Royal Engineers 1881-1914

This post will look at numbering in the Corps of Engineers, regular enlistments only, between 1881 and 1914. With such a huge corps, any study of numbering such as this can only provide a brief snapshot. Nevertheless, this may prove of some assistance in helping to narrow down enlistment dates for numbers covered within this vast range.

The Corps of Royal Engineers was formed in 1856 from the Royal Engineers and the Royal Sappers and Miners. Typical terms of enlistment for the regiment changed over the years.

Service records for all of the sample numbers and dates below survive in the series WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives (online at Ancestry.co.uk) and WO 97 (on line at findmypast.co.uk). Establishment information from Scarlet into Khaki by Lt-Col James Moncrieff Grierson (Greenhill Books 1988).

16995 joined on 2nd May 1881
17483 joined on 13th June 1882
17625 joined on 4th October 1883
18971 joined on 27th May 1884
19753 joined on 9th April 1885
20829 joined on 3rd March 1886
22091 joined on 19th September 1887
23152 joined on 25th September 1888
23596 joined on 1st February 1889
24832 joined on 12th May 1890
26081 joined on 12th September 1891
26307 joined on 22nd January 1892
27354 joined on 7th February 1893
28032 joined on 23rd February 1894
28773 joined on 1st January 1895
29999 joined on 25th February 1896

A new number series commences:
1 joined on 31st March 1896
3 joined on 7th April 1896
4 joined on 8th April 1896
601 joined on 8th January 1897
800 joined on 6th May 1897
1007 joined on 30th June 1897
1641 joined on 17th February 1898

Peace-time Establishment in 1899

1. One Pontoon or Bridging battalion consisting of two companies comprised of a total of 199 officers and men and 64 saddlehorses and draught horses.
2. One Telegraph battalion consisting of two sections: one at Aldershot traiuned exclusivley for service in the field, the other in the south of England employed for telegraphic service in the country.
3. One Mounted Detachment Field Depot quartered at Aldershot to train drivers for the field companies. Comprised of 115 officers and men and 33 horses.
4. Two Field Parks comprised in total of 33 NCOs and men and 21 horses.
5. One Balloon section at Aldershot comprised of two officers and 40 NCOs and men.
6. Eight Field Companies (Nos, 7, 11, 12, 17, 23, 26, 37, 38. Four Field Companies were on the higher Establishment and four on the lower. Of the higher companies, two were at Aldershot, one at Chatham and one at the Curragh Camp in Ireland. Of the lower companies, two were at Aldershot, and one each at Shornecliffe and the Curragh. Higher establishment companies each consisted of three officers, 182 NCOs and men and 26 horses. Lower establishment companies each consisted of three officers, 95 men and 21 horses.
7. Eighteen Fortress Companies (Nos 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 15, 18, 20, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 36, 41, 42 and 43). Each company consisted of three officers and 92 or 93 NCOs and men.
8. Two Railway Companies: one at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, one near Chatham, each consisting of two officers and 65 men.
9. Twelve Submarine Mining Companies (Nos 4, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40 and M). Companies 4, 30 and M were stationed at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham respectively and comprised 510 NCOs and men in total. These three companies were known as the "central companies", training recruits for the submarine mining companies and operating electric search lights in the naval ports. The other nine companies were stationed at different fortified naval ports and comprised between 44 and 65 men. Each submarine company was commanded by three officers.
10. One Coast battalion organised into 11 sections and comprised of 14 officers and 190 men stationed at those ports which only had militia or volunteer submarine mining sections.
11. Four Survey Companies (Nos 13, 14, 16 and 19) comprised of 24 officers and 454 NCOs and men.
12. Eight Depot Companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and N) garrisoned at Chatham and comprising 20 officers and 818 NCOs and men.

War-time establishment in 1899

In times of war, a field company of engineers (197 officers and men) was added to every Division of infantry. A mounted detachment (116 officers and men) was added to every cavalry division. In addition, to every army corps, as Corps Engineers, was added a field company (197 officers and men), a pontoon company (200 officers and men), a staff and four sections of the telegraph battalion (226 officers and men), a field park (43 officers and men), a railway company (147 officers and men) and a balloon section (48 officers and men).

