This
post will look at regimental numbering in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
of the Royal Munster Fusiliers between 1908 and 1914. The Special Reserve and
the Extra Reserve were the natural heirs to the militia battalions which, for
the most part, they replaced in 1908. My 2009 article on the Creation of the Special Reserve in
1908 may be helpful here.
The Royal Munster Fusiliers had three militia
battalions (the 3rd, 4th and 5th battalions) and these survived in all but name
when the Special Reserve was introduced in 1908. Men who were then serving with
the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, were asked if they wanted to continue to serve
with the newly formed 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, and men who were then
serving with the 4th and 5th (Militia) Battalions, were asked if they wanted to
continue to serve with the newly formed 4th & 5th (Extra Reserve) Battalions.
Men joining the militia and special/extra reserve
were not career soldiers. The Army Book for the British Empire, published in
1893 provided a useful overview of the militia when it noted:
"Its object is to maintain in the United Kingdom a trained body of
men available "in case of imminent national danger or great
emergency" to supplement the regular army in the defence of the country.
"It offers military service to the class of men willing to give it
for a month in the year for training of for the term of their engagement on
emergency, but whose avocations do not lead them to become either regular
soldiers or volunteers."
Most 1914 Star rolls show plenty of evidence of
Special Reserve and Extra Reserve men who served alongside career soldiers.
Sometimes their numbers are prefixed by the number of their battalion -
typically a 3/ or 4/ in most line infantry regiments - but just as often there
will be no prefix.
In 1908 the regular battalions were numbering in
the 8000 range whereas the 3rd Battalion, picking up the old militia numbering sequence,
was numbering in the 3000s. When these 3rd Battalion men were called up as
drafts for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions from August 1914, they retained
their original 3rd Battalion regimental numbers.
Here are some sample regimental numbers and joining
dates for the 3rd Royal Munster Fusiliers. Use this information to
estimate when a man would have joined this battalion.
3766 had originally
joined the militia in January 1908 and retained this number from April 1908.
3867 joined on the
6th January 1909
4159 joined on the
13th April 1910
4256 joined on the
8th April 1911
4352 joined on the
7th February 1912
4462 joined on the
8th February 1913
4564 joined on the
8th August 1914
Do also read of some of the articles towards the bottom of the Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 index.
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