Connaught Rangers - 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion

This post will look at regimental numbering in the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion of the Connaught Rangers 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.

Both Connaught Rangers militia battalions survived in all but name when the Special Reserve was introduced in 1908. Men who were then serving with the 4th (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 5th (Militia) Battalion, were asked if they wanted to contunue to serve with the newly formed 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion. 

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.

Confusingly, for those with an interest in Connaught Rangers regimental numbers, the series used by the 4th Battalion pretty much kept pace with the series used by the 3rd Battalion, but both were distinct series and that is important to remember. Also important to note is that when these men were called up as drafts for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions from August 1914, they retained their original 3rd and 4th Battalion regimental numbers.

Extra Reserve numbering appears to begin in August 1908 with numbers below circa 3800 all being men who formerly served with the 5th (Militia) Battalion and simply re-used their old militia regimental numbers. 

Here are some sample regimental numbers and joining dates for the 4th Connaught Rangers:

3325 joined on 2nd August 1908 (but this number had originally been issued to this man when he joined the 5th (Militia) Bn in April 1905

4082 joined on 6th January 1909

4218 joined on 1st January 1910

4423 joined on 18th February 1911

4606 joined on 2nd April 1912

4663 joined on 8th January 1913

4769 joined on 23rd January 1914

4857 joined on 3rd September 1914

5078 joined on 28th December 1914

Do also read of some of the articles towards the bottom of the Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 index. 

Remember. I research soldiers!

Drop me a line 

To search for Connaught Rangers photos, check my British Army Ancestors website.  

Connaught Rangers - 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion

This post will look at regimental numbering in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Connaught Rangers 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.

Both Connaught Rangers militia battalions survived in all but name when the Special Reserve was introduced in 1908. Men who were then serving with the 4th (Militia) Battalion, were asked if they wanted to contunue to serve with the newly formed 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, and men who were then serving with the 5th (Militia) Battalion, were asked if they wanted to contunue to serve with the newly formed 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion. 

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.

Confusingly, for those with an interest in Connaught Rangers regimental numbers, the series used by the 3rd Battalion pretty much kept pace with the series used by the 4th Battalion, but both were distinct series and that is important to remember. Also important to note is that when these men were called up as drafts for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions from August 1914, they retained their original 3rd and 4th Battalion regimental numbers.

Speical Reserve numbering appears to begin in August 1908 with numbers below circa 3000 all being men who formerly served with the 4th (Militia) Battalion and simply re-used their old militia regimental numbers. 

Here are some sample regimental numbers and joining dates for the 3rd Connaught Rangers:

2523 joined on 2nd August 1908 (but this number had originally been issued to this man when he joined the 4th (Militia) Bn pre-1899

3559 joined on 3rd November 1908

3669 joined on 11th September 1909

3699 joined on 1st February 1910

3869 joined on 1st February 1911

4093 joined on 29th August 1912

4155 joined on 21st January 1913

4261 joined on 12th January 1914

4311 joined on 10th September 1914

4483 joined on 7th October 1914

4740 joined on 2nd November 1914

5118 joined on 1st December 1914

Do also read of some of the articles towards the bottom of the Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 index. 

Remember. I research soldiers!

Drop me a line 

To search for Connaught Rangers photos, check my British Army Ancestors website.  

Irish regiments - enlistment registers 1920-1922

The National Army Museum has published the enlistment records of nearly 12,000 men who joined Irish regiments between 1920 and 1922. This from the NAM website:

"The Connaught Rangers, the Leinster Regiment, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Munster Fusiliers were units of the British Army, which were disbanded following the establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922. The enlistment books contain records of soldiers serving in these regiments in the period 1920-22."

To search the Irish Soldiers' Records, follow the link. Helpfully, the search box allows you to search on any indexed field, which means you can search on the man's home address, for instance, as well as his name or regimental number. Many of the men have prior service recorded but unfortunately this information has not been indexed. Now there's a potential project for someone...

Leinster Regiment Image taken from the NAM website.

Connaught Rangers - other rank PoWs 1914

This is an edited roll of Other Ranks serving with the 2nd Battalion, Connaught Rangers who were captured by the enemy and became Prisoners of War on or before the 25th December 1914. Read more about this data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

This data has been transcribed from ten separately catalogued lists held at the Imperial War Museum, namely B.O.2 1/67 to B.O.2 1/76 which are ten separately typed lists of Connaught Rangers men dating to the 31st January 1919.  My full transcription (not reproduced here) also contains the following information against some or all of the names:

Home address
Next of kin
Next of kin's address
Notes
Transcriber's notes

There are over 300 names on this list, representing a wealth of military service, and a lost asset that would be sorely felt by the regiment and the British Army generally. The full transcription is available for sale as a download or CD for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

