28 June 2015

The Household Battalion


The Household Battalion was an infantry battalion formed from reserve units of the Household Cavalry: 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards. It was formed on 1st September 1916 and filled rapidly. Numbers 1 to 1234, for instance, all date to 1st September, and a reserve battalion was already recruiting by October 1916. I pick the story up below in October 1916, the small sample on this blog post running until September 1917:

1469 joined on 18th October 1916
1574 joined on 4th November 1916
1885 joined on 10th November 1916
2088 joined on 2nd December 1916
2484 joined on 4th January 1917
2671 joined on 17th February 1917
2689 joined on 28th March 1917
2704 joined on 5th April 1917
3163 joined on 20th May 1917
3285 joined on 12th July 1917
3485 joined on 6th August 1917
3604 joined on 3rd September 1917


The photos on this post show (top) men of the Household Battalion prior to departure for France in 1916 and (above) officers of the Household Battalion at Richmond Camp in 1916. Both photos were originally published by The Daily Mail.

For help with your own regimental numbering or military research conundrums, check out my military research service.

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