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Local historian Eddie Menday remembers the TA and his father

Posted by Lucy Proctor on Sep 26, 08 10:31 AM in People

This year the Territorial Army is celebrating its centenary in its present form. Down the ages there has long been a band of men, and indeed women, who have volunteered to assist armies at times of crisis and war.

In order to regulate this, the Army Reserve Act of 1803 was introduced to Parliament by Lord Addington, who was concerned at the shortfall in army recruitment. 30,000 men came forward for the new Volunteer Army, spending their time at work in the week, and training with the military at the weekend.

This Volunteer Force was administered by civilians, mainly on a county or local basis. It was at this time that Dr Denman organised his Loyal Lads of Feltham, a local early Home Guard. Later, to regularise the situation, the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 was brought in by the Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane, and the Territorial Force (TF) was created the following year.

My father joined the TF as a young man, having served his time as a blacksmith and farrier. His work with horses made him an ideal member for the artillery.

When the First World War broke out, he was training on Salisbury Plain with the TF, and was immediately called up and sent to France, where he served throughout that dreadful war.

When peace was declared, there was an anti-war feeling in the nation, and the territorial units were gradually disbanded.

However, in 1920 the Territorial Force was reformed and renamed the Territorial Army (TA) - often refered to as the Terriers. Dad signed up again, and served for a number of years.

Locally, we had the TA centre in Hanworth Road, Hounslow, now de-commissioned, and the TA building in Heston, now demolished. The site of Feltham's TA HQ was a pre-fab hut in Manor Lane, shared with the Army Cadets and now home to a block of flats.

After a 2006 defence review in 2006, the TA has 42,000 recruits, all doing specialised work and often working with regulars in war zones.

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