Auxiliaries are

support Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Support Construction * Support (structure), or lateral support, a ...

personnel that assist the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be

military volunteer A military volunteer (or ''war volunteer'') is a person who enlists in military service by free will, and is not a conscript, mercenary, or a foreign legionnaire. Volunteers sometimes enlist to fight in the armed forces of a foreign country, fo ...

s undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

troops, usually on a part-time basis. Unlike a

military reserve force A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...

, an auxiliary force does not necessarily have the same degree of

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

or ranking structure as regular soldiers, and it may or may not be integrated into a fighting force. Some auxiliaries, however, are

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

s composed of former active duty military personnel and actually have better training and combat experience than their regular counterparts. Historically, the designation ''auxiliary'' has also been given to foreign or allied troops in the service of a nation at war, most famously the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Auxilia The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...

'' serving the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. In the context of

colonial troops Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories. Colonial background Such colonies may lie overseas or in areas dominated by neighbouring land powers such ...

, locally-recruited

irregulars Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military orga ...

were often described as auxiliaries.

Historical usage

Roman auxiliaries

Auxiliaries in the Roman army were recruited from provincial tribal groups who did not have

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

. As the Roman army of the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and early

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

periods was essentially based on the

heavy infantry Heavy infantry consisted of heavily armed and armoured infantrymen who were trained to mount frontal assaults and/or anchor the defensive center of a battle line. This differentiated them from light infantry who are relatively mobile and lightly ...

who made up the legions, it favored the recruitment of auxiliaries that excelled in supplementary roles. These included specialists such as missile troops (e.g.

Balearic slingers Mercenary life is recorded as a custom of Iron Age Spain, particularly in the central area of the Iberian peninsula. Departing from the native tribe and applying to serve in others was a way for economically disadvantaged youth to escape poverty an ...

and

Cretan archers Cretan archers were a well known class of warrior whose specialist skills were extensively utilized in both ancient and medieval warfare. They were especially valued in armies, such as those of the Greek city-states, (such as Athens, Sparta, Eretri ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

(recruited among peoples such as the

Numidians The Numidians were the Berber population of Numidia (Algeria and in smaller parts of Tunisia and Morocco). The Numidians were one of the earliest Berber tribes to trade with Carthaginian settlers. As Carthage grew, the relationship with the Numi ...

, and the

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. ...

), or

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

. Auxiliaries were not paid at the same rate as legionaries, but could earn

after a fixed term of service. By the 2nd Century AD the auxiliaries had been organised into permanent units, broadly grouped as

Ala Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, S ...

(cavalry),

Cohors A cohort (from the Latin ''cohors'', plural ''cohortes'', see wikt:cohors for full inflection table) was a standard tactical military unit of a Roman legion. Although the standard size changed with time and situation, it was generally composed ...

(infantry) and

Cohors equitata A cohort (from the Latin ''cohors'', plural ''cohortes'', see wikt:cohors for full inflection table) was a standard tactical military unit of a Roman legion. Although the standard size changed with time and situation, it was generally compose ...

(infantry with a cavalry element). Both cavalry ''alae'' and infantry ''cohors'' numbered between 480 and 600 men each. The mixed cohors equitata usually consisted of 6 centuries of foot soldiers and six squadrons of horsemen. Specialist units of slingers, scouts, archers and camel mounted detachments continued in existence as separate units with a regional recruitment basis. A_member_of_the_Khyber_Rifles

United Kingdom and the British Empire

At the start of the 18th century, the English (from 1707, ''British'') military (as distinct from ''naval'') consisted of several regular and reserve military ''forces''. The regular forces included district

garrison artillery A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

establishments that maintained forts and batteries, as well as field artillery, ready for war, with the batteries brought up to strength in war time by drafts from other military or naval forces, and field artillery ''trains'' formed during wartime, all of which would be absorbed into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

on or after its 1716 formation, and the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(an officer-only corps responsible for planning naval and military works in garrisons and on expedition), both of which, with the civilian-staffed stores, transport, Commissariat, and other departments were all parts of the

Board of Ordnance The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...

, and the English Army (after 1707, the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

), composed primarily of cavalry and infantry. The Horse and Foot Guards were considered parts of the British Army, though falling under the Royal Household there were differences in their command and administration. There were also other minor forces of little military significance, such as the

Yeomen of the Guard The King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a Sovereign's Bodyguard, bodyguard of the British monarch. The List of oldest military units and formations in continuous operation, oldest British military corps still in existence, it was ...

