Royal Engineers - Other Rank PoWs 1914

There are 84 men on this list of men from the Royal Engineers who were captured by the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. This data has been transcribed from the  following Imperial War Museum collections:

B.O.2 1/179 is a 4-page typed list of Royal Engineers who were PoWs prior to 25th December 1914.  List sent by captain for colonel in charge of Infantry Records, Chatham, 11th January 1919
B.O.2 1/180 is a 3-page typed list of Royal Engineers who were PoWs prior to 25th December 1914.  List sent by the Royal Engineers Prisoners of War Committee, Brompton Barracks, Chatham on 20th December 1918

My full transcription of these men (not reproduced here) also contains the home address and/or next of kin address of all of the men. 

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


For more information about these so-called 'Princess Mary tin PoWs' see my 1914 PoWs page. The majority of these men will also have records published by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Searching is free; finding your man is another matter entirely.

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24530 Lance-Corporal J Atkins

14864 Sapper J R Barber, 24601 Lance-Corporal F J Baxter, 28065 Corporal A O Balfour, 9360 Sapper P Bishop, 16564 Sapper A R Blakemore, 16672 Sapper F Bone, 28033 Corporal G V Boys, 24160 Pioneer M Brady, 12439 Sergeant B Brown, 18535 Driver T Butcher, 18715 Sergeant A Butler, 10519 Sapper J J Butler

20903 Sapper L C Canham, 14070 Sapper P Carr , 24745 Pioneer F R Carter, 5837 Sapper Cheeseman, 17225 Lance-Corporal S Clark, 11760 Sapper F Coleman, 20988 Driver J H Cook

27097 Sapper A J David, 28687 CSM J Dennis, 15888 Sapper M Doyle

25355 Pioneer L Elsmore

23546 Sapper F Fiddler, 14619 Sapper H Foster, 25205 Pioneer P Freeman

27864 Corporal A Gilford, 20426 Sapper G R Green

10225 Sapper A J Hammond, 23668 Sapper George F Hargreaves, 16499 Sapper W Harrington, 9032 Sapper R Hobbs, 28077 Corporal W P B Hollis, 23194 Sergeant A Holmes, 25051 Pioneer L C Hosken, 15982 Driver J W Howarth, 28220 Corporal D Humphreys

27856 Corporal F J Jackson, 21006 Pioneer A Johnson

24234 Driver F Kendall

28017 M C Cpl D J Leather, 15006 Sapper J List, 19232 Driver John B Livett

17115 Sapper E Mabley, 17643 Sapper R J Manwaring, 24636 Sapper S J Martin, 27853 Corporal H P Matthews, 23182 Pioneer A Maund, 15450 Sapper H G Mclachlan, 1751 Sergeant W Miles, 24566 Pioneer J Mills, 24521 Sapper W Moses, 21842 Sapper F C Motham, 9108 Sapper J Murphy, 27073 Sapper L Murphy

3968 Lance-Corporal G A Nash, 24894 Pioneer Christopher Norton, 20286 Sapper W H Patman, 29631 Sergeant E C G Pearcey, 16620 Sapper R M Phillips, 16024 Driver D J Prater

18955 Sapper George S Rice, 17566 Sapper C Ryan

23306 Sergeant C Schulze, 24850 Pioneer A V E Smith, 24786 Pioneer G Smith, 26596 Sapper J A H Smith, 1611 Sapper T E Smith, 28107 Corporal R Steele, 9421 2nd Corporal R H Stone, 26533 Pioneer H L Style, 24355 2nd Corporal E W Swayne

505 Sergeant Frederick John Taylor, 26537 Pioneer H E Tilley, 16770 Sapper A B Trenouth, 14090 E T Troke

22514 Sapper W J Watson, 17776 Sapper E E Weeks, 23489 Sapper S T Wesson, 15647 Sapper A Womack, 17467 Sapper R Woodhead, 18673 Sapper E W Wrighton

24527 Pioneer J Young

'A' Special Company, 1st Battalion, Special Brigade, Royal Engineers

This photograph was taken in France in August 1916 and shows men of 'A' Special Company, 1st Battalion, Special Brigade, Royal Engineers; a gas company. All of these men had transferred into the Royal Engineers from infantry battalions and the man I was researching is Samuel Athron who stands on the back row, far left.

Helpfully, Samuel had identified the forenames of eight of his companions, with the missing man - Larrat Sarcan, back row, far right - identified on the reverse.

