Military Police

My data for certain periods between 1881 and 1918 is a little thin for the Military Police and so, for the purposes of this post, I'm going to use September 1914 as my starting point.

Service records for all of the following numbers survive in the WO 363 (Burnt Documents) and WO 364 (Pensions) series at the National Archives in Kew, London. These records can also be viewed on-line via Ancestry.co.uk which is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial.

The Military Mounted Police was formed in 1877 and the Military Foot Police in 1885. Although the two regiments were distinct, to all intents and purposes they functioned as a single organisation and shared the same number series.

Two series of numbers were used from 1908. Series one was used for the Military Foot Police (MFP) and the Military Mounted Police (MMP). Series two was used for the Military Foot Police Special Reserve and the Military Mounted Police Special Reserve. All numbers were prefixed by the letter P/ and it is common to see the ranks of the Military Mounted Police filled with men who had previously seen many years of service with a cavalry regiment.

MFP and MMP (series one)

P/65 joined on 6th September 1914
P/239 joined on 6th October 1914
P/514 joined on 3rd November 1914
P/710 joined on 15th December 1914
P/802 joined on 11th January 1915
P/1425 joined on 31st May 1915
P/1564 joined on 11th June 1915
P/1826 joined on 6th July 1915
P/2054 joined on 6th September 1915
P/2254 joined on 3rd November 1915
P/2635 joined on 13th December 1915
P/2919 joined on 5th January 1916
P/3011 joined on 9th February 1916
P/3041 joined on 24th March 1916
P/3052 joined on 3rd April 1916
P/3133 joined on 26th May 1916
P/3160 joined on 6th June 1916
P/3393 joined on 7th July 1916
P/3549 joined on 1st August 1916
P/3790 joined on 27th September 1916
P/4964 joined on 22nd November 1916
P/5832 joined on 6th January 1917
P/7921 joined on 18th February 1917
P/9147 joined on 9th March 1917
P/9917 joined on 23rd April 1917
P/10548 joined on 8th May 1917
P/11111 joined on 26th June 1917
P/13591 joined on 12th December 1917
P/15426 joined on 8th February 1918
P/15839 joined on 18th July 1918

MFP and MMP Special Reserve (series two)

My data for this series only extends between September and November 1914 and, if the infantry regiments are anything to go by, it seems probable that by the end of 1914, this number series had been abandoned.

P/79 joined on 8th September 1914
P/536 joined on 6th October 1914
P/547 joined on 3rd November 1914

I've borrowed the image on this post from the East Brighton Bygones website. It depicts 4469 Sgt Harry Coverdale of the MMP. His number indicates that he joined the MMP in late 1916 and he had prior service with the 16th Lancers.

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