20 January 2009

Scots Guards 1881-1919

The Scots Guards can trace its lineage back to 1642. It was unaffected by the 1881 Cardwell reforms and by 1881, was numbering in the 5000s. Here is a sample of army service numbers and corresponding enlistment/joining dates for the Scots Guards.

5349 joined on 14th June 1881
5547 joined on 16th August 1882
5626 joined on 12th April 1883
6044 joined on 14th January 1884
6914 joined on 4th September 1885
7062 joined on 18th January 1886
7405 joined on 1st February 1887
8110 joined on 2nd November 1888
8149 joined on 18th January 1889
8534 joined on 3rd March 1890
9202 joined on 16th October 1891
9402 joined on 1st February 1892
9992 joined on 6th February 1893

Shortly after this number was issued, the Scots Guards reached 9999 and, in accordance with Queen's Regulations, commenced a new series of numbers, starting from 1.

442 joined on 23rd June 1894
916 joined on 20th December 1895
1124 joined on 5th August 1896
1294 joined on 5th February 1897
1891 joined on 24th January 1898

In 1899, with Great Britain at war with South Africa, the Scots Guards raised a 3rd Battalion. This was eventually disbanded in 1906.

3017 joined on 24th January 1899
3238 joined on 6th February 1900
3996 joined on 22nd July 1901
4421 joined on 22nd April 1902
4802 joined on 4th February 1903
5167 joined on 5th January 1904
5818 joined on 3rd January 1905
6461 joined on 14th March 1906
6675 joined on 3rd January 1907
7076 joined on 20th April 1908
7320 joined on 12th January 1909
7628 joined on 15th April 1910
7897 joined on 27th April 1911
8465 joined on 22nd November 1912
8517 joined on 21st January 1913
8901 joined on 10th March 1914

The First World War

The Scots Guards formed a 3rd (Reserve) Battalion on 14th August 1914. This was eventually disbanded on 10th March 1919

9053 joined on 8th August 1914
9871 joined on 3rd September 1914
11454 joined on 1st October 1914
11907 joined on 3rd November 1914
12548 joined on 10th December 1914
12778 joined on 1st January 1915
13367 joined on 1st February 1915
13645 joined on 11th March 1915
13807 joined on 5th April 1915
13960 joined on 26th May 1915
14205 joined on 27th July 1915
14227 joined on 2nd August 1915
14424 joined on 20th September 1915
14500 joined on 30th October 1915
14590 joined on 9th November 1915
14853 joined on 6th December 1915
15010 joined on 6th January 1916
15278 joined on 16th February 1916
15397 joined on 15th March 1916
15514 joined on 15th April 1916
15590 joined on 15th May 1916
15771 joined on 21st June 1916
15775 joined on 4th July 1916
15872 joined on 8th August 1916
15890 joined on 7th September 1916
15937 joined on 4th October 1916
16166 joined on 17th November 1916
16225 joined on 8th December 1916
16357 joined on 10th January 1917
16466 joined on 2nd February 1917
16601 joined on 9th March 1917
16776 joined on 21st May 1917
16860 joined on 14th June 1917
17025 joined on 21st September 1917
17257 joined on 25th January 1918
17453 joined on 2nd April 1918
17782 joined on 4th May 1918
18628 joined on 8th June 1918
19104 joined on 17th February 1919

Note the huge influx of men between May and June 1918.


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Further research

Scots Guards pensions and service records on Ancestry.co.uk

From The Naval & Military Press:

Scots Guards in the Great War
"This book is set out in chronological order, and though the battalions were not in the same division during the first twelve months of the war their actions are not recorded under separate headings. Thus both battalions were in action during First Ypres and they both appear in the chapter covering that battle. Apart from war diaries, there are extracts from letters and other contributions from those who were there making up the narrative and the result is a plain, straightforward account."



Read my other posts on numbering in the Foot Guards regiments:

Grenadier Guards
Coldstream Guards
Irish Guards
Welsh Guards

Identify a Foot Guards soldier by his uniform: Identifying the Guards - Army Ancestry

2 comments:

farrel felts@yahoo.com said...

Greetings from the colonies. I recently acquired a clock with an inscription plate and got curious. The plate indicates the clock was presented to 1/sgt T. Hyde on his leaving the 3/6 Dragoon Guards after 18 years service. The presentation was made by the sgts. mess assn in 1928. I thuoght it interesting the clock migrated all the way to Texas and is still intact. I'm in the process of cleaning and restoring the clock because if must have a fascinating history.
farrelfelts@yahoo.com
Gainesville Texas is 55 miles north of Dallas on the Texas-Oklahoma border

Paul Nixon said...

Greetings in turn. I think your clock was probably presented to 5212 Thomas S Hyde who joined the Dragoon Guards in October 1910. He served during WW1, arriving in France on the 16th August 1914. He later re-enlisted with the Dragoons in February 1919 and was given the number 31436. The above information taken from his medal index card. A service record for this man may still survive with the MoD in England.

Paul

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