, there is the very important department of the inspector-general of the forces, whose duties are to ensure by inspection the maintenance of military efficiency and an adequate standard of instruction, &c. This department is thus in the main a complement of the general branch. In the -in-chief in the was appointed inspector-general of the overseas forces other than those in, and the inspector-general in  supervises therefore only the forces in the home establishment. There are, therefore, three single authorities of high rank for the great divisions of the —the two inspectors-general and the -in-chief in.