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3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, 1898

This index to British Army regimental numbers comprises two sections: SECTION 1 which deals with individual regiments and battalions, and SECTION 2 which deals with other, largely non-regiment specific articles.

All service record information on these Army Service Numbers posts is taken from WO 363 (The so-called 'Burnt Documents') WO 364 (Pension Records), WO 97 (Chelsea Pensioner records), WO 96 (Militia Records) and, to a lesser degree, the WW1 Medal Index Cards (MICs). The campaign medal rolls and the silver war badge rolls can, with care, also provide valuable information. Findmypast has indexed First World War service and pension records and these are available as a single search. Furthermore, you'll find records in the Findmypast version that you won't find anywhere else.

All of the records above can be viewed free of charge  by taking out a FREE trial with Findmypast. The National Archives at Kew also provides free access, as do many archives and libraries. For more information on what I consider to be vital military links, see the right-hand menu or my Finding your army ancestor post.

To find photos of soldiers you should visit my British Army Ancestors website which I launched in 2017. There you'll be able to search over 11.6m records. Your chances of finding a photo are still remote - but it's got to be worth a shot. Also read my blog post which is called Finding a photo of your British military ancestor.
https://britisharmyancestors.co.uk/

British Army Ancestors 1850-1920

Reference to service battalions below may also include local reserve battalions which fed into the service battalions and which shared the same number sequence as the service battalions. See for example, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th Battalions were service battalions. The 13th and 15th Battalions were reserve battalions for the four service battalions. All six battalions shared the same numbering series.

And finally...
I research soldiers!
SECTION 1 - REGIMENTS & BATTALIONS

 REGIMENTS - HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY

1st Life Guards
2nd Life Guards
Royal Horse Guards (The Blues)
Household Battalion

REGIMENTS – LINE CAVALRY

CORPS OF DRAGOONS

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 (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards
6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)
7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards

1st (Royal) Dragoons 1880-1906
2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys)
6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons

CORPS OF HUSSARS

3rd (King's Own) Hussars
4th (Queen's Own) Hussars
7th (Queen's Own) Hussars
8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars
10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Hussars
11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars
13th Hussars
14th (King's) Hussars
15th (King's) Hussars
18th (Queen Mary's Own) Hussars
19th (Queen Alexandra's Own Royal) Hussars
20th Hussars
21st Hussars

CORPS OF LANCERS

5th (Royal Irish) Lancers
12th (Prince of Wales’s Royal) Lancers
21st (Empress of India's) Lancers

YEOMANRY

Ayrshire Yeomanry
Bedfordshire Yeomanry
Berkshire Yeomanry
Buckinghamshire Yeomanry (Royal Bucks Hussars)
Cheshire Yeomanry
Denbighshire Yeomanry
Derbyshire Yeomanry
Dorset Yeomanry (Queen's Own)
Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry
Royal North Devon Yeomanry
Essex Yeomanry
Fife & Forfar Yeomanry
Glamorgan Yeomanry
Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry
Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
Hampshire Yeomanry (Carabiniers)
Hertfordshire Yeomanry
Royal East Kent Yeomanry
Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry
Lanarkshire Yeomanry
Lancashire Hussars
Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry
Leicestershire Yeomanry
Lincolnshire Yeomanry
City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders)
1st County of London Yeomanry
2nd County of London Yeomanry
3rd County of London Yeomanry
Lothians and Border Horse
1st & 2nd Lovat's Scouts
Montgomeryshire Yeomanry
Norfolk Yeomanry
Northamptonshire Yeomanry
Northumberland Hussars
Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (Sherwood Rangers)
Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (South Nottinghamshire Hussars)
Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars
Pembroke (Castlemartin) Yeomanry
1st Scottish Horse
2nd Scottish Horse
3rd Scottish Horse
Shropshire Yeomanry
North Somerset Yeomanry
West Somerset Yeomanry
Staffordshire Yeomanry
Suffolk Yeomanry (Duke of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars)
Surrey Yeomanry
Sussex Yeomanry
Warwickshire Yeomanry
Welsh Horse
Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry
Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales's Own)
Worcestershire Yeomanry
Yorkshire Dragoons (Queen's Own)
Yorkshire Hussars (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own)
East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry


