British Colonial Auxiliary Forces



The British Colonial Auxiliary Forces were the various military forces (each composed of one or more units or corps) of Britain's colonial empire which were not considered part of the British Army proper.

Whether a British ("Home" or "Colonial") military unit or corps was considered part of the British Army was ultimately decided by whether it received Army funds from the War Office. Within and without the British Isles, the British military, (referring to land, rather than naval,components of the British armed forces) by the end of the Napoleonic Wars (by which time the Kingdom of Ireland had been absorbed into the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Irish military forces had been absorbed into those of Great Britain), included two regular forces (employed in the garrisoning and defence of the British Isles, other parts of the British Empire, and deploying to foreign countries as required), the Ordnance Military Corps (including the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and Royal Sappers and Miners), administered and funded under the Board of Ordnance, and the British Army (mostly composed of cavalry and infantry regiments), administered and funded under the War Office. Most were Home corps and units (ie, those depoted and recruited in the British Isles, wherever they might be deployed) though some were raised in colonies. The regular forces also included at various times, usually in particular locations, invalid, fencible, and other units, utilised primarily for garrison or defensive duties. Some regular forces raised in colonies, such as those grouped in the Royal West African Frontier Force, were funded only by the Colonial Office or local Governments and therefore not considered part of the British Army. Additional to the Regular military forces, the British Military also included various Reserve Forces. The main ones by the time of the Napoleonic Wars included the Militia (or Constitutional Force, composed of infantry regiments), mounted Yeomanry, and the Volunteer Force, although there were various others at different times and places. The Militia system was duplicated in many colonies, many of which would also raise volunteer units. These Reserve Forces were under the control of local authorities (the Lords Lieutenant of counties in the British Isles, and Governors in their separate offices of Commanders-in-Chief of colonies; Normally, neither Lords Lieutenant nor colonial Governors had any authority over regular forces in their territories), and locally funded. After the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars and the American War of 1812, the British Government slashed defence spending, down-sizing the regular forces, including disbanding the fencibles (most of which units had been raised in Scotland due to the lack of Militia there in the 18th Century as a result of fears of rebellion), disbanding the Volunteer Force in the British Isles, and allowing the Militia there to become a paper tiger. The Yeomanry was maintained as a back-up to the constabulary in maintaining law and order.

In the 1850s, the Crimean War highlighted the problems of British military organisation, leading to the abolishment of the Board of Ordnance, with its military corps and various previously civilian transportation, stores, and other departments absorbed by the British Army. The Indian Mutiny led to the abolishment of the East India Company, with the India Office taking over administration of India. The company's military forces were split, with the white units absorbed into the British Army and the native ones composing the Indian Army. The British Army saw significant change through the latter half of the century, with the British Army Regular Reserve formed in the 1850s, following which, to avoid confusion, the Reserve Forces were generally referred to as the Auxiliary Forces (ie, auxiliary to, but not part of, the British Army), or as the Local Forces (as they were originally all for home defence). With the threat of invasion by France, the Reserve Forces in the British Isles were also re-organised throughout the latter half of the 19th Century, into the first decade of the 20th Century. The Militia was re-organised as a voluntary force from the 1850s, and the Volunteer Force restored as a permanent part of the peacetime military establishment. Both now included units other than infantry. These changes were copied to some degree in the colonial Reserve Forces. From the 1870s, administration and funding of the Auxiliary Forces in the British Isles passed from the Lords Lieutenant to the War Office and their units were increasingly integrated into British Army units (new infantry regiments, by example, being formed to include two regular battalions, with one or more Militia battalions and one or more Volunteer Force battalions, all bearing the same regimental name). Although the Auxiliary forces remained organised as, and nominally, separate forces (until the Territorial Army was renamed the British Army Reserve in 2014), their being funded by the War Office meant they were also considered parts of the British Army. Outside the British Isles, the funding of auxiliary forces remained largely with the local governments.

