The Boar's Head - 30th June 1916

In Remembrance

It can be all too easy, looking purely at army service numbers, to lose sight of the fact that behind each number is a man and behind that man, people who cared for him.

On this day, 93 years ago, the South Down battalions suffered heavily in a diversionary attack at Richebourg L'Avoue on a system of trenches known as The Boar's Head. I have written about this in more detail in Chailey's Somme on my Chailey 1914-1918 website.

Although I have written in my narrative that fifteen officers and 364 Other Ranks were killed, Soldiers Died in the Great War reveals the following statistics for the 30th June 1916.

11th Battalion (1st South Down) - 2 officers, 26 men
12th Battalion (2nd South Down) - 4 officers, 136 men
13th Battalion (3rd South Down) - 7 officers, 159 men

More would die of their wounds in the days to come.

And so on this day, I remember the men behind the numbers, the men of Sussex who exactly 93 years ago, laid down their lives for a diversion.

"At the Going Down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM."

The photograph of poppies on the Sussex south downs at Winton, near Alfriston, comes from East Sussex County Council's website.

The Leicestershire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers issued to men joining the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment between 1881 and May 1914. The regiment was formed in July 1881, the 1st and 2nd Battalions formerly having been designated as the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot.

I've compiled the list below as a result of looking at service records in the WO 363 and WO 364 series. These are held at the National Archives on microfilm and are also available on-line via the Ancestry website. Ancestry is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial.

177 joined on 15th August 1881
337 joined on 6th January 1882
552 joined on 22nd May 1883
1074 joined on 4th November 1884
1197 joined on 22nd January 1885
1739 joined on 8th June 1886
2096 joined on 27th April 1887
2395 joined on 16th July 1888
2549 joined on 27th February 1889
2862 joined on 26th September 1890
3062 joined on 23rd June 1891
3349 joined on 1st February 1892
3685 joined on 25th January 1893
4040 joined on 17th April 1894
4352 joined on 24th May 1895
4552 joined on 8th January 1896
4997 joined on 5th February 1897
5314 joined on 1st July 1898
5477 joined on 5th April 1899
5694 joined on 20th January 1900
6266 joined on 14th November 1901
6430 joined on 21st July 1902
6839 joined on 5th February 1903
7498 joined on 30th September 1904
7668 joined on 9th March 1905
7968 joined on 15th August 1906
8094 joined on 9th February 1907
8384 joined on 13th July 1908
8679 joined on 20th April 1909
8927 joined on 7th April 1910
9205 joined on 19th May 1911
9482 joined on 22nd April 1912
9732 joined on 28th July 1913
9882 joined on 12th May 1914

When Britain went to war a few months later, men joining the newly forming service battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment were issued with numbers from the same series that had, up until then, been solely used by the regulars.

Pictured on this post is Stan Brown who was a Leicestershire Regiment regular, fighting with the 1st Battalion at Mons in 1914. He later transferred to the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment and after the war, was a long-standing - and ultimately the last surviving - member of the Chelmsford Branch of the Old Contemptibles' Association. I've briefly written about Stan on my World War 1 Veterans blog and I'll return to him in greater depth in future. His army service number is the 9732 mentioned above. I interviewed Stan in 1981 and his partial service record also survives in WO 364 and can be viewed via the Ancestry website.

8th & 9th London Regiment updates

I've added some dates and army service numbers within the re-numbered six digit range for two London Regiment battalions: the 8th (City of London) Battalion (Post Office Rifles) and the 9th (County of London) Battalion (Queen Victoria's Rifles).

If anybody has a good 8th London's photo I can use on that post, I'll gladly acknowledge and reciprocate with a link.

British Army recruitment in the nineteenth century

Further to responses to my post yesterday on recruitment into the Border Regiment in 1906, and specifically the regions from which regiments drew their recruits, I'd like to quote from Alan Ramsay Skelley's The Victorian Army at Home (Croom Helm London, & McGill - Queen's University Press; Montreal 1977).

"... recruitment relied heavily upon a large staff of army pensioners and soldiers seconded from regular and militia units. Each regiment recruited at its headquarters while, independent of this, the country was divided into several large districts centred around major cities, where full time recruiting staff were employed. Regulations forbade units to recruit over their voted establishment... This meant that recruitment had to be turned off like a tap when the establishment was reached and back on when colonial drafts reduced the size of the home army."

There were also incentives both for the recruit, and for the recruiting staff.

"Cash bounties were sometimes used to attract men to the colours, the amount paid varying with the need for men. In 1859 during the threat of war with France, each recruit received £3. Recruiting officials received a fee for every man they enlisted. In 1859 again, £1 7s 6d was shared between the recruiting party and the superintending officer."

I am not sure how widespread this incentive practice was by 1906.

Dr Skelley also presents various tables, and in the table showing the nationalities of men serving with the colours between 1868 and 1898 there is a clear decline in the percentages of men deriving from Ireland and Scotland. In 1868, English and Welsh recruits accounted for 59.5 per cent of the total, whilst Scottish recruits accounted for 9.5 per cent, and the Irish, 31 per cent. By 1898 the figures were 78.2, 8.2 and 13.6 per cent resepectively.

In 1891, according to the census taken that year, Rank and File in the Royal Scots, Seaforth Highlanders, Highland Light Infantry, Royal Highlanders, Cameron Highlanders, Gordon Highlanders, Cameronians and Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders numbered 2,076. Of these, 61.5 per cent were born in Scotland, 32.9 per cent in England & Wales, 4.3 per cent in Ireland, and 1.3 per cent overseas.

For the army in Scotland as a whole, in 1891, less than half - 44.5 per cent - of the Rank and File had been born in Scotland, with 48.8 per cent born in England & Wales, five per cent born in Ireland, and 1.7 per cent born overseas.

As Dr Skelley concludes, and as Graham Stewart pointed out in his comment on yesterday's post, "it is clear... that the proportion of Scots in their own units declined somewhat between 1851 and 1891 [and a good deal after that as well]. Their places in the ranks, like those of the Irish, were taken by English (and Welsh) soldiers. This clearly throws some doubt on the success of Cardwell's localisation of recruitment."

As a further example - which Alan Skelley questions - Lord Sandhurst asserted in 1893 that only 21 per cent of Cameron Highlanders came from the Cameron's recruiting district and that of the remaining men, sixty per cent were "Whitechapel Highlanders". Whitechapel, in London's East End, is just two or three miles away from Stratford where the Border Regiment would have so much success 17 years later.

I've borrowed the famous image of recruiting sergeants lounging outside a public house in Westminster in 1877, from the Victoria & Albert Museum's website. The photograph was taken by John Thomson (1837-1921).

Border Regiment recruitment in 1906

This post will look at recruitment in the regular battalions - the 1st and 2nd Battalions - of the Border Regiment in 1906.

As I mentioned yesterday in my post on Border Regiment recruitment 1881-1914, 1906 was a bumper year for the regiment. In the period 31st January 1905 to 3rd January 1906, less than two hundred men had joined the regiment. Number 8088 had joined on 31st January 1905 and number 8164 joined on 3rd January 1906. And yet by 19th December 1906, the regiment had reached number 9211, an astronomical rise in recruits if all of those numbers had been allocated.

So what happened in 1906 to so dramatically improve the fortunes of Border Regiment recruitment, and where did all the men come from?

I've compiled the list below by looking at surviving Border Regiment service records for 1906. All of these survive in the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives (the vast majority of these in WO 363) and all are now available via the Ancestry website. I've indicated in square brackets, the place where the men attested.

