Middlesex Regiment - 10th Bn (TF)

This is my final post on numbering in the Territorial Force battalions of the Middlesex regiment and in this post I will be looking at regimental numbering in the 10th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment between 1908 and 1914. Use the information below to estimate when your ancestor joined this particular battalion. Note that all Territorial Force battalions had their own unique number series (and for that matter, some operated more than one number series). The Middlesex Regiment had four regular battalions, one special reserve battalion, one extra reserve battalion and four Territorial Force battalions. So if your ancestor served in the 7th Battalion, 8th Battalion, or 9th Territorial Force Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, you'll need to follow those links instead. Check the site index for a list of all regimental number sequences published to date.

The 10th Middlesex Regiment was headquartered at Stamford Brook Lodge, Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith and its eight companies drew men from the following locations:

A Company: St John's College, Battersea; B Company: St Mark's College, Chelsea; C to H Companies: Ravenscourt Park.  The battalion was part of the Middlesex Infantry Brigade in the Home Counties Division.

Here are some sample regimental numbers for the 7th Middlesex Regiment. These were issued sequentially, beginning at No 1 on the 1st April 1908. The 10th Battalion had no Volunteer Force predecessor and was newly created in April 1908. Nevertheless, around 300 members of the old 2nd South Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps helped form the nucleus of this battalion.

84 joined on the 20th June 1908
838 joined on the 6th May 1910
1013 joined on the 20th March 1911
1069 joined on the 22nd January 1912
1438 joined on the 13th January 1913
1785 joined on the 16th February 1914
1946 joined on the 7th August 1914
2187 joined on the 1st September 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 1200, he would have joined this battalion in 1912.

Remember. I research soldiers! Drop me a line if you need help 

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

Middlesex Regiment - 9th Bn (TF)

In this post I will be looking at regimental numbering in the 9th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment between 1908 and 1914. Use the information below to estimate when your ancestor joined this particular battalion. Note that all Territorial Force battalions had their own unique number series (and for that matter, some operated more than one number series). The Middlesex Regiment had four regular battalions, one special reserve battalion, one extra reserve battalion and four Territorial Force battalions. So if your ancestor served in the 7th Battalion, 8th Battalion, or 10th Territorial Force Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, you'll need to follow those links instead. Check the site index for a list of all regimental number sequences published to date.

The 9th Middlesex Regiment was headquartered at Pound Lane, Willesden Green and its eight companies drew men from the following locations:

A & B Companies: Willesden Green; B Company: Barnet; C Company: Willesden, with a drill station at Stanmore; D & E Companies: Willesden; F Company: Harrow; G Company: Wealdstone; H Company: Hendon.  The battalion was part of the Middlesex Infantry Brigade in the Home Counties Division.

Here are some sample regimental numbers for the 7th Middlesex Regiment. These were issued sequentially, beginning at No 1 on the 1st April 1908. The vast majority of early recruits would have been men who were serving with the 5th West Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps.

4 joined on the 1st April 1908
525 joined on the 5th March 1909
764 joined on the 17th October 1910
779 joined on the 24th January 1911
882 joined on the 23rd January 1912
1150 joined on the 2nd July 1913
1228 joined on the 3rd February 1914
1445 joined on the 8th August 1914
1973 joined on the 5th September 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 1300 and came from Barnet, he joined in 1914, before the First World War, and would have probably served in B Company. 

Remember. I research soldiers! Drop me a line if you need help 

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

Middlesex Regiment - 8th Bn (TF)

In this post I will be looking at regimental numbering in the 8th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment between 1908 and 1914. Use the information below to estimate when your ancestor joined this particular battalion. Note that all Territorial Force battalions had their own unique number series (and for that matter, some operated more than one number series). The Middlesex Regiment had four regular battalions, one special reserve battalion, one extra reserve battalion and four Territorial Force battalions. So if your ancestor served in the 7th Battalion, 9th Battalion or 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, you'll need to follow those links instead. Check the site index for a list of all regimental number sequences published to date.