Using Samuel Athron's new regimental number as the starting point, and running some simple searches on my British Army Ancestors website, I was quickly able to identify ALL of his companions in this photograph. I started with the uncommon names like Stronach, Sarcan and Walby and, identifying a pattern with the first three digits of the Royal Engineers numbers, plus the prior service with infantry units, quickly mapped out more details. Here are the men:

128749 2nd Cpl Samuel Athron; formerly 21844 York & Lancaster Regiment

128748 Pioneer Horace R Webster; formerly 24053 York & Lancaster Regiment

128729 Pioneer Arthur Hudson; formerly 24043 York & Lancaster Regiment

128336 Pioneer John A Murray; formerly 24391 Worcestershire Regiment

129349 Pioneer Larrat W Sarcan; formerly 22240 York & Lancaster Regiment

129599 Sgt John Stronach; formerly 1411 Gordon Highlanders

128747 Pioneer Harold F Walby; formerly 24056 York & Lancaster Regiment

128574 Pioneer Peter Makin; formerly 26946 KOYLI 

129073 2nd Cpl Gladstone Stoker; formerly 27677 Northumberland Fusiliers

128742 Pioneer Leonard Smalley; formerly 24047 York & Lancaster Regiment

Arthur Hudson and John Stronach both have surviving service records. Note too that the majority of the men have connections with northern regiments, with 60% of this small sample having formerly served with the York & Lancaster Regiment. 

The Special Cylinder Companies of the Royal Engineers were formed as part of the British Army's response to the German gas attacks of 1915 and there are distinct patterns of regimental numbering within these companies. In other words, it is mostly possible to identify the particular gas company that a man served with, from his regimental number.

A fascinating photo, courtesy of Samuel's son, David Athron, and a nice research project to work on. I am particularly pleased that I was able to identify all of the men in this photo and I have added their individual head and shoulders shots to the British Army Ancestors gallery.

I research soldiers!

Contact me if you need help.

Royal Engineers - Dorsetshire Fortress Company 1908-1914

Here's a taster from my Royal Engineers' database, a corps I've largely, and inadvertently, neglected on this blog due to concentrating on infantry and cavalry.

The Dorsetshire Fortress Company was tiny. Formed in 1908 it consisted of a single Territorial Force Electric Lights Company and was administered by the Dorsetshire County Association. Writing in 1909, Walter Richards, in His Majesty's Territorial Army, wrote of the Dorsetshire Fortress Company:

"It may claim a distinguished place amongst the corps called into existence by the Territorial Forces Act, having since May 1909 its strength up to establishment, 137 of all ranks and... possessing the complete equipment prescribed by regulation."

My database notes that 132 Robert Long joined on 25th May 1909 and 138 Charles Derrick joined on 25th June 1909. Thus number 137, referred to by Walter Richards must have joined a good three weeks before Charles Derrick who presumably had to wait until someone left the unit before he could attest as number 138.

Here are some regimental numbers and attestation dates for the Dorsetshire Fortress Company between 1908 and October 1914. Six digit numbers from the number block 516001 to 518000 which were issued in 1917 are also noted. The lowest six digit number was given to the longest serving man, the second lowest six digit number to the next longest serving man, and so on.

68 / 516007 issued on 30th November 1908
138 / 516013 issued on 25th June 1909
154 / 516017 issued on 7th November 1910
194 / 516021 issued on 17th August 1911
203 / 516034 issued on 4th July 1912
241 / 516052 issued on 23rd May 1913

By 1914 the Company was headquartered at Sidney Hall, Weymouth, with a drill station at Portland and formed part of the Southern Coast Defences.

516061 issued on 9th April 1914
286 / 516065 issued on 5th August 1914
297 / 516074 issued on 28th September 1914
328 / 516097 issued on 1st October 1914

This is my last post on this blog this year. My thanks to everyone who has visited these pages over the past year, a year of particular significance to those of us who hold dear the memory of the 1914-18 generation. My thanks too for visitors to this blog who have subsequently commissioned research. I look forward to undertaking more projects in 2015.

Royal Engineers 108*

I received an email from someone who had read my recent post on the Royal Engineers and was enquiring about their own relative who joined the Royal Engineers and was given the number 10822. When did he join?

With all of the regiments and battalions I've covered - and have yet to cover - there is, or can be, a difference between the date a man attested and the date his attestation was approved and he was issued with a number.

Here is a sample of Royal Engineers attestations for men with five figure numbers beginning 108**. All of these records survive in WO 97, now published online here: British Army Service Records 1760-1915.

10805 attested [Chatham - 7&5] on 17th March 1902.
10807 attested [Warrington - 7&5] on 5th March 1902.
10810 attested [Reading - 7&5] on 14th March 1902.



