1904.
In 1904, Colonel Tytheridge resigned and the Earl of Arran, late Captain, Royal Horse Guards, was appointed Commanding Officer. Captain and Hon. Major E. Merrick and Captain R. G. Hayes were promoted Field Officers.
At the end of 1906 the Field Army Brigades were abolished, as preparations were then being made for a much greater call upon volunteers than that entailed by the existing scheme of Home Defence.
Troubled by the incessant cry for economy in military expenditure from their supporters on one side and the imminence of a European war with insufficient military strength on the other, the Government turned again to the Volunteer Force for aid.