An Essex Regiment regular incarcerated

Here's another recent eBay win, a postcard sent from Doberitz prisoner of war camp by 7186 Corporal Tom Morris of the 2nd Essex Regiment. The card was sent by Tom to an address in Felbridge, West Sussex; not his home address as my information notes that he was married and living at 29 Murchison Road, Leyton. The house still survives today, and in the Google image below, is the property on the right.

Tom's regimental number indicates that he must have joined the Essex Regiment in early October 1902 and therefore at a time when typical terms of enlistment were three years with the colours and nine years on the reserve. Unless he extended his service therefore, Tom would have been on the reserve when Britain went to war in August 1914, and for that matter may well have been on the reserve since October 1905,  He arrived overseas on the 22nd August 1914 and was captured, according to International Committee of the Red Cross documents, at St Quentin on the 29th August. His war bearing arms for King and Country therefore lasted for precisely one week before he was captured.

Find photos of Essex Regiment soldiers on my British Army Ancestors website.

Corporal Morris was probably not repatriated until after the war. A document dating to 1918 when he was being held at Hameln indicates that he had pulmonary tuberculosis and this might explain why he had been interned previously at Leysin in Switzerland; a destination for British PoWs suffering from the disease.

Essex Regiment medals for sale.

Tom Morris appears to have survived the war as I could find no Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry for him.  He was entitled to the 1914 Star (with clasp and roses) and British War and Victory Medals.

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Essex Regiment - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The following list of 44 Essex Regiment NCOs and men has been transcribed from the Imperial War Museum's collection, specifically item B.O.2 1/181 which is a three-page hand-written (as well as faded and undated) list of Essex Regiment men who became prisoners of war prior to 25th December 1914.  My full transcription of this collection (not reproduced here) also contains home addresses for most of the men.

Although it is not explicitly stated, all of these men must have been captured whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment as this was the only battalion of the Essex Regiment that was on the Western Front in 1914.

The full transcription is available for sale as a download or CD for £10. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

The roll:

10167 Private J Barry
8594 Sergeant E Binnie
10072 Private G W Bull
8250 Private W Claxton
8166 Private Sidney Crozier
7375 Private J Donnelly
10172 Private J Edwards
10203 Private G Eley
7929 Private D Elliott
8535 Private J Ellis
7771 Private H J Gillson
10199 Private George Arthur Graham
9432 Private H Groom
8938 Private A Grover
8897 Private H Guy
8183 Private F Housden
9465 Private E E Jennings

9920 Lance-Corporal Charles Ernest James (above)
8151 Lance-Corporal A Jordan
10733 Private H Kemp
8375 Private F W Manning
8472 Lance-Corporal G R Marshall
8885 Private F Medcalf
8127 Private E Minett

Above, Christmas 1915, a card sent from Doberitz by Tom Morris, below

7186 Corporal Tom Morris
10030 Private P T Powell
7903 Private C Pratt
8105 Private M Radford
8434 Private E C Reynolds
8305 Private W Rawlings
10126 Private W A Richer
8214 Private W Rogers
7823 Private W H Ryan
10107 Private J W Sims
7864 Private P Smith
9573 Corporal J J Smyrk
7808 Private G Tarbun
7527 Private H A Taylor
9321 Private G M Took
8738 Private H Walsh
9198 Corporal J R H Warner
7732 Corporal E Whitwell
7977 Private W E White
4155 CQMS E T West

Read more about this data source on my 1914 PoWs page. The image at the top of this post shows men of the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment in Norwich on the 10th August 1914. I will be happy to acknowledge the source of this image which is currently unknown to me. I am gratefu to Steve Nunn for permission to publish the photograph of his grandfather, Charles Ernest James.

Essex Regiment medals for sale.

Since publishing this post, I have been sent scans of a postcard which was sent back to the UK by one of the men listed above: 8250 Private W Claxton. His home address on B.O.2 1/181 is noted as 5 York Road, Barking and I presume that the Mr Lungley who he is writing to in Barking, is his employer. Private Claxton joined the Essex Regiment in 1904 and so had almost certainly been a reservist since 1911 or 1912 and was back in Civvy Street when Britain went to war in 1914. His medal index card records that he arrived in France on the 22nd August 1914. I am grateful to John Morgan for sending me the postcard images which I reproduce below.

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Regimental Numbers in The Essex Regiment

The Cardwell Reforms of 1881 saw The Essex Regiment formed out of the old 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot and the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot. The 44th became the 1st Battalion and the 56th became the 2nd Battalion. Formed in July 1881, the first man to join the new regiment's 1st and 2nd battalions was given the number 1. The next man along was given the number 2 and so on. There was no distinction made between the two battalions; they both shared the same numbering sequence.

There are over 47,000 EssexRegiment 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.

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

Here are some army service numbers and corresponding joining dates - one number per year - for the years 1881-1908.