The first colonial units established in the British Empire were militia formations in England's American colonies (specifically, in the Colony of Virginia, settled in 1607, and Bermuda, which was settled by shipwreck of the Sea Venture in 1609, becoming an extension of Virginia in 1612) a century before the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland unified to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (at which point the English Empire became the British Empire). By the Victorian era, the colonial auxiliary military forces were generally followed the pattern of the auxiliary military forces of the British Isles. There were also British military units, separate from those of the British Army (such as the West India Regiments and the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry) that were raised and recruited in colonies, such as the Permanent Active Militia of the Province of Canada. These units consisted of professional soldiers. They supplied a reserve force either to be called up in war time to reinforce regular British Army garrisons for home defence, or in some cases were entirely responsible for home defence. Many units, however, took part in active campaigns outside of the role of home defence in various conflicts the British Empire was involved in, including the two world wars.

Some of the reserve colonial units, especially in the strategically important imperial fortress colonies (consisting of Halifax, Gibraltar, Bermuda and Malta), were funded by the War Department out of Army Funds and considered part of the British Army (by example, the Bermuda Militia Artillery was grouped with the Royal Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers with the Royal Engineers in the official Army Lists, which also listed the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and Bermuda Militia Infantry officers as part of the British Army, whereas most colonial units were listed separately or did not appear at all), whereas others that did not receive Army Funds were considered auxiliaries (British military units, but not part of the British Army).

Many colonial units started out as auxiliaries and later became regular units and forerunners to the current militaries of those colonies which have become politically independent. While most of the units listed here were army units, colonial marines were raised at various times, as were colonial naval and air force reserve units. Today, only four British Overseas Territories regiments remain (not including cadet corps): the Royal Bermuda Regiment; the Royal Gibraltar Regiment; the Falkland Islands Defence Force; and the Royal Montserrat Defence Force. The British Government is currently (2020) working with the local governments of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands to raise reserve military units in those territories, also, with recruitment for the new Cayman Islands Regiment starting in January 2020.

Aden

 * Aden Protectorate Levies

Africa

 * King's African Rifles garrisoned the East African colonies of Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda and British Somaliland.
 * Royal West African Frontier Force garrisoned the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

America

 * Provincial troops in the French and Indian Wars
 * Corps of Colonial Marines
 * American Legion (1780-1783)
 * American Volunteers (1779-1780)
 * Armed Boat Company (1781-1783)
 * Black Company of Pioneers (also, known as the Black Pioneers, later merged into the Guides and Pioneers in 1778), (pioneers, another name for military construction engineers) (1777-1778)
 * British Legion (placed on American establishment in 1781 as 5th American Regiment) (1777-1778)
 * Bucks County Dragoons (absorbed by British Legion in 1780) (1778-1780)
 * Butler's Rangers (1777-1784)
 * Caledonian Volunteers (formed part of the British Legion in 1778) (1777-1778)
 * Campbell's Dragoons (South Carolina Dragoons) (1781)
 * Canadian Companies (1777-1783)
 * Claus' Rangers (1775-1783)
 * Collett's Independent Company (1777)
 * De Lancey's Brigade (1776-1783)
 * Detroit Volunteers (claimed descent from Roger's Rangers, later became 1st Battalion 119th Field Artillery Regiment, Michigan National Guard) (1778-1783)
 * Diemar's Troop of Black Hussars (also, known as Diemar's Hussars and Black Hussars, hussars, (light cavalry) (1779-1781)
 * Duke of Cumberland's Regiment (1781-1783)
 * Duchess County Company (1776-1777)
 * Emmerich's Chasseurs (chasseurs / light cavalry) (1777-1779)
 * Fenwick's Dragoons (South Carolina Dragoons) (1781)
 * Forshner's Independent Company (1780-1781)
 * Georgia Light Dragoons (there was also, a Local Volunteer Corps unit, of the same name) (1779-1781)
 * Georgia Loyalists (1779-1782)
 * Governor Wentworth's Volunteers (1777-1781)
 * Guides and Pioneers (absorbed the Black Company of Pioneers in 1778) (1778-1783)
 * Harkimer's Batteau Company (1780-1783)
 * Hierlihy's Corps
 * James Island Light Dragoons
 * King's American Dragoons
 * King's American Regiment (placed on American establishment, in 1781, as 4th American Regiment, part of the regular, British Army) (1776-1783)
 * King's Rangers
 * King's (Carolina) Rangers
 * King's Orange Rangers
 * King's Royal Regiment of New York
 * Kinloch's Light Dragoons (formed part of the British Legion in 1778)
 * Locke's Independent Company
 * Loyal American Rangers (1780-1783)
 * Loyal American Regiment
 * Loyal Foresters
 * Loyal New Englanders
 * Loyal Rangers
 * Loyal Rhode Islanders
 * Maryland Loyalists Battalion
 * McAlpin's Corps (also, known as McAlpin's Corps of Royalists, absorbed the American Volunteers, King’s Loyal Americans, Queen’s Loyal Rangers, and Adams' Rangers)
 * Nassau Blues
 * Newfoundland Regiment (placed on British establishment in 1782)
 * New Hampshire Volunteers
 * New Jersey Volunteers (Skinner's Greens)
 * Newport Artillery Company (Rhode Island) 1741
 * New York Volunteers (placed on American establishment, as 3rd American Regiment in 1779)
 * North Carolina Highlanders
 * North Carolina Independent Company
 * North Carolina Independent Dragoons
 * Pennsylvania Loyalists
 * Philadelphia Light Dragoons (formed part of the British Legion in 1778)
 * Prince of Wales's American Volunteers
 * Provincial Light Infantry
 * Queen's Rangers (placed on American establishment, in 1779, as 1st American Regiment, descended from Roger's Rangers)
 * Roman Catholic Volunteers (1777-1778)
 * Royal American Reformers
 * Royal Fencible Americans
 * Royal Garrison Battalion (placed on British establishment in 178
 * Royal Georgia Volunteers
 * Royal Highland Emigrants (placed on British establishment in 1779 as 84th Foot)
 * Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment
 * Saint John's Volunteers
 * Starkloff's Dragoons (South Carolina Dragoons) (1781)
 * South Carolina Rangers
 * South Carolina Royalists
 * Stewart's Troop of Light Dragoons
 * Van Alstine's Batteau Company
 * Volunteers of Ireland (absorbed the Roman Catholic Volunteers and New Jersey Volunteers and placed on American establishment, in 1779, as 2nd American Regiment, part of the regular, British Army) (1778-1782)
 * Volunteers of New England
 * West Florida Royal Foresters
 * West Jersey Volunteers

