18 July 2017

Researching your British Army ancestors just became cheaper


My database of British regimental numbers has been largely built by using online resources. I've been a subscriber to Findmypast for eight years, and an Ancestry subscriber for close to fifteen years I should think. For me, subscriptions are essential, a necessary annual expense.

Which leads me nicely into this new offer from Findmypast, 10% off the price of a UK or World subscription.

The UK sub suits me just fine as I have few overseas ancestors and I use it pretty much exclusively for military records these days. There is a wealth of military data: the worldwide British Army indexes for 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871, the British Army Service records (far more records indexed on Findmypast than at Ancestry), Scots Guards, Honourable Artillery Company, Tanks, Artillery... it goes on. With so much on offer,I consider a full-price sub to be a bargain, let alone a sub that offers 10 PER CENT OFF!

This is a time-limited offer which starts at 12.01am GMT this evening (ie one minute past midnight on the 19th July) and ends at 11.59pm GMT on Sunday 30th July.

Grab yourself a bargain by following the links on this page. This offer is only being promoted through partners like me, so don't miss out!

17 July 2017

East Surrey Regiment - PoW Other Ranks 1914


There are 119 men on this list of East Surrey other ranks who were captured by the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. In due course, all of these men - all those who survived, anyway - would be sent Princess Mary's gift to the troops; and this is the list of those men who were to receive that gift.

10730 Pte Thomas Hughes does not appear on this 6-page typed list which was sent to Sir Ernest Goodhart by the officer i/c East Surrey Section, Infantry Record Office, Hounslow and which is today catalogued as B.O.2 1/171by the Imperial War Museum. Nevertheless, Hughes was certainly a prisoner and has a report in WO 161 which can be accessed on Findmypast (and via The National Archives' website).  There may be other omissions too.

The image on this site is one that may be familiar to past readers of this blog and my Chailey blog, and shows 6738 Private Sabourin (middle row, far left) who was wounded and captured on the opening day of the Battle of Mons on the 23rd August 1914. The photo of him and other convalescents was taken at Chailey in 1915 after he had been repatriated.


I research soldiers!

10678 Private H Baldwin
7664 Private C Barnes
10601 Private T A Barron
6674 Private A G Beckley
10441 Private E H Benford
5977 Private A J Bennett
6852 Private T Bennett
10509 Private G D Betts
5299 Private John G Blacklaws
8667 Private F Blay
10162 Private D Bloomfield
9053 Private H Bowyer
8003 Private G W Burge
8928 Private D J Burne
10709 Private J Butler
10431 Private H A Byford
9895 Private W H Cain
6060 Private W Cannell
7998 Private R Casey
7544 Private W Casey
7190 Private W J Castle
10346 Private W Chamberlain
10168 Private G Clark
8178 Private J Clark
8430 Private G Clarke
9300 Private T K Collis
9953 Lance-Corporal Harry Condon
9065 Drummer William Condon
10591 Private A E Cook
8242 Private H Cook
10781 Private B Cornwall
8742 Private A Cotsford
5395 Sergeant A G Craven
10761 Private F Dawes
7716 Private P Donovan
8716 Private E J Durham
8993 Private E Elliott
7753 Private E Ellis
7680 Private A English
7743 Private J Evans
10319 Lance-Corporal Ewyer
10238 Private H Farmaner
5522 Private W J Finn
8904 Private H B Frost
10425 Private A E Fullex
10468 Private W Gatland
10475 Private A G Giles
9357 Lance-Corporal W G Goodyear
7219 Private D Gosnell
9759 Private H E Grant
6660 Private H Halfpenny
10210 Private P Harding
6098 Private A C Hardy
6992 Private H Harris
9382 Private G Harvey
8418 Private W E Hawkins
10079 Private M R Healy
8240 Lance-Corporal D J Hearn
8025 Private H E Holland
10561 Private S G Hooper
8099 Private L Hubbard
10216 Private J S Humphrey
7736 Private C A Irvin
7844 Private S G Joanes
10412 Private J R Johnson
9333 Private A Jones
7610 Private C Jones
10634 Private R W Jones
8133 Private T Jones
9326 Private H E Kawson
10197 Private F King
10508 Private W A Lewis
7502 Private W R Lloyd
9001 Private A Lock
8112 Private W Marke
9516 Private W J McFarlane
7684 Thomas M Moore
7859 Private R Morgan
10623 Private J Munday
10031 Lance-Corporal W R Neale
10918 Private Harry Newton
10729 Private J Oakley
7959 Private M O'Connor
10329 Private W Parry
10081 Private F J Press 
7751 Private H Priggen 
10550 Private F Purdy 
10087 Private T Richfield 
6738 Private C Sabourin 
10102 Private Frederick S Samworth 
10312 Private F Sayers 
8117 Private G Searle 
7867 Private C T Sherlock 
8276 Private H E Shipling 
8182 Private Albert Sills 
7916 Private J W Smith 
8659 Private W J Sorrell 
7706 Private H Stanton 
7712 Private E Sullivan 
9849 Private H D Taylor 
7910 Private W J Telford 
10462 Private H C Thomas 
5585 Private J Tripp 
8783 Private A Trower 
8160 Private Albert Turrington 
8245 Private W Tutin 
8572 Private G Vary 
7698 Private H J Vince 
10621 Private H W Wales 
7930 Private P Walker
8496 Private W J Wallington 
10590 Private E Wallis 
10027 Private W Walter 
10717 Private C W Ward 
10710 Private F Warren 
4130 Private C Westlake 
10341 Private E Wood 
7892 Private H S Wyatt 
7501 Private I Young

10 July 2017

Bedfordshire Regt wounded, November 1914


I've been transcribing - for some while now - non fatal casualties reported in The Times newspaper for 1914. I expect to complete this task this year and will then augment the data with other 1914 data.