The 8th Middlesex Regiment was headquartered at 202a Hanworth Road, Hounslow and its eight companies drew men from the following locations:

A Company: Twickenham; B Company: Brentford; C Company: Hounslow; D Company: Southall; E Company: Uxbridge; F Company: Ealing; G Company: Hampton; H Company: Staines. The battalion was part of the Middlesex Infantry Brigade in the Home Counties Division.

Here are some sample regimental numbers for the 8th Middlesex Regiment. These were issued sequentially, beginning at No 1 on the 1st April 1908. The vast majority of early recruits would have been men who were serving with the 2nd Volunteer Battalion.

320 joined on the 4th April 1908
693 joined on the 22nd February 1909
1089 joined on the 28th February 1910
1203 joined on the 11th January 1911
1698 joined on the 20th May 1912
2042 joined on the 1st May 1913
2356 joined on the 11th March 1914
2536 joined on the 1st September 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 1200 and came from Staines, he probably joined in January 1911 and would have probably served in H Company which was the Staines company. 

The photo on this post shows officers of the 8th Battalion and was originally published in The Tatler on the 8th February 1916.

Remember. I research soldiers! Drop me a line if you need help 

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

Middlesex Regiment - 7th Bn (TF)

In this post I will be looking at regimental numbering in the 7th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment between 1908 and 1914. Use the information below to estimate when your ancestor joined this particular battalion. Note that all Territorial Force battalions had their own unique number series (and for that matter, some operated more than one number series). The Middlesex Regiment had four regular battalions, one special reserve battalion, one extra reserve battalion and four Territorial Force battalions. So if your ancestor served in the 8th Battalion, 9th Battalion or 10th Territorial Force Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, you'll need to follow those links instead. Check the site index for a list of all regimental number sequences published to date.

The 7th Middlesex Regiment was headquartered at Priory Road, Hornsey and its eight companies drew men from the following locations:

A Company: Hampstead; B Company: Barnet; C & H Company: Hornsey; D Company: Highgate; E & G Company: Tottenham; F Company: Enfield Lock, with a drill station at Enfield Town. The battalion was part of the Middlesex Infantry Brigade in the Home Counties Division.

Here are some sample regimental numbers for the 7th Middlesex Regiment. These were issued sequentially, beginning at No 1 on the 1st April 1908. The vast majority of early recruits would have been men who were serving with the 1st Volunteer Battalion.

12 joined on the 3rd April 1908
730 joined on the 16th February 1909
1163 joined on the 27th June 1910
1263 joined on the 11th January 1911
1487 joined on the 6th March 1912
1716 joined on the 20th January 1913
2097 joined on the 9th March 1914
2312 joined on the 4th August 1914
2515 joined on the 1st September 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 2000 and came from Tottenham, he probably joined in early 1914 and would have probably served in one of the two Tottenham companies, E or G Company. 

Remember. I research soldiers! Drop me a line if you need help 

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

Using regimental numbers in photographic research

I picked this photo up last week. The reverse shows it to have been taken by Henry Bown, "photographic artist" who had studios at 43 New Kent Road, south east London, 298 Clapham Road, south west London, and 31 & 33 Jamaica Road, south east London. At the top of the photo is some script which reads. "Nov 30 13. Len 16 yrs".

The photo clearly shows a boy bandsman wearing the collar badges of the Middlesex Regiment and so I thought I'd try and find out who Len was.

A boy could join the army from the age of 14 and so if Len was 16 years old in 1913 he could have joined from 1910 or 1911. Looking at my regimental numbers database, that would suggest that his number must have been within the approximate range L/13300 to L/14700. Assuming that Len went on to serve in the First World War I ran a search on the National Archives' medal index card database where "Leonard" was the first name, "Middlesex" was the regiment. I then ran different number search options to narrow the number range. This National Archives' search screen is far more efficient, and far quicker than the search screens on both Ancestry and Findmypast and what's more you can type in the search criteria in a single field, in any order and throw in wildcards to assist the search.

