Hamilton commented that "the men from the Militia Reserve who were in regular battalions were quite excellent... Every commanding officer I asked about them said they were first class men. The Militia battalions that had come out, had lost many of their officers, who had gone to regular battalions to replace losses in the earlier part of the war. They had also been somewhat short of officers to start with... that [line of communication service] was what they were best suited for under the circumstances." The first Volunteer unit to be sent out was a composite battalion recruited from the London units, the City Imperial Volunteers, raised in early January 1900; it was sent into combat after six weeks of training in South Africa, where Lord Roberts described it as "quite excellent", and was returned home in October. At the same time, a number of service companies were raised from the volunteer units, organised by the regimental depots from the volunteer units in the district rather than by the volunteer units themselves. They were employed as integral companies of the regular battalions, and were well regarded in the field. The Yeomanry, likewise, were not employed as complete units. Whilst the initial request for auxiliaries had called for "8,000 irregulars ... organised in companies of 100" and specified that they should be equipped as mounted infantry, the Yeomanry had always been trained and equipped as shock cavalry, with sabres, carbines and lances. The decision was taken in late December to form a new force, the Imperial Yeomanry, to consist of mounted infantry organised separately from the existing Yeomanry. Whilst the Yeomanry provided many of the officers and NCOs, only a small number of recruits came from existing Yeomanry regiments, with some more from Volunteer corps; most were drawn from civilians who had not previously been members of either. The units performed well, but recruiting proceeded in fits and starts—recruitment stopped in May, and was only resumed in early 1901—and so an adequate supply of manpower was not always available. Conservative reforms After the "khaki election" of October 1900, the Conservative Party remained in power, but instituted a thorough reorganisation of the government. The War Office was now led by St. John Brodrick, who immediately called for extensive reform. In the debate on the Army Estimates on 8 March 1901, he dismissed a two-corps expeditionary force as insufficient, and suggested that "...besides