The West Norfolk Militia was an auxiliary military regiment in the English county of Norfolk in East Anglia. First organised during the Seven Years' War it carried out internal security and home defence duties in all of Britain's major wars. It later became a battalion of the Norfolk Regiment, served in South Africa during the Second Boer War, and supplied thousands of recruits to the fighting battalions during World War I. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.
Background
The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two Acts of 1557, which placed selected men, the 'Trained Bands', under the command of Lords Lieutenant appointed by the monarch. This is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England. It was an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s, and control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War. Although hardly employed during the civil wars, the Norfolk Trained Bands were active in controlling the country under the Commonwealth and Protectorate. The English militia was re-established under local control in 1662 after the Restoration of the monarchy, and Norfolk supported five regiments of foot and one of horse. However, after the Peace of Utrecht in 1715 the militia was allowed to decline.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 12, 16, 125, 294–5.Harvey, pp. 9–16.Hay, pp. 11–17, 25–6, 60–1, 88, 99–104.Hay, pp. 264–6.Holmes, pp. 90–104.
1757 Reforms
Under threat of French invasion during the Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 reorganised the county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. In peacetime they assembled for 28 days' annual training. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the lord lieutenant. An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits.Fortescue, Vol II, pp. 288, 299–302.Harvey, p. 17.Hay, pp. 136–44.Holmes, pp. 94–100.Petre, p. 368.Western, pp. 124–57, 251.
Norfolk's quota was set at 960 men in two battalions, with the City of Norwich contributing 151 of the men. The Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford, was an enthusiast for the militia, and made rapid progress with the assistance of the Townshend family, particularly Colonel George Townshend, MP for Norfolk, a Regular soldier who promoted the militia legislation in parliament. A number of old soldiers were recruited as sergeants to train the balloted men, and a number of volunteers to the ranks were appointed as corporals. Both battalions received their arms from the Tower of London on 7 October 1758 and paraded at Fakenham in November. Orford appointed Townshend as colonel of the 1st or Western Battalion and Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Baronet, of the 2nd or Eastern Battalion. The two battalions were embodied (mobilised) for fulltime service on 24 June 1759 and on 4 July marched by four 'divisions' (half battalions) to Portsmouth to do duty under Major General Holmes. Due to the heat, they set off soon after midnight, but were described as being in good spirits. The Western Battalion would have been under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Windham, because Townshend was serving as a brigadier in Wolfe's expedition to Quebec. En route the two battalions passed through London and under Orford's command were reviewed by King George II in front of Kensington Palace. They were the first of the reformed militia regiments 'which offered to march wherever they might be most serviceable to the public defence', and the King ordered that they 'should be distinguished by the title of Militia Royal', but this was never done. The Prince of Wales (soon to be King George III) also showed the Norfolk Militia favour.Frederick, p. 220.Harvey, pp. 23–34, 289.Chambers, pp. xcvii–ci.Parkyn.Petre, p. 369.Western, pp. 124, 141, 157–9, 179.Western, Appendices A & B.
By August the divisions of the two battalions were alternately guarding prisoners of war and undergoing training. While at Hilsea Barracks, Portsmouth, Windham published a drill manual, A Plan of Discipline, Composed for the Use of the Militia of the County of Norfolk, probably drawing on Townshend's knowledge, and which Townshend revised in 1768 after Windham's death.M.J.D.C., 'Standing Orders', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol 4, No 15 (January–March 1925), pp. 6–7.'Militia Regiments of Great Britain', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol 12, No 45 (Spring 1933), pp. 45–9.Western, p. 405. This is said to have become one of the most important drill manuals employed during the American Revolution. However, a report on the West Norfolks said that the officers were not well chosen, and the adjutant had been incapacitated by a stroke.Western, p. 422.
Hilsea Barracks proved to be infected with smallpox, dysentery and typhus, and the men from isolated Norfolk villages with little immunity succumbed in large numbers. Casualties were severe, and those who did not die suffered long convalescences. In October the Norfolks were relieved by the Warwickshire Militia, but only after the barracks had been thoroughly cleaned.Western, pp. 384, 393.
During the autumn of 1759–60 the Norfolk companies were first dispersed in billets across Hampshire and Surrey, and then in November they were marched to Cirencester in Gloucestershire, where they were joined by a recruiting party and recruits from Norwich. Thereafter the battalions were posted to various towns for garrison duty and to guard prisoners. On 28 May 1761 King George granted Regimental colours to the two battalions of the Norfolk Militia.Harvey, pp. 34–7, 41–2.
