| WILLAND MEN FOR NATIONAL DEFENCE 1915 |
The list below was published in the Crediton Chronicle on Saturday 6 March 1915. It details all the men of Willand who were taking part in the war at that time.
In the Spring of 1915, the Great War was still in its early stages. There was no conscription because a considerable wave of patriotism ensured a plentiful supply of recruits for the Front.
When the war began, the British Army had only 730,000 officers and men. A third of these men served in the regular army, the remainder being held in reserve, chiefly in the Territorial Force. The majority of officers came from public school, and the majority of the rank and file were unskilled labourers. |
When Lord Kitchener became War Secretary in 1914, he immediately started a recruiting campaign with posters which have since become famous. Kitchener was not a fan of the existing Territorial Force and set about raising a different kind of volunteer army. Each man was required to sign up for a specific term of three years or the duration of the war and had to agree to being sent to serve anywhere the army needed them. These were the men of the "new army". |
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REGULAR ARMY Manning, Charles, Corporal, 6th Dragoons (Reservist) NAVY Burridge, Charles, HMS Impregnable Chick, Harold, HMS Andromache Gollop, John, HMS Doris Gollop, Joseph Govier, William, HMS Caesar Hawkins, A, HMS Terror Potter, Sidney, HMS Bittern Rugg, William, RM Artillery Stone, Thomas, HMS Canopus Vickery, William, HMS Doris TERRITORIALS Baker, Ernest, 7th Battalion, Devon Regiment Grabham, Albert, 7th Battalion, Devon Regiment Hine, Percy, 4th Battalion, Devon Regiment Legge, Charles, 4th Battalion, Devon Regiment Legge, John, 6th Battalion, Devon Regiment Rogers, Walter, 7th Battalion, Welsh Fusiliers Sellick, Ernest, 7th Battalion, Devon Regiment Vinnicombe, Arthur, 4th Battalion, Devon Regiment NEW ARMY Bristow, James, 9th Battalion, Devon Regiment Chick, Arthur, 12 Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers Govier, Alfred, 9th Battalion, Devon Regiment Jordan, Fred, 9th Battalion, Devon Regiment Rowe, Reginald William, Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry Rugg, James, 8th Battalion, Devon Regiment Salter, Ernest, 8th Battalion, The Buffs Seldon, Samuel G., 20th London Company Tracey, Leonard T, Second Lieutenant, Royal Field Artillery Trump, Henry, 9th Battalion, Devon Regiment Wilmott, George, Royal Army Medical Corps. |
© M.E. Brine. This page last updated
8 August, 2007
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