8164 John Arthur joined on 3rd January [Stratford]
8183 Arthur George joined on 12th January [London]
8187 Edmund Baxter joined on 15th January [Jersey]
8188 George Bygrave joined on 15th January [London]
8199 Dick Button joined on 19th January [Stratford]
8200 Ernest Beale joined on 19th January [Stratford]
8210 Edward Day joined on 23rd January [Leicester]
8218 Henry Batt joined on 1st February [Stratford]
8220 Thomas William Emsworth joined on 2nd February [Stratford]
8243 Joseph Kiggins joined on 26th February [Stratford]
8247 William Charles Brown joined on 2nd March [Stratford]
8274 William Malyon joined on 24th March [Barnet]
8312 James Johnson joined on 23rd April [Workington]
8315 Alfred John Alford joined on 27th April [London]
8317 Harry Gallaway Mayo North joined on 21st April [Hastings]
8327 Alfred Charles Campbell joined on 30th April [Stratford]
8332 John William Harris joined on 4th May [Stratford]
8334 Frank Le Bontilier Harris joined on 4th May [Stratford]
8339 Edward Edwin Barrett joined on 23rd May [Stratford, London]
8348 Robert Alfred Brandon joined on 6th June [London]
8353 John Stanley Mitchell joined on 5th June [London]
8357 Phillip Davis joined on 16th June [Stratford]
8370 George Frederick Hanson joined on 21st June [Pontefract]
8372 Robert Douglas joined on 19th June [Carlisle]
8373 James Godden joined on 20th June [London]
8380 Charles Edward Ellicock joined on 22nd June [London]
8386 Conrad Burrows joined on 27th June [Stratford]
8429 Edward Hester joined on 11th July [Stratford]
8433 Andrew Mcmanus joined on 9th July [Carlisle]
8435 William Lake joined on 10th July [London]
8450 Walter Frederick Fox joined on 16th July [London]
8451 John Bow joined on 16th July [Nottingham]
8457 Charles Horwood joined on 16th July [London]
8475 John Gardner joined on 23rd July [London]
8479 William Harding joined on 24th July [London]
8486 John Tom Brown joined on 30th July [Nottingham]
8491 William Moore joined on 1st August [Nottingham]
8501 John Richard Coleman joined on 7th August [Walthamstow]
8504 George King joined on 9th August [Nottingham]
8511 Alfred Marks joined on 9th August [Stratford]
8521 Joseph James Giles joined on 4th August [Coventry]
8522 Percy John Evans joined on 10th August [Manchester]
8524 John Barry joined on 13th August [London]
8525 William Grace joined on 9th August [Hounslow]
8532 Albert Muncey joined on 13th August [London]
8533 Edward Clarke joined on 13th August [Coventry]
8544 Harry Hellwig joined on 13th August [London]
8615 Charles Cornelius Barnard, alias Charles Cornelius Berning joined on 26th August having transferred from Northumberland Fusiliers (number 1419) [Stratford]
8663 Arthur Berham Cox joined on 29th August [Chatham]
8682 George Harris joined on 10th September [London]
8698 Herbert Squelch joined on 12th September [London]
8715 Robert Johnson joined on 20th September August [Halifax]
8798 George Davis joined on 27th September [Stratford]
9011 Christopher Riley joined on 22nd October [Workington]
9211 Joseph Francis Doonan joined on 19th December [Workington]

Again, this is a snapshot, 55 men from a series embracing over a thousand numbers, but it's interesting to note that the vast majority of these enlistments took place in London - and most of these in the East End. Thirty-five men signed up at Stratford, Walthamstow or simply "London". Add in men from other parts of south England (and one man from Jersey), and the total rises to 40. The majority of the remaining men joined up in the Midlands (Coventry and Nottingham) with only a handful coming from what would tradionally be regarded as the Border Regiment recruiting area.

These recruiting locations are in marked contrast to recruitment the previous year which for the most part, according to my records at least, took place pretty much where you'd expect it to have done - in Border Regiment territory. Without having documentary evidence to hand, it's difficult to know exactly what went on but it would appear that after a poor showing in 1905, a decision was taken to spread the Border Regiment recruitment net and, if the recruits wouldn't come to the Borders, go and find the recruits. That's all guesswork on my part but the logic, based on the locations above, appears sound.

All of the men above signed up for seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. That means that excluding those men who'd extended their period of service, and those of course who had been discharged early, the majority of these 1906 enlistments would have been on the Reserve when Britain went to war with Germany in August 1914. It stands to reason therefore that the majority of these men would also have been recalled to the Colours when Britain went to war.

I had a quick look at Soldiers Died in The Great War and counted up the number of men with numbers in the range 8164 to 9210. By my reckoning, there were 236 men, 59 of whom are recorded on SDGW as having enlisted in London. The true total will be higher. Furthermore, numbers in that range for the Border regiment can only have been issued to men who joined up in 1906. If he had a number in the range 8164 to 9211 he must have joined up during the Border Regiment's bumper year.

For informed Border Regiment discussion, visit the Border Regiment Forum.

Books about the Border Regiment during WW1



The Border Regiment in the Great War

Before the Great War the Border Regiment, primarily recruited from the Lakeland counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, consisted of two Regular and two Territorial battalions, plus the Regimental Depot. During the war this was increased to a total of thirteen battalions by the raising of volunteer service battalions. This history tells the story of all 13 battalions.

The regiment saw service in France from 1914, while the 1st battalion was at Gallipoli the following year. In 1916, six of the regiment’s battalions took part in the battle of the Somme, and in 1917 the regiment fought in the battle of Arras, at Bullecourt, and at the Battle of Messines. Six of its battalions took part in the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) while other battalions fought on the Salonika front in Macedonia and in Italy.

In this excellent and tightly written history, as the regiment’s Colonel, Maj.Gen. E.G. Sinclair MacLagan writes in his preface, the author “has recorded the doings of the different Battalions in six separate theatres of war, and has merged them into one consecutive narrative”. lllustrated by 14 photographic plates and seven maps.


Glory Is No Compensation - The Border Regiment at Gallipoli 1915

Border Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

Prior to July 1881 when the Border Regiment was formed, the 1st Battalion was the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot, and the 2nd Battalion was the 55th (Westmoreland) Regiment of Foot. This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which these were issued to men joining up as career soldiers with the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Border Regiment.

The information published below should be regarded as a snapshot of army service numbers and joining dates for Border Regiment soldiers between 1882 and June 1914. Service records for all of the men whose numbers are shown below can be viewed on-line via the Ancestry website.

186 joined on 4th July 1882
447 joined on 1st September 1883
637 joined on 14th May 1884
982 joined on 30th January 1885
1569 joined on 25th January 1886
1999 joined on 15th January 1887
2341 joined on 13th January 1888
2696 joined on 7th February 1889
2947 joined on 8th January 1890
3064 joined on 24th January 1891
3448 joined on 11th April 1892
3897 joined on 3rd February 1893
4216 joined on 15th January 1894
4768 joined on 12th August 1895
5025 joined on 31st March 1896
5451 joined on 27th July 1897
5934 joined on 1st June 1898
6025 joined on 8th March 1899
6317 joined on 25th October 1900
6432 joined on 7th February 1901
6638 joined on 10th January 1902
6974 joined on 16th March 1903
7375 joined on 29th February 1904
8008 joined on 31st January 1905
8188 joined on 15th January 1906
9278 joined on 18th April 1907
9420 joined on 8th April 1908
9632 joined on 23rd March 1909
9715 joined on 3rd March 1910
9893 joined on 4th January 1911
10312 joined on 8th February 1912
10528 joined on 6th March 1913
10800 joined on 25th June 1914

The year 1906 appears, on the face of it, to have been a bumper year for recruitment if sequential numbering is to be believed. Between 31st January 1905 and 15th January 1906, only 180 men joined the regular battalions of the regiment and yet by April 1907, the numbering has leapt to 9278. I list below, sample numbers, names and joining dates for 1906.

8188 George Bygrave joined on 15th January 1906
8247 William Charles Brown joined on 2nd March 1906
8615 Charles Cornelius Barnard (alias Charles Cornelius Berning; formerly 1419 Northumberland Fus) joined on 28th August 1906
8698 Herbert Squelch joined on 12th September 1906
9011 Christopher Riley joined on 22nd October 1906
9211 Joseph Francis Doonan joined on 19th December 1906

George Bygrave's record is in the WO 363 (burnt documents) series. The other men's records are in the WO 364 (Pension) series. All can be viewed on the Ancestry website. Also see my separate post on Border Regiment recruitment in 1906.