. The reserve military forces included the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

and the

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

(or ''Constitutional Force''), which was normally an infantry-only force until the 1850s. To these would be added the mounted

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

and the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

, though the latter existed only in wartime until the 1850s. Similar reserve forces were raised throughout the British Empire. The reserve forces were auxiliary to the regular forces, and not parts of them. They were under the command of local representatives of the Crown (expressed as ''the Monarch'', although by the 19th Century the Monarch had become a figurehead for the British Government, which was responsible to Parliament). In the British Isles, the reserve forces were controlled by

Lords Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

of counties until 1871, when the British Government took direct control. In the British ''colonies'' (which refers to those administered from 1782 to 1801 by the Home Office, from 1801 to 1854 by the

War and Colonial Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, from 1854 to 1966 by the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

, from 1966 to 1968 by the

Commonwealth Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Common ...

, from 1968 to 2020 by the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

, and since 2020 by the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign ...

, and not to ''protectorates'', which fell under the purview of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, or to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, which was administered by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

until 1858, and thereafter by the

India Office The India Office was a British government department established in London in 1858 to oversee the administration, through a Viceroy and other officials, of the Provinces of India. These territories comprised most of the modern-day nations of I ...

), the Governors were generally appointed also as Captains-General or Commanders-in-Chief with similar powers to Lords-Lieutenant (in some colonies, notably

Imperial fortress Imperial fortress was the designation given in the British Empire to four colonies that were located in strategic positions from each of which Royal Navy squadrons could control the surrounding regions and, between them, much of the planet. His ...

es such as

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, the Governor was always a senior naval or military officer who also had control of units of the regular forces). The Reserve Forces were originally for local service, embodied for home defence in times of war or emergency. During the latter half of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century, these various military forces would be increasingly integrated with ''the'' regular force, as the British Army became when the Board of Ordnance was abolished and its military corps (by then including the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and the

Royal Sappers and Miners The British Army during the Victorian era served through a period of great technological and social change. Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and died in 1901. Her long reign was marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the Br ...

), as well as the commissariat, ordnance stores, transport, and barracks departments, were absorbed into the British Army in 1855. During the same period, the British Army Regular Reserve was created (in 1859 by

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

Sidney Herbert, and re-organised under the ''Reserve Force Act, 1867'') and, to prevent confusion, the Reserve Forces were increasingly referred to instead as the ''Auxiliary Forces'' or the ''Local Forces''. Officers of the Reserve or Auxiliary Forces took precedence below British Army officers of the same rank (officers of the Yeomanry force and of the Volunteer Force similarly took precedence below officers of the Militia Force. When auxiliary units worked with Regular Forces, overall command was held by the highest ranking officer of the Regular Forces, providing he held the same rank (or higher) as the highest ranking officer of the Auxiliary unit. The personnel of the Auxiliary Forces were not originally subject to the

Army Act Until 1689, mutiny was regulated in England by Articles of War instituted by the monarch and effective only in a period of war. This abuse of the crown's prerogative (the crown's right to make and enforce rules for the military) caused Parliamen ...

, or the earlier

Mutiny Acts The Mutiny Acts were an almost 200-year series of annual Acts passed by the Parliament of England, the Parliament of Great Britain, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom for governing, regulating, provisioning, and funding the English and late ...

, though by the end of the 19th Century they had become subject to the Act while embodied for training with regular forces or for active service. Although remaining nominally separate forces from the British Army, the units of these forces in the British Isles became numbered sub-units (squadrons, battalions, or companies) or regular British Army corps or regiments, and ultimately were funded by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, making them technically parts of the British Army. The Yeomanry and the Volunteer Force merged under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act, 1907 in 1908 to become the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. Although still meant to be local service, this force sent drafts of volunteers to regular battalions, and then entire units, overseas during the First World War. The potential to serve overseas in wartime became a permanent part of its role after the war when it was re-maned the ''Territorial Army'', remaining nominally a separate force (or army) from the British Army until 2014 when it became the British Army Reserve. The Militia in the British Isles was replaced with the Special Reserve in 1908, which sent drafts of replacements to regular units in wartime. After the First World War, this force was allowed to lapse. In British colonies, a number of militia and volunteer units continued to exist after 1908, generally being re-organised eventually on Territorial lines (though not administered as parts of the Territorial Army, and remaining local service). Most of these units continued to be viewed as auxiliary to the British Army, rather than parts of it (as this was no longer true of such units in the British Isles, this has led to the misconception in recent decades that these units are not part of the British ''military'' as the uninformed presume ''British military'' to connote ''British Army'', although the

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, and normally includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to "provide a ...

and the

Army Cadet Force The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and the British Army. Along with the Sea Cadet Corps and the Air Training Corps, the ACF mak ...

in the United Kingdom also remain separate forces). Today, the territorial units of the two old

es that remain British,

and

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, the

Royal Bermuda Regiment The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), formerly the Bermuda Regiment, is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single territorial infantry battalion that was formed on the amalgamation in 1965 of two originally ...

and the

Royal Gibraltar Regiment The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is part of British Forces Gibraltar for the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It was formed in 1958 from the Gibraltar Defence Force as an infantry unit, with an integrated artillery troop. The regiment is ...