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

You can work out when the other men would have joined by referring to my post on Connaught Rangers regimental numbers. Here then, are the men, all 305 of them. Any errors in transcription are my own:

6759 Private W Anderson 
10022 Private J Barnacle 
7586 Private T Barrett 
7151 Private J Barry 
7668 Private P Barry 
10763 Private J Bateman 
10643 Private J Belford 
10678 Private J Birrell 
7955 Private J Blackwell 
9183 Private D Boland 
6804 Private J Bollard 
9045 Private G H Bonnick 
3828 Corporal W Bowes 
8360 Private J Branen 
8080 Corporal T Brennan 
7184 Private T Brien 
10328 Private J Burke 
**36 Private J Burns 
7046 Private J Burrows 
8450 Private R Burton 
9836 Private S Butler 
7657 Private J Byrne 
7264 Private A Caddell 
10575 Lance-Corporal J Cairns 
8333 Private J Cairns 
6579 Private P Callaghan 
8950 Private T E Callaghan 
9287 Corporal A Campbell 
10662 Private P Carey 
8481 Lance-Corporal E Carney 
7787 Private J Carney 
8051 Sergeant J Carney 
7895 Private P Carney 
7532 Private M Carroll 
10538 Private T Carroll 
8520 Private M Carter 
7950 Private J Casey 
10523 Lance-Corporal J Caslin 
8208 Private T Cassidy 
6552 Private T Cawley 
9878 Bandsman J Chapman 
10775 Private A Christian 
7994 Private J J Christie 
10732 Private J Clarke 
10708 Private T Cleary 
8362 Private J Cole 
9289 Lance-Corporal J Collins 
10760 Private J Connolly 
7938 Private J Connolly 
10468 Private P Connor 
10120 Private M Connors 
5035 Private F Conroy 
7707 Private A Conway 
6917 Private J Cooper 
9465 Private F Couldwell 
6465 Private T Counihan 
10721 Private J Cox 
7953 Lance-Corporal M Coyne 
10766 Private J Creighton 
8489 Private P Cresham 
8058 Lance-Corporal M Cullen 
10644 Private C Cundlon 
7452 Private T Curley 
8280 Private M Curry 
8135 Private J Curtin 
10123 Private J Daly 
10636 Private J Daly 
8931 Private T Daly 
7190 Private D Daniels 
8257 Private M Deegan 
10541 Lance-Corporal R Deegan  
7367 Private James Delaney 
10473 Private W Delaney 
7802 Sergeant J Devaney 
7883 Private J Dillon 
10484 Private H Docherty 
6509 Private M Dolan 
7582 Private W Donovan 
8243 Private J Dowling 
7525 Private J Doyle 
10727 Private T Doyle 
8429 Private L Dunne 
7395 Private M Dunne 
10432 Private Joseph Dwan 
8930 Private F J Eden 
6284 Private L Egan 
8742 Private E A Emerson 
8076 Lance-Corporal J Ennis 
8917 Private W Fagan 
8102 Private J J Fahey 
9728 Private R Farrell 
4320 Private W Farrelly 
7499 Private B Fields 
7096 Private J Finnerty 
7370 Private C J Fitzgerald 
10704 Private J Fitzsimons 
4343 Private J Flanagan 
7555 Private P Flanagan 
8217 Private T Flannery 
8339 Private J Flattery 
10354 Private J Flemming 
7635 Private M Flood 
8517 Private J Flowers
9859 Private C Flynn 
6833 Private P Flynn 
8119 Private W Flynn 
10664 Private F Forde 
9195 Private F Forde 
10366 Private J Forde 
10724 Private J Francis 
10434 Private J French 
10556 Private T B Fuery 
8105 Private J Gaffney 
6641 Private M Gallagher 
9190 Private E Gannon 
7138 Private G Geoghegan 
7025 Private J Geraghty 
7246 Private C Gillard 
4190 Private T Ginty 
10536 Lance-Corporal J Gleazer 
8316 Private F Glynn 
8560 Private M Glynn 
7381 Private M Goggins 
10831 Private T P Gore 
8047 Private J Gough 
9937 Private P Gough 
7563 Private L Graham 
7015 Private M Grant 
10589 Private W Green 
10718 Private J Griems 
10820 Private J Haide 
9401 Sergeant G P A Halfpenny 
3618 Private M Halloran 
10660 Private T Handy 
3588 Pte John Hanley 
9104 Private M Hanley 
10749 Private C Harley 
8866 Private P Harvey 
9026 Private S Hayes 
10918 Lance-Corporal P Healy 
6959 Private J Hearty 
7919 Lance-Corporal J Herbert 
7971 Private J Higgins 
8761 Sergeant M Hogan 
8582 Corporal W Hudson 
9855 Bandsman W Hurt 
