Preparations

 

The common view is that the First World War arose out of the blue after the assassination of an obscure Archduke in the Balkans because, in the Blackadder version, "nobody could be bothered to stop it". In fact, German intentions had been clear even as far back as 1871 when German troops besieged Paris and forced the French to capitulate thus ending the Franco-Prussian War.  Published in that year Sir George Chesney’s The Battle of Dorking, set four years in the future, told of a German invasion, the fall of London and surrender. In 1903 Erskine Childers in his book The Riddle of the Sands gave the same warning and this was followed by a play, An Englishman’s Home, by Guy du Maurier that opened in London in January 1909. Even P G Wodehouse joined in with The Swoop published later the same year and by the time H H Munro (writing as Saki) published When William Came in 1913 it seemed that a great European war was inevitable. Questions were also asked in parliament in 1909 at the height of concern over German activity in England so when the War eventually came it was not the complete surprise that is sometimes claimed, and the reason too was abundantly clear.

 

The Territorial Force

 

The Territorial Force (TF) was created in 1908 largely as a means of reducing military expenditure, though in later years its creator, Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane, claimed it was in preparation for a clearly foreseen continental war. In the final version of the Bill the force was presented as for home defence only, albeit individuals and units could volunteer for overseas service.

 

The main local TF units in which Englefield men are known to have served were the 4th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment and the Berkshire Yeomanry. The first troop of Berkshire Yeomanry had been raised in 1793 and volunteers from the regiment had served in the Boer War. The 4th Battalion was another new incarnation of the old Berkshire Volunteers who had already been reorganised as the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire) Regiment in 1881. Men of this battalion also served in South Africa. At least two men from Englefield (George Johnson and George Pusey) fought with volunteer units against the Boers between 1900 and 1902.

 

Another local TF unit formed in 1908 was the Berkshire Royal Horse Artillery though it is not known that any men from Englefield served in it.

 

Mr Benyon encouraged men to join the TF (his son was an officer in the Berkshire Yeomanry) and while they were away from work undertaking training continued to pay their wages. A number of men from the village did join, and undertook weekend training exercises at nearby Churn Ranges on the Downs (where there was a special halt on the railway line between Newbury and Didcot) and in camp at Beaulieu in the New Forest and on Salisbury Plain. Among the early volunteers were Fred Fisher (noted as a promising shot) and Arthur Horne, who was promoted to Lance Corporal at the first two-week camp in August 1909.

 

The 1st (Volunteer) Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment

 

The old Berkshire Volunteers had been converted to Territorial Force in 1908 and became the 4th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment but in August 1914 there was a demand for a form of service for those not eligible for the Army or Navy because of age, physique or essential occupation and a new Volunteer Training Corps (VTC) was created. Although a Central Association was officially recognised in September 1914, units were not and had to be financially self-supporting and provide their own uniforms, which could not be khaki. Lovat green was the usual colour, worn with a red arm band bearing the letters “GR” (Georgius Rex). The VTC battalions became officially recognised as Volunteer Regiments in June 1915 and in August again became numbered “Volunteer” battalions of the county regiments.

 

As well as the volunteers the battalions also included in their numbers men who had been directed there by the local Military Service Tribunal as a consequence of appealing against conscription. The Volunteers carried out a range of local defence tasks in the same way as did their successors the Home Guard and also supplemented scarce labour in the loading and unloading of war supplies at Didcot.

 

Charles Cooley from Englefield served as a Volunteer.

 

The Voluntary Aid Detachment

 

At the height of the 1909 invasion scare the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD) were formed to provide field nursing services. Unlike the Territorial Force, formed the previous year, the VAD included both men and women - and boys and girls over 17 - though the men and women were in separate units. In Berkshire these were 1st Berkshire Detachment for the men and the 8th for the women. These had different roles with the women predominantly acting as nursing auxiliaries and the men as stretcher bearers. A VAD unit was formed in Englefield in 1910 and plans were made to convert the Long Gallery of Englefield House into a hospital ward to accommodate up to 30 wounded. Mrs Benyon was the Commandant and started to create a store of things that would be needed: bed jackets, nightshirts, bandages, sheets, pillow cases and non-perishable medical requisites and stores. When the war did start it was ready for use almost immediately.