, are considered parts of the British Army, while the

Royal Montserrat Defence Force The Royal Montserrat Defence Force is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. History Raised in 1899, the unit is today a reduced force of about forty volunteer soldiers, primarily concerned with civil Defence and ...

and

Falkland Islands Defence Force The Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) is the locally maintained volunteer defence unit in the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory. The FIDF works alongside the military units supplied by the United Kingdom to ensure the security ...

(both being single unit, with the unit named as a force), as well as the

Cayman Islands Regiment The Cayman Islands Regiment is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. It is a single territorial infantry and engineer battalion of the British Armed Forces that was formed in 2020. History 2019 On 12 ...

and the

Turks and Caicos Regiment The Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is a single territorial infantry battalion of the British Armed Forces, formed in 2020. Background The Turks a ...

are technically auxiliaries (this is an archaic distinction, and makes no difference to the ways they are administered or deployed).

British in Spain
The
Auxiliary Legion The British Auxiliary Legion, also called the British Legion (''La Legión Británica'') or Westminster Legion, existed from 1835 to 1837. It was a British military force sent to Spain to support the Liberals and Queen Isabella II of Spain against ...
was a British military force sent to Spain to support the Liberals and Queen Isabella II of Spain against the Carlists in the
First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...
.

Boer War
During the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
Boer auxiliaries were employed by the British Army under the designation of "National Scouts". Recruited in significant numbers towards the end of the war from Afrikaner prisoners and defectors, they were known as ("hands-uppers" i.e. collaborators) by their fellow Boers.

North-West Frontier
''Khussadars'' were tribal auxiliaries employed by the British administration in regions of the North West Frontier of India. Distinguished only by armbands they provided convoy escorts as a substitute for regular troops and units of the para-military
Frontier Corps The Frontier Corps ( ur, , reporting name: FC), are a group of paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's ...
.

Volunteers, Militia and Yeomanry
Prior to the creation of the
Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...
in 1908, the term "Auxiliary Forces" was used by the British Army to collectively cover
Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...
,
Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
and
Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
. That is to say the various part-time units maintained to act in support of the
Regular Army (UK) The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas ...
.

Ireland
The
Auxiliary Division The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Major ...
was a British
paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
police unit raised during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
1919–21. Recruited from former officers of the British Army who had served during World War I, the Auxiliary Division was a motorized mobile force nominally forming part of the
Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...
.
Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; literally "The Women's Council" but calling themselves The Irishwomen's Council in English), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and di ...
was the preceding organisation of the Women's Arm of the
Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...
that acted as an auxiliary in the
Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
and the Irish War of Independence.