When Britain went to war in 1914, men joining the newly forming service battalions were issued with numbers from the series which had, up until that point in time, been issued to the regulars joining the 1st and 2nd Battalions.

For Border Regiment information and discussion, visit the Border Regiment Forum. Also see my Border Regiment related post: 1908. What a difference a year makes.

I've borrowed the image for this post from John Clare's WW1 photos, which in turn formed part of a press release from Tyne Tees Televison's 1988 drama-documentary series, Voices of War. The undated photograph shows men of the Border Regiment's 8th Battalion.

York and Lancaster Regiment - 1st and 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which these were issued to men joining the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the York & Lancaster Regiment. The period covered is July 1881 to July 1914. What follows is a snapshot from a larger database of Y&L numbers and joining dates.

The regiment was formed in July 1881. The 1st Battalion, York & Lancs was formerly the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot. The 2nd Battalion, York & Lancs was formerly the 84th (York & Lancaster) Regiment of Foot. The new regimental title was derived from the areas in which the regiment recruited - principally the Duchy of York and the Duchy of Lancaster.

Papers for all of the men listed below, survive in the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives in London. They are also on-line via the Ancestry website. Ancestry is also currently offering a FREE 14 day trial.

25 joined on 16th July 1881
261 joined on 7th February 1882
579 joined on 13th January 1883
798 joined on 12th March 1884
1063 joined on 9th January 1885
1361 joined on 9th January 1886
1751 joined on 26th January 1887
2200 joined on 21st February 1888
2566 joined on 26th March 1889
2696 joined on 5th January 1890
2902 joined on 9th January 1891
3227 joined on 27th January 1892
3654 joined on 6th February 1893
3925 joined on 30th June 1894
4161 joined on 26th January 1895
4626 joined on 17th March 1896
4813 joined on 4th January 1897
5244 joined on 22nd September 1898
5348 joined on 23rd January 1899
6216 joined on 15th June 1900

Note that between 1900 and 1902, those Volunteers from the 1st Hallamshire Volunteer Battalion and 2nd Volunteer Battalion who joined the regular battalions of the York and Lancs Regt were issued with numbers in the 7000 and 8000 range.

6361 joined on 8th March 1901
6884 joined on 17th July 1902
7245 joined on 30th January 1903
7702 joined on 21st March 1904
8217 joined on 5th January 1905
8375 joined on 23rd January 1906
8584 joined on 14th January 1907
9048 joined on 25th January 1908
9405 joined on 8th February 1909
9792 joined on 24th May 1910
9922 joined on 1st July 1911
10052 joined on 22nd January 1912
10313 joined on 4th January 1913
10558 joined on 11th July 1914

When Britain went to war with Germany three weeks later, men joining the newly formed service battalions (with the exception of the Pals Battalions which had their own number series), were issued numbers from the series which had, up until that point in time, been used only by the two regular battalions.

Royal Scots Fusiliers - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which they were issued to men joining the regular battalions - the 1st and 2nd Battalions - of the Royal Scots Fusiliers between 1882 and June 1914.

Prior to July 1881 The Royal Scots Fusiliers had been (since a name change in 1877) the 21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot. My data currently begins in 1882 and so that's where I'll start from.

86 joined on 12th July 1882
222 joined on 16th January 1883
710 joined on 2nd May 1884
1068 joined on 14th March 1885
1428 joined on 22nd February 1886
2018 joined on 29th April 1887
2255 joined on 23rd February 1888
2509 joined on 8th January 1889
2794 joined on 13th February 1890
3329 joined on 18th April 1891
3629 joined on 18th April 1892
4100 joined on 21st April 1893
4517 joined on 20th February 1894

4556 Pte Arthur Prestwood joined the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers on 24th April 1894 and would spend the majority of his early military career in India, seeing service during the Punjab Frontier, Samana and Tirah campaigns in the late 1890s. Working his way through the ranks and finishing as Colour Sergeant, Arthur Prestwood was commissioned in August 1914, landed in France on 15th September 1914 and was severely wounded at Hooge the following June. After recuperating he spent the remainder of the war with the 3rd RSF in England. He retired from the army in 1921 and died, aged 94 in 1970. I hold Captain Prestwood's medals and you can read more about him on my British Army Medals blog.

4822 joined on 2nd January 1895
5089 joined on 4th February 1896
5437 joined on 8th July 1897
5728 joined on 8th February 1898
6012 joined on 24th January 1899
6492 joined on 5th January 1900
6728 joined on 20th March 1901
7046 joined on 4th January 1902
7386 joined on 6th January 1903
8067 joined on 29th January 1904
8518 joined on 10th January 1905
8762 joined on 27th January 1906
9439 joined on 4th July 1907
9639 joined on 29th June 1908
9824 joined on 23rd February 1909
10173 joined on 29th July 1910
10352 joined on 4th April 1911
10563 joined on 26th February 1912
10851 joined on 7th May 1913
11089 joined on 20th June 1914

Six weeks later, when Britain went to war with Germany, the newly forming service battalions issued numbers from the same series that had, up until that point, been used solely by the two regular battalions of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Photo: unknown WW1 era soldier from the author's collection.

Also see: Royal Scots Fusiliers - 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion 1908-1914

The Devonshire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which these were issued to men joining the Devonshire Regiment between 1882 (which is where my data currently starts) and pre August 1914.

Papers for all of the men listed below, survive in WO 363 and WO 364. View these at the National Archives in London or on-line via the Ancestry website. Ancestry is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial.

245 joined on 21st May 1882
483 joined on 2nd June 1883
737 joined on 2nd January 1884
1259 joined on 29th July 1885
1435 joined on 3rd February 1886
1736 joined on 5th July 1887
2009 joined on 18th February 1888
2337 joined on 2nd January 1889
3007 joined on 11th June 1890
3231 joined on 29th May 1891
3442 joined on 25th January 1892
3653 joined on 26th January 1893
3985 joined on 10th August 1894
4226 joined on 22nd June 1895
4742 joined on 29th July 1896
4793 joined on 4th January 1897
4969 joined on 5th January 1898
5267 joined on 4th January 1899
5974 joined on 22nd March 1900
6503 joined on 3rd January 1901
6914 joined on 10th March 1902
7269 joined on 12th January 1903
7607 joined on 24th January 1904
7906 joined on 9th March 1905
8130 joined on 8th May 1906
8290 joined on 13th February 1907
8615 joined on 23rd January 1908
8928 joined on 8th March 1909
9005 joined on 24th July 1910
9218 joined on 4th January 1911
9598 joined on 30th July 1912
9720 joined on 28th May 1913
9952 joined on 31st March 1914

When Britain went to war with Germany a few months later, men joining the newly forming service battalions of the Devonshire Regiment were issued service numbers which belonged to the same series as that which had been in use for the regular battalions. 10102 enlisted with the Devons for a term of regular service - 7 years with the Colours and 5 on the Reserve - on 14th August 1914. 10121 issued for war-time service only, the following day.

The image above (taken from a cigarette card) shows Private Thomas William Henry Veale of the 8th Devonshire Regiment who was awarded the Victoria Cross for "most conspicuous bravery" at High Wood, The Somme on 20th July 1916. His medals are held by the Devonshire Regiment Museum at Dorchester.

