The Isle of Man Volunteers was a nominal battalion of the British Army formed during the 1860s and disbanded in 1920. During its existence, the battalion had the distinction of being the only representative of the Isle of Man in the British Army, and the last Volunteer Force unit in the British Army.
History
Formation and early history
Amidst rising tensions between the United Kingdom and France, a perceived threat of invasion by the much larger French Army, and a British Army stretched with imperial commitments, the Volunteer Force began to take shape from May 1859 as a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps. The Isle of Man's first volunteers appeared on 29 September 1860 when three independent Rifle Volunteer Corps were formed: the 1st Isle of Man RVC at Castletown, the 2nd Isle of Man RVC at Douglas, and the 3rd Isle of Man RVC at Ramsey. They were joined by the 4th Isle of Man RVC at Crosby on 24 April 1866. By the end of 1870, all had been disbanded except the 2nd Isle of Man Rifle Volunteer Corps. From July 1861, the "Major Commanding the Volunteer Forces in the Island" was Francis Pigott Stainsby Conant, Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 1860 to 1863. The unit was attached to the 15th Lancashire RVC from 1873 for drill and administration purposes and in 1877 to the 64th Lancashire RVC, before returning to the 15th Lancashire RVC in March 1880. As it was the only remaining RVC on the Isle of Man, it was renumbered as the 1st Isle of Man Rifle Volunteer Corps on 19 October 1880. At this time, it consisted of just one company and its HQ was in Douglas. The Childers Reforms of 1881 saw the Isle of Man Volunteers join The King's on 1 July as a volunteer battalion. Notwithstanding this, in 1884 the unit was attached to the 19th Lancashire RVC for administrative purposes. Finally, on 1 March 1884, came the final redesignation as the 7th Volunteer Battalion, The King's , the junior battalion of the regiment. A detachment of nine men accompanied the 6th King's to South Africa during the Second Boer War.
The Territorial Force was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. However, the terms of the Act did not extend to the Isle of Man. Therefore, the 7th Battalion was the only volunteer battalion that did not move to the TF and it remained as the last volunteer force unit in the British Army.
World War I
On 4 August 1914, the 7th Volunteer Battalion was headquartered at Douglas and attached to the West Lancashire Division. It had a strength of just a single company and it was initially employed on guard duties. No. 2 Company was formed on 29 August 1914 and a third on 22 December 1914. With the formation of the Service Company on 6 March 1915, the remaining men in these three companies were formed into a new company which guarded the prisoner of war camp at Douglas until December 1916 when it was demobilized. The service company was formed in 1915 and posted to the 16th Battalion, The King's at Hoylake in March 1915. In October 1915, the company transferred to the 3rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment at Birkenhead and became the 1st Manx Company. On 12 January 1916, the company joined the regular army's 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment in Salonika as A Company. It remained with the 2nd Cheshires for the rest of the war and by the Armistice of Mudros on 30 September 1918 was with 84th Brigade, 28th Division, north of Lake Doiran. A second service company was formed on 27 November 1915 at Bidston Camp near Birkenhead. It was later broken up to supply drafts for France. The Isle of Man Volunteers were disbanded on 3 March 1920.
Battle honours
During its existence, the Isle of Man Volunteers earned battle honour:
