Prior to the formation of the Territorial Force on April 1, 1908, (as specified by the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act, 1907), the NCOs and enlisted men of the Volunteers were entitled to the Volunteer Long Service Medal (VLSM) after 20 consecutive years of approved service. With the advent of the Territorial Force the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal (TFEM) replaced the Volunteer Long Service Medal under modified qualifying terms and conditions, the most notable of which was a reduction to 12 consecutive years of approved service. And in 1922, the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal was itself replaced by the Territorial Efficiency Medal (TEM).
Volunteer Long Service Medal
The following men of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment who deployed to Gallipoli in 1915 were holders of the Volunteer Long Service Medal.
| Rank | Svc. No. | Forename | Middle | Surname |
| Q.M.S. | 5 | GEORGE | BOOCOCK | |
| Cpl. | 243 | THOMAS | VALENTINE | |
| Pte. | 1182 | JAMES | HOPWOOD | |
| L/Cpl. | 1484 | JOHN | WILLIAM | HUGHES |
Notes:
- Quarter-Master Sergeant Boocock was also awarded the Territorial Efficiency Medal in 1922 for his 40+ years of continuous service.
- Sgt. Boocock and Cpl. Valentine continuously served after the award of their respective VLSMs but Pte. Hopwood and L/Cpl. Hughes both left the service and then re-enlisted into the Territorial Force prior to the outbreak of war.
- It would be remis not to mention Quarter-Master Sergeant 160 Thomas Burgess, an old Volunteer with 22 years 317 days prior service before he re-enlisted into the Territorial Force on April 11, 1908. Sgt. Burgess deployed to Egypt in September 1914 with the 9th Battalion but was invalided back to the UK with nephritis in March 1915 without deploying to Gallipoli. He was discharged from the Territorials on June 11, 1915 rejoining the 3/9th Manchester Regiment 16 days later. He continued to serve on light duty with the 3/9th and the 8th (Reserve) Battalion Manchester Regiment until he was once again discharged on April 5, 1917. His service record shows that he held the Volunteer Long Service Medal.
During the transition from the Volunteers to the Territorial Force, for a brief period of time, certain aspects of the rules governing qualification for the long service medals were changed and the eligible men could furthermore choose whether they received the Volunteer Long Service Medal or the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal.
The following announcement was published in the Ashton Reporter on Saturday 12 September, 1908:
It has been decided by the Army Council to allow soldiers of the Territorial Force, who, at the time of their transfer on the 31st March, 1908, had completed 16 years’ service, and were otherwise qualified for the volunteer long service medal, to be recommended to receive, at their individual option, either the volunteer long service medal or the Territorial Force efficiency medal.
It has been further decided with reference to section (b) paragraph 1 of army order 128 of 1908, that the past service of men who at the time of their transfer to the Territorial Force were serving in the volunteers may be reckoned towards the grant of the Territorial Force efficiency medal, whether such service has been continuous or not, provided that the last five years bare been continuously served in the volunteers or Territorial Force.
(Sgd.) M. J. MINOGUE, Captain. Adjutant 9th Batt. Manchester Regt.
To illustrate the impact of these changes consider Cpl. 243 Thomas Valentine. His service record shows that his volunteer service actually began on May 13, 1890 and continued to December 2, 1896, a 6 1/2 year period. Approximately 16 months later he re-joined the Volunteers on April 15, 1898 and then served continuously until April 23, 1908 when he re-engaged with the newly formed Territorial Force. His service record also shows that he attended each of the Territorial Force summer camps from 1908-1913. Consequently, in April 1908 he only had 10 years of continuous eligible service and so was not able to apply for either the VLSM or TFEM. However, by September 1908 when the amended rules were promulgated his non-consecutive Volunteer service amounted to almost 17 years so we can deduce at this time that he applied for and was awarded the VLSM, (as confirmed in his service record). In Valentine’s particular case his break from the service was in excess of 12 months. Consequently, his commanding officer must have approved the overage.
Territorial Force Efficiency Medal
In the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, Territorial Force the service numbers assigned to the men were allocated based upon the day and the order that their Territorial re-engagement (or enlistment) paperwork was processed. Consequently, it is not possible to simply look at the low numbered men and deduce when they originally enlisted in the Volunteers. All the Territorial Force service number tells us is when they re-enlisted into the Territorials (or enlisted for the first time).