10813 attested [Manchester - 7&5] on 15th March .
10826 attested [Bury St Edmunds - 7&5] on 19th March 1902.
10827 attested [Barrow - 3&9] on 17th March 1902.
10828 attested [Reading - 7&5] on 20th March 1902.
10829 attested [London - 7&5] on 19th March 1902.
10848 attested [Lurgan - 7&5] on 18th March 1902.
10852 attested [Hamilton - 7&5] on 31st March 1902.
10853 attested [Lurgan - 7&5] on 20th March 1902.
10854 attested [Manchester - 7&5] on 26th March 1902.
10856 attested [Newcastle-on-Tyne - 7&5] on 29th March 1902.
10865 attested [Helston - 3&9] on 1st April 1902.
10868 attested [Accrington - 3&9] on 2nd April 1902.
10879 attested [London - 3&9] on 3rd April 1902.
10883 attested [Worcester - 3&9] on 7th April 1902.
10884 attested [London - 7&5] on 16th April 1901.
10888 attested [Wexford - 3&9] on 1st April 1902.
10893 attested [Southampton - 3&9] on 7th April 1902.

So quite a variation in dates here. They're all March or April 1902 but the dates are only roughly sequential. The main exception here is 10884 who attested on the 16th April 1901 and who deserted the following day. So why does this 1901 attestation have a number which wasn't being issued until a year later? The answer lies in the date that the men's attestations were approved.

Here is that same list of numbers, this time with the approval dates instead of the attestation dates:

10805 approved 17th March 1902
10807 approved 17th March, 8/40 Reg District
10810 approved 19th March, 2nd Reg District
10813 approved 19th March
10826 approved 20th March, 12th Reg District
10827 approved 20th March
10828 approved 21st March, 49th Reg District
10829 approved 23rd March
10848 approved 27th March, 87th Reg District
10852 approved 31st March, 26th Reg District
10853 approved 29th March, 87th Reg District
10854 approved 29th March
10856 approved 2nd April, 5/68th Reg District
10865 approved 3rd April, 32nd Reg District
10868 approved 3rd April, 4th Reg District
10879 approved 8th April
10883 approved 8th April, 29th Reg District
10884 [finally] approved 9th April
10888 approved 13th April, 18th Reg District
10893 approved 8th April

Number 10893 is still slightly awry here, but the approval date; the date on which the man was appointed to his regiment, in this case The Royal Engineers, is the date which triggers the issue of the regimental number. And if you look at the small extract I've taken from the attestation paper of number 10810, you'll see that the number is written in a different hand, and a different ink from the other information on that first page of the attestation. The man's details would be filled out at the point of attestation - his age, address, trade etc - and the number comes after the attestation has been approved.

So to go back to my questioner and his relative who had the number 10822, my guess would be that he attested - presented himself before the recruiting staff - probably between the 15th and 19th March 1902, and was approved on the 19th or 20th March.

As for our 1901 attestation who deserted on the 17th April 1901, he forfeited 324 days' pay before being returned to duty on the 7th March 1902 and finally had his attestation approved on the 9th April that year. He was discharged at Chatham less than a month later as "not likely to become an efficient soldier".

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

Royal Engineers 1881-1914

This post will look at numbering in the Corps of Engineers, regular enlistments only, between 1881 and 1914. With such a huge corps, any study of numbering such as this can only provide a brief snapshot. Nevertheless, this may prove of some assistance in helping to narrow down enlistment dates for numbers covered within this vast range.

The Corps of Royal Engineers was formed in 1856 from the Royal Engineers and the Royal Sappers and Miners. Typical terms of enlistment for the regiment changed over the years.

The information on this post has been compiled as a result of examining service records in WO 97 (online with Findmypast) and WO 363 and WO 364 (online with Ancestry). Note that Findmypast has also indexed WO 363/4 (and uncovered an additional half a million names).
  Establishment information from Scarlet into Khaki by Lt-Col James Moncrieff Grierson (Greenhill Books 1988).

16995 joined on 2nd May 1881
17483 joined on 13th June 1882
17625 joined on 4th October 1883
18971 joined on 27th May 1884
19753 joined on 9th April 1885
20829 joined on 3rd March 1886
22091 joined on 19th September 1887
23152 joined on 25th September 1888
23596 joined on 1st February 1889
24832 joined on 12th May 1890
26081 joined on 12th September 1891
26307 joined on 22nd January 1892
27354 joined on 7th February 1893
28032 joined on 23rd February 1894
28773 joined on 1st January 1895
29999 joined on 25th February 1896

A new number series commences:
1 joined on 31st March 1896
3 joined on 7th April 1896
4 joined on 8th April 1896
601 joined on 8th January 1897
800 joined on 6th May 1897
1007 joined on 30th June 1897
1641 joined on 17th February 1898

