Recruitment in South London and Kent.

Recruitment in Britain in 1915 was slowing down and the manpower making itself available was sought after. This was especially true in South London and Kent where many different units needed men. As well as the 11th Royal West Kent's of Lewisham, Maidstone was also raising a battalion for the regiment which was numbered the 10th and known as the "Kent County".
Nearby the Mayor of Bermondsey had also embarked on raising a battalion, the 12th East Surrey's as they were titled from that ever decreasing pool of men.
 The Mayors of Battersea and Lambeth not to be outdone had also answered the call, both raising battalions numbered the 10th and 11th respectively under the badge of the Royal West Surrey Regiment while Wandsworth's Mayor was adamant that a battalion of men could be raised under the East Surrey badge numbered the 13th.
There was also the London Regiment made up of the Territorials, those volunteers who trained on a part time basis and who initially were only contracted for home defence only. But thousands waivered this right, only too willing to help the regular army in its efforts in France and Flanders as well as Gallipoli in Turkey. As a result its numbers needed replenishing and South London and Kent was fertile recruitment ground.
The 1/20th the "Blackheath and Woolwich" Battalion was based in Blackheath and had already recruited many men from Lewisham, Deptford and Greenwich.
The 1/21st, the First Surrey Rifles was based in Flodden Road, Camberwell, the 1/22nd, The Queen's was at Jamaica Road, Bermondsey, the 1/23rd in Clapham and the 1/24th was in Kennington.
There was also the Territorial battalions of the Royal West Kent Regiment itself. The 1/4th battalion was based in Tonbridge and a second battalion, the 2/4th had been raised in the town in September 1914. Likewise the 1/5th were based in Bromley and a second battalion the 2/5th had also been raised in September 1914.

Everywhere posters were encouraging men to enlist at various depots across London.

Competing for manpower were the Heavy Siege Batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery that had been raised in Camberwell (126th) and Deptford (137th) respectively.
Each battery needed several hundred men, all with different roles to play for the 4 large howitzer guns that they deployed.

Here is a recruitment poster for a Siege Battery that was raised in Hampstead, London.

Women were also targeted to encourage their menfolk to enlist.

The pressure to enlist in the summer of 1915 was intensified by the passing of the National Registration Act in July. Every man and boy between the ages of 15 and 65 were required to state their name, age and occupation. This way the government could determine the number of males available and who was working in a job vital to the national interest.

In October 1915 Lord Derby, recently appointed Director General of Recruiting, introduced the Group System which became known as the Derby Scheme. Men were allowed to enlist but defer their calling up until a later date or they could enlist immediately. Those that deferred were then split into groups determined by age and marital status and then called up, single young men first to oldest then married men, youngest to oldest. The men were then given an armband and waited for their call up. By mid December the scheme had closed due to the lack of volunteers under the Group System leaving conscription the last resort of a desperate government seeking manpower.

In January 1916 the Military Service Act was introduced into Parliament and single men between the ages of 19 and 41 were liable to be called up for military service. In May 1916 the act was amended to include married men and lower the age to 18. In all the Military Service Act was amended five times during the war with the age of conscripted men being lowered to 17 and as high as 51.

The 11th Royal West Kent's during its existence between May 1915 and March 1918 had all types of these men in its ranks as the volunteers of 1915 were replaced by the Derby Men and the Conscripts as their losses began to mount.

Each and everyone deserves to have their story told and although I aim to name as many as possible with this blog it wont be feasible. Nevertheless by telling the story of recruitment I will be able in future blogs to give some background to the Men & Boys of the 11th that made it a battalion the Royal West Kent Regiment could be proud of.