Q&A · 8:59:03-9:00:31

What happened to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve?

The RNVR's merger into the RNR is distinguished from the disappearance of its unit traditions.

Question

What was the difference between the RNR and RNVR, and why was the RNVR stopped?

Short answer

It was folded into the RNR, and some former RNVR culture survived; the reply does not fully explain their earlier recruitment differences.

Notes

The RNVR was folded into the Royal Naval Reserve, with distinctive volunteer-reserve traditions surviving in some units. Clarke gives a qualified anecdote about officers in unidentified units dressing as ratings to fill out ceremonial guards when there were too few sailors available. He explicitly says this was not a regular practice. His own time talking and working with HMS President supplies a separate recollection of reserve life. The earlier recruitment differences remain largely unexplained.