World War II
In 1941 the British Government created an organization of
Auxiliary Units The Auxiliary Units or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially-trained, highly-secret quasi military units created by the British government during the Second World War with the aim of using irregular warfare in response to a possible invasion of the U ...
in southern England who would wage a guerilla war against occupying forces should Britain be invaded by the Nazis. Since the invasion never came, they were ultimately never used in combat. The Auxiliary Units were meant to carry out assaults on German units, along with damaging train lines and aircraft if necessary. Whilst working as full-time, active duty personnel, the women's services of WWII were titled as or seen as auxiliaries to the male services. These services were: * Local Defence Volunteers, or Home Guard *
Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...
*
Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...
*
Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...
*
Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...
* Women's Home Defence *
Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) The Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) (WAS(B)) also known as ''the Chinthe Women'' because of the mythological creature that formed their badge. The unit was formed on 16 January 1942 and disbanded in 1946. They were a 250 strong group of British ...
The
Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...
was originally an auxiliary of the Royal Air Force, when it was first conceived and formed in 1924. Today the RAuxAF acts as a
military reserve A military reserve, active reserve, reserve formation, or simply reserve, is a group of military personnel or units that is initially not committed to a battle by its commander, so that it remains available to address unforeseen situations or ex ...
; this is reflected in its more common name 'RAF Reserve'. Other former British military or governmental auxiliary organizations included: *
Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service The Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service (RMAS) was a British Government agency which ran a variety of auxiliary vessels for His Majesty's Naval Service (incl. Royal Navy, Royal Marines) and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The service from 2009 has been ...
a former auxiliary to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
*
Royal Naval Auxiliary Service The Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) was a uniformed, unarmed, civilian volunteer service, administered and trained by the Royal Navy to operate in the ports and anchorages of the United Kingdom in an emergency. Although the abbreviated title w ...
a former auxiliary to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
*
Royal Naval Minewatching Service The Royal Naval Mine Watching Service was a civilian organisation formed in 1952 as part of the auxiliary forces of the British Naval Service. Its intended wartime role was to man observation points overlooking ports and strategic waterways, in ...
a former auxiliary to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
*
Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service The Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service, or RNSTS, was the civilian manned logistics service that supported the British Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA); being part of the MOD (Navy). It was formed in 1965 and was abolished in ...
a former auxiliary to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
*
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...
a former auxiliary to the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Dominion organisations
Auxiliary organizations of
Dominions The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, Dominion of New Zealand, New Zealand, Dominion of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Un ...
of the British Empire: * Australia **
Australian Women's Army Service The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) was a non-medical women's service established in Australia during the Second World War. Raised on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units" the servi ...
**
Volunteer Air Observers Corps (Australia) The Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) was an Australian air defence organisation of World War Two. The VAOC was formed in December 1941 to support the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with its main roles of sighting and observing aircraft ov ...
**
Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve, as well as by the Chief of the Air Staff, who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service ov ...
**
Women's Royal Australian Naval Service The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) was the women's branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In 1941, fourteen members of the civilian Women's Emergency Signalling Corps (WESC) were recruited for wireless telegraphy work at ...
* Canada **
Aircraft Identity Corps The Aircraft Identity Corps was a Canadian civil defence organisation operating between 1940 and 1945. The corps's mission was to report suspicious aircraft and guard against German, Japanese, and Italian attack. The use of observers was deemed im ...
**
Canadian Women's Army Corps The Canadian Women's Army Corps was a non-combatant branch of the Canadian Army for women, established during the Second World War, with the purpose of releasing men from those non-combatant roles in the Canadian armed forces as part of expanding ...
**
Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division The Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division was a non-combatant element of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) which was active during the Second World War. The Women's Division's original role was to replace male air force personnel so that th ...
**
Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS or "Wrens") was an element of the Royal Canadian Navy that was active during the Second World War and post-war as part of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve until unification in 1968.http://esask.ureg ...
* Newfoundland **
Aircraft Detection Corps Newfoundland The Aircraft Detection Corps Newfoundland was created by the Commission of Government of the Dominion of Newfoundland. Aircraft Detection Corps Newfoundland was an all-volunteer civilian unit meant to observe for suspicious planes and ships. Som ...
* New Zealand **
New Zealand Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force was the female auxiliary of the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War. Established in 1941, it began with an initial draft of 200 women, reaching a peak strength of about 3,800, with a total of ab ...

Denmark

Luftmeldekorpset The (LMK; ) performed aircraft recognition during WWII, and a nuclear warning role from 1952, whilst retaining the aircraft recognition role due to the proximity of Warsaw Pact countries until 1991. The LMK was disbanded in 2004. Cooperation ...

a former auxiliary of the

Danish Home Guard The Danish Home Guard ( da, Hjemmeværnet) (HJV) is the fourth service of the Danish military. It was formerly concerned only with the defence of Danish territory, but since 2008, it has also supported the Danish military efforts in Afghanistan a ...

from 1952 to 2004.

French Africa

France made extensive use of tribal allies (

goumiers The Moroccan Goumiers (french: Les Goumiers Marocains) were indigenous Moroccan soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. While nominally in the service of the Sultan of Morocco, they s ...

) as auxiliaries in its North African possessions. During the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

of 1954–62 large numbers of Muslim auxiliaries (

Harkis ''Harki'' (adjective from the Arabic ''harka'', standard Arabic ''haraka'' حركة, "war party" or "movement", i.e., a group of volunteers, especially soldiers) is the generic term for native Muslim Algerian who served as auxiliaries in the F ...

) were employed in support of regular French forces.

Italian Social Republic

Female Auxiliary Service The Female Voluntary Corps for Auxiliary Services of the Republican Armed Forces (Italian: ''Corpo Femminile Volontario per i Servizi Ausiliari delle Forze Armate Repubblicane'', better known as the Female Auxiliary Service (Italian: ''Servizio Au ...

