East Yorkshire Regiment - 5th (Cyclist) Bn (TF)

This post will look at numbering in the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment between 1908 and 1914. Information on this post has been compiled as a result of looking at service records in the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives; now also widely available online from various providers.

The 5th East Yorkshire Regiment had no Volunteer Force predecessor although it got off to a flying start in April 1908 when 90 NCOs and men who had formerly served with the Cyclist Company of the 1st Volunteer Battalion signed up to the newly formed 5th (Cyclist) Battalion. The newly formed 5th Battalion, which was headquartered at Park Street, Hull commenced a new number series from 1 in April 1908 and drew its men from the following areas:

A, B, C & D Companies: Hull

E Company: Howden, with drill stations at North Cave and Staddlethorpe

F Company: Beverley, with drill stations at Hessle, Market Weighton and Pocklington

G Company: Bridlington, with drill stations Driffield, Hunmanby and Filey

H Company: Hornsea, with drill stations at Hedon and Withernsea

The battalion was attached to Northern Command.

440 joined on 16th November 1908
468 joined on 1st March 1909
618 joined on 23rd August 1910
633 joined on 23rd January 1911
704 joined on 18th March 1912
836 joined on 27th May 1913
882 joined on 2nd January 1914
1042 joined on 17th August 1914

Use the regimental numbers above to estimate when a man would have joined this battalion between 1908 and August 1914. For example, if your man had the number 800 and lived in Hull, he would probably have joined the battalion in 1913 and would have served with one of the Hull companies (A to D). 

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To search for photos of your East Yorkshire Regiment ancestors, check my British Army Ancestors website.

10th Royal Scots transfers to the HLI

I thought I'd share some research I undertook for a client earlier in the week.

I was looking at a man who had no surviving service record but whose medal card indicated service with the Royal Scots and later the HLI. The four digit Royal Scots number could, realistically, only belong to a Territorial Force (TF) battalion or to the 3rd (Special Reserve) battalion. But which TF battalion?

The Royal Scots Regiment had seven TF battalions with five of these battalions focused on Edinburgh with the 8th Battalion and the 10th (Cyclist) Battalion covering a larger area. The 8th Battalion is particularly interesting to me as at one stage it operated three distinct regimental number series. The 10th Battalion too, also ran at least two number series for a time.

When I dug a little deeper it soon became evident that men with HLI numbers in the range that I was looking at: 434**, had all transferred from the 10th Royal Scots in August 1916. These men sailed for France on the 29th July 1916, joined the 20th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples the following day and then joined the HLI a little over a week later. Their medal index cards therefore note the Royal Scots numbers (because they arrived in France serving with the Royal Scots) but their time overseas with the Royal Scots was limited to marking time at an IBD in Etaples. All of their active service in France was with the HLI.

I do not know how drafts of 10th Royal Scots were selected, and my research shows that there were some long-serving men in these drafts as well as men who had only joined up the previous year. Most of these men found themselves transferred to the 12th Battalion HLI.

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The photo on this post, courtesy of the Scotland's War website, shows men of the Bathgate Company of the 10th Royal Scots.

25th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Cyclist)

The 25th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Cyclist) had its origins in the 26th (Cyclist) Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps.

Here are some army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the 25th Londons. All of these service records survive in the WO 363 and WO 364 and may be viewed at the National Archives in London. They are also accessible on-line via a FREE trial with Ancestry.co.uk.

160 joined on 25th April 1908
518 joined on 11th February 1909
692 joined on 21st February 1910
818 joined on 6th April 1911
873 joined on 14th March 1912
965 joined on 6th May 1913
1039 joined on 13th January 1914
1109 joined on 4th August 1914
1842 joined on 1st December 1914
2105 joined on 21st January 1915
2142 joined on 1st February 1915
2171 joined on 9th March 1915
2336 joined on 13th April 1915
2438 joined on 21st May 1915
2517 joined on 3rd June 1915
2555 joined on 13th July 1915
2658 joined on 23rd October 1915
2740 joined on 4th November 1915
3018 joined on 11th December 1915
3385 joined on 29th February 1916
3412 joined on 3rd March 1916
3832 joined on 15th April 1916
4019 joined on 4th May 1916
4223 joined on 20th September 1916
4342 joined on 29th November 1916

When the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917, the 25th Londons were allocated six digit numbers within the range 740001 to 760000. Here is some sample data from the six digit series:

740015 originally joined on 2nd June 1914
740264 originally joined on 6th August 1914
740658 originally joined on 30th November 1914
740711 originally joined on 2nd December 1914
741022 originally joined on 21st May 1915
741070 originally joined on 8th July 1915
741148 originally joined on 26th October 1915
741209 originally joined on 10th November 1915
742231 originally joined on 6th February 1917
742516 originally joined on 10th March 1917
742799 originally joined on 26th January 1918

The image on this post, found as a result of a Google search on Flickr, is the copyright of Paul Featherstone and shows the toll on C Company of the 25th London Regt, two years after mobilisation. The original company strength (based on the original eight companies per battalion) would have been about 125 men.


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

For detailed 25th London Regiment information, visit Simon Parker-Galbreath's 25th County of London Cycle Battalion website.

Also see my other posts on numbering in the London Regiment battalions:

City of London Battalions

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)

County of London Battalions

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)
28th (County of London) Battalion (Artists Rifles)