Running this search on L/13* and L/14* (and with searches for 13* and 14* as well, just to pick up examples where the L/ prefix had not been recorded) gave me a short-list of a dozen or so candidates and leads me to believe that Len is potentially L/13649 Leonard Alexander Watts from Poplar who attested for 12 years on the 6th July 1911 aged 14 years and 6 days. His parents were William and Ellen Watts and he had two older brothers and three younger brothers. It could be one of the older brothers who is in the photo with him.

I should stress that the photo could show the Watts family, but by the same token, there are still other candidates who need to be more fully investigated. Nevertheless, understanding how the regimental numbers were issued has, once again, narrowed the field considerably.

I research soldiers! 

Contact me if you need help with your military ancestor. 

Middlesex Regiment - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The men listed below were all serving with The Middlesex Regiment, when they became prisoners of war of the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. There are 397 names in this list - the equivalent of nearly four companies, or half a battalion under the old eight-company system. Remember that these were trained men, regular soldiers who the British Army could ill-afford to lose. You can read more about this Prisoner of War data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

This data has been transcribed from the following sources held at the Imperial War Museum:

B.O.2 1/224: a 12-page typed and undated document. No clues as to sender or recipient.
B.O.2 1/226: a 6-page hand-written document on official Army Form B.104-115, used to report PoWs.  This form introduced as a result of Army Council Instruction 277 of February 1916.

Some of the men appear on both of these lists and those that do usually have slight variations in their regimental numbers (224 tends to omit the L/ prefix whilst 226 is more fastidious). Most of the men here would have been regular soldiers rather than special reserve but I have not attempted to correct these hundred-year old lists.

My full transcription of this Middlesex Regiment Prisoners of War roll call of other ranks (not reproduced here) also contains some or all of the following: battalion, home address, next of kin address, date of capture, additional notes and remarks. 

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

10811 Private Ainsworth's trio, sold on eBay for £325 in November 2019

14604 Private H Abbott, 8135 Private J Adcock, 6616 Private O R Addison, L/9064 Private Alfred Aglington, 10811 Private P W Ainsworth, 14479 Private R Aldridge, 14182 Private J W Alexander, 14184 Private H Allgrove, 4640 Private A Alvin, 9351 Private A C Amis, 13801 Lance-Corporal W Amor, L/8473 Private Walter R Amor, L/11930 Private Archibald Annison, 9674 Private A Argent, 12654 Private E A Arnold, L/10325 Private William Arthurs, 10788 Private A Ashley, 10136 Lance-Corporal W F Austin

11492 Corporal A Baker, 14534 Private A J Baker, 14614 Bandsman J H Barnes, 11454 Private A Bateman, 6676 Private A Baxley, 7549 Sergeant Robert J Bayley, 10587 Private C Beal, 6571 Private A Bennett, 10946 Lance-Corporal A S Bennett, L/9248 Private Edward Bennett, 9666 Private T H Bennett, 9889 Private G Benton, 14201 Private J H Berning, L/10539 Lance-Corporal T W Berry, 12462 Private J H Bevan, 10502 Lance-Corporal C H Bish, 10470 Private H Bloomberg, 9216 Private John T Bond, 9256 Private Thomas H Bond, 6495 Private H Boorer, 13996 Private W J Bosworth, 9840 Private R Bourlett, 11717 Lance-Corporal H C Bourne, L/9829 Private G Boyce, 9939 Lance-Corporal W A Braine, 9789 Private W Braxear, L/8843 Private George L Brazier, 14518 Private T H Breach, 14574 Private H L Brine, 9778 Private J Britton, 14419 Private H Broadbridge, 12666 Private C Brockington, 6208 Private F A Brooker, 10063 Private F Broom, 8108 Private A Brown, 9334 Private A E Brown, L/11059 Bandsman Herbert Bryant, 8170 Private W R Bryant, 9210 Private H Buckles, 12703 Corporal S D Bullen,
14397 Private W T Burgin, L/11707 Private Stephen J Burkinshaw, L/8315 Private W Byers, 9175 Bandsman F Byford