Japan

During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, Japan made use of Manchurian

honghuzi Honghuzi () were armed Chinese robbers and bandits in the areas of the eastern Russia-China borderland. Their activities extended over southeastern Siberia, the Russian Far East, and Northeast China (then known as Manchuria). They operated in ...

as auxiliaries against Russian forces.

Nazi Germany

German

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

police forces, called

Hilfspolizei The ''Hilfspolizei'' (abbreviated ''HiPo'' or ''Hipo''; meaning "auxiliary police") was a short-lived auxiliary police force in Nazi Germany in 1933. The term was later semi-officially used for various auxiliary organizations subordinated to the ...

Schutzmannschaft The ''Schutzmannschaft'' or Auxiliary Police ( "protective, or guard units"; plural: ''Schutzmannschaften'', abbreviated as ''Schuma'') was the collaborationist auxiliary police of native policemen serving in those areas of the Soviet Union and ...

, were raised during World War II and were the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...

auxiliary police Auxiliary police, also called special police, are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated. The po ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s of locally recruited police, which were created to fight the

resistance during World War II Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...

mostly in occupied Eastern European countries. Hilfspolizei refers also to German auxiliary police units. There was also a

HIPO Corps The HIPO Corps (Danish: HIPO-korpset) was a Danish auxiliary police corps, established by the German Gestapo on 19 September 1944, when the Danish civil police force was disbanded and most of its officers were arrested and deported to concentrat ...

occupied Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Soverei ...

. The term had also been applied to some units created in 1933 by the early

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

government (mostly from members of SA and SS) and disbanded the same year due to international protests. Certain German auxiliary units, such as the

Reserve Police Battalion 101 Reserve Police Battalion 101 (german: Reserve-Polizei-Bataillon 101) was in Nazi Germany a paramilitary formation of the uniformed police force known as Order Police (''Ordnungspolizei#Police battalions, Ordnungspolizei'', abbreviated as Orpo), o ...

, committed horrendous massacres of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, and other targeted ethnic groups while serving with the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

and Einstazgruppen in Eastern Europe. The example of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 came to exemplify both civilian participation in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, as well as the active knowledge of how immoral their actions were among perpetrators of the Holocaust. Throughout their service on the Eastern Front, when ordered to ''en mass'' execute civilians, members of the Battalion were frequently given the opportunity to reject participation in the events in lieu of standing guard at the perimeter or other less violent tasks. Battalion members were frequently rotated to avoid war fatigue and their veritable psychological destruction, and when participating in the atrocities they often tried to shoot away from infants, mothers, and minors, preferring to try to shoot the elderly or the ill to ease their conscious. They would frequently turn to heavy drinking to try to quell the mental anguish caused by participation in these acts. While a minority was generally able to escape participation in the acts, most were willing volunteers, succumbing to social pressures pushed by an atmosphere of shared guilt and fervent hypermasculine nationalism. With an increase in the amount of troops needed to serve on the frontline, women were allowed to serve as auxiliaries to the Wehrmacht, known as

Wehrmachthelferin was the name for girls and young women who served during the Second World War with the German Wehrmacht as auxiliaries. History In the beginning, women in Nazi Germany were not involved in the Wehrmacht, as Hitler ideologically opposed consc ...

, to take over duties within Germany. The Nazis conscripted German women and girls into the auxiliaries of the ''

Volkssturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...

''. Correspondingly, girls as young as 14 years old were trained in the use of small arms,

panzerfaust The ''Panzerfaust'' (, "armour fist" or "tank fist", plural: ''Panzerfäuste'') was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light an ...

machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

, and hand grenades throughout the war.

Hiwis Hiwi (), the German abbreviation of the word ''Hilfswilliger'' or, in English, auxiliary volunteer, designated, during World War II, a member of different kinds of voluntary auxiliary forces made up of recruits indigenous to the territories of Ea ...

were

auxiliary forces The General Inspectorate of Auxiliary Forces ( ar, القوات المساعدة, alquwaat almusa'ida; ber, ⵉⴷⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ ⵉⵎⴰⵡⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ, idwasen imawwasen; french: Forces Auxiliaires) is a security institution in Morocco, ...

recruited from the indigenous populations in the areas of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

first annexed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and then occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

reluctantly agreed to allow recruitment of Soviet citizens in the Rear Areas during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. In a short period of time, many of them were moved to combat units.

Finland

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2005-1017-522, Generaloberst von Falkenhorst

Lotta Svärd Lotta Svärd () was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. Formed originally in 1918, it had a large membership undertaking volunteer social work in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed to support the White Guard. Duri ...

