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Information Courtesy of Sons of Galloway

I thought I could add a bit of detail about Volunteer Active Service Companies to Dave’s excellent introduction.

It is reproduced from “Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force 1859-1908” by Lt Gen Sir James Moncrieff Grierson 1909 at the end of which I have added some of my own observations.

The reverses suffered by our arms in South Africa in December 1899 led to a call for more troops, and to a great burst of national warlike enthusiasm, and accordingly, on January 2nd 1900, a special Army Order was issued calling upon the volunteers to furnish their contingent of trained men to reinforce the army in the field. For each battalion serving in South Africa a selected company was directed to be raised from its affiliated volunteer battalions and sent out to serve with it, and to be placed under the orders of its commanding officer. (1) Each company was to be composed of 1 captain, 2 subalterns, 1 serjeant-instructor as pay serjeant (2), 4 serjeants, 2 buglers, 5 corporals, 99 privates, 2 stretcher-bearers, or 116 of all ranks, and an equal number of “waiting companies” was to be raised and maintained at home. Each volunteer battalion was to form a complete section at least. To surmount the difficulties of the Volunteer Act, the men were to be enlisted for the regular army for a period of 1 year or the duration of the war, those taken for the “waiting companies” being transferred to the reserve until required for service. (3) The conditions of enlistment were that the men should be not under 20 or more than 35 years of age, 1st class (volunteer) shots, efficient in the years 1898 and 1899, of good character, medically fit, and, by preference, unmarried. They were to be paid, rationed, clothed, and equipped as soldiers of the regular battalions (though continuing to wear the designation of their volunteer battalions on their shoulder-straps), and were to be granted wound pensions as for the regular army.
(4)
On January 25th 1901, before the year’s service of the first companies had expired, a call for companies to replace those was made and responded to. (5)
Again, on January 9th 1902, a third call for service companies of infantry was made, and also responded to, though not in all cases to the same extent as in the first and second call; but it is noteworthy that many men who had served in the service companies of the first call and had returned home with them, rejoined the third call companies and proceeded with them to South Africa.
Notes
(1) By early 1900 there were a few regiments who had both regular battalions in South Africa. Volunteer active service companies were formed for both battalions (e.g. Northumberland Fusiliers, Gordon Highlanders.
(2) Serjeant Instructors of Volunteers were senior regular army Colour Serjeants usually with campaign experience and often with LSGC medal, attached to the permanent staff of Volunteer units. They are usually listed on QSA medal rolls with their army rank of Colour Serjeant with their regular army number.
(3) The army number allocated to the first volunteer was placed at 1000 ahead of where the regular recruit numbering had reached. (If the last regular recruit was given 5627, then the first volunteer was given 6628 and then in sequence.)
(4) 2 or 3 months into their service in South Africa the first volunteer companies mostly received a reinforcing draft of c.20 men and an officer to replace casualties of injury or illness.
(5) Though the majority of first service companies didn’t return to UK until the spring of 1901, a few, including the KOSB, returned in late 1900. Some of those returning volunteers signed up again and went back to South Africa in the spring of 1901.

I should also note that not all of the rural counties had enough population to supply enough volunteers to fulfil the requests made of them. For example, the Wiltshire Regiment Volunteers and the Somerset Light Infantry Volunteers were each only able to send out one company. Even at that the Wiltshire company had to "borrow" artillery volunteers and were still under strength.
Typically a regiment will have had c.131 men in 1st coy, c.111 men in 2nd and c.40ish in 3rd totalling c.280ish. about the same as Wiltshire and Somersetshire together

4th (Militia) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment 

The 28th and 61st Foot became the Gloucestershire Regiment ('The Glosters') and the Royal North Gloucester Militia became its 4th Battalion on 1 July 1881. The battalion carried out no training in 1896 because of a smallpox outbreak in the county, but in 1898 it took part in the army's manoeuvres at Aldershot. It returned to Cirencester Park for the 1899 training, but the rifle range was unsafe for the newly issued Lee-Metford rifles, and the week-long musketry course was carried out at Orchard Portman in Somerset.

After the disasters of Black Week at the start of the Second Boer War in December 1899, most of the Regular Army was sent to South Africa, and many militia units were embodied to replace them for home defence and to garrison certain overseas stations. The 4th Gloucesters was embodied at Cirencester on 11 January 1900 and moved by train to Holyhead under Lt-Col Earl Bathurst for service in Ireland once more. The battalion was stationed at Athlone with companies detached to Galway and Castlebar. Some 400 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion Gloucesters, too young or unfit for service in South Africa, were also at Athlone to be trained with the 4th Bn. Meanwhile, two officers and 38 other ranks of the 4th Bn volunteered to serve in South Africa with the regulars.

