The Gloucestershire Regiment - 6th Battalion

Like the 4th Gloucesters, the 6th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment was a Bristol-based battalion. It had its origins in the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment.

In early 1914, HQ and A to H Companies were all located at St Michael's Hill, Bristol (Ray Westlake: The Territorial Force 1914) and the battalion recruited men from the Bristol area.

Here are some sample army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the 6th Gloucesters.

118 (an old 2nd VB man) joined on 2nd April 1908
897 joined on 9th February 1909
1351 joined on 23rd March 1910
1538 joined on 16th January 1911
1742 joined on 22nd January 1912
1994 joined on 27th January 1913
2123 joined on 8th March 1914
2218 joined on 4th August 1914
2993 joined on 5th September 1914
3380 joined on 29th October 1914
3404 joined on 9th November 1914
3518 joined on 7th December 1914
3603 joined on 6th January 1914
3708 joined on 2nd March 1915
3755 joined on 13th April 1915
3952 joined on 1st May 1915
4400 joined on 14th June 1915
4476 joined on 1st July 1915
4620 joined on 6th August 1915
4679 joined on 30th September 1915
4716 joined on 7th October 1915
4818 joined on 2nd November 1915
4972 joined on 18th December 1915
5013 joined on 1st February 1916
5063 joined on 9th March 1916
5569 joined on 5th May 1916

I'm going to stop at May 1916, partly because my data thins out from here on in and partly because from this point in time, numbering in the battalion becomes far less reliable from a sequential point of view. Number 5824 joined the battalion on 1st August 1916 but the previous month, number 6139 was issued to a man who transferred from the 6th Devons (and he was later re-numbered 267355).

March 1916 saw a huge influx of men into the battalion, at least 400 by my reckoning; the vast majority of these men going into the third line (or 3/6th) battalion which had been formed in 1915. The 2/6th Battalion had been formed in September 1914.

When the Territorial Force re-numbered in 1917, the 6th Gloucesters was allocated numbers in the range 265001 to 290000. Here are some sample army service numbers and joining dates for this series of numbers.

265006 originally joined on 1st April 1908
265032 originally joined on 14th June 1909
265060 originally joined on 17th January 1911
265212 originally joined on 24th June 1913
265252 originally joined on 30th April 1914
265238 originally joined on 4th August 1914
265614 originally joined on 1st September 1914
265945 originally joined on 26th October 1914
265952 originally joined on 3rd November 1914
266106 originally joined on 24th April 1915
266466 originally joined on 14th June 1915
266609 originally joined on 19th October 1915
266653 originally joined on 2nd November 1915
266800 originally joined on 9th March 1915

Also see my other posts on the Gloucestershire Regiment:
1st and 2nd (Regular) Battalions, The Gloucestershire Regiment
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
4th (Territorial Force) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
5th (Territorial Force) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
The Service Battalions, The Gloucestershire Regiment

View Gloucestershire Regiment service records, pension records and medal index cards on-line.

The Gloucestershire Regiment in the War 1914-1918


Search British Army WW1 Records HERE!


The Naval and Military Press has re-published this work and has this to say about it:

"As the subtitle states these are the records of the 1st (28th Foot), 2nd (61st Foot), 3rd (Special Reserve) and 4th, 5th and 6th (First-Line T.A.) Battalions...

"The three Territorial battalions were in the South Midland Division, later the 48th which crossed to France at the end of March 1915 and fought on theWestern front till November 1917, when it was sent to Italy where it remained till the armistice. The final chapter gives the account of operations in that theatre.

"The author, a well known military historian, was probably the most prolific among the writers of regimental and divisional histories, some thirteen in all, and this account reflects the skill of the writer in producing a very readable narrative, which draws on the Battalion Diary, on individual accounts of actions, some quite lengthy, and makes use of footnotes to give casualty details in addition to those contained in the text, various comments, and items of information from other sources to confirm or add to the main text. The maps are good. There is no Roll of Honour nor list of honours and awards."

Search British Army WW1 Records HERE!

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