6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)

This post will look at numbering in the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers). I've put the information on this post together by studying 6th 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). Use the snapshot numbers below (all issued chronologically) and enlistment dates to estimate joining dates for other 6th Dragoon Guardsmen.

1946 joined on 22nd October 1881
1985 joined on 17th January 1882
2025 joined on 14th June 1883
2090 joined on 25th March 1884
2252 joined on 20th April 1885
2456 joined on 22nd April 1886
2662 joined on 10th January 1887
2710 joined on 5th December 1888
2723 joined on 14th October 1889
2757 joined on 27th February 1890
2809 joined on 14th August 1891
2909 joined on 9th June 1892
3145 joined on 23rd May 1893
3248 joined on 2nd January 1894
3380 joined on 10th August 1895
3484 joined on 15th September 1896
3724 joined on 3rd March 1897
3926 joined on 4th June 1898
4016 joined on 19th January 1899
4333 joined on 24th April 1900
4569 joined on 29th January 1901
4789 joined on 28th January 1902
5126 joined on 31st January 1903
5278 joined on 17th December 1904
5834 joined on 27th June 1906

In December 1906, Army Order 289 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 6th 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), 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards, 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, 5th Dragoon Guards and 7th (Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards, 1st (Royal) Dragoons, 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) and 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. See my post on 1st (Royal) Dragoons to see how the numbering sequence worked for the Corps of Dragoons post 1906.

Noting the distinction between the regimental sequence used by the 6th Dragoon Guards up until the end of 1906 and the corps sequence used by the 6th Dragoon Guards and all other regiments of Dragoon Guards and Dragoons from late 1906 is an important distinction to note. Researching a 6th Dragoon Guards man, for instance, whose number is 4073 could point to a March 1899 joining date if the number falls within the regimental sequence, or December 1909 if the man enlisted with the corps of Dragoons. Here, knowing the soldier's age might well help to rule one number series or the other.

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