Find your ancestors in South Wales Borderers Special Reserve enlistments 1915

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From mid-December 1914 onwards, over 300 men would enlist until the freeze on Special Reserve enlistments during the First World War came into being in mid-June 1915.

In the past, the Special Reserve – and its predecessor the Militia – would accept former soldiers who had “served their time” and were free of the Army Reserve obligation upon Termination of Engagement. They could re-enlist under Special Reserve terms of service, and serve up to the age of 42.

Despite the introduction of Short Service under Regular terms of service, at the behest of Kitchener, these men specifically chose the Special Reserve. It could be that this legacy of accepting older experienced soldiers was foremost on these men. The dataset itself does show an older demographic, coupled with prior military experience in many cases. In some instances, the narrow lead times between enlisting and disembarking in a theatre of war would suggest that the soldier had prior military experience and was being fast-tracked to join the next draft of reinforcements.

In several instances, there is evidence that this is the second time they have enlisted for wartime service.

The Shrewsbury (J) Infantry Record Office compiled the South Wales Borderers’ medal rolls for the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal in such a way as to clearly differentiate between Special Reserve enlistments and New Army enlistments. The Infantry Record Office did not do this for any of the other regiments for which they were responsible, such as the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and the Monmouthshire Regiment. This made the exercise of compiling this record set less onerous than for those regiments for which this distinction was not made.