Royal Fusiliers - 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st (Public Schools) Battalions

It doesn't take a lot to sidetrack me. In this case, the distraction came about as a result of the most wonderful collection of photographs from the David Knights-Whittome photographic archive which has been published on flickr. Amongst the many portraits published are several hundred of soldiers who were photographed during the First World War, and of these the vast majority are of men who served with the Public Schools battalions of the Royal Fusiliers.

David Knights-Whittome had studios at Epsom and Sutton, and the 18th Royal Fusiliers, 19th Royal Fusiliers, 20th Royal Fusiliers and 21st Royal Fusiliers were all formed at Epsom on the 11th September 1914 by the Public Schools and University Men's Force. Unlike so many photographic portraits of the First World War, the majority of these images are named, the original glass plates having been stored in envelopes with the customers' names and date of studio visit recorded. For me, it's been a fascinating exercise trying to match up names to the men's medal index cards or service records. I've identified quite a few men already and I've been posting the results on my British Army Ancestors website.

The regimental numbering of these battalions is far from simple and does not reflect when a man joined up. What happened with these men is that having enlisted with the regiment they were then grouped alphabetically and then issued with their regimental numbers, all of these numbers prefixed with the letters PS/ for Public Schools. What follows should be taken as a rough guidance to regimental numbering in the four public schools battalions.

PS/1 to PS/1135
19th (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers; numbered alphabetically A-Z
PS/1136 to PS/1183 (and possibly to PS/1188)
19th Battalion, non-alphabetical
PS/1189 to PS/2281
18th (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, numbered alphabetically A-Z
PS/2282 to PS/2398
Mostly unknown, some 18th Battalion men
PS/2399 to PS/3419
21st (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, numbered alphabetically A-Z
PS/3421 to PS/3615
Mostly alphabetical,and mostly 19th Battalion (albeit note that I only have 19 identified men within this regimental number range)
PS/3617 to PS/3682
19th (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers; numbered alphabetically A-Z
PS/3689 to PS/3960
18th (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers; numbered alphabetically A-Z
PS/3977 to PS/4298
21st (Public Schools) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, numbered alphabetically A-Z
PS/4301 to PS/4363
Mostly 19th Battalion but with some 21st Battalion as well; non-alphabetical listing
PS/4368 to PS/5824
Mostly 20th Battalion, alphabetical (albeit note that I only have 466 identified men within this large regimental number range)
PS/5827 to PS/5997
Mostly alphabetical but a mix of battalions

From PS/5997 onwards, the alphabetical by surname sequencing disappears and the men join various battalions. 

There are large gaps in my data - which I have largely compiled from medal rolls - and many of these gaps are as a result of men being commissioned. It should be remembered that these men were drawn from universities and public schools and somewhat belatedly it was realised that many of them could more usefully serve His Majesty's Army by becoming officers. Some men were commissioned having already done a stint overseas as other ranks in the Public Schools battalions but other men were pulled out of these battalions before they had ever set foot in France. That's one of the reasons that the Knights-Whittome archive is so fascinating because here, in many cases, are the only photos of soon-to-be officers, proudly posing in their privates' uniform.

There is still much more work for me to do on these Royal Fusiliers battalions, but it's an intriguing distraction from other projects.

The photo on this page is courtesy the David Knights-Whittome photographic archive and shows, left to right, Pte A Lancaster; PS/5756 Pte Thomas Thornber, 20th Battalion; currently unidentified.

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Royal Fusiliers - Other Rank PoWs 1914

This is an extract from a roll call of 247 men from the Royal Fusiliers who were said to have been captured on or before 25th December 1914.  You can read more about the source of this 1914 Prisoner of War roll on a new page I have created on this blog: 1914 PoWs. Amongst the Royal Fusiliers' Prisoners of War is a certain L/13814 Private Sidney F Godley (pictured above) who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action at Mons on the 23rd August 1914.

This list is almost certainly incomplete and in my experience does not, for instance, contain the names of those men who were captured and subsequently repatriated before the cessation of hostilities.  There are also some errors. For instance, the notation on the medal index card of MR/8108 Private C J Webb states "P. of W. 27/4/16" which is obviously a good deal later than the 25th December 1914 cut-off date.

Nevertheless, this list, and others like it which I will publish over the following days, represents a fascinating snapshot of the regular army in 1914. Here we have a company's worth of trained soldiers taken out of action as a result of being captured by the enemy; men the British Army could ill-afford to lose.

The majority of the men on this list have the L/ prefix indicating regular soldiers, but there are also a number of men with the SR/ prefix indicating that they were Special Reservists. Godley's number indicates that he enlisted in December 1909 but there are many men who are considerably older hands. Corporal Arthurs, for instance, originally enlisted in 1898.  With the exception of L/10809 Private F J Taylor who was a 1st Battalion man, all of the men listed below were serving with the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers at the time of their capture. Any errors in transcription from the original badly faded documents are entirely my own.

