Wimbledon & The Volunteers

by David Minshall

INDEX

Volunteers & The NRA
National Rifle Meeting
Royal Patronage
Competitions
The Novelty Acts
Volunteer Camp
Camp Comforts
Entertainment
Serious Aims
Common Problems

In 1861 Lord Radstock and a very small detachment of the Victoria Rifles encamped throughout the NRA meeting at Wimbledon. In 1862 there were 674 men in camp, of whom 212 were Volunteers and by 1866 this had increased to 1,292 Volunteers, with a total of 2,151 in camp. As the numbers continued to grow the annual Volunteer camp at Wimbledon became an established spectacle.

In addition to the Volunteers, regular troops also camped at Wimbledon. In 1865 the total number stationed there during the meeting was 539; being chiefly employed as markers at the butts. That year there were also 221 of the metropolitan police force present.

The Volunteer Camp
(The Graphic, 21 July 1888)

John Wyatt, Secretary of the NRA, makes some interesting observations on accidents and health at Wimbledon in his report of 23 July 1865:

"The number of casualties admitted into hospital on account of gunshot injuries have been six, of which three occurred at the review on the 22d August.

"The volunteers and regular troops requiring medical treatment during the entire period have been 107, or less than a daily average of 2 per cent.

"The most severe of the 107 medical cases which came under my notice were those of two policemen stationed at the camp; one was affected with a severe form of English cholera, the other had smallpox of a confluent character, and was immediately removed to the Fever Hospital in London.

"Of the very few casualties from gun-shot accidents which occurred, the most severe were the cases of Sergeant Cousins, of the 1st Lincoln Volunteers, who shot himself through the upper part of the great toe, requiring subsequent amputation, and Private Walton, of the 2nd City of London Volunteers, who was shot at the review by the accidental discharge of the rifle of the rear-rank man, carried full cock at the trail. The whole of the blank charge with a porting of the trousers were removed from a deep wound at the back of the thigh, and the man taken home in the evening by the surgeon of the corps"

Sergeant Cousins accident had been brought about by the practice of capping off against the polished toe of his boot. Sadly the rifle had been left loaded!

With the camp increasing in size the necessity for regulations arose, and the NRA Council were obliged to issue certain rules with reference to the conduct of their camp. Life at the camp became an odd mixture of military exactitude and laughing unconventionality. Reveille sounded at half past six and after that hour Volunteers were not permitted slumber; all must attend parade. One Volunteer recalled being awoken by an orderly-sergeant who "wore nothing but his cross-belt, forage cap, and cane, and who swaggered rather more than if he had been in full uniform at a royal inspection." Another Volunteer recalled a somewhat ruder awakening:

"You catch hold of his head and I'll catch hold of his feet."

"Methought in my dreams that I heard a gruff voice utter these words; and then I experienced a sensation of being lifted up and carried through the air. The sensation was brief, its conclusion unpleasant, for I was roughly awakened by being dropped, and starting up, found myself on the ground in front of the tent, and two stalwart Volunteers standing beside me with pails of water in their hands. Before I could utter a word, splash came the contents of one pail over me, quickly followed by those of the other."

The morning parade was somewhat unorthodox if this 1883 description is anything to go by: "I have seen the captain commandant appear on parade in dressing-gown and socks; and I have seen a man present himself in a piece of Turkish carpet, a fez, and a cigarette; and another actually enjoying his morning tub in the ranks."

'Field-Marshal Punch' inspected camp in 1875 and, with a view to insuring uniformity, published in the magazine bearing his name a number of regulations for Wimbledon, some of which are reprinted below:

"DRESS

"Officers ordered to attend Full Dress Parade, will not appear in white neck-ties, lavender kid gloves, and swallow-tailed coats. A projected visit to the Opera (after the Parade has been dismissed) will not in future be accepted as an excuse for disobeyance of this order.

"Non-Commissioned Officers taking part in Battalion Drill should never unfurl their umbrellas without the command of a Brigadier General.

"Fancy grey Overcoats (with black velvet collars and cuffs) should not be worn over tweed shooting-jackets and regulation trousers on parade in fine weather.

"A Major (in the absence of his Commanding Officer) should never hold a Church Parade in a straw-hat, a sword, and a pair of galoshes.

"DRILL

"The Order "March at ease" will not be considered, in future, as tantamount to a permission for a Company to ride home on the outside of an omnibus.

"Guides should not explain the theory of Billiards or the rules of Lawn-tennis to their Markers during the formation of a four-deep square.

"No more than a dozen Privates (to each Company) should speak at once on the call of "Attention!" Constant disregard of this rule will be found to cause some confusion, especially in the performance of brigade movements."

©2005 DBMinshall

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