Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Bermuda Militia Infantry
The Bermuda Militia Infantry was raised in 1939 as a part-time reserve of the British Army's Bermuda Garrison.
The Parliament of Bermuda had authorised three part-time reserve units in 1892 to re-inforce the regular army detachments to the Bermuda Garrison. These replaced the original militia, raised in 1612, which had been raised under Militia Acts that required periodic renewal. The local government saw the militia as an unnecessary expense following the buildup of the regular army garrison (that resulted from Bermuda's becoming the primary base for the Royal Navy in the western North Atlantic following American independence), and simply stopped renewing the Militia Act after the American War of 1812, allowing the militia to fade away.
Despite short-lived attempts to raise militias without the aid or funds of the local government, a permanent reserve would not exist 'til the first of the three units authorised in 1892, the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC), was raised in 1894 as a reserve for the regular infantry force (which normally numbered one battalion posted to Prospect Camp. Various battalions were posted to Bermuda, normally for three years at a time. On occasions of heightened tensions, a second infantry battalion was sometimes posted to Bermuda. The BVRC was split into four companies, including three rifle companies and a headquarters company, with the archipelago divided between them into Western, Central, and Eastern areas of operation.
In 1895, the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) was raised as a reserve for the two regular companies of Royal Artillery (from 1899 to 1924, the Royal Garrison Artillery), manning the various coastal artillery batteries in Bermuda, most of which were clustered in the fortified East End of Bermuda, where the only safe passage for sizeable vessels lay through the surrounding barrier reef. The Royal Engineers and the Royal Artillery had taken over and improved the fortifications of the old militia, and built many new ones. By the middle of the 19th century, they had emplaced roughly five hundred artillery pieces around Bermuda; vastly more than there existed trained gunners to man. Due to rapid advances in artillery in the latter 19th century, many of the forts, and most of the guns, were obsolete before the turn of the century, but the part-time reserve was still vital to the effectiveness of the garrison. The BMA provided detachments to batteries around Bermuda, but was centred on the St. David's Battery, which was the Examination Battery, overlooking the entrance through the reefs where arriving vessels were inspected by the Royal Navy before being allowed to proceed inwards.
The third reserve unit, a submarine mining militia meant to operate boats in support of 27th (Submarine Mining) Company, Royal Engineers, which had been assigned to Bermuda in 1888 to maintain and operate underwater mines, was never raised. In 1900 the Royal Engineers Submarine Mining Companies also assumed responsibility for operating electric searchlights defending harbours.
The BVRC restricted its recruitment to whites (initially by recruiting only members of private rifle clubs, as all the Bermudian rifle clubs at that time barred non-white members). The majority of the BMA's recruits were coloured (understood at that time, in Bermuda, as anyone not able to be described as wholly white), but all of its officers were white.
The BVRC and the BMA sent two drafts each to the Western Front during the First World War (the former, in 1915 and 1916 to the Lincolnshire Regiment; the latter in 1916 and 1917 to the Royal Garrison Artillery). After the war, the British Government increasingly curtailed its defence spending in Bermuda, withdrawing regular army units and transferring ever more of their duties to the part-time units, which were re-organised along Territorial Army lines in the 1920s. In 1928, the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers companies were withdrawn. The BMA took over complete responsibility for manning the coastal artillery batteries, of which only St. David's Battery was still active by 1939. The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers (BVE) was raised in 1931 to take on the role of operating electric search lights at the batteries (in 1940, they also took on responsibility for signals within the garrison).
By 1939, with war looming, the BMA, with a single battery of coastal artillery, did not allow full use to be made of the available coloured manpower of Bermuda, even with the construction that year of a new battery of two 6-inch guns at Warwick Camp.
Hub AI
Bermuda Militia Infantry AI simulator
(@Bermuda Militia Infantry_simulator)
Bermuda Militia Infantry
The Bermuda Militia Infantry was raised in 1939 as a part-time reserve of the British Army's Bermuda Garrison.
The Parliament of Bermuda had authorised three part-time reserve units in 1892 to re-inforce the regular army detachments to the Bermuda Garrison. These replaced the original militia, raised in 1612, which had been raised under Militia Acts that required periodic renewal. The local government saw the militia as an unnecessary expense following the buildup of the regular army garrison (that resulted from Bermuda's becoming the primary base for the Royal Navy in the western North Atlantic following American independence), and simply stopped renewing the Militia Act after the American War of 1812, allowing the militia to fade away.
Despite short-lived attempts to raise militias without the aid or funds of the local government, a permanent reserve would not exist 'til the first of the three units authorised in 1892, the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC), was raised in 1894 as a reserve for the regular infantry force (which normally numbered one battalion posted to Prospect Camp. Various battalions were posted to Bermuda, normally for three years at a time. On occasions of heightened tensions, a second infantry battalion was sometimes posted to Bermuda. The BVRC was split into four companies, including three rifle companies and a headquarters company, with the archipelago divided between them into Western, Central, and Eastern areas of operation.
In 1895, the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) was raised as a reserve for the two regular companies of Royal Artillery (from 1899 to 1924, the Royal Garrison Artillery), manning the various coastal artillery batteries in Bermuda, most of which were clustered in the fortified East End of Bermuda, where the only safe passage for sizeable vessels lay through the surrounding barrier reef. The Royal Engineers and the Royal Artillery had taken over and improved the fortifications of the old militia, and built many new ones. By the middle of the 19th century, they had emplaced roughly five hundred artillery pieces around Bermuda; vastly more than there existed trained gunners to man. Due to rapid advances in artillery in the latter 19th century, many of the forts, and most of the guns, were obsolete before the turn of the century, but the part-time reserve was still vital to the effectiveness of the garrison. The BMA provided detachments to batteries around Bermuda, but was centred on the St. David's Battery, which was the Examination Battery, overlooking the entrance through the reefs where arriving vessels were inspected by the Royal Navy before being allowed to proceed inwards.
The third reserve unit, a submarine mining militia meant to operate boats in support of 27th (Submarine Mining) Company, Royal Engineers, which had been assigned to Bermuda in 1888 to maintain and operate underwater mines, was never raised. In 1900 the Royal Engineers Submarine Mining Companies also assumed responsibility for operating electric searchlights defending harbours.
The BVRC restricted its recruitment to whites (initially by recruiting only members of private rifle clubs, as all the Bermudian rifle clubs at that time barred non-white members). The majority of the BMA's recruits were coloured (understood at that time, in Bermuda, as anyone not able to be described as wholly white), but all of its officers were white.
The BVRC and the BMA sent two drafts each to the Western Front during the First World War (the former, in 1915 and 1916 to the Lincolnshire Regiment; the latter in 1916 and 1917 to the Royal Garrison Artillery). After the war, the British Government increasingly curtailed its defence spending in Bermuda, withdrawing regular army units and transferring ever more of their duties to the part-time units, which were re-organised along Territorial Army lines in the 1920s. In 1928, the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers companies were withdrawn. The BMA took over complete responsibility for manning the coastal artillery batteries, of which only St. David's Battery was still active by 1939. The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers (BVE) was raised in 1931 to take on the role of operating electric search lights at the batteries (in 1940, they also took on responsibility for signals within the garrison).
By 1939, with war looming, the BMA, with a single battery of coastal artillery, did not allow full use to be made of the available coloured manpower of Bermuda, even with the construction that year of a new battery of two 6-inch guns at Warwick Camp.