Service
In August 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, Territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by August 25, in excess of 70 battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of Territorial formations for overseas service was one of Lord Kitchener's original motivations for raising the New Army separately.
A second line of Territorial units were raised by the respective County Associations in August and September 1914. As a result, the first-line battalions were renamed so that the 5th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment became the 1/5th Battalion, and the second-line duplicate became the 2/5th Battalion. In many cases, a third-line battalion (the 3/5th) was formed after the first-line battalion was sent overseas, freeing up the second for foreign service; the third-line battalions were usually used for home defence or training; few saw action.
As the second line of battalions were organised for foreign service, a set of second-line divisions was formed, again prefixed with "2" to distinguish them - for instance, the second line 'Wessex Division' was originally called the '2nd Wessex Division'. However, many of these were quickly renumbered; divisions were assigned numbers in April 1915 and the 2nd Wessex became the 45th Division.
The second line Territorial Force divisions were:
- 45th (2nd Wessex) Division
- 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division
- 58th (2/1st London) Division
- 59th (2nd North Midland) Division
- 60th (2/2nd London) Division
- 61st (2nd South Midland) Division
- 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division
- 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division (broken up in July 1916)
- 64th (2nd Highland) Division (lost territorial association early 1918)
- 65th (2nd Lowland) Division (broken up 18 March 1918)
- 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division
- 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division (lost territorial association early 1918)
- 68th (2nd Welsh) Division (lost territorial association early 1918)
- 69th (2nd East Anglian) Division (lost territorial association early 1918)
By the end of the war, 692 Territorial Force battalions had been raised. In total, nine second line divisions were raised. No complete divisions of third line battalions were raised.
Also considered divisions of the Territorial Force were:
- 71st - 73rd Divisions, which were formed late 1916 as Home Service divisions; all broken up early 1918
- 74th (Yeomanry) Division, formed early 1917 from dismounted Yeomanry
- 75th Division, formed early 1917 from various Territorial Force and Indian Army battalions
Territorial units initially saw service in Egypt, India and other Empire garrisons such as Gibraltar, thereby releasing regular units for service in France and enabling the formation of an additional five regular army divisions (for a total of eleven) by early 1915. The first Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915. The 42nd and 52nd divisions were sent to Gallipoli as reinforcements for the Helles front in May and June 1915.
As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the distinctive character of Territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript and New Army drafts. Following the Armistice, all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disembodied.
Read more about this topic: Territorial Force
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