Barbados

 * Barbados Volunteer Force

Bermuda

 * Bermuda Militias 1612-1815
 * Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (1894–1965)
 * Bermuda Militia Artillery (1895–1965)
 * Bermuda Volunteer Engineers (1931-1946)
 * Bermuda Militia Infantry (1939-1946)
 * Bermuda Home Guard
 * Royal Bermuda Regiment (1965–Present)
 * Bermuda Cadet Corps (1901-2012)
 * Air Training Corps
 * Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps (1968–Present)

British Guiana

 * British Guiana Volunteer Force (BGVF)

British Honduras

 * The Prince Regent's Royal Militia (1817-1866)
 * The Belize Volunteer Force (1866-1868)
 * The Belize Volunteer Corps (1868-1883)
 * The Belize Light Infantry Volunteer Force (1897-1905)
 * British Honduras Volunteers (1905-1916)
 * British Honduras Territorial Force (1916-1928)
 * British Honduras Defense Force (1928-1944)
 * British Honduras Home Guard (1942-1943)
 * British Honduras Volunteer Guard (1943-1973)
 * Belize Volunteer Guard (1973-1977)

Burma

 * Burma Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve

Canada

 * Provincial Marine

Ceylon

 * Ceylon Volunteers (1881–1910)
 * Ceylon Defence Force (1910–1948)
 * Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

Dominica

 * Dominica Defence Force

Falkland Islands

 * Falkland Islands Defence Force (1892–Present)

Fiji

 * Fiji Defence Force

Gibraltar

 * Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Gold Coast

 * Gold Coast Constabulary

Grenada

 * Grenada Defence Force

High Commission Territories

 * African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps (1941-1946)

Hong Kong

 * Royal Hong Kong Regiment (1854–1997)

