us offers by officers or men to serve abroad, "no part of the
Territorial Force shall be carried or ordered to go out of the United
Kingdom."

In reality, none of the defects which attracted these criticisms was
inherent in the Territorial idea. They rather belonged to the whole
military policy of the country before the War. Public opinion held that
a European War was practically impossible, and that the British Army
must of necessity be small in numbers and voluntary in character.

On these assumptions the limitations of the Territorial Force were
simply inevitable. Having regard to the prevailing views on national
defence and to the general resistance to Lord Roberts' propaganda, the
Territorial scheme reduced the evils of voluntaryism to the minimum.

The difficulty as to its shortage in men was met as soon as War was
declared. The Territorial Force was, in fact, capable of infinite
expansion, and of being the basis of the entire New Army, had the
Government so willed. Its training, again, was far better than no
training at all. Later events have proved with what speed wholly
untrained British conscripts can be moulded into efficient soldiers, and
that willing men can learn discipline and the use of the rifle within a
very few months. Territorial training sufficed, at any rate, to enable
Territorial units to relieve the Regular Army of all garrison duties
abroad immediately on the outbreak of war, and in many cases themselves
to take the field on active service before Christmas, 1914. Even with
regard to the constitutional obstacle to using the Force overseas, fully
nine-tenths of its men never dreamed of claiming immunity. The small
margin, which were left for employment in home defence, mainly
represented the physically unfit or boys under age.

As events turned out, two unexpected disadvantages of the system were
generally experienced. In times of peace the Territorial Force had been
able to influence public policy through the County Associations and the
House of Commons. After embodiment, the Force itself became necessarily
inarticulate under the conditions that govern all military service. Far
less influential than the Regulars and far less numerous than the New
Army, it went abroad early in the War, and was thus not actively in
touch with Parliament, while the semi-civilian County Associations,
whose personal and local knowledge might have been invaluable, ceased to
have any powers over its organisation, and