Poland

* Women's Auxiliary Service (Poland)

Rhodesia

Security Force Auxiliaries Security Force Auxiliaries or ''Pfumo Re Vanhu'' were black private militias in Rhodesia formed during the Rhodesian Bush War, allied with the country's predominantly white government. In 1978 the Rhodesian Special Branch created the first SFA ...

United States

Auxiliary military units in the United States have largely stemmed from the era of the Second World War, finding a place in assisting the United States Military with resupply, surveillance, aid transportation, and military intelligence. Most historical units were dissolved around the end of the war in 1944–1945, with many integrating into the command of their formerly male counterpart units. * Women's Radio Corps (dissolved c. 1919) *

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

(dissolved 1944) *

Ground Observer Corps The Ground Observer Corps (GOC), sometimes erroneously referred to as the Ground ''Observation'' Corps, was the name of two American civil defense organizations during the middle 20th century. World War II organization The first Ground Observer ...

(first program dissolved 1944, second 1958) *

Women's Flying Training Detachment The Women's Flying Training Detachment was a group of women pilots during World War II. Their main job was to take over male pilot's jobs, such as ferrying planes from factories to United States Army Air Force installations, in order to free male pi ...

(dissolved after World War II) *

Women's Army Volunteer Corps The Women's Army Volunteer Corps was an organization within the Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an Auxiliaries, auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Co ...

(dissolved 1945) * Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (dissolved and integrated 1978)

Current military or governmental auxiliaries

Australia

Australian Red Cross The Australian Red Cross, formally the Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1923 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, the Australian Red Cros ...

, an auxiliary to government for humanitarian aid and emergency management *

Auxiliary Police Auxiliary police, also called special police, are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated. The po ...

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Ansar The Bangladesh Ansar (also known as the Ansar Bahini) is a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for the preservation of internal security and law enforcement in Bangladesh. It is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government ...

Canada

Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA; , ''GCAC'') is a Canada-wide volunteer marine association dedicated to marine search and rescue (SAR) and the promotion of boating safety, through association with the Canadian Coast Guard under the ausp ...

, an auxiliary to the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...

Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System The Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System was established in 1978. The programme enlists amateur radio volunteer operators and equipment but uses neither standard radioamateur frequencies nor callsigns as CFARS is allocated its own specific offici ...

, an auxiliary to the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

Canadian Rangers , colors =Red and green , march = , mascot = , battles = Second World WarCold War , anniversaries = , notable_commanders = , identification_symbol_2_label = , current_commander = Lieutenant-General Jean-Marc Lanthier, Commander of th ...

, an auxiliary to the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

Hong Kong

Auxiliary Medical Service Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) is a voluntary medical and health services provider in Hong Kong. Its mission is to supply effectively and efficiently regular services to maintain the health and well-being of people in Hong Kong. History The ...

, an auxiliary to the

Fire Services Department, Hong Kong The Hong Kong Fire Services Department is an emergency service responsible for firefighting and rescue on land and sea. It also provides an emergency ambulance service for the sick and the injured and gives fire protection advice to the pub ...

Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force The Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force provides additional manpower to the Hong Kong Police Force, especially during emergencies and other incidents. The HKAPF's mandate is governed by the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force Ordinance. History Th ...

, an auxiliary to the

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Po ...

India

National Cadet Corps (India) The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. It is open to school and college students on voluntary basis as a Tri-Services Organisation, comprising the Army, the Navy an ...

Ireland

Garda Síochána Reserve The Garda Síochána Reserve () is the volunteer part-time section of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. It was created in 2006. The first 36 reserves graduated on 15 December 2006, at the Garda College in Templemore. ...

Iran

Basij The Basij ( fa, بسيج, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij ( fa, نیروی مقاومت بسیج, "Resistance Mobilization Force"), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin ( fa, سازمان بسیج مستضعفین, "The ...

, an auxiliary to the

Iranian army The Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces ( fa, نیروی زمینی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران, ''Niroo-ye Zamini-ye Artesh-e Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Iran''), acronymed NEZAJA ( fa, نزاجا, NEZEJA) are the ground forc ...

Israel

* Mishmar Ezrachi, an auxiliary to the

Israel Police The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...

Malaysia

Morocco

Auxiliary Forces The General Inspectorate of Auxiliary Forces ( ar, القوات المساعدة, alquwaat almusa'ida; ber, ⵉⴷⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ ⵉⵎⴰⵡⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ, idwasen imawwasen; french: Forces Auxiliaires) is a security institution in Morocco, ...

, a paramilitary force.