2631 joined on 2nd January 1899
4319 joined on 6th February 1900
7679 joined on 6th February 1901
9788 joined on 3rd January 1902
12142 joined on 8th January 1903
13806 joined on 17th May 1904
15623 joined on 22nd March 1906
16173 joined on 16th February 1907
17948 joined on 24th September 1908
18313 joined on 12th January 1909
19801 joined on 25th January 1910
21130 joined on 2nd February 1911
22616 joined on 2nd March 1912
24416 joined on 12th April 1913
25895 joined on 15th January 1914

For a good summary of the Royal Engineers during the First World War, see The Royal Engineers on The Long, Long Trail website.

Also see my post on a range of Royal Engineers numbers: Royal Engineers 108**.

Hertfordshire Yeomanry 1908-1914

I've just added a post to my World War 1 Veterans' blog about Frederick Mason Matthews who served in Gallipoli with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry and was later commissioned with the 2/1st Essex Yeomanry. I've already partially covered Essex Yeomanry numbers on this blog, so here are some sample numbers from an incomplete sequence for the Hertfordshire Yeomanry.

803 Henry Bridger joined on 8th April 1908
1090 Clifford Alfred Watkins joined on 20th February 1909
1257 James Dubbin joined on 23rd March 1910
1315 Philip Clark joined on 31st January 1911
1570 Douglas Brydon joined on 1st November 1913
1649 Charles William Beeton (aged 43) joined on 25th July 1914
1681 Thomas Carruthers joined on 3rd August 1914 (the day before war was declared)
1772 William Frederick Marshall Blyth joined on 2nd September 1914
2118 Edgar Ralph Braggins joined on 3rd October 1914
2129 Stanley Herbert Finch (later 105486) joined on 9th October 1914

On its page dedicated to the Hertfordshire Yeomanry, The Long Long Trail website notes:

1/1st Battalion

August 1914: Hertford, part of the Eastern Mounted Brigade.
10 September 1914: sailed for Egypt.
19 January 1915: joined the Yeomanry Mounted Brigade. This was originally an independent command. It moved in August 1915 to Gallipoli as dismounted troops, was placed under command of 2nd Mounted Division and was retitled as 5th Mounted Brigade.
December 1915: withdrew from Gallipoli and returned to Egypt.
March 1916: was split up

2/1st and 3/1st Battalions were raised in September 1914 and 1915 respectively.

When it was re-numbered in 1917, Hertfordshire Yeomanry men were given numbers within the range 105001 to 110000.

Pictured above, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Gurney Sheppard in an undated photo. He won the DSO whilst serving with the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second South African War and died of wounds whilst leading the Hertfordshire Yeomanry at Gallipoli on the 21st August 1915.

The Sherwood Foresters - 1st & 2nd Battalions - 1881-1914

This post will look at numbering in the two regular battalions of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) between 1881 and 1914. Service records for all of the sample numbers and dates below survive in the series WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives (online at Ancestry.co.uk) and WO 97 (on line at findmypast.co.uk).

Click HERE for the index of other regiments covered in this blog.

The Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment) was formed on 1st July 1881; the 1st Battalion from the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot, and the 2nd Battalion from the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot. The newly formed regiment was established as the county regiment for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and started numbering from 1 in 1881.

10 joined on 6th July 1881
221 joined on 21st February 1882
451 joined on 2nd January 1883
726 joined on 11th January 1884
1017 joined on 7th January 1885
1363 joined on 11th February 1886
1886 joined on 24th March 1887
2229 joined on 5th January 1888
2494 joined on 15th January 1889
2749 joined on 27th February 1890
3125 joined on 8th April 1891
3469 joined on 10th January 1892
3978 joined on 16th January 1893
4624 joined on 21st March 1894
4993 joined on 15th January 1895
5358 joined on 21st February 1896
5559 joined on 16th February 1897
5784 joined on 7th January 1898
6200 joined on 7th March 1899
6519 joined on 16th February 1900

The Sherwood Foresters raised three volunteer service companies during the South African War and issued numbers as follows:

1st VSC: numbers within the range 7331 to 7553
2nd VSC: numbers within the range 7443 to 7587
3rd VSC: numbers within the range 7592 to 7619

On 23rd February 1900, the 1st VSC embarked aboard the SS Avondale Castle for South Africa. It comprised Captain Turner Lee, Lieutenant Kingdom, Lieutenant R K Ellis, Lieutenant F A C Wright and 113 men.

6808 joined on 16th January 1901

In 1902 the regiment’s name was changed to The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment). Numbering was unaffected by the title change.