Devonshire Regiment literature from the Naval & Military Press


1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment during the Boer War, 1899-1902

The Devonshires took a leading role in the relief of Ladysmith after a lengthy siege by the Boers. They subsequently fought at Inagane and Lydenburg in Natal and South-eastern Transvaal. Their battle honours included the charge at Wagon Hill outside Ladysmith, and the night action at Elandslaagte. In his introductoion, Gen. William Kitchener calls attention to the main qualities of the Devon men who served under him: their ‘dogged devotion to duty’ which helped overcome the Boers’ stubborn resistance; their improvisation and their smart turnout in the worst of conditions. ‘In conclusion’ writes Kitchener, "a more determined crew I never wish to see, and a better regiment to back his orders a General can never hope to have." Iliustrated with 25 photographs and two maps. Also includes Roll of Honour.



Devonshire Regiment 1914-1918

When war broke out in 1914 the Devonshire Regiment consisted of two regular battalions, a Special Reserve Battalion and four Territorial battalions. By the end of the war the total was twenty-nine. This history contains the account of the operations of those battalions which took an active part in the war which earned them two VCs and sixty battle honours at a cost of 5,787 dead. They served on the Western Front, in Italy, Macedonia, Egypt, Palestine, India and in Mesopotamia.

C T Atkinson is among the foremost of the Great War divisional and regimental historians and this book is typical of his standard of writing and composition. He has provided a continuous narrative in a chronological order, bringing in the various battalions as they came onto the stage in the relevant theatre of war. He has made use of war diaries, not only of the battalions but also, where appropriate of brigades and divisions. He was also able to make use of collected accounts of various actions and experiences of those who took part in them, giving the point of view of the man in the trenches. One third of the book, some 250 pages, contains the complete list of honours and awards, including Mention in Despatches, and the Roll of Honour, listed alphabetically by battalions.

Through Hell to Victory

This book deals exclusively with the 2nd Devons (23rd Brigade, 8th Division) during the last year of the war. It describes what the battalion did in the early days of 1918, touches briefly on their movements in January, deals fully with the March retreat in the face of the German offensive, follows them in the fighting to save Amiens and goes on to describe at length the battalion’s heroic stand at the Bois des Buttes, under the shadow of the Chemin des Dames, on the 27th May and following days. For this action the battalion was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm. This account comes not from official records but from the information of those who took part, and it took the author more than a year to assemble all the details. The casualties in the action at the Bois des Buttes, as given in the regimental history, amounted to twenty three officers and 528 men killed or missing.

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which they were issued to men joining the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment between 1881 and April 1914.

In July 1881 when the regiment was formed as part of the Childers Reforms, the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot became the 1st Battalion and the 81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot became the 2nd Battalion.

What follows is a snapshot of army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. There are sequential anomalies in the data which I'll point out as appropriate.

16 joined on 21st September 1881
482 joined on 26th July 1882
778 joined on 21st June 1883
874 joined on 25th June 1884
1245 joined on 16th July 1885
1574 joined on 26th May 1886
1969 joined on 15th January 1887
2571 joined on 5th September 1888
3064 joined on 20th November 1889
3131 joined on 25th January 1890
3343 joined on 25th January 1891
3671 joined on 23rd April 1892
3869 joined on 4th January 1893
4351 joined on March 1st 1894

Apart from other numbers which fall neatly into the sequence so far, I have three other numbers on my database for this year, which do not. 3915 joined on 17th April, 3919 joined on 22nd June and 3924 joined on 24th September. In the meantime, 4531 had joined on 16th August.

3915 was a serving member of the 3rd Militia Battalion and it's possible that 3915 is his militia number. At least, I can think of no other explanation for the anomaly. Numbers 3919 and 3924 were both boys aged 14. Papers for all three men survive in WO 363 and WO 364, as do records for all the numbers listed here. View these at the National Archives in London or on-line via the Ancestry website. A FREE 14 day trial is currently being offered by Ancestry.

4833 joined on 27th May 1895
5014 joined on 4th January 1896
5502 joined on 6th April 1897
5754 joined on 15th March 1898
6085 joined on 6th June 1899
6316 joined on 15th June 1900
6521 joined on 18th April 1901
6717 joined on 28th January 1902
7037 joined on 6th January 1903
7757 joined on 13th January 1904
8356 joined on 28th March 1905
8515 joined on 12th February 1906

8215 Thomas Beardsworth also joined in 1906, on 9th March. This is another anomaly which I can't explain. Sequential logic would suggest that his number belongs to early 1905 rather than spring 1906. His attestation papers state that he was a serving member of the 3rd Militia Battalion and its possible, as it is also possible with 3915 above, that 8215 is his militia number. It shouldn't be of course; both men should have been given a new number from the regular series on enlisting with the 1st or 2nd Battalion.

8926 joined on 2nd July 1907
9353 joined on 9th June 1908
9863 joined on 15th July 1909
9904 joined on 26th January 1910
10114 joined on 6th January 1911
10312 joined on 14th March 1912
10502 joined on 9th January 1913
10752 joined on 1st April 1914

When Britain went to war with Germany four months later, numbering in the regular battalions was in the low 10800s and the new service battalions, when they began forming, used the same number series that had been in use by the regulars. But that's the subject of another post.

Further reading from The Naval & Military Press:

The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment 1914-1919



During the First World War, the Loyal North Lancs served in virtually every theatre of war and this book tells the story of them all.

The 1st Battalion took part in the defence of Ypres at Langemarck and Gheluvelt in 1914, fought at the battles of Neuve Chapelle and Aubers RIdge in 1915; the Somme in 1916; and the battles of Arras and Passchendaele in 1917. In 1918 it helped to break the HIndenburg Line.

The 2nd Battalion was sent to East Africa and took part in the disastrous attack on Tanga and the subsequent frustrating campaign against the guerilla leader General Von Lettow-Vorbeck. Towards the end of the war, the battalion served in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front.

The book is fully illustrated with maps and photos, and with appendices covering awards, uniforms, colours and honours.



The Story of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division

East Surrey Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which they were issued to men joining the regular battalions (1st and 2nd Battalions) of the East Surrey Regiment.

Service records for all of the East Surrey Regiment soldiers listed above can be viewed online in the WO 363 (Burnt Documents) and WO 364 (Pension) series at The National Archives London. A further series of Chelsea Pensioner records (WO 97) is also available online.


The regiment was born in July 1881. The 1st Battalion, East Surreys had previously been the 31st (The Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot. The 2nd Battalion, East Surreys had previously been the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot.

My data for this regiment begins the year after it was formed, in 1882. What follows is a snapshot of numbers and dates from a far larger database. From October 1902 numbers were generally, but not always, prefixed with the letter L/. I have omitted this prefix from the series below.

83 joined on 7th January 1882
773 joined on 16th February 1883
1302 joined on 13th May 1885
1827 joined on 11th October 1886
2052 joined on 9th September 1887
2332 joined on 26th March 1888
2538 joined on 1st January 1889
2966 joined on 10th April 1890
3341 joined on 21st January 1891
3970 joined on 29th December 1892
4396 joined on 10th August 1893
4784 joined on 6th June 1894
4929 joined 17th May 1895
5059 joined on 20th July 1896
5451 joined on 29th October 1897
5605 joined on 29th October 1898
5806 joined on 13th January 1899
6271 joined on 30th January 1900
6902 joined on 26th January 1901
7181 joined on 4th January 1902
7664 joined on 12th January 1903
8104 joined on 12th Januar 1904
8632 joined on 9th October 1905
8806 joined on 7th July 1906
9347 joined on 20th November 1907
9545 joined on 13th February 1908
9774 joined on 6th January 1909
9910 joined on 4th January 1910
10134 joined on 5th January 1911
10355 joined on 4th January 1912
10600 joined on 1st January 1913
10787 joined on 7th January 1914
10918 joined on 3rd August 1914

The following day, Britain went to war with Germany. As with regular enlistments into the King's Royal Rifle Corps, The Royal Sussex Regiment and The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) during the First World War, The East Surrey Regiment maintained the number series above for men who, during wartime, still wished to enlist in the regiment as career soldiers for 7&5 (Seven years with the colours, five on the Reserve). Men joining up for wartime service only were given numbers from a separate series prefixed with the letter G/. So to continue with the regular numbering:

11012 joined on 23rd November 1914
11039 joined on 29th December 1914
11079 joined on 15th January 1915
11124 joined on 1st February 1915
11176 joined on 13th March 1915
11235 joined on 23rd April 1915
11251 joined on 18th May 1915
11269 joined on 3rd June 1915
11325 joined on 9th September 1915
11369 joined on 3rd December 1915

My data for regular East Surrey enlistments currently ends at this point but I'd be happy to augment the series above if anybody can add to this.