Philippines

Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ( fil, Tanod Baybayin ng Pilipinas) is recognized as the third armed uniformed service of the country attached to the Philippines' Department of Transportation, tasked primarily with enforcing laws within Ph ...

, an auxiliary of the

Philippine Coast Guard The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ( fil, Tanod Baybayin ng Pilipinas) is recognized as the third armed uniformed service of the country attached to the Philippines' Department of Transportation, tasked primarily with enforcing laws within Ph ...

Russia

Voluntary People's Druzhina Voluntary People's Druzhina (russian: Добровольная народная дружина, ДНД, Dobrovolnaya narodnaya druzhina, DND) variously translated as Voluntary People’s Guard, People’s Volunteer Squads, People's Volunteer Mil ...

, an auxiliary of the

Moscow City Police The Moscow Police (russian: Московская полиция), officially the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the City of Moscow (russian: Главное управление внутренних дел по городу Москве) ...

and

Saint Petersburg Police The Saint Petersburg Police (russian: полиция Санкт-Петербурга), officially the Main Administration for Internal Affairs of the City of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast (Главное управление внут ...

Singapore

and

Volunteer Special Constabulary The Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) in Singapore comprises volunteers from the general public. VSC officers are imbued with equal powers of a regular police officer to enforce law and order in Singapore. They wear the same police uniform as p ...

, auxiliaries of the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human, wea ...

SAF Volunteer Corps The Singapore Armed Forces Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) is a uniformed volunteer Auxiliaries, auxiliary branch of the Singapore Armed Forces. It was established on 13 October 2014 to allow Singaporean women, first generation Permanent residency in Sin ...

, an auxiliary of the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...

Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit The Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit (CDAU) is part of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) consisting of uniformed volunteers. The volunteering programme in SCDF was first started in 1982 under the National Civil Defence Plan and Volunteer Scheme ...

, an auxiliary of the

Singapore Civil Defence Force The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is an uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services, and coordinates nati ...

Sweden

* Swedish Air Force Volunteers Association (, FVRF), an auxiliary of the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

* Swedish Voluntary Flying Corps (, FFK), an auxiliary of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

* Swedish Voluntary Radio Organization (), an auxiliary of the

Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization ( sv, Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer (juridical), communicatively known as ''Svenska Lottakåren'', SLK ) is an independent auxiliary defence organization in Sweden. The organisation is part o ...

(), an auxiliary of the

* Swedish Parachute Association (), an auxiliary of the

Swedish Auxiliary Naval Corps The National Association of Naval Volunteer Corps ( sv, Sjövärnskårernas Riksförbund, SVK RF), commonly known as the Swedish Auxiliary Naval Corps ( sv, Sjövärnskåren, SVK) is a Swedish auxiliary defence organization that cooperate with the ...

(), an auxiliary of the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

and

Thailand

Thahan Phran The Thahan Phran (ทหารพราน; literally "hunter soldiers"; AKA Thai Rangers) AKA the Royal Thai Paramilitary Force is a paramilitary light infantry force which patrols the borders of Thailand and is an auxiliaries, auxiliary of t ...

, an auxiliary of the

Royal Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...

and the

Royal Thai Marine Corps The Royal Thai Marine Corps or RTMC ( th, ราชนาวิกโยธินแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย) are the marines of the Royal Thai Navy. The Royal Thai Marine Corps was founded in 1932, when the first batta ...

Volunteer Defense Corps The Border Patrol Police ( th, ตำรวจตระเวนชายแดน); (BPP) is a Thai paramilitary police under the jurisdiction of the Royal Thai Police, responsible for border security and counterinsurgency. History The Thai Bo ...

United Kingdom

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ...

of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) (FANY (PRVC)) is a British independent all-female registered charity formed in 1907 and active in both nursing and intelligence work during the World Wars. Its members wear a mili ...

auxiliary providing medical response support to Civil and Military authorities within London during a major event or incident. *

Special Constabulary The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of statutory police forces in the United Kingdom and some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as special constables. Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a specia ...

, auxiliary police to various Police Services in the UK.

United States

Federal Government

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

, the auxiliary of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. *

Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary The Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary (also called the Cyber Aux) is a volunteer organization designed to attract cybersecurity experts in aiding United States Marine Corps cyberspace readiness. History The Cyber Auxiliary was announced in April 2019 ...

, an auxiliary of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. *

Military Auxiliary Radio System The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) is a United States Department of Defense sponsored program, established as a separately managed and operated program by the United States Army, and the United States Air Force. The United States Navy-M ...

