Dorsetshire & Devonshire Regimental numbers

Today's naughty-step nomination goes to The Keep Military Museum - Home of the Regiments of Devon & Dorset - for lifting information from this blog and publishing it on its Army Numbers page without crediting the source. Not only bad manners, but also poor archival practice, I would have thought.

I am quite happy for the information that I publish here to be used  - after all, that's why I publish it in the first place. But I also expect that if information is re-published elsewhere it should be properly credited. A 'thank you' or better still, a link back to the site is not too much to ask, is it?

And whilst I am at it, I need to correct the information that The Keep has published for the Dorsetshire Regiment (which was obviously NOT lifted from this blog).

1. "By 1899 men in the 1st and 2nd Battalions The Dorsetshire Regiment were being allocated numbers in the 4000-5000 range." Oh no they weren't. The number 4000 had been issued back in August 1893 and 5000 had been issued in August 1896 (4999 was issued to George Smith on the 19th August). By January 1899 the regiment was issuing numbers in the 58** range. For example, George Frampton was given the number 5836 when he joined the regiment at Dorchester on the 9th January 1899.

2. "The 4th Battalion (Territorial Army) were reorganised in 1908 and their numbers started with 1 in that year. Those who served overseas were renumbered in 1917 to a 6 digit number. The 4th Dorsets were allocated a batch of numbers starting with 200,000." Not correct. Back in 1914 it was the Territorial Force (TF), rather than Territorial Army, and it wasn't reorganised in 1908, but rather came into being on the 1st April, replacing the old Volunteer Force. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, ALL serving members were issued with new five or six-digit numbers. This included not only men who were serving overseas, but men serving at home and even men who had been killed in action weeks or months before but who had not been officially confirmed as having been killed. The number block for the 4th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment was 200001 to 225000.

3. "Men in the 5th and 6th Service Battalions of the Dorsetshire Regiment in World War I often had numbers in the 10,000-11,000 range."  Yes they did, but there are also men in the 5th Battalion who had numbers in the late 9,000 range as well. Note too, that many men in these battalions would have had numbers far higher than 11,000. 

It worked like this - and this pattern was replicated across very many line infantry regiments. When new service battalions started to be created in August 1914, the regimental numbers issued to new recruits followed on from the series that had previously been used for men in the regular battalions. The Dorset Regiment had reached 9816 by July 6th 1914, and my lowest August 1914 number is 9828 issued on the 5th August. From this point, men joining the newly formed 5th Battalion (formed in August 1914) would have been issued with numbers in continuation of the regular number series. The 6th Battalion was not formed until September 1914 and by this time the regiment was numbering in the 11000s.

4. "Soldiers with numbers in the 19,000 block were reinforcements sent to the 5th Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment to replace casualties. Many of these came from the 3rd Battalion The Somerset Light Infantry (special reservists) or North Somerset Yeomanry." I didn't know that, and if this is true it's useful information.

5. "The Dorset Yeomanry also had a new figure number system introduced in 1908. In 1916 they too were renumbered using numbers in a batch 230,0001 to 235,000." The Dorset Yeomanry (Queen's Own) started numbering from 1 in April 1908 but they were re-numbered in early 1917, not 1916, and the number block was 230001-235000.

The photo I have used on this post is of Super Nanny Jo Frost and is taken from the BBC News website. (Note to The Keep - that's how you credit someone else's work).

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The Devonshire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

There are nearly 36,000 Devonshire Regiment service and pension 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.

Prior to 1st July 1881, the Devonshire Regiment was the 11th Regiment of Foot. It started a new regimental number series from this date, some examples of which I list below. Use this list as a guide to determine when your own ancestor might have joined this regiment - but note that this list is for regular enlistments only. Special Reserve and Territorial Force battalions operated their own distinct regimental number series.