It is important to make the distinction between numbers issued from the regular L/ prefix series and numbers issued from the wartime G/ prefix series. For instance whereas G/11554 was issued on 11th August 1915 to a man joining up for wartime service only, the same number (but with an L/ prefix) would, as can be deduced from the series above, have been issued to a man joining up for regular service between October and December the same year.

The photograph that I've use to illustrate this post with, comes from my Chailey 1914-1918 archive and shows L/6738 Private Charles Sabourin of the 1st East Surrey Regiment recuperating at Hickwells, Chailey. Charles is seated in a wheelchair having lost his right leg as a result of a wound sustained on the first day of fighting at Mons - 23rd August 1914. A Boer War veteran who had enlisted on 31st October 1900, the bitterness he felt as a result of his wound, subsequent spell as a POW, and then repatriation, is evident in the entry he left in his nurse's autograph album. He wrote:

Pte C Sabourin
1st East Surrey Regt
Wounded and captured at Mons

I would like to meet the German
who fired that shrapnel. I would
certainly treat him.

Charles Sabourin is one of those rare cases who has papers in both WO 363 and WO 364. These documents are also now available on-line.

King's Royal Rifle Corps - Regular Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers issued to men joining the regular battalions of the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) between 1881 and August 1915.

315 joined on 10th December 1881
507 joined on 21st December 1882
876 joined on 21st April 1883
1616 joined on 21st January 1884
2638 joined on 10th January 1885
3489 joined on 18th March 1886
4221 joined on 9th November 1887
4289 joined on 11th January 1888
5054 joined on 13th March 1889
5566 joined on 15th January 1890
6211 joined on 31st January 1891
7056 joined on 2nd February 1892
7954 joined on 11th March 1893
8452 joined on 27th January 1894
8979 joined on 28th March 1895
9610 joined on 2nd October 1896
9795 joined on 5th January 1897

In accordance with Queen's Regulations, and fast approaching the 9,999 limit for numbering in Infantry of the Line battalions, the KRRC applied to the "Adjutant-General in sufficient time to obtain authority to commence a new [number] series." The regiment had reached 9881 by 22nd March 1897 and presumably reached 9999 by the end of that month or by the following month. Certainly by 14th May 1897, regular soldiers joining the KRRC were being given numbers in the high 200s.

674 joined on 18th January 1898
1732 joined on 2nd March 1899
2534 joined on 8th January 1900
3588 joined on 22nd April 1901
4311 joined on 18th March 1902
5327 joined on 9th January 1903
5795 joined on 11th January 1904
6542 joined on 28th June 1905
6858 joined on 2nd February 1906
8011 joined on 20th February 1907
8865 joined on 23rd June 1908
9166 joined on 6th January 1909
9551 joined on 12th January 1910
10334 joined on 2nd November 1911
10457 joined on 13th January 1912
11062 joined on 23rd April 1913
11374 joined on 17th January 1914

By 8th June 1914, numbering was up to 11615 for men joining one of the four regular battalions of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and less than two months later Britain went to war with Germany. When it did so, new recruits to the KRRC were not given numbers from the series from that being used by the regular battalions. Instead, according to their status (for want of a better word), and the battalions they were joining, they were given numbers from several new series, these numbers prefixed with different letters. So A/ prefix men (up to the low 3900s at least) were Army Reservists who had been discharged or whose numbers had been re-allocated and who were now re-enlisting. R/ prefix men were New Army men; C/ prefix men were also New Army men joining the 16th to 21st Battalions. There were other prefixes too and I'll look at these and other KRRC battalion numbering patterns in future posts.

But during the First World War men could, and did, still enlist with the KRRC for regular terms of service (seven years with the Colours and five years on the Reserve), and army service numbers for these men continued to be drawn from the same series that had been in use before the First World war began.

11770 joined on 12th August 1914
12207 joined on 6th January 1915
12284 joined on 1st February 1915
12371 joined on 9th March 1915
12413 joined on 3rd April 1915
12508 joined on 6th May 1915
12671 joined on 30th June 1915
12745 joined on 3rd August 1915

Service records for all of the King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers listed above (and those below) can be viewed on microfilm in the WO 363 (Burnt Documents) and WO 364 (Pension) series at The National Archives London. These papers are also now on-line via the Ancestry website. CLICK HERE for a FREE 14 day trial.

Also see my posts on:

Queen's and King's Regulations - Regimental Numbers
Regimental numbering series

The image on this post, taken from an old cigarette card, shows R/11941 George Stanley Peachment VC of the 2nd Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. George originally joined the 5th KRRC on 18th April 1915, later transferring to the 2nd Battalion. The citation for his VC award reads:

"For most conspicuous bravery near Hulluch on 25th September 1915. During very heavy fighting, when our front line was compelled to retire in order to re-organise, Pte Peachment, seeing his Company Commander, Captain Dubs, lying wounded, crawled to assist him. The enemy's fire was intense, but, though there was a shell hole quite close, in which a few men had taken cover, Pte Peachment never thought of saving himself. He knelt in the open by his Officer and tried to help him, but while doing this he was first wounded by a bomb and a minute later mortally wounded by a rifle bullet. He was one of the youngest men in his battalion and gave this splendid example of courage and self-sacrifice."

Rifleman Peachment has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial at Dud Corner Cemetery, France.

Durham Light Infantry - 1st & 2nd Battalions

The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was formed in July 1881. The 1st Battalion was formerly the 68th (Durham Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot, and the 2nd Battalion was formerly the 106th (Bombay Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot. This post will look at army services numbers issued to men joining the two regular battalions of the DLI between 1881 and the first half of 1914.

17 joined on 20th July 1881
286 joined on 15th January 1882
997 joined on 21st August 1883
1311 joined on 14th March 1884
1754 joined on 11th February 1885
2335 joined on 10th February 1886
2927 joined on 16th November 1887
3066 joined on 21st January 1888
3523 joined on 28th June 1889
3660 joined on 6th January 1890
4254 joined on 15th October 1891
4533 joined on 8th July 1892
5082 joined on 25th October 1893
5208 joined on 17th April 1894
5412 joined on 27th January 1895
5758 joined on 11th February 1896
6142 joined on 8th June 1897
6359 joined on 3rd May 1898
6671 joined on 18th January 1899
7157 joined on 2nd May 1900
7457 joined on 16th April 1901
7893 joined on 8th May 1902
8384 joined on 15th April 1903
8728 joined on 18th January 1904
9103 joined on 9th January 1905
9688 joined on 6th October 1906
10186 joined on 30th September 1907
10350 joined on 22nd April 1908
10818 joined on 1st October 1909
10916 joined on 7th March 1910
11131 joined on 1st February 1911
11427 joined on 2st August 1912
11542 joined on 28th January 1913
11714 joined on 26th March 1914
11775 joined on 7th August 1914

By this stage, Britain was in its fourth day of war with Germany and the new service battalions of the DLI (10th Battalion - 17th Battalion inclusive), would also allocate numbers from the same series which had, up until then, been in use solely for the regular battalions.

Service records for all of the Durham Light Infantry soldiers listed above, can be accessed from the WO 363 (Burnt Documents) and WO 364 (Pension) series at The National Archives London. These papers are also now on-line via the Ancestry website. CLICK HERE for a FREE 14 day trial.

