Army Service Numbers 1881-1918: 28th London Regiment

Showing posts with label 28th London Regiment. Show all posts

19 January 2009

Five digit Territiorial Force numbers

Don't be fooled into thinking that because your ancestor had a five digit number, he couldn't have served with a Territorial Force battalion. He could have.

As we have seen with London Regiment men, the majority of the battalions (the 5th London Regiment being a notable exception) started numbering from 1 in 1908 and continued with the same series up until at least January 1917 when the first six digit numbers start to be issued. At that point in time, those men still serving were issued with new numbers in order of seniority. So the earliest enlistment from 1908 would have been issued with the lowest six digit number and so on.

Taking the 7th Manchester Regiment as an example, number 67 (who was probably a serving Volunteer with the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment) joined the 7th Manchesters on 1st April 1908. In January 1917 he was still on the Regiment's books and was given the new number 275211. (The 7th Manchesters was allocated the block of numbers 275001 to 300000).

So for this battalion - and the majority of Territorial Force (TF) battalions - men with single, double and triple digit numbers (up to 500 or more) are generally 1908 enlistments, with four digit numbers starting to appear - for the most part (although Cyclist Battalions are generally an exception) - in 1910 and 1911. (The 7th Manchesters had reached 884 by March 1909 and 1135 by January 1910). Some battalions did in fact get into five digits before the new six digit renumbering happened in 1917 (see the 28th London Regiment for instance, which was up to 10400 by January 1917), but the majority of TF battalions did not.

But what about those high five digit numbers - 300** etc - which appear as Territorial Force numbers?

Army Council Instruction 1245 of 11th August 1917 explains why:

1245.3
A recruit on being posted to a regular or TF unit, either on being called up under the Military Service Acts or on voluntary enlistment, will be allotted a regular number, with the exception of recruits posted to battalions of the London Regiment or to units of Corps which do not contain any regular unit (ie The Honourable Artillery Company [which was also supposed to be part of the London Regiment] and Royal Defence Corps.

So those high five digit numbers are conscripts or volunteers who have been posted to TF battalions but given numbers from the main series of numbering normally found in the regular/service battalions. Incidentally, and having referenced the 5th Londons earlier, we also see five digit numbers appearing in numbers beginning 105** through to 110**,for the 5th Londons in July 1916. The battalion suffered heavy casualties on the diversionary attack on Gommecourt on 1st July 1916 and these five digit numbers are all drafts from the 2/7th Middlesex Regiment and other London Regiment battalions - 616 in total - to replace those men lost on July 1st. I've given more details on these five digit 5th London Regiment numbers in a separate post. Of these 616 transferees, at least 130 were killed in action or died of wounds whilst serving with the 5th Londons, in a continuation of the Somme battles in September and October 1916.

The other five digit numbers that appear in TF battalions in large groups are those which appear for some Supernumerary Company men attached to TF battalions, but again, that will be the subject of a future post.

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14 January 2009

28th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Artists' Rifles)

The 28th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Artists' Rifles), had its origins in the 20th Middlesex (Artists) Volunteer Rifle Corps. Its headquarters was at 17 Dukes Road, Euston (now the home of the Contemporary Ballet Trust). The following information is taken from Wikipedia:

"The Artists Rifles [the apostrophe on Artists' was officially dropped in 1937] was a popular unit for volunteers. It had been increased to twelve companies in 1900 and was formed into three sub-battalions in 1914, and recruitment was eventually restricted by recommendation from existing members of the battalion. It particularly attracted recruits from public schools and universities. On this basis, following the outbreak of the First World War, a number of enlisted members of the Artists' Rifles were selected to be officers in other units. This exercise was so successful that, early in 1915, selected Artists' officers and NCOs were transferred to run a separate Officers Training Corps, the remainder being retained as a fighting unit. Over fifteen thousand men passed through the battalion during the war, more than ten thousand of them becoming officers. The battalion eventually saw battle in France in 1917 and 1918, and suffered higher casualties than those of any other battalion. Members of the Regiment won eight Victoria Crosses, fifty-six Distinguished Service Orders and over a thousand other awards for gallantry."

Here are some army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the Artists' Rifles:

96 joined on 8th April 1908
665 joined on 23rd March 1909
1099 joined on 15th October 1912
1258 joined on 28th October 1913
1344 joined on 30th June 1914
1528 joined on 6th August 1914
2124 joined on 2nd September 1914
2824 joined on 6th October 1914
2883 joined on 9th November 1914
3049 joined on 14th December 1914
3167 joined on 14th January 1915
3270 joined on 1st February 1915
3443 joined on 5th March 1915
3622 joined on 9th April 1915
3908 joined on 27th May 1915
4126 joined on 25th June 1915
4791 joined on 27th October 1915
5603 joined on 30th November 1915
6076 joined on 11th December 1915
6420 joined on 3rd January 1916
7393 joined on 22nd February 1916
7913 joined on 9th June 1916
8121 joined on 5th July 1916
8181 joined on 5th August 1916
8246 joined on 11th September 1916
8618 joined on 7th October 1916
9144 joined on 2nd November 1916
9779 joined on 12th December 1916
10304 joined on 3rd January 1916

When the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917, the 28th Londons were allocated numbers within the range 760001 to 780000. These new six digit numbers start appearing in January 1917. See also the Artists Rifles website for more information about the battalion.

I've taken the photograph on this post from Frank Long's album on Flickr. It shows soldiers of the Artists' Rifles in 1915 shortly before they embarked for France. Fewer than half of these men would return to England, although Frank's grandfather, Francis Charles Long (fourth from left on the back row), was one of those who did.

I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.

Army Service Numbers 1881-1918

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19 January 2009

Five digit Territiorial Force numbers

14 January 2009

28th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Artists' Rifles)

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