Peace-time Establishment in 1899

1. One Pontoon or Bridging battalion consisting of two companies comprised of a total of 199 officers and men and 64 saddlehorses and draught horses.
2. One Telegraph battalion consisting of two sections: one at Aldershot traiuned exclusivley for service in the field, the other in the south of England employed for telegraphic service in the country.
3. One Mounted Detachment Field Depot quartered at Aldershot to train drivers for the field companies. Comprised of 115 officers and men and 33 horses.
4. Two Field Parks comprised in total of 33 NCOs and men and 21 horses.
5. One Balloon section at Aldershot comprised of two officers and 40 NCOs and men.
6. Eight Field Companies (Nos, 7, 11, 12, 17, 23, 26, 37, 38. Four Field Companies were on the higher Establishment and four on the lower. Of the higher companies, two were at Aldershot, one at Chatham and one at the Curragh Camp in Ireland. Of the lower companies, two were at Aldershot, and one each at Shornecliffe and the Curragh. Higher establishment companies each consisted of three officers, 182 NCOs and men and 26 horses. Lower establishment companies each consisted of three officers, 95 men and 21 horses.
7. Eighteen Fortress Companies (Nos 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 15, 18, 20, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 36, 41, 42 and 43). Each company consisted of three officers and 92 or 93 NCOs and men.
8. Two Railway Companies: one at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, one near Chatham, each consisting of two officers and 65 men.
9. Twelve Submarine Mining Companies (Nos 4, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40 and M). Companies 4, 30 and M were stationed at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham respectively and comprised 510 NCOs and men in total. These three companies were known as the "central companies", training recruits for the submarine mining companies and operating electric search lights in the naval ports. The other nine companies were stationed at different fortified naval ports and comprised between 44 and 65 men. Each submarine company was commanded by three officers.
10. One Coast battalion organised into 11 sections and comprised of 14 officers and 190 men stationed at those ports which only had militia or volunteer submarine mining sections.
11. Four Survey Companies (Nos 13, 14, 16 and 19) comprised of 24 officers and 454 NCOs and men.
12. Eight Depot Companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and N) garrisoned at Chatham and comprising 20 officers and 818 NCOs and men.

War-time establishment in 1899

In times of war, a field company of engineers (197 officers and men) was added to every Division of infantry. A mounted detachment (116 officers and men) was added to every cavalry division. In addition, to every army corps, as Corps Engineers, was added a field company (197 officers and men), a pontoon company (200 officers and men), a staff and four sections of the telegraph battalion (226 officers and men), a field park (43 officers and men), a railway company (147 officers and men) and a balloon section (48 officers and men).

2631 joined on 2nd January 1899
4319 joined on 6th February 1900
7679 joined on 6th February 1901
9788 joined on 3rd January 1902
12142 joined on 8th January 1903
13806 joined on 17th May 1904
15623 joined on 22nd March 1906
16173 joined on 16th February 1907
17948 joined on 24th September 1908
18313 joined on 12th January 1909
19801 joined on 25th January 1910
21130 joined on 2nd February 1911
22616 joined on 2nd March 1912
24416 joined on 12th April 1913
25895 joined on 15th January 1914

For a good summary of the Royal Engineers during the First World War, see The Royal Engineers on The Long, Long Trail website.

Also see my post on a range of Royal Engineers numbers: Royal Engineers 108**.

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

Understanding army service numbers

The images reproduced on this post are both Crown Copyright, but I show them here to illustrate one man's war service and the allocation of army service numbers. Click on them both for larger views.

Claudius Beavins attested under the Derby Scheme on 11th December 1915. He was called up for service on the 26th April 1916 and posted to the 3/6th London Regiment the following day. It was at this point that he would have been issued with his first number, 5389.

On the 18th August 1916 he was transferred to the reserve battalion of the 23rd London Regiment; ie the 2/23rd Londons. At this point in time he would have been issued his second army service number, 6788.

Claudius was posted to the 1/23rd Londons on 3rd December 1916 (no change of number here) and was still serving with this battalion when the Territorial Force was renumbered in 1917. He was given the new number, 703068.

On 14th April 1917, he was transferred for a second time, this time to the 13th Londons. His number, 505004, falls within a separate series of numbers issued to 23rd London men transferring to the Kensingtons. (There were also transfers from other London Regiment battalions and other regiments for that matter who received a six digit number within the 505*** range).

It is worth pointing out that at the time Claudius was transferred, in France, to the 13th Londons, the battalion was issuing six digit numbers in England in the 494*** range. The 505*** range therefore illustrates the point I have made on several posts that it is wrong to assume that numbers were always issued sequentially. They weren't.

Claudius transferred for a final time, to the Royal Engineers, on 14th June 1918. He was issued a new number, 361118. He survived the war. Interestingly, his medal index card mixes the order of his numbers up somewhat. As I have explained, 5389 was the first number he was issued with, not 6788.

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