The photo that I've 'borrowed' for this post comes from the Wikepidia article on the Durham Light Infantry and shows NCOs of the 11th DLI. The X indicates 18688 Corporal Thomas Bonney who joined the Durham Light Infantry in September 1914. Thomas was born in Birtley, County Durham and also enlisted there, giving his place of residence as Ouston, County Durham (source: Soldiers Died in the Great War). He was an original member of the 11th Battalion and went overseas with it on 20th July 1915. He appears to have remained with the battalion, rising to the rank of sergeant, until he was killed in action on 31st March 1918.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website notes that Thomas was 22 years old, the son of John and Jennie Bonney, of 200 Ouston Square, Pelton; and the husband of Elizabeth Bonney, of Institute Terrace, Ouston, Pelton, Co. Durham. He is buried in the Allied Extension of Moreuil Communal Cemetery, France; grave reference D.2.

Durham Light Infantry literature

The following links will take you to the relevant pages on The Naval & Military Press website:

Faithful – The Story of the Durham Light Infantry
History of the Durham Light Infantry (and its Regiment of Foot predecessors) from the 18th Century to the Korean War.

The Durham Light Infantry – The United Red and White Rose
Full history of the DLI up to the Great War. This work was originally published in 1914 and is illustrated by ten pictures showing regimental insignia and uniforms, memorials and early commanders. In addition there are twelve appendices covering rolls of officers, lists of colonels, regimental music, freemasonry and and sporting awards and achievements.



The Durham Forces in the Field 1914-1918
This history is concerned with the eleven service battalions that went on active service: the 10th to 15th, the 18th to 20th, the22nd and 29th.

The Fiftieth Division 1914-1919
The 50th (Northumbrian) Division was a pre-war Territorial (TF) division which recruited from Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire. The infantry battalions came from the Northumberland Fusiliers, East Yorks, Green Howards and Durham Light Infantry.

A Brigadier in France
Charting the military career of Hanway Robert Cumming who was commissioned into the Durham Light Infantry in 1889, served during the Boer War and took command of the 2nd DLI in August 1916. He was murdered in Ireland in March 1921.

The East Lancashire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

The 1st Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment was formed on 1st July 1881 from the old 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot. The 2nd Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment was formed on the same day from the old 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot.

This post will look at East Lancashire Regiment numbers issued between 1881 and June 1914.

33 joined on 4th September 1881
309 joined on 31st January 1882
409 joined on 31st January 1883
726 joined on 16th February 1884
1086 joined on 3rd March 1885
1691 joined on 17th June 1886
1986 joined on 1st July 1887
2240 joined on 14th January 1888
2609 joined on 2nd April 1889
2836 joined on 29th January 1890
3108 joined on 2nd January 1891
3495 joined on 2nd February 1892
3918 joined on 2nd January 1893
4710 joined on 13th June 1894
4895 joined on 2nd October 1895
4967 joined on 15th January 1896
5327 joined on 15th March 1897
5579 joined on 1st February 1898
595o joined on 25th April 1899
6399 joined on 16th July 1900
6690 joined 11th April 1901
7013 joined on 5th June 1902
7616 joined on 3rd January 1903
8163 joined on 16th July 1904
8460 joined on 12th January 1905
9038 joined on 9th October 1906
9184 joined on 5th January 1907
9712 joined on 29th January 1908
9931 joined on 5th January 1909
10196 joined on 16th February 1910
10493 joined on 13th June 1911
10706 joined on 1st May 1912
10863 joined on 28th March 1913
11098 joined on 23rd June 1914

Service records for all of the East Lancashire Regiment soldiers listed above, can be viewed in the WO 363 and WO 364 pension series at The National Archives in Kew, London. These papers are also now on-line via the Ancestry website. CLICK HERE for a FREE 14 day trial.

When Britain declared war on Germany a few weeks later, and the East Lancashire Regiment formed new service battalions to accommodate the eager Kitchener recruits, the new battalions drew numbers from the same series used by the regular battalions.

I've 'borrowed' the image on this page from the Bolton Museum and Archive website. It shows Private Albert Mitchell of the East Lancashire Regiment and was taken about 1900.

HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH REGIMENT

An updated and expanded 1923 edition of a history of the old Thirtieth Regiment, later the 1st East Lancashire Regiment, from its formation in 1689 down to 1881, first published in 1887, now re-published by The Naval & Military Press.



From the N&M Press review:

"The 30th Regiment first saw service in the wars with France that the King fought in defence of his Dutch homeland. It was disbanded, but then promptly raised again as Marines to fight against France in the War of the Spanish Succession, taking part in the successful capture and subsequent defence of the Rock of Gibraltar. It continued to serve in Spain, helping to take Barcelona and Alicante.

The 30th helped defeat a French invasion fleet in the Firth of Forth. It was disbanded a second time, but re-formed to meet the Jacobite threat, defended Gibraltar again, and was present at Lord Anson’s naval victory off Finisterre. Fighting as Marines, the 30th took part in the expeditions against Rochefort, Cherbourg and St. Malo (twice). In the American War of Independence it took part in the Battle of Eutaw Springs and later helped to put down two risings of the black population of Dominica.

"In the French Revolutionary Wars, the 30th fought alongside the Navy in the Mediterranean, helping defend Toulon against the young Napoleon Bonaparte, occupying Messina and besieging and capturing Malta’s capital Valetta before seeing action in Egypt. Becoming two battalions, the Regiment saw garrison duty in Ireland and service in the East Indies and Macao before taking part in the Peninsula War. It was with Wellington in the lines of Torres Vedras, which blocked the French attempt to drive the Duke from Portugal, and took part in most of the major British victories in the Peninsula, including Fuentes d’Onoro, Ciudad Roderigo, Badajoz and Salamanca. After the Waterloo campaign, in which it fought at Quatre Bras and Waterloo itself, the 30th was reduced to one battalion again and saw service in the Mahratta war in India. It also took part in the Crimean War at Inkerman and Sebastopol, and saw service in various parts of the Empire until becoming the 1st East Lancashire Regiment in 1881.

Illustrated with fifteen fine colour plates showing the evolution of the regiment’s uniforms, and fifteen sketch maps of actions in which it fought, and accompanied by a roll of its officers from 1689-1881 and an index.



1st BATTALION, THE EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT. AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 1914



Republished by the Naval & Military Press, this is the story of a regular battalion from mobilisation to the end of the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914. When war broke out the 1st E Lancs, a regular battalion, was stationed in Colchester, part of the 11th Brigade, 4th Division. The battalion arrived in France on 22nd August 1914 and this book list the officers who embarked with the battalion.

This account of the battalion’s experiences in just three weeks includes the Battle of Le Cateau, the retreat to the Marne, the Battle of the Marne and the Aisne crossing. Among the officers killed was the CO, Lt Col Le Marchant It concludes on 10th October when the Battalion entrained for Flanders and includes the nominal roll of officers who went with it.

There is an interesting table showing daily distances marched during the retreat to the Marne (thirty miles on 27th August, the day after Le Cateau) and in the week following the end of the retreat and the advance across the Aisne (22 miles on 12th September). This is a graphic account of those first weeks of the war.



ALSO SEE:

42ND (EAST LANCASHIRE) DIVISION 1914 - 1918



According to Naval & Military Press which has re-published this divisional history in paperback and hardback, this history "gives a comprehensive account of the division’s exploits albeit with the occasional touch of heroics. The maps are disappointing in that while they show the areas of operations they lack tactical detail. There is, however, a good trench map of the divisional sector on Gallipoli. The photos are very much a bonus.

"Amongst the appendices is a thirty-one page Roll of Honour listing the dead and missing by battalions and units, though a footnote observes that complete casualty lists could not be obtained in all cases. The number of dead listed amount to 6,845, including two brigade commanders. Honours and Awards are also shown by units (five VCs in all). There is also a list showing the succession of HQ Staff and commanders down to battalion or equivalent level but without dates of appointment. Finally, and perhaps most annoying, there is no index.