7310 joined on 3rd May 1902
8565 joined on 6th January 1903
9058 joined on 8th January 1904
9770 joined on 17th February 1905
9980 joined on 12th January 1906
10241 joined on 15th January 1907
10730 joined on 7th April 1908
11182 joined on 4th February 1909
11277 joined on 8th January 1910
11567 joined on 6th March 1911
11897 joined on 13th June 1912
11998 joined on 17th January 1913
12197 joined on 21st February 1914

The First World War
When Britain went to war in August 1914, men joining the new service battalions were issued with numbers from the same series in use by the two regular battalions.

Recruitment rates 1881-1911

Between 1st July 1881 and 8th April 1891, The Sherwood Foresters recruited 3,125 men, an average of 318 men each year. Of the sixty-nine infantry regiments recruiting at this time, The Sherwood Foresters was the fifty-second most successful infantry recruiter.

The pattern improved dramatically over the following decade and up until the 16th January 1901, the regiment added close to 3,700 men to its books, a high average of 378 new recruits a year and a rate which saw the regiment leap up the recruiting table to be the fourteenth most successful infantry recruiter.

The trend continued into the next decade as well and by March 1911 the regiment had issued number 11567 to its latest recruit; an average recruitment rate for the decade of 468 men; the eighth best recruitment rate for an infantry regiment in the British Isles.

Overall, the Sherwood Foresters’s recruitment rate for the period July 1881 to March 1911 was an impressive 388 men per annum; a rate which made it the thirteenth most successful infantry recruiter in the United Kingdom.

1st Battalion stations 1881-1914

1881 Chatham
1882 Athlone
1885 Kilkenny
1888 Limerick
1889 Colchester
1894 Curragh
1898 Malta
1899 South Africa
1902 Hong Kong
1904 Singapore
1906 Bangalore
1909 Secunderabad
1912 Bombay
1914 France & Flanders (from November)

2nd Battalion stations 1881-1914

1881 Aldershot
1882 Gibraltar
1882 Egypt
1882 Lucknow
1888 Sikkim
1888 Lucknow
1892 Umballa
1894 Solon
1897 Sitapore
1897 Tirah
1897 Sitapore
1898 Aden
1899 Malta
1902 Parkhurst
1904 Aldershot
1907 Kinsale
1909 Fermoy
1910 Plymouth
1913 Sheffield
1914 France & Flanders (from September)

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at numbering in the two regular battalions of The Black Watch between 1881 and 1914. Service records for all of the sample numbers and dates below survive in the series WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives (and also online at Ancestry.co.uk) and WO 97 (on line courtesy of Find My Past).

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) was formed on the 1st July 1881; the 1st Battalion from the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot (The Black Watch), and the 2nd Battalion from the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot. The newly formed regiment was established as the county regiment for Fifeshire, Forfarshire and Perthshire. It started numbering from 1 in July 1881.

22 joined on 14th July 1881
1152 joined on 18th February 1882
2074 joined on 22nd March 1883
2222 joined on 16th January 1884
2566 joined on 8th January 1885
2852 joined on 5th January 1886
3177 joined on 2nd February 1887
3658 joined on 19th January 1888
3882 joined on 16th May 1889
4049 joined on 11th March 1890
4530 joined on 22nd April 1891
4962 joined on 28th March 1892
5290 joined on 4th July 1893
5460 joined on 8th January 1894
5916 joined on 28th January 1895
6359 joined on 25th February 1896
6642 joined on 18th March 1897
6874 joined on 13th January 1898
7226 joined on 14th March 1899
7228 joined on 27th February 1900

During the South African War the Black Watch raised three Volunteer Service Companies. Men joining the 1st VSC in January 1900 were issued numbers in continuance of the series then in use for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions and not allowing the clear one thousand digit gap that had been stipulated in AO 29 of the 2nd January that year. Numbers in the range 7540 to 7666 were issued to these men and on the 17th February 1900, the 1st VSC comprising three officers: Captain Cook, Lieutenant Hunter and Lieutenant McArthur,and 114 men embarked aboard SS Gascon for South Africa.

Men joining the 2nd VSC were issued numbers from within a wide range of numbers which I had originally noted as within the range 8522 to 9024. More work needed here.

Men joining the 3rd VSC in January 1902 were issued numbers between 9083 and 9176.

