|
3/2nd Battalion |
Pontypool
- February 1915 |
Shropshire |
Home Defence
and training duties. Supply of
reinforcements. |
Redesignated
2nd (Reserve) Battalion in September 1916. Absorbed by 1st
(Reserve) Battalion Sep 1916. |
|
2/3rd Battalion |
Abergavenny -
September 1914. |
Suffolk coast |
Home Defence
and training duties. Supply of
reinforcements |
Disbanded at
Herringfleet, Suffolk in August 1917. |
|
3/3rd Battalion |
Abergavenny -
February 1915 |
Shropshire |
Home Defence
and training duties. Supply of
reinforcements |
Redesignated
3rd (Reserve) Battalion in April 1916. Absorbed by 1st
(Reserve) Battalion Sep 1916. |
|
Pre-War Regular, Reserve and Territorial Force Infantry Battalions.
Immediately prior to the outbreak of the
Great War, the Regular Infantry of the British Army consisted of four
Guards Regiments and sixty-nine Infantry Regiments. The
Regular Infantry
Regiments normally consisted of two active Battalions, with one
Battalion serving overseas and one in the UK. Each Regiment
would normally have one Reserve Battalion, based at the Regimental
Depot, which trained new soldiers to combat readiness and supplied reinforcing drafts to the
two active Battalions. The active Battalions of the Regular
Infantry Regiments were usually numbered the 1st and 2nd, whilst the
Reserve Battalion was numbered the 3rd (Reserve). The
Monmouthshire Regiment were part of the Territorial Force (TF). The
TF were made up of part-time officers and soldiers who had signed up for
Imperial or Home Service, and each of these Battalion trained its own
personnel so there was therefore no requirement for the TF to be
established with Reserve Battalions. If the TF Battalions were
part of a Regular Infantry Regiment, it was usually the case that these
battalions were usually numbered after the Regular and Reserve
Battalions of the Regiment and often had a second title linking them
with their home city or town. In the case of the
Monmouthshire Regiment, who were not part of a Regular Infantry
Regiment, the infantry battalions were organised as follows:
-
1st
(Rifle) Battalion.
Based at Newport, Mons, part of South Wales Brigade/Welsh Division
(TF).
-
2nd
Battalion. Based at Pontypool, Mons, part of
South Wales Brigade/Welsh Division (TF).
-
3rd Battalion.
Based at Abergavenny, Mons, part of South Wales Brigade/Welsh Division
(TF).
The Re-Organisation at the Outbreak of
War.
In late
August/early September 1914 in all Territorial Force (TF) Battalion, those personnel who had signed up for Imperial
Service were formed into the First Line of the these TF Battalions for
overseas service. In the Monmouthshire Regiment, these
battalions were designated the1/1st Battalion, the 1/2nd Battalion and
the 1/3rd Battalion. Those who had signed for Home Service (and could
not or would not sign up for Imperial Service) were formed up into the
Second Line of the Battalion designated the 2/1st Battalion, the 2/2nd
Battalion and the 2/3rd Battalion. These Battalions continued
to recruit and train their own personnel.
Further Re-Organisations.
By early
1915 most of the First Line Battalions of the TF had been deployed to
active service locations overseas and the Second Line Battalions were
preparing for future overseas service and so a Third Line Battalion was
formed to perform UK Home Service duties and to train and supply reinforcements to the First Line and Second Line Battalions.
In the Monmouthshire Regiment, these Battalions were designated 3/1st
Battalion, 3/2nd Battalion and 3/3rd Battalion. Home Service personnel and those not fit for overseas service were
transferred from the Second and Third Line Battalions to the
non-Regimentally affiliated Provisional Battalions TF. Monmouthshire
Regiment personnel, along with Herefordshire Regiment personnel, were
posted to the 48th Provisional Battalion TF.
More Reorganisations.
In 1916, all Home Service Third Line
Battalions of the TF were
re-organised to provide a much
improved
Home Service and training base, and
this reorganisation affected the
Monmouthshire Regiment as follows:
-
3/1st Battalion. Redesignated as the 1st
(Reserve) Battalion on 1st April
1916 and absorbed the 2nd
(Reserve) Battalion and the 3rd
(Reserve) Battalion in September
1916.
-
3/2nd Battalion.
Redesignated as the 2nd
(Reserve) Battalion on 1st April
1916 and absorbed by the 1st
(Reserve) Battalion in September
1916.
-
3/3rd Battalion. Redesignated as the 3rd
(Reserve) Battalion on 1st April
1916 and absorbed by the 1st
(Reserve) Battalion in September
1916.
In August 1917, the 48th Provisional
Battalion TF, formed in 1915 from
Home Service and unfit personnel of
the Monmouthshire and
Herefordshire Regiments, was
redesignated 4th Battalion
Monmouthshire Regiment TF.
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