14097 Lance-Corporal C S Carey, 13201 Corporal J Carter,10418 Corporal W N Carter,13125 Corporal S C Carvell,9743 Private J Cassie,13113 Corporal J B Caughlin,13406 Private J Challis,13427 Private W Champ,10221 Lance-Corporal A G Chapman,14692 Private J A Checkley,11621 Private E A Chenery,14340 Private F A Clark,
7746 Private G Clark, 14165 Private H G Clark,14601 Private E P Clinton, 6914 Private T S Colisson, L/9416 Private G F Collett, L/8601 Private W Collins, 9344 Private H Collyer,
11920 Private C Connelly, L/7366 Private W Connor, 11280 Private H Constable, 8474 Private A Cook, L/10637 Private R Corker, 14554 Private J Cornwall, 13039 Corporal W Couper, 9835 Private W Coussins, 9922 Private C R Cox, 14504 Private J Craven, 8663 Private A Crawdy, 10340 Private R C Creedon, 9696 Private E J Crowe, L/6793 Private G H Crown, 10698 Private C W Curling, 7748 Private H R Curling  

L/11319 Private G Daley, 10445 Private H W Dande, 9569 Private E H Daniels, 11422 Private W A Darling, 13753 Private P Darville, 6910 Private A E Davis, 14593 Lance-Corporal H H Dawson, 9138 Corporal L L Day, 13324 Private J E Daynes, 14629 Private W E Deal, 10586 Private G Dean, 10318 Private J A Dean, 14352 Private E Denmark, 13537 Private F W Denty, 13275 Lance-Corporal J F Dicks, L/9761 Private Albert E Dickson
11199 Private F Diver, 8990 Private H E Dixon, 8144 Private E Dodd, 11142 Private J P Dorgan, L/11142 Private James P Dorgan, 6002 CSM G Downes

10157 Private A E Eade, 8896 Private N Eckstein, 13825 Lance-Corporal J Eldrett, 7415 Private J Eley, 7483 Private W Ellis, 7351 Private J Emery, 8714 Private J M Exley

14345 Private W A Fairhurst, 11572 Private H T Field, L/11572 Private H T Field, 14499 Private E M Fleming, 8862 Private W J Fleming, 8535 Private H Floyd, 10834 Private W A Ford, L/10834 Private W G Ford, 13434 Private E Foster, 8494 Private E Fowler, 14750 Private G Fowler, 9016 Private H Francis, 13959 Private J Frew, 14611 Private W Frost, 
13013 Private B J Furman

12816 Private E Gante, L/12129 Private John T Garland, 13766 Private F C Garrett, 9904 Corporal G Garrett, L/9999 Private William Geyer, L/10431 Private H J Gibbs, 9771 Private H Gilbert, 14524 Private V Gilbert, L/5989 Private T Girdlestone, 7994 Private A Glinwood, 
8266 Private H Gold, 14625 Private S P Golding, 11184 Private A Gookey, L/8296 Private H Gould, L/11287 Private H Gould, 14234 Private H A Grace, 9650 Private G W Graham, 9094 Private S Grant, 14130 CSM H J Gray, 14357 Private C Green, 14065 Private E L Green, 9135 Corporal F E Green, 8944 Private W Green, 9788 Private W Green, L/10732 Private William Grimmer, L/7433 Private Walter Groening, 14056 Private W S Gurney, 9533 Private A Gurr

8233 Private J Hammerton, L/12500 Private A Harding, L/9995 Private J Hardwick, 10259 Private A A Harlow, 9845 Private B N Harris, 9450 Private C W Head, 11451 Private H Hepworth, L/11451 Private H Hepworth, 12500 Private A Herring, 14034 Private W H Herzog, 9038 Private W C Hewlett, 10713 Private A Hill, 14535 Private W H Hillier, 14450 Private F C Hills, 9613 Private A H Hinton, 14181 Private W J Holland, 10939 Sergeant J Horner, 14760 Private A H Hort, 9824 Private G E Howe, 8270 Private A Hudson, 6868 Private W T Hunter, 6086 Private W Huntingford