Meanwhile, numbering of regular enlistments in the regular battalions continued apace:

8083 joined on 16th January 1901
8525 joined on 2nd January 1902
9424 joined on 13th January 1903
9735 joined on 11th January 1904

A new number series commences
Queen’s regulations for the Army, 1895 had stated: “The regimental series of numbers will commence with 1. The numbers will be given in sequence, according to the date of application. When the series approaches 9,999, application should be made to the Adjutant-General in sufficient time to obtain authority to commence a new series.” The new King’s Regulations of 1904 which permitted infantry regiments to number up to 19,999 came too late for the Black Watch which reached 9,999 in September 1904 and immediately started a new series from 1.

182 joined on 20th March 1905
495 joined on 18th January 1906
876 joined on 5th April 1907
1243 joined on 30th March 1908
1580 joined on 28th January 1909
1791 joined on 4th February 1910
1955 joined on 6th January 1911
2333 joined on 10th April 1912
2560 joined on 18th August 1913
2652 joined on 20th January 1914

The First World War
When Britain went to war in August 1914, men joining the new service battalions were issued with numbers from the same series that had, up until that point, been the sole preserve of the regiment’s two regular battalions. The only difference between men enlisting for war-time service only and those enlisting as career soldiers, was that the former’s numbers were supposed to be prefixed with the letter S/.

Recruitment rates 1881-1911

Between 1st July 1881 and 22nd April 1891, The Black Watch recruited 4,530 men, a very high average of 461 men each year. Of the sixty-nine infantry regiments recruiting at this time, The Black Watch was the most successful Scottish regiment and the third most successful infantry recruiter over all.

The following decade though, was not so kind. Recruiting dipped to a yearly average of 364 men with the Black Watch recruiting nearly a thousand men less than it had done the in the 1880s. Between the 22nd April 1891 and 16th January 1901, the regiment recruited 3,553 men.

Recruitment picked up again in the early years of the twentieth century. The Black Watch added 3871 men to its books between January 1901 and January 1913 and finished the decade as the thirteenth most successful British Army infantry recruiter.

1st Battalion stations 1881-1914

1881 Edinburgh
1882 Egypt
1885 Sudan
1889 Malta
1892 Gibraltar
1893 Egypt
1893 Mauritius (half battalion)
1893 South Africa (half battalion)
1897 Subathu (entire battalion)
1899 Sitapur
1901 South Africa
1902 Edinburgh
1904 Fort George
1906 Curragh
1908 Limerick
1911 Edinburgh
1912 Aldershot
1914 France & Flanders (from August)

2nd Battalion stations 1881-1914
1881 Portsmouth
1884 Aldershot
1889 Belfast
1892 Limerick
1894 Glasgow
1897 York
1899 South Africa
1902 Umballa
1905 Solon
1906 Dalhousie
1908 Barian (northern Punjab)
1911 Calcutta
1914 Bareilly
1914 France & Flanders (from October)

The photo

I've borrowed the image on this post from the Royal Highlanders website and I hope this acknowledgement will be sufficient to permit me to re-publish it here. It shows those men of the 3rd (Dundee Highland) Volunteer Battalion who served with the 1st VSC during the 2nd South African War. The men are named as follows:

Rear (left to right) - Private J. Kelly, Private J. Gray, Private A. Greig, Bugler A. Chalmers, Private J. Duncan, and Private H. Harris.

Middle (left to right) - Lance Corporal D. Florence, Private J. Jack, Private W. Cosgrove, Private J. Cameron, Private H. Low, Lance Corporal A. Malcolm.

Front (left to right) - Corporal J. Burt, Lance Sergeant G. Brander, Sergeant J. Gegan, Lieutenant Harry Kebel Smith (Dundee), Lance Sergeant L. Bisset, Corporal W. Carnegie, Corporal W. Donaldson.

Not Shown - Private E. S. High, Private T. Sprunt, Private J. G. Sweeney, and Private D. T. Thomson.

Surrey Yeomanry 1914-1915

Here's a small snapshot of Surrey Yeomanry numbers and joining dates between May 1914 and November 1915.

1814 joined on 18th May 1914
1856 joined on 9th August 1914
1931 joined on 3rd September 1914
2104 joined on 5th October 1914
2346 joined on 9th November 1914
2463 joined on 7th December 1914
2541 joined on 15th January 1915
2585 joined on 8th February 1915
2635 joined on 11th March 1915
2717 joined on 6th April 1915
2781 joined on 18th May 1915
2847 joined on 29th June 1915
2855 joined on 22nd July 1915
2866 joined on 2nd September 1915
2871 joined on 10th September 1915
2879 joined on 7th October 1915
2936 joined on 1st November 1915

Service records for all of the sample numbers and dates below survive in the series WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives and also online at Ancestry.co.uk.