Isle of Man Volunteers
The Isle of Man Volunteers was a nominal battalion of Britain's Volunteer Force formed during the 1860s and disbanded in 1920. Its service companies saw active service in the Second Boer War and World War I. During its existence, the battalion had the distinction of being the only representative of the Isle of Man in the British Army, and the last Volunteer Force unit.
Early history
Amidst rising tensions between the United Kingdom and France, a perceived threat of invasion by the much larger French Army, and a British Army stretched with imperial commitments, the Volunteer Force began to take shape from May 1859 as a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer volunteer corps.The Isle of Man's first volunteers appeared on 29 September 1860 when three independent Rifle Volunteer Corps were formed:
- 1st Isle of Man RVC, formed on 29 September 1860; headquarters moved to Ballasalla in 1867; it was disbanded on 14 July 1870
- 2nd Isle of Man RVC, formed on 29 September 1860
- 3rd Isle of Man RVC, formed on 29 September 1860; disbanded after June 1869
- 1st Isle of Man AVC, formed on 15 February 1861; a second battery was authorised in 1861 but not formed until 1869–70; disbanded in 1875
- 2nd Isle of Man AVC, formed on 29 June 1864; disbanded after December 1872
A further RVC was later added:
- 4th Isle of Man RVC, formed on 24 April 1866; disbanded in March 1870
A detachment of nine men accompanied the 6th VB King's to South Africa during the Second Boer War, winning the Isle of Man Volunteers their first Battle Honour
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. However, the terms of the Act did not extend to the Isle of Man. Therefore, the 7th Battalion was the only volunteer battalion that did not move to the TF and it remained as the last volunteer force unit in the British Army. A battalion in name only, it had a strength of just a single company, headquartered at Douglas. It was part of the King's (Liverpool Regiment) and attached to the TF's West Lancashire Division.World War I
On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, the 7th Volunteer Battalion was initially employed on guard duties. No. 2 Company was formed on 29 August 1914 and a third on 22 December 1914. With the formation of the Service Company on 6 March 1915, the remaining men in these three companies were formed into a new company which guarded the prisoner of war camp at Douglas until December 1916 when it was demobilized.The 1st Manx Company was formed in 1915 and posted to the 16th Battalion, The King's. The 16th King's was formed at Hoylake in December 1914 as a service battalion in the original 35th Division of Kitchener's Fourth New Army. The K4 divisions were broken up on 10 April 1915 to provide replacements for the first three New Armies. The 16th King's became a 2nd Reserve battalion to supply reinforcement drafts to the service battalions of the King's when they went overseas. In July 1915 the battalion moved to Kinmel Camp in North Wales.
In October 1915, the 1st Manx Company transferred to the 3rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment at Birkenhead. This was a Special Reserve unit, whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts to the regiment's two Regular battalions. The company was sent to join 2nd Bn Cheshires, which was serving at Salonika. The company joined as A Company on 12 January 1916.
2nd Cheshires was part of 84th Brigade in 28th Division, stationed in the Struma Valley. On 2 October 1916 84th Bde occupied Mazirko and on 31 October 2nd Cheshires held the village of Ormanli while 83rd Brigade used it as a jumping-off point to capture Bairakli Jum'a. Although conditions were harsh and sickness prevalent, the Salonika front was relatively passive for long periods. It was not until the following May that 28th Division took 'Ferdie' and 'Essex' Trenches near Bairakli Jum'a, and 16 October 1917 when it completed the capture of Bairakli and Kumli. The climax came at the Battle of Doiran, when the 2nd Cheshires attacked Dervishli, getting ahead of the Greek Crete Division alongside and having to be pulled back at the end of the first day. Although the attack at Doiran did not achieve a breakthrough, the Bulgarian Army was beaten all along the front, and by 21 September was streaming away up the Vardar and Strumica Valleys. 28th Division took part in the pursuit up to the Strumica Valley.
Bulgaria concluded an Armistice with the Allies on 30 September. This was followed on 30 October by the Armistice of Mudros with the Ottoman Empire, under the terms of which 28th Division was sent by sea to occupy the Dardanelles forts. It disembarked on 12 November and 84th Bde moved to the Gallipoli–Bulair area. In March 1919 it moved to the Haidar Pasha area of Constantinople. A year later 2nd Cheshires was still in Turkey as part of the occupation forces, but by then the wartime personnel had been demobilised.
A second service company was formed on 27 November 1915 at Bidston Camp near Birkenhead. It was later broken up to supply drafts for France.
All three companies were disbanded on 3 March 1920.
Successor units
The Territorial Army underwent rapid expansion during the period of international tension preceding World War II, and among the new units created was 15th (Isle of Man) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at Douglas on 1 July 1938. During the war its batteries served in the Western Desert campaign, the East African Campaign and the defence of Crete. Later it became the air defence regiment for the famous 7th Armoured Division fighting its way across North Africa to Tunisia and Italy before participating in the Normandy campaign and the advance across North West Europe to Germany. After the war the regiment was reformed as 515th (Isle of Man) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. It was later merged into 288th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.A new unit of the Army Reserve was established in the Isle of Man in 2015.