REGIMENTS - FOOT GUARDS

Search 75,000 Scots Guards service records

Grenadier Guards
Coldstream Guards
Scots Guards
Irish Guards
Welsh Guards


 REGIMENTS – INFANTRY

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)
7th Battalion (TF)
8th Battalion (TF)
9th Battalion (TF)
10th – 15th (Service) Battalions

Bedfordshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
5th Battalion (TF) 

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (City of Dundee) Battalion (TF)
5th (Angus & Dundee) Battalion (TF)
6th (Perthshire) Battalion (TF)
7th (Fife) Battalion (TF)

Border Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF) 

The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

Cambridgeshire Regiment
1st Battalion

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion (TF)

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)
Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)
7th Battalion (TF)
Durham Light Infantry
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)
7th Battalion (TF)
8th Battalion (TF)
9th Battalion (TF)


East Lancashire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)
East Surrey Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd and 4th Battalions
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)
East Surrey Regiment curiosities: 364*
Buy military books

East Yorkshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
3rd (Special Reserve) Bn
4th (Extra Reserve) Bn

Honourable Artillery Company
Honourable Artillery Company - HAC

Inns of Court Regiment
Inns of Court Regiment

King's (Liverpool Regiment)
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
5th Battalion (TF)
6th (Rifle) Battalion (TF)
7th Battalion (TF)
8th (Irish) Battalion (TF)
9th Battalion (TF)
10th (Scottish) Battalion (TF)
17th, 18th, 19th & 20th (Pals) Battalions

King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

Other Rank PoWs 1914

King's Own Scottish Borderers
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion 
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

King’s Royal Rifle Corps
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions

King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
1st and 2nd Battalions

5th Battalion
6th Battalion (TF)
7th Battalion (TF)
8th Battalion (TF)

Leicestershire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
5th Battalion (TF)

Leinster Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions

Lincolnshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)
6th – 9th (Service) Battalions
10th Battalion (Grimsby Chums)

London Regiment - City of London battalions (TF)

1st (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers)
2nd (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers)
3rd (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers)
4th (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers)
5th (City of London) Battalion (Rifle Brigade)
6th (City of London) Battalion (Rifles)
7th (City of London) Battalion
8th (City of London) Battalion (Post Office Rifles)

London Regiment - County of London battalions (TF)
Search 72,000 Honourable Artillery Company records

9th (County of London) Battalion (Queen Victoria's Rifles)
10th County of London) Battalion (Hackney) [Originally Paddington Rifles]
11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles)
12th (County of London) Battalion (The Rangers)
13th (County of London) Battalion (Kensington)
14th (County of London) Battalion (London Scottish)
15th (County of London) Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own Civil Service Rifles)
16th (County of London) Battalion (Queen's Westminster Rifles)
17th (County of London) Battalion (Poplar & Stepney Rifles)
18th (County of London) Battalion (London Irish Rifles)
19th (County of London) Battalion (St Pancras)
20th (County of London) Battalion (Blackheath & Woolwich)
21st (County of London) Battalion (First Surrey Rifles)
22nd (County of London) Battalion (The Queen's)
23rd (County of London) Battalion
24th (County of London) Battalion (The Queen's)
25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion
[26th - TITLE NEVER USED - See Honourable Artillery Company - HAC]
[27th - TITLE NEVER USED - See Inns of Court]
28th (County of London) Battalion (Artists Rifles)