9735 Private A Impey

11227 Private A Jackson, 9255 Private W Jarvis, 14078 Private A Jenn, 14686 Private W I Johnson, 12322 Private G T Jolly, 14623 Private E Jones, L/14721 Private W A D Jones, 14721 Private W R Jones

11172 Sergeant G H Kelly, 10503 Lance-Corporal E G Kemp, 14723 Private F Kemp, 13397 Private T J Kemp, L/10549 Private C W Ketley, 8760 Private A King, L/6285 Private F King, 6385 Private J King, 11256 Private C Kirby, 5949 Private C Kirby, 6913 Private J H Kitchen, L/6913 Private J H Kitchen, 13422 Private S J Knight

11000 Private A Latham, L/11333 Private Henry J Lattimore, 6318 Private E G Lawrence, 6635 Lance-Sergeant P Lawson, 10030 Private T Laxton, L/13682 Private W H Layton, 14447 Private E J Lentz, 6694 Private J H Leslie, L/11057 Private H Lodgman, L/14711 Private A J Ludlow

6493 Private F Maddocks, 10158 Private M Malone, 8257 Private H F Manning, 8488 Private F E Mardling, 11375 Private C Marley, 5631 Private A Marshall, 14557 Private A J Matthews, 8650 Private F G Maxted, 10929 Lance-Corporal E May, 14446 Private F C May,
10742 Private W McNeff, 11498 Private A P B Meakin, 9129 Private J G H Meredew, 9396 Private G W Merriott, 10878 Corporal H Miller, 7599 Private J J Miller, 8546 Private W L Moffat, 10940 Private A W Money, 6862 Private C Moore, L/10845 Private F Moore, L/11890 Private R B Moore, 14477 Private W Moore, 14087 Bandsman J Morgan, 12793 Lance-Corporal T J Morgan, 14714 Private W Morgan, L/14714 Private W Morgan, 8553 Private H Mott, 13718 Private W Mulroy, L/13718 Private W Mulroy, 8057 Private W F Mulvihill, L/11687 Bandsman J Murphy

12310 Private T J Naylor, 11757 Private E J Norman, 13675 Private G North

8523 Private J Oakley, 10246 Private T E Oakley, L/12858 Drummer J O'Neill, 14571 Private S C Otley

8044 Private A Page, L/14409 Private A C Palmer, 14409 Private A E Palmer, 12553 Private E C Palmer, 13970 Private F H Palmer, 10316 Acting Corporal W Panton, L/10316 Lance-Corporal W Parton, 9319 Private A Payne, 10723 Private J H S Payne, L/9940 Private William H Payton, 14144 Private J Pelley, 5777 Lance-Corporal E C Pember, 11833 Lance-Corporal E C Penney, L/14381 Private John J Percival, 7845 Private J Perry, 13660 Private J O Pettitt, 8999 Lance-Corporal C A Pierce, 10128 Private J Pimm, 10287 Private T Piper, 10798 Corporal A Playford, 14343 Private G Poulter, 10512 Private F Powell, 13797 Lance-Corporal J H Pradby, 12823 Corporal W H Pratt, 14724 Private W H Prestridge

8676 Private J Ramsey, 13798 Private A W G Ratty, 14292 Private W G Rawlings, L/11570 Private W Ray, 7456 Private H J Raybold, 9539 Private L Razzell, L/14765 Private T R Reader, 8855 Private W Redburn, 14312 Private D G Regan, L/14312 Private Dennis G Regan, 13184 Private F Remnant, 9813 Private E A Rogers, 12630 Private V F Rogers, L/11013 Private A J Rooney, 11485 Private E Rudd, 9486 Private T H Rudd, 7970 Private R Rumbelow, L/1970 Private R Rumbelow, 9675 Private J E Rumble, 9382 Sergeant A H Russell, 10109 Private H G Russell, 12332 Private D G Ryan, 11679 Private J P Ryan, 
14178 Private G B Ryder

