Northamptonshire Regiment - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The following men were all serving with The Northamptonshire Regiment, when they became prisoners of war of the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. There are 61 names in this list.  Read more about this Prisoner of War data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

This data has been transcribed from the following source which is now housed at the Imperial War Museum:

1. B.O.2 1/195. A five-page undated typed list, sender unknown. 

My full transcription of this Northamptonshire Regiment Prisoners of War roll call of other ranks (not reproduced here) also contains the date of capture, home address and whether or not the man had been repatriated as a prisoner of war at the date on which this list was compiled.

The full transcription is available for sale as a download or CD for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

9724 Private Henry Allen
3/8776 Private Arthur Ball
7331 Private Fred J Bannister
7991 Private Edward Barton
9673 Private Harold Beeby
7214 Private William George Bennett
3/10110 Private James Biddle
9655 Private Percy Bradley
3/10004 Private Charles Carter
7554 Private George Cave
7114 Private John Chinnery
7076 Private Harry Clarke
7272 Private John Dixon
7622 Private John T England
3/9593 Private George Fielding
7644 Private George H Finch
7703 Private George Foster
3/9989 Private Arthur Franklin
3/9979 Private Thomas Frisby
7172 Private William Fuller
6908 Sergeant Frederick Gayton
3/10071 Private Harry Greystone
8464 Private Frederick Humphreys
7643 Private Robert Ireland
9693 Private George Jacob
7271 Private John W Johnson
7439 Lance-Corporal Henry T Last
6238 Sergeant George Albert Lines
7414 Private Harry Lowe
9770 Private Albert Mitchell
3/10079 Private Harry Mitchell
3/10259 Private Reginald Morrall
9868 Private Arthur Munton
5621 Corporal Richard Murphy
3/9075 Private Thomas Orton
7517 Private Ralph Paxton
7233 Private John Pescow
6961 Private Sidney Pratt
8089 Private Thomas Pugh
3/10167 Private Frederick Robbins
3/9999 Private Eric Rose
7484 Private William Sargent
9801 Private Frank Smale
7564 Private John Smedley
3/9980 Private Ernest Smith
7296 Private Harry Smith
7670 Corporal Thomas Stock
3/10972 Private George Taylor
9696 Private William Thomas
7530 Private George S Tinkler
7992 Lance-Corporal Frederick Varley
3/10788 Private George Watts
3/9538 Private George Webb
3/9929 Private William Welby
9702 Private Harry Wesley
3/9491 Lance-Corporal Horace Whitewell
3/9447 Private Herbert Whiting
7757 Private Robert Wiggins
9501 Private Ernest E Wood
9646 Private Walter Wood
7083 Private Thomas Woods

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Northamptonshire Regiment - 4th Battalion

This post will look at numbering in the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion of The Northamptonshire Regiment between 1908 and 1916. It is respectfully dedicated to the two officers and 88 other ranks who died as a result of operations on Gallipoli.

The 4th Northants Regiment was formed on the 1st April 1908, its initial composition largely drawn from men who had previously served with the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. There seems to have been an enthusiastic take-up in Northamptonshire with close to a thousand men joining the battalion by the end of that year. Numbering began at 1 in 1908.

73 joined on 8th April 1908
1045 joined on 17th February 1909
1339 joined on 16th February 1910
1478 joined on 24th January 1911
1670 joined on 31st January 1912
1889 joined on 21st January 1913
2276 joined on 5th August 1914
2407 joined on 10th September 1914
2618 joined on 1st October 1914
3215 joined on 10th November 1914

A reserve battalion was formed at Northampton on the 27th November and this became the 2/4th Battalion whilst the original 4th Battalion now became the 1/4th.

3684 joined on 14th December 1914

As well as recruits into the 2/4th Battalion, I have men in my Northants database who were also signing up for service with supernumerary companies. These men were also numbered in the same number series as the regular TF recruits, albeit their four digit numbers were converted to five digit numbers in 1915 by prefixing their original numbers with a 2. So for instance, 3893 George Gossage who joined on the 2nd March 1915, was later re-numbered 23893.

3761 joined on 5th January 1915
3851 joined on 8th February 1915

A second reserve battalion - designated the 3/4th Battalion - was formed at Northampton on the 12th February 1915.

3908 joined on 15th March 1915
4005 joined on 16th April 1915
4135 joined on 3rd May 1915
4369 joined on 7th June 1915
4475 joined on 2th July 1915
4531 joined on 7th August 1915
4712 joined on 10th September 1915
4762 joined on 8th October 1915
4917 joined on 8th November 1915
5059 joined on 2nd December 1915
5275 joined on 28th January 1916
5341 joined on 8th February 1916
5463 joined on 3rd March 1916
5473 joined on 4th April 1916
6210 joined on 24th June 1916
6549 joined on 3rd July 1916
6994 joined on 29th September 1916
7319 joined on 14th November 1916

A word of warning. Whilst the numbers presented here run in a sequential order, there are gaps and it is quite possible that blocks of numbers within this sequence of 7000 numbers were taken out of sequence and issued overseas to men transferring in from other regiments.