"When, on 10th August 1914, Kitchener called for volunteers among the TF for service overseas (they had been intended for home service only) some ninety percent of the division accepted and a month later the division sailed for Egypt and thus had the distinction of being the first Territorial division to go overseas. In May 1915 it landed at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, and during the next few months it took part in the Second and Third Battles of Krithia, in the fighting for the Krithia Vineyard and the Achi Baba feature. Evacuation of the division began at the end of December 1915 and the last men were taken off on 9th January 1916. During the campaign it suffered 8,547 casualties - 395 officers and 8152 other ranks; two VCs were awarded. From Gallipoli it returned to Egypt and spent the rest of 1916 with the Canal Defences and in the Sinai Peninsula fighting the Turks. In March1917 it arrived on the Western front where it remained for the rest of the war, and when it ended the division had reached the outskirts of Maubeuge, a few miles south of Mons."



View East Lancashire Regiment medal index cards, service records and pension records via the Ancestry website. CLICK HERE for a FREE 14 day trial.

Royal Dublin Fusiliers - 1st & 2nd Battalions

The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was born on 1st July 1881. The 1st Battalion was created out of the old 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) and the 2nd Battalion was created out of the old 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers).

The regiment was garrisoned at Naas and served the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Carlow in Ireland.

Here is a snapshot of sample army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the two regular battalions of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers from 1881 until June 1914.

92 joined on 3rd September 1881
763 joined on 10th April 1882
1240 joined on 24th June 1883
1632 joined on 18th April 1884
1968 joined on 19th March 1885
2367 joined on 11th May 1886
2537 joined on 25th February 1887
2821 joined on 9th January 1888
3178 joined on 4th January 1889
3644 joined on 22nd May 1890
3953 joined on 17th January 1891
4436 joined on 16th June 1892
4761 joined on 2nd March 1893
5137 joined on 12th July 1894
5331 joined on 3rd January 1895
5764 joined on 19th May 1896
6043 joined on 24th February 1897
6322 joined on 6th June 1898
6599 joined on 21st January 1899
7166 joined on 14th June 1900
7356 joined on 26th January 1901
7999 joined on 9th October 1902
8823 joined on 15th September 1903
8939 joined on 19th February 1904
9227 joined on 27th February 1905
9599 joined on 6th October 1906
9683 joined on 22nd January 1907
10318 joined on 4th December 1908
10476 joined on 5th May 1909
10889 joined on 16th August 1910
11019 joined on 1oth April 1911
11286 joined on 8th July 1912
11518 joined on 24th April 1913
11738 joined on 27th June 1914

Service records for all of the men noted above survive in the WO 363 and WO 364 pension series held at The National Archives in Kew, London. They can also be viewed on-line via the Ancestry website. CLICK HERE for a FREE 14 day trial.

When Britain declared war on Germany five and a half weeks later and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers formed new service battalions, they continued with the same numbering series that was in use for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions.

See also, the website (and forum) of The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association.


CROWN AND COMPANY 1911-1922. 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers



From: The Naval & Military Press:

"The title tells the origins of the battalion. It was raised in India in 1661 by the Hon East india Company as four companies to provide the garrison for Bombay. In 1862 it was transferred to the Crown as the 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers). In the Cardwell reforms of 1881 it became the 2nd Battalion of the newly formed Royal Dublin Fusiliers (RDF); the 1st Battalion of the new regiment had been the Royal Madras Fusiliers.

"This volume is concerned principally with the battalion’s service in the Great War during which it fought on the Western Front in 10th Brigade, 4th Division till the end of 1916 when it was transferred to 48th Brigade of 16th(Irish) Division.

"At the end of the war the battalion went to Constantinople and from there to India (Multan) where it was when the order came for the disbandment of the five Southern Irish infantry regiments. The last part gives a very full and often moving description of the disbandment of the battalion.

"269 officers and 4508 WOs, NCOs and men of the Regiment died during the war and an appendix lists the names of the officers showing which battalion they were serving in. There is a full list of Honours and Awards including Mentions in Despatches and foreign awards for the whole regiment. Another appendix lists the officers of the 1st and 2nd battalions serving at the time of disbandment and shows which regiments they transferred to or whether they retired. One appendix is a copy of the Regiment’s entry in Army List of July 1922, the last published before disbandment."



The image on this post is borrowed from The Second Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers in The South African War by Cecil Francis Romer and Arthur Edward Mainwaring and shows RDF sergeants photographed after the Battle of Colenso in December 1899. Click on the link to read the text at Project Gutenberg.

12th (Prince of Wales's Royal) Lancers

The image above shows men from the 12th (Prince of Wales's Royal) Lancers in Castle Street, Shrewsbury, on their return from the Boer war in 1902. Image borrowed from the Darwin Country website.

This post will look at numbering in the 12th Lancers between 1881 and 1906. Numbering in the regiment was unaffected by the Army Reforms of 1881. I'm going to start in 1882 and end in 1906, the last year cavalry of the line regiments numbered by regiment as opposed to corps. Read more about the changes in cavalry numbering, which was dealt with by Army Order 289 in December 1906.

2391 joined on 17th August 1882
2465 joined on 18th July 1883
2633 joined on 6th September 1884
2813 joined on 23rd November 1885
2877 joined on 6th February 1886
3053 joined on 30th December 1887
3076 joined on 13th October 1888
3192 joined on 16th August 1889
3331 joined on 21st April 1891
3572 joined on 23rd July 1892
3666 joined on 5th April 1893
3850 joined on 8th August 1894
3900 joined on 21st August 1895
3962 joined on 6th January 1896
4118 joined on 11th August 1897
4360 joined on 11th January 1898
4715 joined on 1st September 1899
4929 joined on 22nd March 1900
5370 joined on 9th January 1901
5620 joined on 28th January 1902
7494 joined on 27th October 1906

I currently have a gap in my data for 1903-1905 but even a cursory glance at the numbers above, re-enforces again just how slow recruitment into the regular British Army could be. I have drawn attention to this before on my posts regarding 1882 enlistments for the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards and also Corps of Dragoons recruitment: 1881-1906.

The Royal Sussex Regiment - service battalions

This post will look at numbering in the Royal Sussex Regiment service battalions between August 1914 and August 1916. September 1916 saw a lot of movement between Sussex Regiment battalions and indeed transfers to Sussex Regiment battalions from other regiments and I'll deal with this month in a separate post. I have already detailed pre September 1916 enlistments into the South Down Battalions: the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

As I mentioned in my post on the 1st and 2nd Battalions, The Royal Sussex Regiment, men enlisting for service with the regiment during wartime only were given numbers from a new series beginning at 1 and prefixed with the letter G/ for General Service. In fact it is not unusual to see some early Sussex Regiment attestation papers prefixed with a GS/.

By the end of September 1914, numbering had exceeded 3800 (G/3827 joined on 26th September) and by the 30th October it was in the 4100s. The following sample army service numbers and corresponding joining dates continue this series:

G/4158 joined on 2nd November 1914
G/4780 joined on 5th January 1915
G/5185 joined on 19th February 1915
G/5546 joined on 31st March 1915
G/5632 joined on 20th April 1915
G/5708 joined on 2nd May 1915
G/6980 joined on 1st June 1915
G/7403 joined on 2nd July 1915
G/7757 joined on 15th August 1915
G/7943 joined on 27th September 1915
G/8002 joined on 23rd October 1915
G/8047 joined on 1st November 1915
G/8462 joined on 7th December 1915
G/8548 joined on 8th January 1916
G/8780 joined on 22nd February 1916
G/9202 joined on 1st March 1916
G/10552 joined on 5th April 1916
G/11558 joined on 11th May 1916
G/12746 joined on 13th June 1916
G/13449 joined on 1st July 1916
G/13678 joined on 8th August 1916
G/14101 joined on 12th September 1916

As I mentioned at the start of this post, I'll deal with September 1916 properly in a future post.

The photograph on this page shows men of the 10th Royal Sussex Regiment in England in 1915. G/4469 Private Roland Gilbert of Chailey, Sussex, sits on the front row third from left. His number indicates that he must have joined the regiment in late 1914 or early 1915. Read his story by clicking the link.