, a civilian auxiliary of the

United States Armed Services The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. *

United States Coast Guard Auxiliary The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA, USCGAUX, CGAux, or USCG Aux) is the civilian uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the unit on 23 June 1939, as the United States Coast Guard Reserve ...

, the uniformed auxiliary of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. *

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

, an auxiliary of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

State Government

Colorado Rangers The Colorado Rangers Law Enforcement Shared Reserve (known publicly as the Colorado Rangers) is a governmental police agency in the U.S. state of Colorado. Colorado Rangers are sworn, Colorado P.O.S.T. Certified police officers who serve as forc ...

provides auxiliary police services within the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. * Connecticut Auxiliary State Police provides auxiliary police services within the state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. * Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary provides auxiliary police services within the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. *

Illinois Police Reserves The Illinois Police Reserves (IPR or ILPR) was a nonprofit auxiliary police agency headquartered in Chicago, Illinois providing policing services to suburban Chicago. History The Illinois Police Reserves was chartered in 1923. The organizatio ...

provides auxiliary police services within the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. *

Indiana Law Enforcement Academy The Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) is a law enforcement training academy located in Plainfield, Indiana. The governing body of the academy is the 17-member Law Enforcement Training Board who are appointed by the governor. The board sets ...

provides training for members to serve as auxiliary police officer throughout the state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. * Ohio State Highway Patrol Auxiliary provides auxiliary police services within the state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. * New Hampshire State Police Auxiliary Troopers provide auxiliary police services within the state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. *

New Mexico Mounted Patrol The New Mexico Mounted Patrol is an all-volunteer state law enforcement agency. Mounted Patrol Troopers complete an intensive night/weekend academy and must meet the same strict requirements as any peace officer in New Mexico. State statutes dic ...

provide auxiliary police services within the state of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. * Penn State University Student Auxiliary Officers provide auxiliary police services to

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. *

State defense force In the United States, state defense forces are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. ...

s, auxiliaries of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

units of their respective states. * Vermont State Police Auxiliary provides auxiliary police services within the state of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Local Government

* Arlington County Police Department Auxiliary provides auxiliary police services for

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

. * Cheltenham Township Auxiliary Police provide auxiliary police services for

Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania Cheltenham Township is a Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule township (Pennsylvania), township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Cheltenham's population density ranges from over 10,000 per square mile (25,900 per squa ...

* Fair Lawn Auxiliary Police provides auxiliary police services for

Fair Lawn, New Jersey Fair Lawn is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and a bedroom suburb located northwest of New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 34,940, which constituted a 7.7% increase from 32, ...

. * Greenburgh Auxiliary Police provides auxiliary police services for

Greenburgh, New York Greenburgh is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in western Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York. The population was 95,397 at the time of the 2020 census. History Greenburgh developed along ...

. * Hazlet Township Auxiliary Police provides auxiliary police services for

Hazlet, New Jersey Hazlet is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located near the Raritan Bay within the Raritan Valley region. It is located in the New York Metropolitan Area and is a bedroom community of New York. As of th ...

. * Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Reserves provide auxiliary police services for

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. * Madison Auxiliary Police Unit provides auxiliary police services for

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming one ...

. * Metuchen Auxiliary Police Department provides auxiliary police services for

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The borough, along wit ...

. * Nassau County Police Department Auxiliary provides auxiliary police services for

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Island ...

. *

New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police The New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police is a volunteer Auxiliary police, reserve police force which is a subdivision of the Patrol Services Bureau of the New York City Police Department. Auxiliary Police Officers assist the NYPD with ...

provides auxiliary police services for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. * Old Bridge Township Auxiliary Police provides auxiliary police services for

Old Bridge Township, New Jersey Old Bridge Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, located in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region and within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 202 ...

. * Rockland County Sheriff's Office Reserve Force provides auxiliary police services for

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

. * Sayreville Police Auxiliary provides auxiliary police services for

Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2010 United Sta ...

. * Waltham Auxiliary Police provides auxiliary police services for

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations Auxiliary military units

Historical usage

Roman auxiliaries

United Kingdom and the British Empire

British in Spain

Boer War

North-West Frontier

Volunteers, Militia and Yeomanry

Ireland

World War II

Dominion organisations

Denmark

French Africa

Italian Social Republic

Japan

Nazi Germany

Finland

Poland

Rhodesia

United States

Current military or governmental auxiliaries

Australia

Bangladesh

Canada

Hong Kong

India

Ireland

Iran

Israel

Malaysia

Morocco

Philippines

Russia

Singapore

Sweden

Thailand

United Kingdom

United States

Federal Government

State Government

Local Government

See also

References