The men listed below all served with the Bedfordshire Regiment and were all reported as having been wounded. Their names were notifed to the War Office on the 27th November 1914 and they appeared in a casualty list published in The Times on the 5th January 1915.

I publish this small sample here because it serves as useful spotlight on the British Army at this particular time. I have not anlaysed this list of wounded men in particular depth but I can tell, by looking as far as 6927 APte Arthur Mabbott, that there are a lot of men from the Special Reserve in this list. I have indicated this by noting (3rd Battalion) next to their names, although this detail does not appear in the official casualty lists.

It is important to note the difference between regular soldiers and men of the Special Reserve. Whereas the former were career soldiers, the Special Reserve were men who had enlisted for part-time soldiering only, albeit they would have known that they would be sent out as drafts to the regular battalions if they were needed.  It is also important to remember that the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions adopted a completely different regimental numbering sequence to the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion. So whereas 6313 Joseph Knightley, for instance, must have enlisted as a career soldier in July 1898, 6237 Pte William Levitt and 6381 Pte J Smith had both enlisted in 1910.

Such important distinctions are not generally noted in casualty lists, although the simple addition of a 3/ prefix to the special reservists' numbers would have made it very obvious what these men's origins were and when they had enlisted.

What this list says to me though is that already, by November 1914, the Bedfordshire Regiment had suffered significant losses and had already taken in large numbers of men from the Special Reserve. These men too, were now returning back to England as wounded soldiers.

I research soldiers!

4677 Pte Arthur Worbey 
5366 Sgt G Hodge 
5373 Sgt E Hutchinson 
6037 Pte A Mills 
6108 Pte Alfred Richardson (3rd Battalion)
6137 Pte Arthur Holt (3rd Battalion)
6234 Pte S Webb 
6237 Pte Roger William Levitt (3rd Battalion)
6313 Pte Joseph Knightley 
6381 Pte J Smith (3rd Battalion)
6388 Pte John T Bates 
6494 Pte Arthur Green 
6512 Pte Albert S Fitch 
6707 Pte Harry Darlow (3rd Battalion)
6712 Pte W Waller 
6779 Pte A Abbott 
6827 Pte Charles Harley 
6849 Pte J F Randall (3rd Battalion)
6858 Pte Charles Gregory (3rd Battalion)
6916 Pte Abel Clark (3rd Battalion)
6927 Pte Arthur Mabbott (3rd Battalion)
6991 Pte G Thompson 
7017 Pte B Wood 
7030 Pte J Keep 
7066 Pte F Gooding 
7171 Pte S Evans 
7174 Pte A Butler 
7216 Pte F Coppin 
7289 Pte W Webb 
7398 Pte H Gray 
7412 Pte E Carter 
7451 Pte Arthur H Haile 
7570 Pte J Goodwin 
7612 Sgt P Chandler 
7656 Pte A Turner 
7730 Pte J Fensome 
7936 Bandsman E Clarke 
8306 Sgt P Folkard 
8355 L-Sgt W Gale 
8388 Bandsman E Fynn 
8398 Pte W Millard 
8441 Sgt C Guerin 
8458 Sgt E Endersby 
8469 Pte F Wright 
8509 Pte E Keogh 
8548 Pte F Crew 
8555 Pte E H Reid 
8591 Sgt G Roper 
8692 Pte C Smith 
8742 Pte J Marney 
8812 Cpl A Smith 
8841 Dmr A Pearcey 
8874 Pte F Richardson 
8922 Pte C J Hooper 
8939 Pte I Afford 
8963 Pte W Shaw 
8978 Pte J Hornett 
8981 Pte A Chandler 
8982 Sgt F Bulley
 9024 Cpl J Newby 
9035 Pte J Ellis 
9047 Pte F Braybrook 
9074 Pte T Gardiner 
9097 Pte A Jeeves 
9134 Pte H Cooper 
9135 Pte H Gear 
9220 Pte G Webster
9231 L-Cpl H Halls 
9260 Pte G Harlott
9264 Cpl W R Brown 
9267 Pte Frank Bird 
9278 Pte J Eccles 
9294 Pte S Webb 
9299 Pte A Chennells 
9326 Pte W Robinson 
9337 Pte Edward Boxall 
9349 Pte J King 
9385 Pte A Beard
9397 L-Cpl G Taylor 
9419 Pte C Wright 
9445 Pte E Larman 
9459 Pte G Ellis 
9475 L-Cpl T Sharpe 
9503 Pte O Denton 
9544 L-Cpl E Pepper 
9581 Pte W Papworth 
9594 Pte J Goodhead 
9595 Pte J Sharp 
9598 Cpl F Robinson 
9648 Pte A Skinner 
9655 Pte E Parker 
9690 Pte H Osborne 
9712 Pte D Lydle 
9726 Pte A Gilbey 
9744 Pte G Butler 
9756 Pte A Tomlinson 
9759 Pte S Simons 
9804 Pte G Cope 
9808 Pte P Clark 
9819 Pte Arthur Richardson 
9826 Pte S Rumbles 
9837 Pte S J Folwell 
9867 Pte W Mardling 
9869 Pte A R Maydwell 
9891 Pte A Mee 
9951 Pte H Wright 
9973 Pte R Franklin 
10017 Pte W G Watson 
10030 Pte A Woodcock 
10031 Pte G Brown 
10041 Pte J Reid 
10042 Pte A Fitzjohn 
10048 Pte W White 
10081 Pte H Denton 
10144 Cpl P Sandilands 
10145 Pte T J Harris 
10171 Pte W Austin 
10188 Pte G Stringer 
10374 L-Cpl T Allen

Image courtesy of The History Place

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