Britain: An official handbook > 1956
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BRITAm: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
2. To provide personnel for the Commando Brigade.
3. To provide crews for minor landing craft and certain other parties required
for amphibious assault.
Women’s Royal Naval Service
The WRNS is now a permanent and integral part of the Naval Service. It has its
own disciplinary code. The estimated average strength in 1955-56 is 4,600.
Reserve and Auxiliary Forces
The Royal Fleet Reserve (RFR) consists of men who have taken their discharge
from the regular service and who, either voluntarily or as part of their contract,
join this reserve for a minimum period of five years.
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) reopened its ranks in February 1950 to officers
and men of the Merchant Navy who volunteer to serve in the Royal Navy in war.
The qualification for service in the RNR is that the candidate should be following
the sea as a profession.
The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), composed of officers and men who
voluntarily train in peace time, is organized in 12 divisions which provide training
for general naval service. There are also five RNVR Air Divisions. The Royal Naval
Volunteer (Wireless) Reserve consists of specialist officers, wireless operators
and radio electricians. The Royal Marines Rorces Volunteer Reserve (RMFVR) and
Women’s Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (WRNVR) are the Royal Marines’ and
WRNS’s counterparts of the RNVR.
Behind these fully trained reserves, available to meet immediate needs on mobili¬
zation, is the vast background of officers and men with past war-time and peace¬
time service in the Royal Navy, now either in retirement or in civil occupations.
All those still fit for service are liable to recall on the outbreak of war and, after
refresher training where necessary, would help to provide the additional trained
manpower required to meet the war-time expansion of the Navy as a whole.
Royal Naval Minewatching Service
The RNMWS, a civilian organization formed in January 1952 and composed of
men and women volunteers, is responsible in time of war for manning posts around
the coast and overlooking the main navigable waterways. Its object would be to spot
mines dropped from aircraft, and to plot and report their positions. Its strength on
1 st October 1955 was 4,300-
Sea Cadet Corps
The Sea Cadet Corps is the oldest pre-Service movement for boys in Britain, its
origin dating from the time of the Crimean War in the mid-nineteenth century. As
an organization it was sponsored in 1899 by the Navy League (the objects of which
are the promotion of a strong Navy and instruction in the history and traditions of
the sea). The aim of the Sea Cadet Corps is to give technical training to, and instil
naval tradition in, boys under the age of 18 who intend to serve in the Royal and
Merchant Navies and also to those sea-minded boys who do not intend to follow a
sea career but will, given this knowledge, form a valuable reserve for the Navy. It
also aims to provide for the social and educational welfare of the cadets and to
develop character and good citizenship. The estimated strength in 1955-56 is about
2,000 cadet officers, 900 chief petty officer instructors and 20,000 cadets.
BRITAm: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
2. To provide personnel for the Commando Brigade.
3. To provide crews for minor landing craft and certain other parties required
for amphibious assault.
Women’s Royal Naval Service
The WRNS is now a permanent and integral part of the Naval Service. It has its
own disciplinary code. The estimated average strength in 1955-56 is 4,600.
Reserve and Auxiliary Forces
The Royal Fleet Reserve (RFR) consists of men who have taken their discharge
from the regular service and who, either voluntarily or as part of their contract,
join this reserve for a minimum period of five years.
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) reopened its ranks in February 1950 to officers
and men of the Merchant Navy who volunteer to serve in the Royal Navy in war.
The qualification for service in the RNR is that the candidate should be following
the sea as a profession.
The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), composed of officers and men who
voluntarily train in peace time, is organized in 12 divisions which provide training
for general naval service. There are also five RNVR Air Divisions. The Royal Naval
Volunteer (Wireless) Reserve consists of specialist officers, wireless operators
and radio electricians. The Royal Marines Rorces Volunteer Reserve (RMFVR) and
Women’s Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (WRNVR) are the Royal Marines’ and
WRNS’s counterparts of the RNVR.
Behind these fully trained reserves, available to meet immediate needs on mobili¬
zation, is the vast background of officers and men with past war-time and peace¬
time service in the Royal Navy, now either in retirement or in civil occupations.
All those still fit for service are liable to recall on the outbreak of war and, after
refresher training where necessary, would help to provide the additional trained
manpower required to meet the war-time expansion of the Navy as a whole.
Royal Naval Minewatching Service
The RNMWS, a civilian organization formed in January 1952 and composed of
men and women volunteers, is responsible in time of war for manning posts around
the coast and overlooking the main navigable waterways. Its object would be to spot
mines dropped from aircraft, and to plot and report their positions. Its strength on
1 st October 1955 was 4,300-
Sea Cadet Corps
The Sea Cadet Corps is the oldest pre-Service movement for boys in Britain, its
origin dating from the time of the Crimean War in the mid-nineteenth century. As
an organization it was sponsored in 1899 by the Navy League (the objects of which
are the promotion of a strong Navy and instruction in the history and traditions of
the sea). The aim of the Sea Cadet Corps is to give technical training to, and instil
naval tradition in, boys under the age of 18 who intend to serve in the Royal and
Merchant Navies and also to those sea-minded boys who do not intend to follow a
sea career but will, given this knowledge, form a valuable reserve for the Navy. It
also aims to provide for the social and educational welfare of the cadets and to
develop character and good citizenship. The estimated strength in 1955-56 is about
2,000 cadet officers, 900 chief petty officer instructors and 20,000 cadets.
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| Britain and UK handbooks > Britain: An official handbook > 1956 > (128) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/205497931 |
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| Description | 'Britain: An official handbook' was produced annually by the Central Office of Information from 1954-1998. There are 44 volumes available here to view. |
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| Shelfmark | GII.11 |
| Description | Three titles produced by the British Government from 1954-2005 describing 'how Britain worked'. They are: 'Britain: An official handbook' (1954-1998), 'Britain: The official yearbook of the United Kingdom' (1999-2001), and 'UK: The official yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (2002-2005). These 50 reports provide an overview of Britain's economic, social and cultural affairs, its environment, international relations, and the systems of government. They give an impartial summary of government policies and initiatives, and explain how public services are organised. |
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