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

SR/1116 Private A Atkinson, L/6163 Corporal R Arthurs, L/7246 Private F Attewell,  L/8545 Private John Anderson, L/15520 Private Herbert J Adams.

SR/477 Private Frederick Bentley, Private Beaumont, L/6920 Private Albert H Bevans, L/7546 Private Thomas G Butler, L/9210 Sergeant J W Burrill, L/9328 Lance-Corporal W H Brewer, L/9407 Private A Brown, L/10040 Private W Bates, L/10202 Private William Bear, L/10204 Private J Bramley, L/10597 Private G A Beyer, L/10911 Lance-Corporal William Brandon, L/8567 Lance-Corporal Leonard M Brunt, L/11569 Private R Barker, L/12069 Lance-Corporal R Bowrie, L/12165 Private Alfred Basterfield, L/12884 Sergeant Albert H Burgess, L/12927 Lance-Corporal W S Batt, L/12953 Private W A Burrows, L/13151 Private J Bull, L/13268 Private Albert H Brown, L/14490 Private Albert V Barker, L/14523 Lance-Corporal W Boardman, L/14796 Private W Barrett, L/14891 Private R Barnard, L/15573 Private S G Bunce, L/15242 Private W Branscombe, L/15549 Private J Branston, L/16108 Private C A Bolton, L/6913 Private A Blandford, SR/579 Private Charles Burkinshaw, L/11151 Private W Bristow, L/7951 Sergeant J T H Bord.

SR/1297 Private George Chapman, L/8525 Private J J Collins, L/9608 Private A W Clack, L/9627 Private A Chopping, L/10367 Private Richard W Calvert, L/10397 Private Norman S Campbell, L/10431 Private F E Curtis, L/10840 Private W Cook, L/10910 Private Herbert H Chitty, L/11121 Private William Clarke, L/11326 Private John Connor, L/11582 Lance-Corporal Benjamin W Cox, L/1591 Private Frederick J Cockerill, L/11768 Private Thomas G Catley, L/12254 Corporal Lewis Christie, L/12835 Private George A Clifford, L/13035 Private [Unclear], L/15172 Lance-Corporal James H Cuffley, L/15384 Private John Crawley, L/15406 Private Alfred Cockman, L/15938 Private Albert James Cole.

 
SR/878 Private Edward N Denney, SR/1882 Private H Dalton, L/7883 Private George Demant, L/8327 Private Ernest E Dunsdon, L/10089 Private Walter Dye, L/10122 Private H E Day, L/11502 Sergeant Charles H Duller, L/11527 Private John Desmond, L/12503 Private William Dixon, L/15428 Private Michael Davis, L/15435 Private Horace Drury.

 
L/7387 Private Charles F Evans, L/12093 Private George Egan, L/12999 Private W Elvin, L/13316 Private Philip H Earl, L/14265 Private W C W Elliott, L/14860 Private W Everitt, L/15823 Private A H G Eaglis.

 
SR/247 Private A R Fretton, SR/1033 Private W T Field, L/10266 Private C Francis, L/10640 Acting Sergeant W F Freeman, L/10655 Private H J Francis, L/15660 Private W Freeman.

 
L/7344 Private Thomas P Glover, L/9901 Private G Glanfield, L/10053 Private J Green, L/11394 Private E Grubb, L/11414 Private L Gose, L/13125 Private Reuben T Green, L/13814 Private Sidney F Godley, L/14364 Private George Gore, L/15113 Private Cornelius Guince, L/15153 Private J W Gorst, L/16429 Private A Gardner, L/10208 Private T Gain.

 
SR/551 Private Samuel Haggar, SR/732 Private T Hollis, L/8244 Sergeant F E Haylock, L/9595 Private T J How, L/9647 Private H Hart, L/10262 Private W H Hopgood, L/10326 Private Robert R Hatchett, L/10495 Private Harry A Hutchings, L/10874 Private Alfred Holt, L/11172 Private William H Hatcher, L/11426 Private John Howard, L/12094 Private Elton Hampshier, L/13698 Lance-Sergeant Leslie B Hall, L/14024 Private Patrick Hussey, L/14631 Corporal W Howe, L/14645 Private H H Hewitt, L/14925 Private Edward Honeyman, L/15146 Corporal Robert S L Hughes, L/15359 Private Victor Higgins, L/15577 Private Thomas Hayes, L/15705 Private W C Hutt, L/15913 Private Leonard C Hale.

 
L/8676 Lance-Corporal Samuel Ing

SR/1537 Private H Johnson, L/6370 Private D R Jenkins,  L/10056 Private Harold Johnson, L/11105 Private T H Jones, L/12824 Private Frederick Jones, L/14928 Private Frederick Johnson, L/15667 Private H Johnson, L/15748 Private John H Jenkinson.

