The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-12
VOLUNTEER ARMY IS ORGANIZED DESPITE GREAT OPPOSITION Million Men Determined to Make Themselves Efficient to Defend Country PAID FOR THEIR
 OWN EQUIPMENT Special Corps, Composed of Engi- neers, Architects and Telegra-
 phers Now Mounting Guard
 in London
By JOHNS STEELE

by JOhNS
 London, December .-(Special)--If Ger many were to invade England tomor- row, and if by some chance all the regular troops had been sent abroad she would find herself faced by an army of more than 100000 soldiers, most of them over military age, who have made them- selves efficient in their own time at their own expense, and in the face of the most persistent Encouragement from the military authorities.
 England's volunteer force from being a joke s-has become serious army, capable if not of active campaigning abroad, of doing @ good deal of the work which is done by regular soldiers and thus re- lieving younger and more active men for the fighting line. and capable of putting up first class fight at home against an invading army under conditions, such as would obtain in this country, where hard marching and much exposure to the weather would not be necessary
 Is this respect the history of, the Ma roleonic wars has repeated itself. When
 Boney" was the national bogey of Eng land. just 100 years ago, the original
 volunteers were founded. It is true that England had had citizen troops be- fore that, in her London train bands, ana other similar organizations but they nao never been organized on national lines, and most of them had gradually been merged into the regular army. A good many of the most famous regi- ments of the line today trace their his tory back to these bands Men of all ages hastened to enroll themselves to defend the shores Of England against the great Napoleon and then, as now, they ynrn fhA 1Ao{ xxF< and persistent official discourag agement. The old files of Punch" for instance are full of good natured cartoons of the civilian volunteer colonel who has diff ferences of opinion with his horse, and of the private who is more familiar with the yard stck than the bayonet, just as the recent files of the same comic paper are full of good-natured chaff of the modern volunteer. The old volun- teer, however won out, after long struggle, and took their place in the mi'i- tary system of the country. They ob- tained the passage of the volunteer dis cipline act, which placed them on the same footing as regular soldiers with regard to discipline, and gave them a recognized standing as combatants The British army then consisted of three branches-the regulars, the militia and the volunteers, and it continued to be so organized for nearly 100 years. Then Lord Haldane, the creator of the mod ern British army.s took hold and after he had finished the militia had become the special reserve and the volunteers those splendid territorials, popularity known ats "the Terriers who have proved their worth in France and Flan- ders, in Egypt and the Dardaneles who are now garrisoning India and the Med- terranean and, in short, doing full fight ing mans job wherever England is play ing her part in the world war.
 TERRITORIALS AT FRONT
 The Territorials, however, under the new plan of organization which made them of course, a much more valuable fighting force than the old Volunteers, made no provision for the man who, al- though he was over military age, was as active as ever and as full of pa- triotism as his sons and younger broth CTS. Moreover. after the war broke out practically every territorial threw over board the terms of his enlistment, which provided for his employment for home defense only, and volunteered for service abroad. It became necessary to use them for foreign service and while, of course, there are always a large number of new troops in training in this country, tens of thousands of men all over the United Kingdom came to the conclusion at the same time that something else was needed. Local home defense corps sprung up by the thousands. Literally in l every village, squire and parson, clerk and laborer began of their own free will to learn the rudiments of drill and mus Retry, in order that if the worst came to the worst they would be able to put up some sort of 8 fight in defense of their homes and their womankind, against outrages similar to those which were committed in Belgium. In every town men of similar trades came to- ieether for the same purpose and grad nally the corps of adjoining villages and { towns began to group themselves for Eregimental drill and field maneuvers and even to form county regiments.
 Nearly every neighborhood was able to find an old soldier to act as drill in structoA and in most of the country places the squire or some other local land owner had sufficient military eXpe- rience to make a competent officer
 All this was frowned on by the war