9371 Private F Hutchings 
8591 Private T Hyland 
8056 Private M James 
7019 Private P Keane 
9077 Private P Keane 
9324 Private T Keane 
7861 Private J Keating 
8048 Private L Keenan 
8390 Private P Keenan 
9082 Private D Kelleher 
10736 Private P Kelleher 
7658 Private J Kelly 
8008 Private M Kelly 
10190 Bandsman G H Kennedy 
7361 Private P Kennedy 
6798 Private T Kennedy 
8727 Private J Kenny 
8550 Lance-Corporal J Kiernan 
4636 Private James Kilkenny 
4786 Private R Kilkenny 
10222 Private J King 
9631 Private P Kirby 
10861 Private C Langdon 
9455 Corporal F L Leach 
8776 Private J Leahy 
10260 Private J A Leeson
8483 Private M Lohan 
10302 Private J Long 
7057 Private P Loran 
8533 Private B Lowry 
3735 Drummer T Luke 
10832 Private J Lyden 
10535 Private J Madden 
9668 Private E Maher 
8537 Private P Mahon 
10638 Private J Mahony 
10598 Private J Mallon 
10375 Private P Manning 
3966 Private J Marshall 
10700 Lance-Corporal J Martin 
8091 Private R Masterson 
3581 Private W Mayberry 
7281 Private J McCaffrey 
10735 Private T McCann 
10791 Private McD McDonagh 
10954 Private J McDonald 
7325 Private W McDonald 
10509 Corporal P McElwee 
8240 Private J McFeeney 
5293 Sergeant H McGowan 
4460 Private P McGrath 
6601 Private G McGuinness 
9386 Sergeant J McGuirk 
8527 Private M McHale 
6617 Private J McHugh 
10786 Private M McInerney 
8181 Private P McInroy 
5950 Private J McKenna 
10764 Private S McKnight 
6826 Private T McLoughlin 
7663 Private M McNiff 
7920 Private P Milligan 
6495 Private P Monaghan 
7178 Private P Monaghan 
10784 Private J Monds 
10567 Private W Monks 
10723 Private J Moran 
7788 Private J Moran 
10753 Private M Moran 
8569 Private M Moran 
8061 Private P Moran 
7641 Private J Moroney 
7645 Private W Morris 
10628 Private D Moylan 
4468 Private J Muldoon 
10146 Private J Mullany 
10532 Private C Mulligan 
4388 Private F Mulvey 
7002 Private F Murphy 
7644 Private J Murphy 
7533 Private J Murphy 
8504 Private M Murphy 
10782 Private N Murphy 
7798 Private P Murphy 
7699 Private P Murphy 
3995 Private P Murphy 
8912 Private W Murphy 
10800 Private F Murray 
4243 Private M Murren 
10779 Private E Neilan 
8542 Private J Neill 
9454 Private A Nolan 
10697 Private P Noonan 
10240 Private W Noone 
5975 Private P O'Boyle 
9136 Lance-Corporal M O'Brien 
7169 Private M O'Connor 
9635 Corporal J J O'Hara 
10833 Private J O'Keefe 
8336 Private P O'Loughlin 
8867 Private A E O'Neill 
7676 Private E O'Neill 
6958 Private J O'Neill 
10843 Private M O'Neill 
8310 Private M O'Neill 
8441 Private P O'Neill 
10495 Bandsman J Paxton
9675 Private J Perkins 
4045 Private P Power 
8357 Private P Quinn 
8092 Private T Quinn 
10913 Private J Reilly 
7888 Private F Reycroft 
10714 Private G Reynolds 
8327 Private J Reynolds 
8497 Private D Rice 
7081 Private J Richardson 
10019 Private J Rooney 
7252 Private J Ryan 
3137 Private J Ryan 
7784 Private M Ryan 
9484 Bandsman T Ryan 
7298 Private J E Seery 
7333 Private W Seville 
10667 Private J Shannon 
8364 Private J Sheridan 
9726 Lance-Corporal J Shields 
10669 Private E Short 
10333 Private T Short 
4015 Private M Skiffington
9990 Private A A Smith 
10102 Private A J Smith 
10639 Private P Smyth 
8464 Private M Sweeney 
6937 Private P Sweeney 
9737 Private G E Taylor 
7075 Private R Thornton 
10633 Private M Timony 
6630 Private M Toner 
7770 Private J Tougher 
9788 Private W E Tucker 
4368 Private H Tully 
10741 Private T A Walker 
10228 Private J Walpole 
6349 Private J Walsh 
10685 Private B Ward 
7966 Private B Ward 
10722 Private J Ward 
7258 Private T West 
4314 Private R White
6036 Corporal M Whyte 
8256 Private H Williams 
10670 Private T Williams 
10824 Private J Williamson 
7575 Sergeant J Wilson 
9558 Bandsman L Wilson 
10053 Private A H Woodward

Image courtesy Wikipedia.