13034 Lance-Corporal J L Sabbage, L/8322 Private E F Saunders, 13759 Private H J Scholes, L/6224 Private H Schroder, 14029 Lance-Corporal A G Scoppie, L/17742 Private P F Sculley, L/10049 Private George Sculpher, 9912 Private W G Self, 9080 Corporal H Sheridan, 14553 Private C A Shipp, L/11433 Private W H Shropshire, 13757 Private F E Sidwell, 12708 Corporal T C Silverthorne, 12581 Private F Simmonds, 12807 Corporal J F Simmonds, L/10622 Private Ernest F Smith, 11067 Private G H Smith, L/11927 Lance-Corporal George Henry Smith, L/13070 Lance-Corporal H H Smith, 8095 Private R Smith, L/9680 Private S F Smith, 10082 Private E Speller, 6551 Private J A Spencer, L/8948 Private S Spink, 14058 Lance-Corporal W Stagg, 11176 Private T N Stammers, 14549 Private J T Stanford, 10989 Corporal J S Stanger, 7673 Corporal A E Steer, 10408 Private H Stevens,  Private E W Stevenson, 8124 Private J Steward, 6583 Private C Stocker, 14584 Private H G Strange, 11155 Lance-Corporal A E Strapley, 9119 Private J Sykes

9753 Private W J Tavener, 8246 Private C Taylor, 8558 Private F Taylor, 10817 Corporal G Taylor, 14177 Private G H Taylor, 13978 Private J Thomas, Private T W Thomas, 9935 Sergeant W C Thompson, 11036 Private W Towler, 8032 Private D Trail, 9704 Private S Treverton, 10155 Private D Tyler, 14076 Private W J H Tyler

9864 Drummer H Underhill, 8211 Private A Underwood

10495 Private R Vaughan, 11238 Private J Veal

10602 Private E Wakeford, 8720 Private A Wakeling, 13061 Lance-Corporal F Wakeling,
11694 Private A Wallace, 10721 Lance-Corporal B O Wallace, 9045 Private F J Wallace,
L/8306 Private H Wallace, L/14344 Private A J Warner, 6010 Private W Warr, 8983 Private J H Warwick, 9401 Private A E Webber, 11991 Lance-Corporal S W Weight, 10715 Lance-Corporal E A Welch, L/8851 Private C E Welsh, 9561 Private F G West, 14484 Private J West, 13906 Private S A Westall, 8593 Private W R Westlake, 8822 Private C A Wheatley, 8156 Private H E Wheatley, 14655 Private C Wheeler, 10822 Private F W Whiffen, 10419 Private C H Whitbread, 8562 Private A White, L/9934 Private Harry White,
7649 Sergeant R C Whiting, L/14233 Private Frederick W W Whittington, 6056 Sergeant H Wilmer, 8895 Lance-Corporal F Wilson, 12873 Lance-Sergeant J Wilson, 11014 Private W Winn, 7391 Private W Winterbourne, 11509 Lance-Corporal F S Wise, 10667 Private E C Wood, 14687 Private A E Woods

L/9592 Private A Yardley, L/6908 Private W Young

For help with your own regimental numbering or military research conundrums, check out my military research service.

Charles Naish - a numbering oddity explained

On the face of it, Charles Naish's medal index card (below) is fairly easy to read. It shows service with a Territorial Force (TF) battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and an original number 160, later 202642. Charles served overseas from 12th March 1915 and was therefore entitled to a WW1 trio. The pencil-written number 57 in the top left hand corner is a throwback to the time, pre July 1881, when the Middlesex Regiment was the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot.

Hold on a minute though. His original TF number indicates very early entry into this battalion. In fact, he was probably a member of the Volunteer Force who, on the demise of the VF, joined the TF.  Why then is his second, six-digit number, so high?

