Deadly Work Ashore

The London Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 1903 – 1914

The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) was formed on the passing of the Naval Forces Act 30th June 1903. The Royal Navy already had two Reserves, the Royal Naval Reserve, comprising of time expired experienced sailors and the Royal Fleet Reserve comprising of men serving with the Merchant Navy and the Fishing Fleets.  The formation of a reserve comprising of civilian volunteers with no previous seagoing experience was not an idea supported by everyone in the Admiralty of the day.

For administrative purposes the RNVR would have six Divisions – London, Clyde, Tyneside, Sussex, Bristol and Edinburgh with not less than five numbered Companies of 100 men each.

The London Division was provided with a drill ship HMS Buzzard moored on the Thames embankment. However, the terms under which the civilian volnteer would serve were not encouraging. Civilian volunteers, according to the Admiralty could never be referred to as sailors, once a man had passed his basic training he would be referred to as an ‘efficient’ a title that was to remain for six years. Both officers and men would pay their own travel expenses. Whereas, the Admiralty would provide the men with uniforms, Officers would pay for their own and just to make sure that there could be no mistake the gold rings worn around the bottom of the sleeve would be of a waved pattern hence the nickname for the RNVR ‘The Wavy Navy’.

In 1906, permission was given to secure a shore-based drill hall. Suitable premises in the form of an old steelwork storage facility south of the river in Commercial Road, Lambeth were secured at an annual rental of £600.00. However, the project would not be funded by the Admiralty and so the Commanding Officer of the London Division, Commander Rupert Guiness made himself responsible for £500.00 with the remainder being found by the ship’s company and supporters.

At the outbreak of war in 1914 the First Lord of the Admiralty was the 28-year-old Winston Churchill, a former regular and Territorial Army Officer. By the time Great Britain had declared War on Germany on the 4th of August, The Royal Navy and its Reserves had already been mobilised and the Royal Navy was declared ‘ready’. However, for a few specialists, 30,000 Reservists including the RNVR were found surplus to requirement as all the ships of the Royal Navy at that stage in the war were fully manned.

1,300 Officers and ratings had reported to HMS President on receiving their call out notices but even with the Commercial Road drill hall, there was not sufficient space to accommodate everyone let alone train for war.  As with all RNVR Divisional Commanding Officers, Commander Guiness made himself responsible for the welfare and training of his men until the Admiralty had decided how they would be employed.

At his own expense he brought supplies of food and straw paillasses and made arrangements to house his men in nearby schools. The Commanding Officer’s wife, Lady Gwendolene was put in charge of catering. In the meantime, as the men’s pay was not immediately forthcoming, he advanced large sums of money to cover this problem. Despite the inadequate support from the Admiralty, the men of the London Division were ready and waiting. Then Winston Churchill came up with an unpopular solution to the problem of how they would be employed.

For many years the Committee for Imperial Defence had been urging the government to form an ‘Advanced Base Force’ of Marines whose job it would be to secure and hold port facilities in advance of landing anywhere in the world by British Forces but there had never been any enthusiasm by the Admiralty to supply the Marines and logistics required to create such a force, here then was the opportunity. Practically overnight the RNVR would be reorganised into Naval Brigades and began training as infantry.

There was much disappointment and opposition to the idea but the die was cast and the members of the London Division who were expecting to be transferred to seagoing duties at any time  could now look forward to a very different war.

By mid-August the men of President and their fellow Naval Reservists, found themselves under canvas in Walmer and Betteshanger on the South Coast and with the help of the Marines and a few retired Guards Officers they began training as infantry with a mixture of army drill and route marches for they knew little of infantry tactics. The Reserves of the Royal Navy were now amalgamated to form 8 battalions named after the famous Admirals Benbow, Collinwood, Hawke, Drake, Howe, Hood, Anson and Nelson forming two Naval Brigades. A third Brigade of well trained and equipped Reservists from the Royal Marines now completed what would be known as The Royal Naval Division.

On the 2nd October a German Army of some 60,000 men were headed for Antwerp, a strategically important location in many ways but simply put, if Antwerp fell the German army would have access to the channel ports vital to the British lines of supply.  Antwerp was defended by an outdated system of fortresses last upgraded in 1902, linked by an inadequate trench system and manned by the exhausted Belgian Field Army on the brink of collapse. There was no hope of immediate relief, except that is by that formation without Transport, Cavalry or Artillery calling itself The Royal Naval Division. Churchill himself went to Antwerp and having assessed the situation immediately dispatched the Marine Brigade who entered Antwerp two days later. The Naval Brigades would follow as soon as possible.

On the 3rd October the sailors were roused at 05.00 with instructions to march down to Dover where the transports were waiting to take them across the Channel to Dunkirk, they were woefully unprepared. Dressed in their blue naval uniforms with bayonets tucked into gaiters and sharing water bottles and mess tins for they had precious little personal kit. However, each man did have an ancient long Lee-Enfield charger – loading rifle but few had any idea of how to use them effectively.

RNVR Memorial Crystal Palace

On arrival in Antwerp the Naval Brigades were issued with 120 rounds a man to be kept in the greatcoat pocket and took over shallow trenches from the Belgian defenders. They immediately set about building a more substantial trench line.  The combined force of Marines and Sailors held of the German onslaughts for 6 days but inevitably were then forced to retreat to the port of Dunkirk. The lucky ones undertook the perilous journey by train but due to a communications failure many others were killed or captured. One Naval Brigade crossed into Holland and 37 0fficers and 1,442 men were interned for the rest of the war. 

In total the Royal Naval Division lost 7 Officers and 53 men killed, 3 officers and 135 men wounded and 5 Officers and 931 men captured. They had got off lightly by the standards of the growing conflict on the Western Front, but this was only 8 weeks after the start of the war and when the story broke in the newspapers there was a public outcry.

After Antwerp the Royal Naval Division was re-equipped and recruited back up to strength. In September 1914, The Crystal Palace in Bromley became the depot of the RNVR.

On the 10th May 1915 the Division sailed for the Gallipoli Campaign moving to the Western Front in May 1916 where it remained for the rest of the war as the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. Although now transferred from the Admiralty to the War office, the Division retained their Royal Naval traditions and rank titles. Both the 1/1st Bn The Honourable Artillery Company, the 2/2nd and 2/4th (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers) and the 1/28th  (County of London) Battalion the London Regiment (Artists) all  served in the Royal Naval Division at various times.

After the War the Germans rated the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division as one of the top four Divisions in the British Army but such an accolade had come at a cost of 582 Officers and 10,295 other ranks killed in action.

Winston Churchill wrote in 1922:

“The Royal Navy Reservists and many others in the various elements of which the Division was composed had set their hearts on service afloat and it was with disappointment and many heartburning’s, but with boundless and unflinching loyalty, that they devoted themselves to the deadly work ashore.”

Major (Retired) Derrick Harwood MBE, GL RFCA Historian and Archivist