Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Corps

The Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Corps (Abbr.: P&PWVC), also known as Penang Volunteer Corps and Penang Volunteer Rifle was a militia unit in Malaya. It was established on 1 March 1861 and together with Singapore Volunteer Corps and Malacca Volunteer Corps, they were a part of the Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force (SSVF). The Penang Volunteer Rifle was the 3rd Battalion SSVF while Singapore is 1st and 2nd Battalion SSVF and Malacca was the 4th Battalion SSVF. After the expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, the Penang Volunteer Rifle became the oldest military unit established in Malaysia.
History.
The British were facing their biggest conflict of 19th and early 20th Century – the Crimean War. As a part of the Crown Colony, this led to enrolment of the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps in 1854 (Hong Kong Volunteer Corps was also established at the same time) thus forming the SSVF. The SSVF later expanded to other Straits Settlements territories including Penang, Malacca and Labuan, and on 1 March 1861, the Penang and the Province Wellesley Volunteer Rifle was formed. In 1879, the Penang and the Province Wellesley Volunteer Rifle was disbanded and later revived back as the Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Corps in 1899, thanks to the effort of three Penang residents, Dr Brown, M.L.C. and Mr P. Kennedy, then President of the Penang Municipal Commissioners. In the beginning, Penang Volunteer Rifle and other units in the SSVF is a fully European military unit. They did not accept other races into the unit until 1899 for Penang battalion and 1901 for Singapore battalions.
British once again facing another conflict which is the Boer War of 1899-1902. This further stimulated the volunteer movement with the formation of the volunteer rifles in Malay states (the Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces (FMSVF) and the Unfederated Malay States Volunteer Forces (UMSVF)). With the Malay States Volunteer Forces, Malayan Volunteer Forces were formed and the SSVF is one of the its military components.
The SSVF last battle is in the Battle of Singapore before being overrun and defeated by the Imperial Japanese Army on 15 February 1942.
Organisation.
The soldiers and officers of Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Corps (P&PWVC) were divided by ethnic. The strength of P&PWVC by the WWII is 916 men.