Although there had been some plans to form local forces as early as 1824, these came to nothing and as a result, as with New South Wales, in Victoria the Crimean War served as a catalyst for the raising of volunteer forces. With only a small force of British troops in the colony, there were concerns about a possible Russian attack. As a result, at this time two units were formed, these being the Melbourne Volunteer Rifle Regiment and the Geelong Volunteer Rifle Corps. Other branches of service, such as cavalry, artillery, engineers, signals and torpedo units were raised after this, with the funding for many of these units being derived from private sources. These forces included the Victorian Yeomanry Corps.