Home Service Battalions

By 26 September 1914, 72% of Territorials had signed; the remainder were consigned to second line battalions.

[2] In addition, regular army infantry soldiers who were too old or unfit to serve overseas were formed into (Home Service) Garrison Battalions, which became part of the Royal Defence Corps.

[3] During British re-armament in the mid-1930s, the Royal Defence Corps was disbanded and replaced by the National Defence Companies, a part-time force which was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and open to ex-servicemen between the ages of 45 and 60 years.

[4] The Defence Companies were mobilised during the week before war was declared, their role being the protection of "vulnerable points".

In November 1939, two months after Britain's entry into the Second World War, the National Defence Companies were formed into battalions attached to Regular Army regiments and renamed "Home Service Battalions", to guard vulnerable points and prisoner of war (POW) camps in the United Kingdom.