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions

Manchester Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
Volunteer Service Companies (Boer War)
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)
7th Battalion (TF)
8th Battalion (TF)
9th Battalion (TF)
10th Battalion (TF)
11th – 14th Battalions
16th, 17th and 18th Manchesters (1st, 2nd and 3rd City Battalions)
19th, 20th and 21st Manchesters (4th, 5th and 6th City Battalions)
22nd, 23rd and 24th Manchesters (7th and 8th City Battalions and the Oldham Pioneers)
25th, 26th and 27th (Reserve) Battalions

Middlesex Regiment
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions
5th (Special Reserve) Battalion
6th (Extra Reserve) Battalion

6th Battalion (TF)

Northumberland Fusiliers
1st and 2nd (Regular) Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
7th Battalion (TF)

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion
Buckinghamshire Battalion (TF)

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion (TF)

Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

Rifle Brigade
1st - 4th Battalions

Royal Berkshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion (TF)

Royal Dublin Fusiliers
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
3rd Special Reserve) Battalion

Royal Irish Fusiliers
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion

Royal Irish Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion

Royal Irish Rifles
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
5th (Extra Reserve) Battalion

Royal Munster Fusiliers
1st and 2nd Battalions

8th Battalion (TF)

Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry)
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

South Staffordshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)

 South Wales Borderers
1st & 2nd Battalions 
Brecknockshire Battalion (TF)

Suffolk Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd Battalion
4th Battalion
5th Battalion

Welsh Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)
6th Battalion (TF)
7th (Cyclist) Battalion (TF)

West Yorkshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
7th Battalion (TF)
8th Battalion (TF)

York and Lancaster Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion
4th Battalion (TF)
5th Battalion (TF)

Yorkshire Regiment
1st and 2nd Battalions
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion

REGIMENTS - ROYAL ARTILLERY


Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery

3rd Highland Howitzer Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
4th Highland (Mountain) Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery


REGIMENTS - OTHER

Military Foot Police / Military Mounted Police

Royal Army Medical Corps

1st Scottish General Hospital
2nd Scottish General Hospital
3rd & 4th Scottish General Hospitals

South eastern Mounted Brigade

 Tank Corps

 Tank Corps 1916-1919


SECTION 2 - OTHER ARTICLES

Case studies

Alf Webb - a Bedfordshire regular
Donald Banks, a Lincolnshire Terrier
Every number tells a story - The 1/5th Essex
Harry Bardsley - a Manchester Pal's war
William Buchanan - an exception to the rule

Recruitment and numbering patterns

1908 - What a difference a year makes - changes in army numbering
Border Regiment recruitment in 1906 - analysis of enlistment locations
British Army recruitment in the 19th century
Cavalry numbering in 1906 - the change from numbering by regiment to numbering by corps
Cavalry numbering conundrums - service numbers re-used
City of London Regiments - recruiting patterns 1908 - 1914
Corps of Dragoons recruitment 1881 - 1906 - recruitment patterns
Five-digit Territorial Force numbers
Maverick battalions - the continuation of militia numbering series in 1908


Research aids

Army Service Number sources
Army Service Number prefixes
Ascertaining a man's battalion from his number - can it be done?
Dating photographs by regimental numbers
Enlistment dates on medal index cards
Regimental numbering series
Understanding army service numbers - case study
Volunteer Service Companies - formation and composition (1900-1901)

Rules and regulations

Militiaman's Small Book (1892)
National Reserve Regulations 1911
National Reserve Regulations 1913
Queen's and King's Regulations - regimental numbering
Special Reserve Army Order - 23rd Dec 1907
Special Reserve appendices - Army Order 1907
Special Reserve - creation in 1908
Supernumerary Companies - Army Order 187, May 1915


Miscellaneous

Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 - Introduction
Boar's Head, The - in Remembrance 2009
Delhi Durbar 1903 - infantry regiments and old soldiers attending
London Regiment - six digit number anomalies
Ten Tommies, The - WW1 Variety troupe - also HERE
With the 1/5th Essex in the East - Appendices
18th Hussars