The Brigade Camp of 1907 held at West Tarring, near Worthing, was therefore the last camp of the Civil Service Volunteers. Before the summer training camps of 1908 were formed, the Corps had been disbanded and re-enrolled, the grey uniform had been discarded, and a new khaki-clad battalion of Territorial soldiers of the King, 800 strong, stood ready to ask His Majesty to be again their Honorary Colonel. The request was granted, and the London Gazette announced that:
“His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to signify his royal pleasure that he will continue to remain Honorary Colonel of the Corps on its transfer to the Territorial Force.”
The transfer throughout the Force was not made without difficulty or without great effort on the part of its leaders. Much nervousness existed as to the liabilities to be incurred under the Act, the additional claim upon a man’s spare time, the suggested penalties in case of default, etc. The efforts of the leaders were not assisted by the singularly inept methods of the military authorities. The Act provided that the Volunteer should be re-attested on entering the new Force. The Attestation Form at first issued by the War Office contained a long list of questions to be answered by the recruit. Prominent across the face of the form was the statement:
“You are hereby warned that if it is found that you have given a false answer to the following questions you will be liable to imprisonment with hard labour.”
In this grateful and tactful manner it was proposed to greet the patriotic citizen on taking the first step towards his additional burden. But the protests of Volunteer Commanders were loud and the obnoxious form was quickly withdrawn.
15th (Co. of London) Battalion, 4th London Brigade.
The Battalion, under the title of the “15th (County of London) Battalion the London Regiment,” was placed in the 4th London Brigade of the 2nd London Division, the brigade being constituted as before (the old “Grey Brigade”), and still under the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Scots Guards Regiment.
The first training camp of the Territorial Brigade was held at West Down, Salisbury Plain, from August 2nd to 16th, 1908, Colonel Inigo Jones, Scots Guards, in command. The Civil Service were by far the strongest battalion in the camp; the London Scottish and other corps having as yet been able to raise but a few companies for the new Force. This result had been achieved in spite of the fact that Treasury Regulations had been issued, regarding leave to be granted to Territorials in Government Departments for camp training, in which the conditions were much less generous than those formerly accorded to volunteers by Heads of Departments.
Fortunately, an officer of the Corps, Lieutenant F. H. D. Acland, having been elected M.P. for Richmond (Yorks), had been given the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the War Office. By his influence the Secretary of State for War, Mr. Haldane, commenced a tour of inspection of Territorials by visiting the camp at Salisbury Plain and lunching with the “Civil Service.” On his attention being drawn to the new leave conditions, Mr. Haldane was good enough to attend the Regimental Prize Distribution at the close of the year and publicly announced that more generous conditions should be issued.