Thus, Cpl. Thomas Valentine who, as we know, joined the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment on April 15, 1898 but did not re-engage with the Territorial Force until April 23, 1908, (22 days after the first group of men), was assigned a Territorial Force service number of 243. Whereas Sgt. Arthur Bashforth, who joined the Volunteers on March 20, 1903, (5 years after Valentine), was given a lower Territorial Force service number of 58 because he was part of the first batch of men who re-engaged with the Territorial Force on April 1, 1908.
So unraveling prior service with the Volunteers is difficult but by examining the TFEM rolls and applying the qualifying rules it is possible to at least identify many of the “old Volunteers” and infer at least something about their length of service. That said, the eligibility for the TFEM required men to have been “efficient” in each year of service which in this context meant that they had attended a minimum number of drills, fired a minimum number of shots at the Brushes rifle range in Stalybridge, and attended all of the required summer camps. Furthermore, it is worth noting that it was up to the men to submit their applications for the medal and it was not an automatic award.
The following men of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment who deployed to Gallipoli in 1915 were, or became, holders of the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal.
| Rank | No. | Forename | Surname | Medal |
| Sgt | 400 | JAMES | CHAPMAN | TFEM 1909 |
| Sgt | 41 | JAMES | STOPFORD | TFEM 1909 |
| Sgt | 83 | THOMAS | MCDERMOTT | TFEM 1909 |
| Cpl | 124 | SAMUEL | STEELE | TFEM 1909 |
| Cpl | 174 | JOHN | SHAWCROSS | TFEM 1909 |
| CSM | 266 | ALBERT | GREEN | TFEM 1909 |
| Sgt | 22 | WALTER | HAWKINS | TFEM 1910 |
| Pte | 109 | SAMUEL | WHITTON | TFEM 1910 |
| L/Sgt. | 236 | GEORGE | TURNER | TFEM 1911 |
| Col Sgt | 344 | JOSEPH | CHADDERTON | TFEM 1911 |
| Col Sgt | 108 | ROBERT | JACKSON | TFEM 1912 |
| Col Sgt | 257 | JOHN | WILLIAMSON | TFEM 1912 |
| Sgt | 445 | JOHN | SIMCOX | TFEM 1912 |
| Sgt | 76 | JAMES | LAWTON | TFEM 1913 |
| Pte | 379 | THOMAS | GHENTY | TFEM 1913 |
| C.S.M | 540 | WILLIAM | BIRCHALL | TFEM 1913 |
| Sgt | 156 | JAMES | TOWNSEND | TFEM 1916 |
| A/WOII | 27 | JAMES | NOLAN | TFEM 1918 |
| Sgt | 58 | ARTHUR | BASHFORTH | TFEM 1918 |
| Sgt | 65 | JOSEPH | FERNS | TFEM 1918 |
| Sgt | 136 | HENRY | HARRISON | TFEM 1918 |
| Sgt | 164 | ALFRED | SCOTT | TFEM 1918 |
| Sgt | 220 | ALBERT | FLETCHER | TFEM 1918 |
| Col Sgt | 447 | ERNEST | EYRES | TFEM 1919 |
| Pte | 998 | HARRY | HOLDEN | TFEM 1919 |
| Col Sgt | 313 | GEORGE | MELLOR | TFEM 1919 |
| Sgt | 845 | ALBERT | ROYLE | TFEM 1919 |
| Pte | 972 | SAMUEL | TAYLOR | TFEM 1919 |
| WO II | 1010 | SIDNEY | WOOD | TFEM 1919 |
| Col Sgt | 341 | JOHN | LEE | TFEM 1920 |
| WO II | 969 | HARRY | GRANTHAM | TFEM 1920 |
| Sgt | 643 | SQUIRE | ELLOR | TFEM 1920 |
| CQMS | 237 | HENRY | STRINGER | TFEM 1920 |
| Sgt | 104 | HARRY | INGHAM | TFEM 1920 |
| Sgt | 287 | CHARLES | SPENCER | TFEM 1920 |
| Pte | 487 | JOSEPH | TURNER | TFEM 1920 |
| Sgt | 1151 | JOHN | LAWLER | TFEM 1920 |
| Sgt | 1190 | JOSEPH | ROWBOTTOM | TFEM 1920 |
| Pte | 1225 | JOSEPH | WHITTAKER | TFEM 1920 |
| Cpl | 1257 | TOM | JACKSON | TFEM 1920 |
| Pte | 226 | ALFRED | ASHWORTH | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 242 | LEONARD | BROOKE | TFEM 1921 |
| Sgt | 526 | THOMAS | MOSS | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 956 | HAROLD | PYE | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 1209 | LEONARD | WHITEHEAD | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 1262 | GEORGE | ALLOTT | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 1292 | GEORGE | HALL | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 1305 | JAMES | WRIGHT | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 1325 | JOSEPH | KENT | TFEM 1921 |
| Pte | 1327 | GEORGE | BURGESS | TFEM 1921 |
Notes:
- The eligibility rules dictate that all of the men awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal prior to 1914 must have been Old Volunteers.
