British Force Structure

At the time of the Battle of Dorking the bulk of the regular Army was overseas, serving around and about The Empire. As such, domestic defence primarily rested on the Royal Navy and various coastal artillery forts.

Should an enemy defeat the Royal Navy and then breach the shore defences, any counterattack by the Army would be dependant on the capability and enthusiasm of a somewhat ad-hoc and scratched-together mixed-ability force that comprised of:

• Army Regulars in Home Service Ballations, perhaps fulfilling ceremonial duties
• Army Regulars at UK regimental depots for refitting and retraining while reinforcing with new, young recruits
• Army Reserves being former Regulars allocated to county-based Regiments of Militia for administration and annual training 
• The county-level Yeomanry force of part-time Light Cavalry volunteers who could be called-out at a time of civil crisis
• The various Rifle Volunteer Corps formed from local civilians who paritpcated in shooting practice and had some Home Defence and other military training 

According to a board game based on Chesney’s ‘Reminisces of a Volunteer’, at Dorking the British order of battle was comprised as follows:

In putting together a British force to push-back the German invaders, the author has settled on using as wide a variety of units as is reasonably possible, such that the resulting tabletop wargames will be a spectacle of uniform styles and colours. This approach affords the opportunity to research and model units that at the time might have been as small as 30-50 men, - essentially civilians with guns - to stand alongside and amongst the very ‘Thin Red Line’ of the regular British Army units.