From ‘His Majesty the King’

In 1905 the British Liberal Member of Parliament, Richard Burdon Haldane was appointed to the position of Secretary of State for War, a position he would hold until 1912. During his tenure he implemented a series of reforms within the British army, which became known as the ‘Haldane Reforms’. The changes he introduced would lead to Britain being better prepared for war when it came in 1914. One of his changes was the creation of the ‘Territorial Force’ which came about as a result of the Territorial Forces Act which had been passed by Parliament on August 2, 1907 and came into effect on April 1, 1908.

Britain had a long tradition of voluntary military units being raised to defend the country the country in time of war when the regular army