33 issued on 15th October 1881
274 issued on 1st February 1882
974 issued on 24th April 1883
1237 issued on 5th January 1884
1439 issued on 22nd May 1885
1649 issued on 19th January 1886
2089 issued on 11th February 1887
2330 issued on 27th January 1888
2517 issued on 16th February 1889
2818 issued on 28th January 1890
3205 issued on 5th February 1891
3425 issued on 6th January 1892
3768 issued on 12th January 1893
4118 issued on 5th February 1894
4455 issued on 4th March 1895
4609 issued on 29th January 1896
4832 issued on 16th March 1897
5029 issued on 26th January 1898
5349 issued on 19th January 1899
6117 issued on 7th August 1900
6407 issued on 14th April 1901
6691 issued on 14th January 1902
7434 issued on 7th January 1903
7966 issued on 20th June 1904
8337 issued on 20th January 1905
8596 issued on 29th March 1906
8996 issued on 24th June 1907
9242 issued on 20th July 1908

Let's pause here for a moment. The numbers above are those issued to men who joined the regular battalions of the 1st and 2nd Essex regiment between the years 1881 and July 1908. So for instance, if you know your ancestor was a regular soldier serving with the Essex Regiment in the late 1800s and he had the number 5000, you can tell from looking at the above data that he would have joined up some time between 16th March 1897 (number 4832) and 26th January 1898 (number 5029). Looking at those numbers and at the slow rate of recruitment to these regular battalions of the Essex Regiment (an average of 330 men recruited per annum up until 20th July 1908), it seems likely that number 5000 would have joined either in early January 1898 or in December the previous year.

Alongside the regular battalions of the Essex Regiment were the Militia and the Volunteers, each with their own separate numbering sequences. The scope of the Army Service Numbers database does not cover the Militia or the Volunteers, although as we shall see, the numbering sequences of the Militia and Volunteers in some regiments were carried on into the 3rd (Special Reserve) and/or (4th Extra Reserve) and/or Territorial Force (TF) battalions.

Lord Haldane's reforms of 1908 created the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in the Essex Regiment and the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Territorial Force Battalions. The Essex Regiment appears to have toed-the-line, all the new TF battalions commencing their numbering from 1. Men who had been in the old Volunteers were encouraged to re-enlist in the TF and they were given new numbers. For the most part, men enlisting in the 3rd Battalion were also given new numbers starting from 1, although there is evidence that some men who had previously served in the Militia, joined up and were allowed to keep their old Militia number. For instance, John Ballinger who joined the Essex Regiment Special Reserve at Chelmsford on 12th July 1908, kept his old Militia number, 9507, until his engagement expired in 1912.

And talking of Chelmsford, my home town, here are some numbers and dates for the 5th Essex Regiment (TF) which had its base in the County Town. I'll start this sequence in 1909, the men in 1908 mostly being old Volunteers who re-enlisted:

623 issued on 16th February 1909
1248 issued on 6th January 1910
1437 issued on 5th January 1911
1601 issued on 9th January 1912
1915 issued on 24th February 1913
2158 issued on 29th January 1914

This is another good place to pause. By August 1914, many TF battalions had recruited close to 2000 men and as we can see from the sequence above, the 5th Essex had exceeded that. Once war was declared, all battalions saw a surge in recruits and new service battalions were created to cope with the influx.

Find photos of Essex Regiment soldiers on my British Army Ancestors website.

By March 1914, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were numbering in the 10,000s (10414 was issued on 23rd March that year). When war was declared, numbers for the new service battalions continued on in that sequence and yet a block of numbers was obviously set aside for those men who enlisted during war-time but who wanted to enlist for the old term of seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. And so we see with the Essex Regiment that by mid July 1915, numbers in the late 19,000s and early 20,000s were being issued to men joining service battalions, whilst you could still enlist in a regular battalion for 7&5 and be given a number in the low 11000s. As far as the Special Reserve was concerned, men were still enlisting in the 3rd Battalion in November 1914 and probably later. The last number I have on my army service numbers database currently is 3/3547 which was issued on 4th November 1914.

Here are some more numbers from the 5th (TF) Battalion, The Essex Regiment:

2229 issued on 7th August 1914
2469 issued on 15th September 1914
2591 issued on 12th October 1914
2901 issued on 7th November 1914
3219 issued on 19th December 1914
3248 issued on 11th January 1915
3276 issued on 1st February 1915
3298 issued on 21st March 1915
3317 issued on 17th April 1915
3401 issued on 5th May 1915
3685 issued on 5th June 1915
3741 issued on 10th July 1915
3820 issued on 5th August 1915
3878 issued on 11th September 1915
3904 issued on 4th October 1915
3955 issued on 1st November 1915
4087 issued on 1st December 1915
4189 issued on 29th January 1916
4253 issued on 17th February 1916
4436 issued on 27th March 1916
5089 issued on 26th April 1916
5127 issued on 21st June 1916
6095 issued on 21st July 1916
6210 issued on 11th August 1916
6692 issued on 25th October 1916

One thing worth noting is that although many Territorial Force battalions formed second and third line battalions during the First World War (these battalions being expressed as 2/5th, 3/5th etc), the battalion kept its original numbering sequence. So a man joining the 2/5th Essex could be given the number 4000 - for argument's sake - whilst the next man might be given 4001 and be sent to the 3/5th.

When the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917, the 5th Essex Regiment was allocated numbers within the block 250001 to 275000. Here are some sample six digit army service numbers and joining dates:

250014 originally joined on 13th April 1908
250042 originally joined on 10th March 1909
250231 originally joined on 1st June 1913
250291 originally joined on 4th March 1914
250421 originally joined on 10th August 1914
250433 originally joined on 5th September 1914
250587 originally joined on 27th October 1914
250620 originally joined on 7th November 1914
250737 originally joined on 2nd December 1914
250795 originally joined on 6th April 1915
250866 originally joined on 17th May 1915
251070 originally joined on 4th August 1915
251205 originally joined on 19th November 1915
251316 originally joined on 1st December 1915
251407 originally joined on 11th February 1916
251468 originally joined on 18th March 1916
251714 originally joined on 1st May 1916
251767 originally joined on 11th August 1916
251905 originally joined on 21st September 1916


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

Also see:

Every number tells a story - 5th Essex case study
With the 1/5th Essex in the east - Appendices