Readers of this blog will hopefully have picked up that in general, when these five and six digit numbers were issued to men of the TF in 1917, the lowest number of the new series was issued to the longest serving man in the battalion; the second lowest number to the next longest serving man, and so on. There were exceptions, but as a rule, this logic was fairly consistently applied. These new numbers were issued to men who were still "on the books" of the relevant TF unit which meant, inevitably, that some numbers were issued to men who were missing in action but not confirmed, or officially presumed, to have been killed in action.

Charles Naish's number, 202642, belongs to the series which was issued to the 7th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, a series which started at 200001 and extended to 240000. 202642 implies that there were 2,641 men who had been issued numbers before Charles, and yet he was an old soldier. What's going on?

Fortunately, Charles Naish has a surviving service record which explains everything. He was indeed an old soldier who had served with the 1st Volunteer Battalion since 1903. He enlisted with the 7th Middlesex on the 2nd April 1908 for a period of four years and then re-engaged for one year annually thereafter. Re-engaging for one year in April 1914 he could have had no idea that Britain would be at war within four months, and had probably overlooked that crucial clause 15d. on his original E.502 attestation which stated:

"... if your term of service expires when a proclamation ordering the Army Reserve to be called out on permanent service is in force, you may be required to prolong your service for a further period not exceeding 12 months."

So Charles went to France with the 7th Middlesex Regiment in March 1915 and remained with the battalion until he was discharged as a time-expired Territorial in April 1916, having served an additional twelve months. By then of course, conscription had been in force for a month and it wasn't long before Charles was back with his old battalion. In fact he joined the 7th Middlesex again at Purfleet in July 1916. By this time, regimental numbers being issued to men in this battalion were in the early 7000s and Charles was given the new number 7010. It doesn't appear on his medal index card because by the time he went overseas, the new six-digit number series had come into force and he landed in France as 202642.

I am pleased to say that Charles Ernest Naish survived the war as a high ranking NCO. I hope his service, illustrated above, could be a useful test case in solving similar numbering conundrums.

The posts on my Army Service Numbers blog are intended to assist today's researchers and family historians in piecing together service histories of their military ancestors. I also offer a British Military History research service. Click on the link for further information.

Images:7th Middlesex marching through Sittingbourne in 1914 courtesy of Sittingbourne Heritage Museum. Medal index card courtesy of Ancestry.

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

Middlesex Regiment - Football Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers allocated to the 17th (Service) and 23rd (Service) Battalions of the Middlesex Regiment; also known as the 1st Football and 2nd Football Battalions.

Last week I picked up a copy of When the Whistle Blows: The Story of the Footballers' Battalion in the Great War and I have been reading about the formation of the 17th Middlesex, and the initial difficulties - as can be seen from the numbers below - in actually getting enough men to join up.

Service records for all of these numbers survive in the WO 363 (Burnt Documents) and WO 364 (Pensions) series at the National Archives in Kew, London. They can also be viewed on-line via Ancestry.co.uk which is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial.

Here then, is a sample selection of numbers for the two Footballers' battalions. All numbers were prefixed with the letter F/.

F/13 joined on 22nd December 1914
F/81 joined on 14th January 1915
F/507 joined on 2nd February 1915
F/973 joined on 4th March 1915
F/1264 joined on 10th April 1915
F/1497 joined on 10th May 1915
F/1626 joined on 14th June 1915

The last number I have for the 17th Middlesex is F/1635 which was issued to a man joining on the 29th June 1915. F/1649 was allocated to a man joining the 23rd (2nd Football) Battalion on the 12th July 1915, and the following numbers are all 23rd Battalion issues:

F/1716 joined on 5th August 1915
F/1876 joined on 11th September 1915
F/1987 joined on 6th October 1915
F/2228 joined on 1st November 1915
F/2779 joined on 3rd January 1916

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



British Military History Bookshop

Click the link above to see Middlesex Regiment related literature.

The cartoon on this post originally appeared in Punch on 29th September 1915, and also appears on the Spartacus Educational site which is where I have borrowed the image from.