The whole battalion had volunteered for overseas service in South Africa or elsewhere, and it was selected to go to St Helena to guard Boer prisoners of war (POWs) who were being held on the island. The 4th Gloucesters embarked on SS Gothic at Queenstown on 2 April 1900 and sailed via Gibraltar, arriving at St Helena on 21 April. The battalion was stationed at the POW camp established at Deadwood Plain, with a second camp opened later at Broad Bottom. Also among the guards were regulars of the 1st and 2nd Gloucesters, and 117 militiamen of the 3rd Gloucesters who had volunteered for service. 

On 6 July 1901 the 3rd (Royal Wiltshire Militia) Bn, Wiltshire Regiment, arrived to relieve the men of 3rd and 4th Gloucesters, who embarked on the Mohawk and arrived at Southampton on 26 July. The battalion was disembodied the following day.


Boer Prisoners of War being escorted on the Island of St Helena.

4th ( Militia ) Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment

Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, with the linked regular regiments becoming two-battalion regiments and the militia formally joining them. On 1 July the 64th and 98th Foot became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) (the 'North Staffs') and the King's Own (3rd Staffordshire) Rifle Militia became the 4th Battalion (the 2nd Staffordshire Militia became the 3rd Bn). Militia battalions now had a large cadre of permanent staff (about 30). Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the Regular Army.  It was not uncommon for Militia officers to be attached to Regular forces for a particular service: Lt-Col Charles Bill served with the staff on the Burma Expedition of 1886; he became commanding officer (CO) of the battalion on 29 May 1893.

Although Cardwell's army corps scheme had been abandoned, the Stanhope Memorandum of 1888 proposed that the home defence army should consist of three corps, of which the first two would be regular, and the bulk of the third would be militia, while the rest of the militia and the volunteers would be assigned to fixed defences round London and the seaports

Second Boer War


4th Battalion South Africa
After the disasters of Black Week at the start of the Second Boer War in December 1899, most of the regular army was sent to South Africa, and many militia units were embodied to replace them for home defence and some overseas garrisons. The 4th North Staffs was embodied on 24 January 1900 and volunteered for service in South Africa. It embarked with a strength of 24 officers and 546 other ranks (ORs) under the command of Lt-Col Richard Mirehouse, and disembarked at Cape Town on 29 March.



At first the battalion was stationed at Green Point, Cape Town. On 31 March two companies sailed to St Helena guarding General Piet Cronjé and other Boer prisoners captured at the Battle of Paardeberg who were interned on the island. The companies returned after completing this duty. From June several companies were moved inland to guard various places, with HQ moving to Fraserburg in December. The battalion was commanded by Lt-Col Twemlow while Col Mirehouse was commandant at Beaufort West. On 25 June 1901 a determined attack was made on Fraserburg by the combined Commandos of Malan, Smit and Reitz totalling about 400 men.

At the time the town was garrisoned by 85 North Staffs, with a few men of the town guards and the Cape Colony Cyclist Corps. Firing began at 05.30, when all the troops were standing-to The first attack was made on a small post held by a Corporal and three men, eventually working round behind a sangar on a high ridge of kopjes dominating the town, which was held by Sergeant White and 17 men, the Boers taking advantage of an unfinished blockhouse nearby. After three hours' fighting the post was rushed and captured by superior numbers. The remaining post on the ridge was also taken, the three men being captured. Captain Hawkshaw in Flagstaff Sangar refused a call to surrender, even though it was under fire from the commanding ridge. Although the Boers rode through the town, and Cape rebels were firing from the rooftops, Flagstaff and Tower Hill sangars held out, as did another held by the Town Guard, who also defended the prison. Firing died down at 18.00 when a relief force arrived; the North Staffs had lost 12 men killed and wounded.


H Company Cooks 4th Battalion North Staffs

In February 1902 the battalion took over the 80 miles (130 km) blockhouse line from Victoria Road to Carnarvon, the blockhouses being manned alternately by the North Staffs and by 'Cape Boys'. On 13 May the battalion entrained for Cape Town, where it embarked for home. It was disembodied on 11 June 1902, having lost 3 officers and 25 ORs killed or died of disease. All the participants received the Queen's South Africa Medal with the 'Cape Colony' clasp, and the King's South Africa Medal with clasps for 'South Africa 1901' and 'South Africa 1902.




Special Reserve
After the Boer War, the future of the militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six army corps proposed by the Secretary of State for War, St John Brodrick. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out. Under the more sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the Special Reserve (SR), a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for regular units serving overseas in wartime, rather like the earlier Militia Reserve. The battalion became the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, on 30 August 1908.