This post will look at army service numbers issued to men joining the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment between 1881 and August 1914. The regiment was created on 1st July 1881 from the 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot.
There are over 33,000 Norfolk Regiment service and pension records (for this regiment - and its antecedents) in various War Office series held at the National Archives. Clicking on the link will take you to the results on Findmypast but you will need a subscription or Pay-Per-View credits to actually view the records. Some of these records can also be viewed on-line on Ancestry although Findmypast has by far the most comprehensive service record collection.
Here's how the regimental numbers were issued. Use this list to determine when your own Ancestor joined the regiment (but note that this is the number series for regular battalions only).
49 joined on 14th October 1881
117 joined on 14th January 1882
328 joined on 13th January 1883
753 joined on 29th January 1884
1139 joined on 31st January 1885
1624 joined on 11th January 1886
1917 joined on 7th January 1887
2175 joined on 7th June 1888
2373 joined on 5th January 1889
2593 joined on 6th June 1890
2818 joined on 7th March 1891
3168 joined on 13th March 1892
3580 joined on 9th February 1893
3932 joined on 2nd May 1894
4342 joined on 23rd July 1895
4501 joined on 27th January 1896
4730 joined on 31st March 1897
4863 joined on 5th January 1898
5122 joined on 19th January 1899
5554 joined on 2nd March 1900
5820 joined on 24th June 1901
6013 joined on 7th January 1902
6503 joined on 19th February 1903
6838 joined on 4th February 1904
7058 joined on 30th September 1905
7257 joined on 20th June 1906
7470 joined on 11th June 1907
7603 joined on 11th May 1908
7874 joined on 11th February 1909
8100 joined on 18th January 1910
8364 joined on 9th February 1911
8606 joined on 9th January 1912
8861 joined on 10th March 1913
9107 joined on 1st August 1914
Three days later, Britain went to war with Germany.
I've borrowed the undated photograph of men from the Norfolk Regiment's 2nd Battalion from The Diehards website.
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
Further Reading
The Holy Boys
A history of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and the Royal Anglian Regiment 1685-2010.
The History of the Norfolk Regiment 1685-1914
Covers the period up until the outbreak of war.
The History of the Norfolk Regiment
History covering the period 4th August 1914 to 31st December 1918
2 comments:
I have the 1WW Victory Medal with ribbon attached for Private William Arthur Norfolk of the Norfolk Regiment who was my grandfather. Family anecdote says he had a "bad war" but no detail has been passed down to me. Sadly he died in 1941 a few years before I was born. His Army number was 265436 .
I could research him for you if you were interested, John, but please note that there is a nominal fee for doing this - see the RESEARCH tab at the top of this page.
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