With the Seven Years War drawing to an end, orders to disembody (demobilise) the two Norfolk battalions were issued on 15 December 1762. Annual training continued thereafter: the West Norfolks usually at East Dereham. Ballots were held regularly, and officers were commissioned to fill vacancies.Harvey, pp. 44–8.
American War of Independence
The militia was called out after the outbreak of the War of American Independence when the country was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. Orford ordered the Norfolk Militia to assemble on 13 April 1778 and he took personal command of the Western battalion. On its first assembly, Orford dismissed 20 'misshapen, underlimbed, distempered men' and told his deputies to send only 'sizeable, able-bodied men'. The battalion was reviewed on Mousehold Heath outside Norwich by Lt-Gen Sir Richard Pierson in mid-May.Western, p. 275.
It became normal policy to gather the militia regiments into encampments during the summer months where they could be exercised in larger formations, but the West Norfolks spent most of their embodied service camped by themselves on coast defence duties. The regiment benefited from the training opportunities of these camps even though isolated from other units, and despite Orford's bouts of mental illness he was enthusiastic and enterprising. He had instruction cards printed, and the regiment was put through every manoeuvre in Lord Amherst's instructions. At Aldeburgh in 1778 the regiment carried out a mock sea battle, practising forming orderly lines and columns of boats directed by flag signal, and in volley firing from the boats. The culmination was to row out and surround a ship moored offshore, fire two volleys and then board it with fixed bayonets, with a prize for the first boat to board. At the end of the camp the inspecting officer observed that 'they must have been a great deal manoeuvred and likely to be ready and attentive to orders in the noise and confusion of service', though he complained that they were not so good on parade. Orford was keen on marksmanship, and his 600-strong regiment used some 14,000 rounds of ammunition each camping season, then considered a large amount. The results were good by 18th century standards of musketry: on one occasion in 1780 130 shots out of 600 hit the target. One company that consistently won the shooting competitions was accused of loading with two balls instead of one, so Orford carried out experiments to see if this was a good idea.Western, p. 414.
A frequent task for the militia was chasing smugglers. While camped at Aldeburgh in 1779 the West Norfolks sent a party up the coast to intercept a cutter that was landing contraband. They were too late to intercept the boat, but found casks of spirits hidden in a cave. A party was left to prevent more landings. A little later a landing was made at Dunwich, and 20 militiamen mounted on baggage horses chased the smugglers for in 4 hours, capturing a letter giving details of the next run. Again, a detachment was sent to camp at the landing point, to deter a cutter that was loitering offshore. Orford remarked that the clergy, lawyers and doctors of the area were all smugglers, and in Aldeburgh itself every inhabitant was one except the parson. The government always took the precaution of stationing the militia outside their own counties, so that they would not be called upon to fight their friends and relations.Western, p. 433. When the regiment camped by itself in 1779 and 1780, Orford took upon himself the role of food contractor, supplying the cattle and sheep rather than relying on the retail market.Western, p. 391.
In February 1780 the battalion was billeted at Ipswich. In August it was camped on Tenpenny Common, and on 18 August it was reviewed by its former commanding officer, now Lt-Gen Viscount Townshend, Master-General of the Ordnance, on his way to Landguard Fort. It went into winter quarters at Hull in November 1780. In May 1782 it was at Swaffham and Dereham on its way to camp at Caister near Yarmouth. At Caister the Earl of Orford erected a battery for four cannon between the camp and the sea. The battalion was reviewed at Herringfleet by Gen Henry Conway in September. The camp at Caister broke up in mid-November and the battalion marched back through Norwich to winter quarters in Dereham, Swaffham, King's Lynn and Downham Market. The Treaty of Paris to end the war was now being negotiated, and the militia could be stood down. The West Norfolks were disembodied at King's Lynn in March 1783.Petre, p. 370. From 1784 to 1792 the militia were supposed to assemble for 28 days' annual training, even though to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually called out each year. In 1786 the number of permanent non-commissioned officers (NCOs) was reduced. The Earl of Orford died in 1791 and was succeeded on 31 March 1792 by his kinsman, the Hon Horatio Walpole, MP for King's Lynn.Fortescue, Vol III, pp. 530–1.Western, p. 333.
French Revolutionary War The militia had already been called out before Revolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793. George Townshend, now 1st Marquess Townshend and Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, was ordered on 19 December to embody (mobilise) the Norfolk Militia.Harvey, p. 69.Sleigh. The French Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the Regular Army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manned garrisons, guarded prisoners of war, and carried out internal security duties, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the Volunteers and mounted Yeomanry.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 255, 411.