Media: BOOK - hardcover, 288 pages
Author: R. Westlake
Year: 2010
ISBN: 9781848842113
Other: b&w photos, further reading, appendix
Publisher: Pen & Sword

From 1859 to 1908 the Rifle Volunteers played an essential role in Britain's national defence, yet their history has been sadly neglected.

Little information is available on these dedicated, amateur soldiers who were recruited into the ranks of a military organization that flourished across the country. But now, in this invaluable book, Ray Westlake, a leading authority of the military history of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, provides a concise, accessible introduction to the Rifle Volunteers in England, Scotland and Wales and a comprehensive directory of the units raised in each county and each town.

In his introduction he described how this part-time army came into being, how it was organized and how it performed as a vital support for the regular army. He also covers recruitment and training, equipment, weapons and drill. But the bulk of the book consists of a county-by-county account of the history of each unit. He identifies the key commanding officers. the professions and trades of the men who joined up, and traces each unit through the various reorganizations and amalgamations that took place over 50 years. he also sketches in the local background, so the reader gets an impression of the community from which each unit came.

Ray Westlake's historical directory of the Rifle Volunteer Corps will be of enduring value to military and family historians.

Contents:
List of Plates
Introduction
Acknowledgements
The Rifle Volunteers
The Rifle Volunteers by County
- Aberdeenshire
- Anglesey
- Argyllshire
- Ayrshire
- Banffshire
- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Berwickshire
- Brecknockshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Buteshire
- Caithness-shire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cardiganshire
- Carmarthenshire
- Carnarvonshire
- Cheshire
- Cinque Ports
- Clackmannanshire
- Cornwall
- Cumberland
- Denbighshire
- Derbyshire
- Devonshire
- Dorsetshire
- Dumbartonshire
- Dumfriesshire
- Durham
- Edinburgh
- Elginshire
- Essex
- Fifeshire
- Flintshiire
- Forfarshire
- Galloway
- Glamorganshire
- Gloucestershire
- Haddingtonshire
- Hampshire
- Haverfordwest
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Huntingdon
- Inverness-shire
- Isle of Man
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Kincardineshire
- Kinross-shire
- Kirkcudbrightshire
- Lanarkshire
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Linlithgowshire
- London
- Merionethshire
- Middlesex
- Midlothian
- Monmouthshire
- Montgomeryshire
- Nairnshire
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Norfolk
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Orkney and Shetland
- Oxfordshire
- Peebleshire
- Pembrokeshire
- Perthshire
- Radnorshire
- Renfrewshire
- Ross-shire
- Roxburghshire
- Selkirkshire
- Shropshire
- Somersetshire
- Staffordshire
- Stirlingshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Sussex
- Sutherland
- Tower Hamlets
- Warwikshire
- Westmorland
- Wigtownshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
- Yorkshire East Riding
- Yorkshire North Riding
- Yorkshire West Riding
Further Research
Appendix A

Appendix B

References