The 14th Royal Sussex Regiment

The 14th (Reserve) Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment, adopted the same number series as the 11th, 12th and 13th (South Down) Battalions and was a local reserve battalion for these.

Soldiers Died in The Great War notes the highest SD/ prefixed number as SD/5943 Sgt Arthur Whitlock MM who died whilst serving with the 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. My data for the 14th (Reserve) Battalion starts in the low 5000s and extends to the low 6000s, sample army service number data and dates below. Men joining the 14th (or later called up to the 14th having attested under the Derby Scheme) were posted not only to the South Down battalions but also to other Sussex Regiment battalions as needed, and later Training Reserve battalions.

SD/5025 joined on 26th October 1915
SD/5050 joined on 10th November 1915
SD/5200 joined on 5th January 1916
SD/5466 joined on 30th March 1916
SD/5617 joined on 4th April 1916
SD/5946 joined on 23rd May 1916
SD/5977 joined on 2nd June 1916
SD/6369 joined on 8th July 1916

The majority of recruits to this battalion from March 1916 appear to be men who attested under the Derby Scheme in November and December 1915.

1908. What a difference a year makes.

In 1908, the birth of the Territorial Force (replacing the Volunteers) and the introduction of Special and Extra Reserve Battalions (in place of the old Militia battalions), completely re-wrote the County Regiment numbering series.

I've recently joined the Border Regiment Forum and I was looking at army service number series in use by the regiment before the 1908 changes and afterwards. The regiment is as good as any to use as a case study.

In 1907 the Border Regiment had a regular 1st and 2nd Battalion, using one number series between them; two militia battalions, the 3rd and 4th, using a separate number series each; and two volunteer battalions, the 1st and 3rd Volunteer Battalions, also each using a separate number series. I presume there was also a 2nd Volunteer Battalion at some stage which had been disbanded.

With the formation of the Territorial Force (TF), the numbering series in the 1st and 3rd Volunteer Battalions were abandoned and men were given new numbers. Those who were already serving as Volunteers attested using Army Form E.502. Those who were not serving, used attestation form E.501. The 1st Volunteer Battalion became the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion and the 3rd Volunteer Battalion became the 5th (Territorial Force) Battalion.

The image at the top of this page shows attestation form E.502. The letter B, handwritten on the top right hand corner, indicates the man's company. He was living at Carlisle, attested at Carlisle and Companies A and B of the 4th Border Regiment, as well as the battalion HQ, were situated in Carlisle. Below is an example of attestation form E.501, this one completed by William Head who was joining the 5th Border Regiment. The letter E on his form indicates E Company which recruited from the Egremont area of Cumberland. Both images are Crown Copyright. Click on them both for readable versions. Complete service records for both these men exist in the WO 364 Pension Series at the National Archives, and now on-line via the Ancestry website.


Not all newly created TF infantry battalions started numbering from 1 in April 1908 and there are plenty of examples of battalions which continued with the same series of numbers which had been in use by the Volunteers. Other battalions, which now found themselves being administered by more than one County Territorial Force Association, found themselves encumbered with more than one number series. This is particularly evident in some Scottish Regiments (although not, apparently, the Border Regiment).

The 4th Militia Battalion of the Border Regiment was one of 23 militia battalions ordered to be disbanded. Serving 4th Battalion militiamen were encouraged to join the newly created 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, and many did so. 2157 Private Henry Baylis and 2161 Private Henry Clark had originally joined the 4th Battalion in 1904, Baylis in September and Clark in December. That their numbers (which were issued sequentially) were only a few digits apart and yet their dates of joining nearly three months distant, helps to explain why the authorities considered the 4th Militia Battalion to be surplus to requirements. Both Baylis and Clark re-joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in January and February 1908 respectively and were given new numbers. Both men's records (militia and Special Reserve) can be viewed on-line via the Ancestry website.

Serving members of the 3rd Militia Battalion were also encouraged to join the newly created Special Reserve Battalion which continued with the same series of numbering that had been in use by its Militia predecessor.

The only battalions unaffected by the changes introduced in 1908 were the two regular battalions, the 1st and 2nd, which continued their steady plod. By the end of April 1908 the two battalions could claim to have recruited just nine and a half thousand men over the previous 27 years.

I'll deal with Border regiment recruitment patterns in greater detail in future posts. This entry though serves to illustrate the changes in regimental numbering in Infantry of the Line regiments before and after 1908, and the Border Regiment example is typical.

The 13th Royal Sussex Regiment (3rd South Down)

This post will look at army service numbers issued to original members of the 13th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment; also known as the 3rd South Down Battalion.

As with numbering in the 11th Royal Sussex (1st South Down) and the 12th Royal Sussex (2nd South Down), men were - for the most part - grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname and then numbered. There are plenty of surviving service and pension records for men of the 3rd South Down battalion and a lot of these are now available on-line via the Ancestry website.

Numbering in the 12th Battalion had ceased at SD/2453 and would begin again, for the 13th Battalion, at SD/2600. SD/2604 Pte William Farquhar Allen is the lowest numbered 13th Battalion man to lose his life whilst serving with a Sussex Regiment battalion. He died of wounds on 20th September 1916.

Here then, following the same formula that I've adopted for the 1st and 2nd South Down Battalions, are the numbering patterns for the 13th Battalion.

13th (3rd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
November 1914 - February 1915

SD/2600 - SD/2830
Alphabetical A to W. Principally Sussex county enlistment locations.
SD/2831
Unknown
SD/2832 - SD/3052
Alphabetical A to Y. Principally Sussex county enlistment locations.
SD/3053
Unknown
SD/3054 - SD/3265
Alphabetical A to Y. Principally Sussex county enlistment locations. Chailey man Tom Clarkson joined the 13th Royal Sussex on 17th December 1914 and was given the number SD/3078. Read his story on my Chailey 1914-1918 site and view his service record on the Ancestry website.
SD/3266
Unknown
SD/3267 - SD/3503
Alphabetical A to Y. Principally Sussex county enlistment locations. SD/3427 Albert Plummer of Chailey died of wounds on 2nd July 1916; wounds which were almost certainly received three days earlier on the 30th June. Read his story on my Chailey 1914-1918 website.
SD/3504 - SD/3506
I could find no information for SD/3504 or SD/3506 and SD/3505 Corporal Charles Elliston has no surviving documentation in WO 363 or WO 364. His medal index card notes the 13th Battalion and his entitlement to the British War and Victory medals.
SD/3507 - SD/3725
Alphabetical A to W. Principally Sussex county enlistment locations.
SD/3726 - SD/3798
Alphabetical A to K. Principally Sussex county enlistment locations.

The 13th Royal Sussex Regiment had recruited 1200 men between November 1914 and February 1915. However, a significant proportion of these volunteers appear to have been subsequently rejected and, according to Paul Reed's web page on the 13th Battalion, it was not up to strength until mid 1915. By this stage, men with numbers in the 4000s were joining the battalion.

SD/3799 - SD/3874
I have no information for SD/3799 but it looks as though this range of numbers was issued to men joining the 11th Battalion. For instance, SD/3808 and SD/3825 were issued to men joining the 11th Battalion in April and May 1915 respectively.
SD/3875 - SD/3968
Again, this range of numbers was issued to men joining the 11th Battalion. All men within this Royal Sussex Regiment number range had been transferred from the Army Cyclist Corps.
SD/3969 - SD/3999
I have no convincing South Down army service number data for this range and it's possible that this series of numbers was not used.

SD/4000 - SD/4134
Alphabetical B to W.

The battalion arrived in France on 6th March 1916 and on 30th June 1916, at The Board's Head at Richebourg, D Company sustained heavy losses. Even today, 90 odd years later, recording the casualties sustained by the South Down Battalions on this one day, is depressing work.

See also: South Downs Battalions website.