India

 * Cavalry
 * The Allahabad Light Horse
 * The Assam Valley Light Horse
 * The Bihar Light Horse
 * The Bombay Light Horse
 * The Calcutta Light Horse
 * The Cawnpore Light Horse
 * The Ghazipur Light Horse
 * The Gorakhpur Light Horse
 * The Northern Bengal Mounted Rifles
 * The Oudh Light Horse
 * The Punjab Light Horse
 * The Surma Valley Light Horse


 * Infantry


 * The Agra Volunteer Rifle Corps
 * The Allahabad Rifles
 * The Assam Bengal Railway Battalion
 * The Baluchistan Volunteer Rifle Corps
 * The Bangalore Contingent
 * The Bengal and North West Railway Battalion
 * The Bengal Nagpur Railway Battalion
 * The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment
 * The Bombay Volunteer Rifles Corps
 * The Calcutta and Presidency Battalion
 * The Calcutta Presidency Battalion
 * The Cawnpore Rifles
 * The Chota Nagpur Regiment
 * The Coorg and Mysore Company
 * The Coorg and Mysore Rifles
 * The Dehra Dun Mounted Rifles
 * The East Coast Battalion
 * The East Indian Railway Regiment
 * The Eastern Bengal Company
 * The Eastern Bengal Railway Battalion
 * The Great Indian Peninsula Railway Regiment
 * The Hyderabad Rifles
 * The Kolar Goldfields Battalion
 * The Lucknow Volunteer Rifle Corps
 * The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles
 * The Madras Guards
 * The Malabar Volunteer Rifles
 * The Malwah Bheel Corps
 * Meywa Bheel Corps
 * The Midlands Volunteer Rifle Corps
 * The Moulmein Volunteer Rifle Corps
 * The Mussourie Battalion
 * The Nagpur Rifles
 * The Naini Tal Volunteer Rifles
 * The Nilgiri Malabar Battalion
 * The Northern Bengal Mounted Rifles
 * The North West Railway Battalion
 * The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway Battalion
 * The Poona Rifles
 * The Shillong Volunteer Rifles
 * The Simla Rifles
 * The South Andaman Volunteer Rifles Corps
 * The South Indian Railway Battalion
 * The Yercaud Volunteer Rifle Corps

Iraq

 * Iraq Levies

Jamaica

 * Jamaica Militia Artillery
 * Jamaica Engineer Corps
 * Kingston (later Jamaica) Infantry Volunteers
 * Jamaica Home Guard
 * consolidated postwar to form:
 * Jamaica Defence Force

Kenya

 * Kenya Regiment

Leeward Island

 * Leewards Islands Battalion (1943-1945)
 * Leewards Home Guard

Malaya

 * Malay States Volunteer Rifles (1915–1936)
 * Malayan Naval Volunteer Reserve

Malta

 * King's Own Malta Regiment

Mauritius

 * Mauritius Territorial Force
 * Mauritius Defence Force
 * Mauritius Regiment

Montserrat

 * Royal Montserrat Defence Force

New Zealand

 * Waikato Mounted Rifles
 * Hauraki Regiment

Rhodesia/Nyasaland

 * British South Africa Police
 * Northern Rhodesia Police
 * Nyasaland Police
 * Nyasaland Volunteer Reserve
 * Royal Rhodesia Regiment
 * Northern Rhodesia Regiment
 * Rhodesian Native Regiment
 * 1st (Nyasaland) Battalion King’s African Rifles
 * 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion King’s African Rifles
 * 22nd (Nyasaland) Battalion King’s African Rifles
 * Southern Rhodesian Reconnaissance Regiment
 * ’C’ Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment
 * Rhodesian Light Infantry

St Christopher Nevis

 * Saint Kitts and Nevis Defence Force

Singapore

 * Singapore Volunteer Corps
 * Singapore Naval Volunteer Force

St Lucia

 * St. Lucia Volunteer Corps

Sudan

 * Sudan Defence Force

Trinidad/Tobago

 * Trinidad Volunteers (expanded during WWII to form:)
 * Trinidad Regiment
 * Trinidad Volunteer Artillery
 * Trinidad Home Guard

Uganda

 * Uganda Volunteer Reserve

West Indies

 * West India Regiment

Zanzibar

 * Zanzibar Volunteer Defence Force

Medals

 * Efficiency Decoration
 * Efficiency Medal
 * Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration
 * Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal