Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 1. pg44

NATIONAL RESERVE
A n y account which claim s to reflect tlie action and spirit of the men of
Berkshire in the war would he incom plete unless it referred to the patriotic
service o f the National Reserve. Ex-m em bers of the Army and Navy form
the personnel o f the National Reserve, which set a noble example to the
you n ger generation by the response it made to the call to the colours and by
the spirit o f resolve and qualities o f endurance w hich its mem bers showed.
The R eserve is divided into three classes. Class I. is com posed of men under
42, and o f these a large proportion re-enlisted, those who are m edically fit
h avin g been sent to the front. Class I I . consists of m en between 42 and 50,
and those over 50 are in Class I I I . Four Battalions, viz., Readin g, Windsor, Newbury and Wantage
are in the Berks National Reserve, w hich Major
Langford com m ands. The guarding of prisoners o f war and interned alien
enemies was the duty assigned to the Berks N ational R eserve, some of
whose members were also detailed to guard railway bridges and other vu l
nerable points at different places, including W in chester and Southampton.
Tlie Reservists guarded a concentration camp on Newbury Racecourse until
the close of 1914, when their captives (the m ajority o f whom were suspects)
were rem oved to liners lyin g at anchor off the mainland, including the
Andania and the Ascania at Spithead. The accom panying photographs were
taken at the Newbury Camp, which sprang into prominence on account of
allegations (afterwards proved false) that the interned aliens were ill-fed
and maltreated. The Prim e M inister visited the camp and was cheered by
the prisoners, one o f whom wrote an account testifyin g to the considerate
treatment and was quoted in the American Press.

SOME OF T H E O F F IC E R S ,

RESERVE.
N . C . O . €™s A N D MEN
OF T H E
PRISON
GUARD.

[C . E . M a y.