All of the number / enlistment date information above has come about as a result of trawling through service records, pension records and medal index cards. These can be viewed at the National Archives or accessed on line via Ancestry.co.uk. Other acknowledgements due on this post are to The Long, Long Trail website for information regarding the formation of the second and third line battalions, and to Martin Kender whose correspondence suggested this post.

The photo of the young second lieutenant on this post comes courtesy of Martin Kender and shows Alban Goderick Arthur Hodges photographed in 1915 shortly before his departure for Gallipoli. He was born in 1893 and happily survived the war and a good many years after that. His medal index card notes that he arrived overseas as a lieutenant with the Northants Regiment in August 1915 and later transferred to the RAF. He received the 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory Medals and silver war badge. The latter was sent to him at 10 St Barnabas Street, London SW1.

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

Northamptonshire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which these were issued to men joining the regular (1st and 2nd) Battalions of the Northamptonshire Regiment between 1882 and July 1914.

The Northamptonshire Regiment was formed in July 1881 out of the old 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot (which became the 1st Battalion), and the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot (which became the 2nd Battalion).

There are over 35,000 Northamptonshire Regiment 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 Northamptonshire 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.

150 joined on 4th April 1882
580 joined on 14th August 1883
932 joined on 1st June 1884
1314 joined on 24th May 1885
1660 joined on 1st May 1886
1952 joined on 5th June 1887
2132 joined on 19th January 1888
2415 joined on 9th March 1889
2631 joined on 23rd January 1890
3059 joined on 5th April 1891
3676 joined on 11th January 1892
3976 joined on 19th July 1893
4309 joined on 5th April 1894
4524 joined on 10th January 1895
4842 joined on 23rd March 1896
5228 joined on 7th August 1897
5370 joined on 6th January 1898
5902 joined on 10th August 1899
6053 joined on 2nd January 1900
6313 joined on 28th January 1901
6556 joined on 24th March 1902
6828 joined on 7th January 1903
7504 joined on 8th August 1904
7759 joined on 7th September 1905
7971 joined on 21st April 1906
833o joined on 1st January 1907
8672 joined on 6th February 1908
8927 joined on 21st January 1909
9084 joined on 5th January 1910
9279 joined on 11th January 1911
9478 joined on 1st April 1912
9615 joined on 1st January 1913
9906 joined on 3rd July 1914

One month and one day later, Britain went to war with Germany, and when new Northamptonshire Regiment service battalions started forming shortly afterwards, they continued with the same number series above.

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

Northamptonshire Regiment titles fromThe Naval & Military Press



The Northamptonshire Regiment 1914-1918

This history is almost entirely taken up with the two regular battalions on the Western front, though there is a chapter on the 4th (TF) Battalion which fought at Gallipoli and in Palestine, and there are a few pages on the 5th, 6th and 7th (Service) Battalions, all three of which were also in France and Flanders. Of the six VCs awarded, four were won by the 6th Battalion, including an officer from the Bedfords and one from the ASC attached to the battalion, though in the latter case that is not made clear.

Fifty-eight battle honours were awarded and the book is dedicated to the six thousand and forty soldiers of all ranks who gave their lives. The 1st Battalion was among the first to go overseas, arriving in France on 13th August 1914 with 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. The first three chapters are devoted to the battalion and its actions at Mons, the retreat, the Marne, the Aisne and First Ypres. The 2nd Battalion was in Egypt when war broke out, came home and joined the newly formed 24th Brigade of the 8th Division, arriving in France in November 1914. Both battalions remained in the same brigades throughout the war, though for a period of nine months (October 1915-July 1916) the brigade was exchanged with the 70th Brigade of the 23rd Division.

The narrative contains plenty of descriptive detail about the fighting with officers casualties named and individuals acts of gallantry recorded. Appendices list the battle honours gained by the regiment and also the Honours and Awards, less the foreign ones. There is a good index. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.

Northamptonshire & The Great War 1914-1918


A thorough and well-illustrated account of the efforts of Northamptonshire Regiment servicemen during the Great War. The regiment was amongst the first in France with the BEF in 1914, taking part in the retreat from Mons and the first battle of Ypres. 1915 was a year of disasters with the Northamptons taking heavy casualties in the catastrophic attacks at Aubers Ridge and Loos and enduring what the book calls ‘a dreadful winter in the trenches’. Meanwhile the regiment’s reserve battalions were serving in the Middle East where they helped to drive the Turks from the Holy Land.

The Northamptons served on the Somme at Trones Wood and Thiepval, where they lost their Colonel; but took part in the final breaking of the HIndenburg Line in 1918. The book has additional chapters on the county’s Victoria Cross winners. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.