- The six men awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in 1916 and 1918 were all Old Volunteers. Additionally, their 12 years eligible service was determined by the linear sum of their continuous service since Army Order 326 of November 1918, which allowed embodied service to count double, effectively post-dated their awards.
- All but two of the men awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in 1920-21 re-enlisted in the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on or after October 1920 when it was reformed.
Sgt. 136 Henry Harrison
Enlisted into the Volunteers on January 5, 1906
Re-engaged with the Territorial Force on April 7, 1908
Discharged June 11, 1918
Total Service: 12 years 158 days
Total Embodied Service: 3 years 311 days
Awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal: May 1918
Died July 25, 1918. T.B.
Sgt. Harrison is an example of a man awarded the TFEM in 1918 based on his continuous service alone since Army Order 326 of November 1918, which allowed embodied service to count double, post-dated his award.
Sgt. 65 Joe Ferns
Enlisted into the Volunteers on June 6, 1906
Re-engaged with the Territorial Force on April 1, 1908 for 1 year
Re-enlisted on April 1, 1909 for 4 years
Re-enlisted on April 1, 1913 for 4 years
Disembodied January 30, 1919
Total Service: 12 years 238 days
Total Embodied Service: 4 years 179 days
Awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal: December 1918
Awarded a Clasp to the Territorial Efficiency Medal: 1930
Sgt. Ferns is an example of a man awarded the TFEM in December 1918 based on his continuous service alone since Army Order 326 of November 1918, which allowed embodied service to count double, effectively post-dated his award (9th Manchester Regt. orders typically required men applying for the TFEM to submit their applications well in advance of the actual award).
Cpl. 1325 Joseph Kent
Enlisted in the Territorial Force June 15, 1912
Disembodied March 2, 1919
Total Service: 6 years 259 days
Total Embodied Service: 4 years 209 days
Service Before Embodiment: 2 years 50 days
Eligible Service at disembodiment: 11 Years 103 days
Re-Enlisted into the 9th Manchester in October 1920 (3515677)
Awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal: November 1921.
Cpl. Kent is an example of a man who was just shy of the required 12 years eligible service when he was disembodied on March 2, 1919 even though Army Order 326 of November 1918 could be used to reckon his embodied service as double. Consequently, it was not until he re-enlisted in late 1920 and served another 262 days in the Territorials that he became eligible to apply for the TFEM.
Territorial Efficiency Medal
The following men of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment who deployed to Gallipoli in 1915 became holders of the Territorial Efficiency Medal. Most of these men re-enlisted into the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment in, or shortly after, 1920 when it was reformed.
| Rank | No. | Forename | Surname | Medal |
| Pte. | 1159 | WILLIAM | WATSON | TEM |
| Q.M.S. | 5 | GEORGE | BOOCOCK | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 283 | TIMOTHY | McDERMOTT | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 11 | JOHN | FOSTER | TEM 1922 |
| Sgt. | 54 | ARTHUR | BERESFORD | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 489 | JAMES | EASTHAM | TEM 1922 |
| Sgt. | 680 | THOMAS | HARGREAVES | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 787 | GEORGE | STRINGER | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 839 | WILLIAM | PASCOE | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 1287 | WILLIAM | THORNTON | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 1290 | JOHN | SMITH | TEM 1922 |
| Col. Sgt. | 1326 | HAROLD | SHAW | TEM 1922 |
| Pte. | 1473 | GEORGE | LAMB | TEM 1922 |
| Dmr. | 781 | HARRY | TAYLOR | TEM 1923 |
| A/Cpl. | 29 | ALBERT | HAGUE | TEM 1924 |
| Sgt. | 1199 | THOMAS | RADCLIFFE | TEM 1924 |
| Sgt. | 1495 | THOMAS | KNIGHT | TEM 1925 |
| Dmr. | 551 | HAROLD | CRITCHLEY | TEM 1926 |
| Pte. | 1142 | DAVID | SMITH | TEM 1926 |
| WO II | 969 | HARRY | GRANTHAM | TEM 1937 |
| Pte. | 1057 | JAMES | STOPFORD | TEM 1940 |
Notes:
- Harry Grantham was awarded both the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal (1920) and the Territorial Efficiency Medal (1937) for his long service.