The Connaught Rangers - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at numbering in the two regular battalions of The Connaught Rangers between 1881 and 1914. Service records for all of the sample numbers and dates below survive in the series WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives (and also online at Ancestry.co.uk) and WO 97 (on line courtesy of Findmypast).

In fact, there are over 19,000 Connaught Rangers pension and service records (for this regiment - and its antecedents) in various War Office series held at the National Archives. Clicking on the link will take you to the results on Findmypast but you will need a subscription or Pay-Per-View credits to actually view the records. Some of these records can also be viewed on-line on Ancestry although Findmypast has by far the most comprehensive service record collection.

Use the regimental numbers and dates on which these were issued, below, to determine parameters for when your own Connaught Rangers ancestor would have joined up. Note though that these numbers are only for regular enlistments. Special Reserve and Extra Reserve battalions operated completely separate regimental number sequences.

The Connaught Rangers was formed on 1st July 1881; the 1st Battalion from the 88th (Connaught Rangers) Regiment of Foot, and the 2nd Battalion from the 94th Regiment of Foot.

The newly formed regiment was established as the county regiment for Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon. It started numbering from 1 in 1881.

8 joined on 13th July 1881
97 joined on 19th January 1882
412 joined on 13th January 1883
713 joined on 10th April 1884
1720 joined on 1st July 1885
2076 joined on 22nd May 1886
2499 joined on 27th January 1887
2792 joined on 4th January 1888
3379 joined on 23rd January 1889
3673 joined on 15th April 1890
3950 joined on 21st March 1891
4071 joined on 17th January 1892
4441 joined on 10th January 1893
4824 joined on 7th February 1894
5251 joined on 28th January 1895
5614 joined on 8th January 1896
6031 joined on 5th April 1897
6346 joined on 9th March 1898
6733 joined on 6th September 1899
6804 joined on 10th January 1900
7092 joined on 3rd April 1901
7362 joined on 13th February 1902
7736 joined on 6th February 1903
8135 joined on 17th February 1904
8450 joined on 4th January 1905
8714 joined on 9th January 1906
9048 joined on 16th January 1907
9420 joined on 1st September 1908
9596 joined on 28th January 1909
10041 joined on 11th October 1910
10125 joined on 6th February 1911
10347 joined on 5th January 1912
10605 joined on 14th January 1913
10860 joined on 3rd February 1914

The First World War
As well as its two regular battalions, The Connaught Rangers had, since 1908, had a Special Reserve Battalion (the 3rd Battalion) and an Extra Reserve Battalion (the 4th Battalion). These two battalions were the natural heirs of the 4th and 5th Militia Battalions, respectively. The 3rd (Militia) Battalion was one of twenty-three infantry militia battalions which had not been converted into a Special Reserve or Extra Reserve battalion when the militia was disbanded in 1908. Two service battalions, the 5th and 6th Battalions, were added during WW1 and each had its own number series prefixed by the battalion number. Men joining the regular battalions during the First World War were issued with numbers in continuation of the series outlined above. The Connaught Rangers, in common with all Irish regiments, had no Territorial Force battalions.

Recruitment rates 1881-1911
Between 1st July 1881 and 21st March 1891, The Connaught Rangers recruited 3,950 men, a high average of 405 soldiers a year and one which placed the regiment in the top ten infantry recruiters for the decade. It was also to be the regiment’s most successful recruiting period.

Recruitment in the 1890s tailed off dramatically, the regiment adding just over 3100 men between March 1891 and April 1901. It would be a similar picture in the next decade too.

On average, The Connaught Rangers had recruited 312 men per annum between March 1891 and April 1901 and this average would fall again to 308 per annum in the period to February 1911. In terms of recruitment, by 1911 The Connaught Rangers ranked fifty-second out of sixty-nine.

In total, between 1st July 1881 and 27th June 1911, The Connaught Rangers recruited 10,125 men.

1st Battalion stations 1881-1914
1881 Bengal
1885 Jullunder
1890 Aden
1891 Portsmouth
1894 Sheffield
1897 Athlone
1899 South Africa
1903 Mullingar
1907 Malta
1908 Dagshai
1910 Ferozepore
1914 France & Flanders (from October)

2nd Battalion stations 1881-1914

1881 South Africa
1882 Fermoy
1885 Templemore
1887 Portsmouth
1889 Aldershot
1889 Malta
1892 Cyprus
1895 Egypt
1896 Sudan
1897 Meerut
1903 Ahmednagar
1906 Poona
1908 Tipperary
1910 Curragh
1913 Aldershot
1914 France & Flanders (from August)

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