British regimental number research. First World War research. Military research. British Army regiments. Regimental numbering sequences between 1881 and 1918. Regimental number series. Other rank prisoners of war 1914.
Numbers in the low 7000s were issued to men transferring to the 1st London Regiment from other London Regiment battalions – and mostly the 2/2nd Londons. 7049 James William Bowles is a typical example of these transfers.
James originally attested on the 2nd February 1916. He was a waiter by trade, 36 years old and living at 24 Marden Road, Bermondsey. He was called up to the 2nd City of London Regiment on the 18th August 1916 and given the number 6998. His service record states his locations as follows:
Home: 29.2.16 to 29.2.16 [his original attestation date] Home: 18.8.16 to 22.11.16 [his mobilization date followed by the ensuing weeks and days in England] Expeditionary Force France: 23.11.16 to 23.4.17 Home: 24.4.17 to 4.10.17 [returned home due to a severe gunshot wound sustained to his left arm on the 9th April 1917]
James’s statement of services records that he was posted to the Base Depot of the 1/1 London Regiment on the 24th November 1916 and transferred to the 1/1st London Regiment on the same day. This implies therefore, that he had arrived in France with the 2nd London Regiment and been transferred the following day to the 1st London Regiment. That being the case, I would have thought that it should have been his 2nd London Regiment number - 6998 - which should appeared on his medal index card as this is the unit with which he apparently arrived overseas. The medal index card however, makes no reference at all to the 2nd City of London Battalion. A clerical error, or am I missing something obvious?
James Bowles's service record is accessible on-line via the Ancestry website. The medal index card reproduced here is Crown Copyright.
I've been looking a little more closely at the Special and Extra Reserve Battalions, and thought that I'd post something about the Cheshire Regiment's 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion.
To understand numbering in this battalion, we need to go back beyond 1908 and look at numbering in the regiment's 3rd and 4th Militia Battalions. Both of these battalions had each started an independent number series which began at 1 in July 1881 and continued sequentially from then. By 1907 however, recruitment into the 3rd Battalion had well and truly outpaced recruitment into the 4th.
The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907 reduced the British Army's 124 Infantry Militia battalions to 101, with the surviving Militia battalions converted into Special and Extra Reserve battalions. The 4th Cheshire Regiment was one of the 23 infantry Militia battalions which was disbanded. As for the men who had served in those battalions, they were offered the chance to transfer into the new Special Reserve and Extra Reserve battalions, that 'transfer' taking the form of a new attestation.
Unlike the majority of newly created Territorial Force battalions which did - despite an apparent lack of instruction from County Associations or elsewhere - start new number series from 1 in 1908, the vast majority of Special and Extra Reserve battalions simply carried on with the number series that had been in use by their Militia predecessors. The Cheshire Regiment was no exception.
Those men who had served in the 3rd Militia Battalion retained their numbers. Those men who had served in the 4th Militia Battalion were, to all intents and purposes, regarded as new recruits and were re-numbered from the point at which numbering in the 3rd Battalion had ceased in January 1908. We also see of course, men with no prior military service joining the newly formed Special Reserve battalion.
In terms of attestation dates, men joining from the 3rd Militia Battalion all have the same date recorded on their papers - 21st June 1908 - whilst other recruits had their actual attestation dates recorded. I've compiled the following list of men joining the Cheshire Regiment's 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in 1908 by digging through surviving pension (WO 364) and service (WO 363) records. These are accessible on microfilm at the National Archives in London and also on-line via Ancestry.co.uk (which is STILL offering a FREE 14-day trial).
Dates in square brackets are the dates on which the men originally joined the miltia battalions.
6248 John Andrews ex 3rd Militia Bn, [circa 1901] attested 21/06/08 7117 Henry Bennett, 3rd Militia Bn [04/02/1904], attested 21/06/08 7320 James Barnes, 3rd Militia Bn [05/03/1905], attested 21/06/08 7599 Joseph Breeze, 3rd Militia Bn, [25/09/1906]attested 21/06/08 7838 Alfred Beswick, 3rd Militia Bn [02/01/1908], attested 21/06/08 7853 Fred Oldham, 3rd Militia Bn [13/01/1908], attested 21/06/08 7860 John Booth, No prior service, attested 22/01/1908 7867 Frank Jones, No prior service, attested 29/01/1908 7876 James Dixon, 4th Militia Bn, attested 03/02/1908 7879 Edmond Burns, 4th Militia Bn, attested 03/02/1908 7900 Reuben Wilkinson, 4th Militia Bn, attested 04/02/1908 8039 John Kelly, 4th Militia Bn [1897], attested 03/02/1908 8072 Samuel Anderson, 4th Militia Bn, attested 01/05/1908 8180 Frank Atherton, 4th Militia Bn, attested 03/02/1908 8300 George Ainscough, No prior service, 28/07/1908 8325 John Robbins, No prior service, 07/10/1908
This numbering procedure was certainly adopted by other regiments - see my recent post on the 3rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers for instance - although I have yet to uncover any official instruction (it it exists) informing regiments that this was what they should do.
