3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards

This post will look at numbering in the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards. The information on this post has been compiled from a study of 3rd Dragoon Guards and, from 1907, corps of Dragoons’ service records in WO 97 (on-line with Findmypast) and WO 363 and WO 364 (on-line with Ancestry).

2036 joined on 3rd January 1881
2064 joined on 31st August 1882
2203 joined on 4th April 1883
2313 joined on 8th March 1884
2455 joined on 5th February 1885
2736 joined on 10th July 1886
3094 joined on 11th November 1887
3154 joined on 14th January 1888
3204 joined on 18th January 1889
3284 joined on 13th March 1890
3398 joined on 2nd January 1891
3533 joined on 26th January 1892
3608 joined on 21st May 1894
3624 joined on 23rd April 1895
3658 joined on 21st January 1896
3778 joined on 12th January 1897
3985 joined on 25th January 1898
4185 joined on 6th February 1899
4355 joined on 4th January 1900
4855 joined on 5th February 1901
5108 joined on 4th January 1902
5430 joined on 13th March 1903
5460 joined on 31st January 1904
5538 joined on 16th January 1905
5617 joined on 3rd January 1906

Army Order 289 of December 1906 completely changed the numbering for cavalry of the line. Prior to this, all cavalry regiments had numbered individually by regiments. Now, line cavalry and household cavalry were separated; each of the three line cavalry corps – dragoons, hussars, and lancers – beginning a new number series which started at 1 and was to extend to 49,999.

What this meant for the 3rd Dragoon Guards was that from late December 1906 they began a new number sequence which they shared with the 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards, 2nd Dragoon Guards (The Queen’s Bays), 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) Dragoon Guards, 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers), 7th (Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards, 1st (Royal) Dragoons, 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) and 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. See my post on the 2nd Dragoon Guards  to see the numbering sequence for the Corps of Dragoons post 1906.

Noting the distinction between the regimental sequence used by the 3rd Dragoon Guards up until the end of 1906 and the corps sequence used by the 3rd Dragoon Guards and all other regiments of Dragoon Guards and Dragoons from late 1906 is an important distinction to note. Researching a 3rd Dragoon Guards man, for instance, whose number is 5482 could point to a 1st September 1904 joining date if the number falls within the regimental sequence, or January 1911 if the man enlisted with the corps of Dragoons.

I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.