245 joined on 21st May 1882
483 joined on 2nd June 1883
737 joined on 2nd January 1884
1259 joined on 29th July 1885
1435 joined on 3rd February 1886
1736 joined on 5th July 1887
2009 joined on 18th February 1888
2337 joined on 2nd January 1889
3007 joined on 11th June 1890
3231 joined on 29th May 1891
3442 joined on 25th January 1892
3653 joined on 26th January 1893
3985 joined on 10th August 1894
4226 joined on 22nd June 1895
4742 joined on 29th July 1896
4793 joined on 4th January 1897
4969 joined on 5th January 1898
5267 joined on 4th January 1899
5974 joined on 22nd March 1900
6503 joined on 3rd January 1901
6914 joined on 10th March 1902
7269 joined on 12th January 1903
7607 joined on 24th January 1904
7906 joined on 9th March 1905
8130 joined on 8th May 1906
8290 joined on 13th February 1907
8615 joined on 23rd January 1908
8928 joined on 8th March 1909
9005 joined on 24th July 1910
9218 joined on 4th January 1911
9598 joined on 30th July 1912
9720 joined on 28th May 1913
9952 joined on 31st March 1914

When Britain went to war with Germany a few months later, men joining the newly forming service battalions of the Devonshire Regiment were issued service numbers which belonged to the same series as that which had been in use for the regular battalions. 10102 enlisted with the Devons for a term of regular service - 7 years with the Colours and 5 on the Reserve - on 14th August 1914. 10121 issued for war-time service only, the following day.

The image above (taken from a cigarette card) shows Private Thomas William Henry Veale of the 8th Devonshire Regiment who was awarded the Victoria Cross for "most conspicuous bravery" at High Wood, The Somme on 20th July 1916. His medals are held by the Devonshire Regiment Museum at Dorchester

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Devonshire Regiment literature from the Naval & Military Press


1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment during the Boer War, 1899-1902
The Devonshires took a leading role in the relief of Ladysmith after a lengthy siege by the Boers. They subsequently fought at Inagane and Lydenburg in Natal and South-eastern Transvaal. Their battle honours included the charge at Wagon Hill outside Ladysmith, and the night action at Elandslaagte. In his introductoion, Gen. William Kitchener calls attention to the main qualities of the Devon men who served under him: their ‘dogged devotion to duty’ which helped overcome the Boers’ stubborn resistance; their improvisation and their smart turnout in the worst of conditions. ‘In conclusion’ writes Kitchener, "a more determined crew I never wish to see, and a better regiment to back his orders a General can never hope to have." Iliustrated with 25 photographs and two maps. Also includes Roll of Honour.

Devonshire Regiment 1914-1918

When war broke out in 1914 the Devonshire Regiment consisted of two regular battalions, a Special Reserve Battalion and four Territorial battalions. By the end of the war the total was twenty-nine. This history contains the account of the operations of those battalions which took an active part in the war which earned them two VCs and sixty battle honours at a cost of 5,787 dead. They served on the Western Front, in Italy, Macedonia, Egypt, Palestine, India and in Mesopotamia.

C T Atkinson is among the foremost of the Great War divisional and regimental historians and this book is typical of his standard of writing and composition. He has provided a continuous narrative in a chronological order, bringing in the various battalions as they came onto the stage in the relevant theatre of war. He has made use of war diaries, not only of the battalions but also, where appropriate of brigades and divisions. He was also able to make use of collected accounts of various actions and experiences of those who took part in them, giving the point of view of the man in the trenches. One third of the book, some 250 pages, contains the complete list of honours and awards, including Mention in Despatches, and the Roll of Honour, listed alphabetically by battalions.

Through Hell to Victory

This book deals exclusively with the 2nd Devons (23rd Brigade, 8th Division) during the last year of the war. It describes what the battalion did in the early days of 1918, touches briefly on their movements in January, deals fully with the March retreat in the face of the German offensive, follows them in the fighting to save Amiens and goes on to describe at length the battalion’s heroic stand at the Bois des Buttes, under the shadow of the Chemin des Dames, on the 27th May and following days. For this action the battalion was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm. This account comes not from official records but from the information of those who took part, and it took the author more than a year to assemble all the details. The casualties in the action at the Bois des Buttes, as given in the regimental history, amounted to twenty three officers and 528 men killed or missing.