The photo, source unknown, shows men of the 9th Royal Scots at their annual camp, on this occasion at Aberdour, in 1909.
Having recently posted three separate posts on regimental numbering in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion and 5th (Extra Reserve Battalion) of the Royal Munster Fusiliers (RMF), I thought it would be helpful to illustrate the problems we face when trying to work out when our RMF ancestor joined the regiment - and which battalion he joined.
Between 1908 and 1914, men joining the 1st and 2nd Battalions would have been issued with numbers in the approximate range 8700 to 10320. For men joining the 3rd Battalion, the number range was approximately 3000 to 4500, for the 4th Battalion it was 4000 to 7300 and for the 5th Battalion it was 5300 to 6100. I stress that these number ranges are approximate.
So if you know your RMF ancestor earned the 1914 Star and had the regimental number 4300, he could have originally joined the 3rd or 4th Battalion. For that matter, it's also possible that he was an older soldier who had originally joined the 5th (Militia) Battalion pre-1908. If he was in fact a career soldier, he would have had to have joined the RMF in 1893.
Take a look at the 1914 Star medal roll extract on this post. The 3rd Battalion only reached the 5100s by December 1914. For the 4th Battalion, they reached the 7600s, and the 5th Battalion was in the 6600s. This means that a man with a number higher than 7700 must have been a career soldier and must have originally served with the 1st or 2nd Battalion.
Ten of the 12 men on this extract must therefore have been career soldiers. So that leaves 6093 Walton and 7202 Crowe. Walton could have enlisted with the 4th or 5th Battalions, but not the 3rd. Crowe could have enlisted with the 4th, but not the 3rd or 5th Battalions. For that matter, both men could have been early regular enlistments - see my post on numbering in the 1st & 2nd Battalions - with Walton potentially joining the regiment in 1898, and Crowe joining in 1902.
In such cases, you'd be hoping for a service record or a record in MH 106 (hospital admissions) to provide additional information about these men's length of service. My own hunch, without having researched these two men further is that they probably were long-serving career soldiers, given that they arrived overseas on the 13th August 1914 along with the majority of the other men on this roll.
This post will look at regimental numbering in the 5th (Extra 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 5th Battalion, picking up the old militia numbering sequence,
was numbering in the 5000s. When these 4th Battalion men were called up as
drafts for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions from August 1914, they retained
their original 5th Battalion regimental numbers.
Here are some sample regimental numbers and joining
dates for the 5th Royal Munster Fusiliers. Use this information to
estimate when a man would have joined this battalion.
5319 joined on the 28th
December 1908
5357 joined on the 28th
February 1909
5529 joined on the 16th
May 1910
5629 joined on the 17th
February 1911
5845 joined on the 7th
November 1912
5994 joined on the 12th
December 1913
6031 joined on the
14th April 1914
6119 joined on the 18th
August 1914
6216 joined on the 15th September 1914
Do also read of some of the articles towards the bottom of the Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 index.
This post will look at regimental numbering in the 4th (Extra 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 4th Battalion, picking up the old militia numbering sequence,
was numbering in the 4000s. When these 4th Battalion men were called up as
drafts for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions from August 1914, they retained
their original 4th Battalion regimental numbers.
Here are some sample regimental numbers and joining
dates for the 4th Royal Munster Fusiliers. Use this information to
estimate when a man would have joined this battalion.
2876 (a former
militia man) joined on the 2nd August 1908
6160 joined on the 27th
June 1910
6297 joined on the 25th
November 1911
6607 joined on the 16th
March 1912
6917 joined on the 26th
May 1913
7268 joined on the
17th July 1914
7325 joined on the
8th August 1914
7481 Joined on the
10th September 1914
7587 joined on the
15th October 1914
Do also read of some of the articles towards the bottom of the Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 index.
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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Findmypast’s recent release of the 1921 Census of England & Wales provides
an ideal opportunity for a quick sanity check on where the British Army was
located in June 1921. With the singular exception of Scotland, the census returns
for which are expected to be released later this year, if your British Army
Ancestor was in uniform in June 1921, you should find him in the 1921 Census of England & Wales.
As with the 1911 Census, the 1921 Census of England & Wales also
enumerated men who were stationed overseas, and Findmypast provides some great
detail about where you’ll find these men.
There are 35 separate volumes (‘pieces’ is the archival term)
for the British Army overseas, 11 pieces for the Royal Navy and a single piece
for the RAF. It is possible to search by piece number on the main 1921 Census
search page and doing so will quickly enable you to filter out irrelevant
results. Here are the piece numbers and locationd for the British Army overseas in June 1921:
28107: Mesopotamia
28108: Mesopotamia
28109: Hong
Kong, China, Aden, South Africa, Singapore, Bermuda, troop ships at sea
28110: Constantinople
28111: Egypt,
Sudan & Cyprus
28112: Egypt & Sudan
28113: Egypt
& Sudan
28114: France
& Flanders, Jamaica, Southampton Water
28115: Trinidad,
Gibraltar, Mauritius, troop ship at sea, Poland, Sierra Leone
28116: India
28117: India
28118: India
28119: India
28120: India
28121: India
28122: India
28123: India
28124: India
28125: Ireland
28126: Ireland
28127: Ireland
28128: Ireland
28129: Ireland
28130: Ireland
28131: Ireland
28132: Ireland
28133: Ireland
28134: Malta
28135: Mesopotamia
& Persian Gulf
28136: Mesopotamia
28137: Palestine
28138: Germany
28139: The
British Upper Silesian Force
28140: Guernsey
& Alderney
28141: Jersey
Be aware that regiment names may not always be spelled out on
the actual pages which list soldier names. Instead, expect to find the words ‘Army’
or ‘Infantry’, ‘Cavalry’ etc. However, if you find the first page of the
return, you will usually find that the officer making that return also includes
the regiment name.
Remember too, that many men who had served during the First World War may still have been in uniform in 1921. Some would have been career soldiers who had joined the army before 1914 or during the war; others may have re-enlisted for limited periods of engagement after the war. It's worth checking the 1921 Census to see if your ancestor was still in uniform and, if he was, his service record will almost certainly still survive with the Ministry of Defence and can be ordered by clicking the link. Be aware though, that at the time of writing it is taking the MoD up to 12 months to fulfil requests.