SR/1118 Private H Kelly, L/9927 Private H E Knight, L/11404 Private H Knowles, L/12997 Private C Keen.

SR/1125 Private J Lee, L/7238 Lance-Corporal J Langhorn, L/8125 Private F Locke, L/9738 Private R Lucas, L/9750 Private W H Lowe, L/11388 Private Charles A Lindley, L/11704 Private W London, L/11849 Private G H Lambert, L/15380 Private W Lawrence, L/16202 Private W Lomas  

L/8485 Private Ernest Locke (pictured above as a PoW at Altdamm, with thanks to Maureen Locke for this photograph of her grandfather)

SR/722 Private J Moles, SR/7281 Private Benjamin J Manser, SR/1120 Private W E Miller, L/10135 Private R Meads, L/11327 Private C A Mills, L/11398 Private L C J Monkhouse, L/11728 Sergeant E J McQuinn, L/11831 Lance-Corporal H McClelland, L/12933 Private F W Moore, L/13786 Private G Miller, L/13888 Private F May, L/14027 Private Albert H Matthews, L/15364 Private A Marshall. 

L/10594 Private E Norton, L/11092 Private C Neal, L/12362 Private W R Neal, L/12622 Private W Napham. 

L/9727 Private F Oliphant

L/7436 Private L Parker, L/5826 Private A R Phillips, L/7269 Private A Payne, L/7528 Private W T Preece, L/7754 Private Pillinger, L/8556 Private George Powell, L/8709 Private Joseph Parsons, L/9152 Private George A Parrott, L/10032 Private Arnold G Pocock, L/10730 Private W A Parkinson, L/11108 Private John J Preston, L/11187 Private John Pamphlett, L/11193 Drummer John G Piner, L/11253 Private Charles E Prince, L/11595 Corporal George D Phillips, L/11943 Private Alfred Parker, L/12574 Private Thomas Paice, L/14081 Private S Pusey, L/14952 Corporal H Parmenter, L/16095 Private F A Princep, L/14970 Private E Phipps. 

SR/903 Private E Rogers, SR/1040 Private L Rogers, SR/1634 Private E Rose, SR/955 Corporal H Robinson, L/10316 Private George Ralph, L/10926 Private William D Robertson, L/11652 Sergeant W H Rayment, L/15150 Private Arthur J Roberts,  L/15181 Lance-Corporal George C Rowles, L/12306 Private Harry Richardson. 

L/6215 Drummer Andrew Sibley, L/7167 Private F C Scarbrook, L/9235 Private T Saunders, L/9441 Private Joseph F Smith, L/9694 Private Thomas F Scott, L/9724 Private Joseph E Stratton, L/9987 Private John Sullivan, L/10155 Private David Stevens, L/10589 Sergeant Benjamin Smith, L/10991 Private Edward J Stone, L/11288 Private George W Shorter, L/11318 Private George W Slade, L/11670 Lance-Corporal L Simpson, L/11740 Private John W Stevens, L/11905 Private [Unclear], L/12118 Private Harry Smith, L/12400 Lance-Corporal Victor G Sherlock, L/12662 Sergeant Herbert Sparling, L/12504 Private Robert B Sutherby, L/13487 Lance-Corporal Simpson, L/14049 Private G Sainty, L/14469 Private Charles Shaboe, L/15811 Private Edward W Searle, L/15820 Private Sidney G Stratford, L/6805 Sergeant H [Unclear]

L/10809 Private F J Taylor, L/7455 Private William J Turner, L/7502 Private H Turner, L/8661 Private F Thomas, L/9222 Private W Thomas, L/10413 Private William S Tennant, L/10818 Private W E Thorley, L/11117 Private Alfred H Todd, L/11235 Sergeant George Thompson, L/11921 Private George E Turner, L/12233 Private William T Tyler, L/12442 Private Thomas Edward Turvey, 

L/10737 Private Sidney Utting 

L/15684 Private Thomas Williamson, SR/1040 Private Richard Williams, L/1544 Private T Wiltshire, L/8069 Private Charles James West, MR/8108 Private C J Webb, L/8744 Private Timothy Walsh, L/9470 Sergeant Fara A Wood, L/9980 Private Ernest W Warren, L/10194 Private Charles Webb, L/10198 Private William E Ward, L/10516 Private H White, L/11070 Sergeant William Wallace, L/11071 Private Walter Wright, L/11451 Private Henry Watts, L/11500 Private George White, L/12274 Private Thomas Webb, L/13592 Private Woodley, L/15141 Private A Whitthread, L/15700 Private Edward Ward, L/15901 Private Ernest E Wells. 

Photo of Private Godley courtesy Wikipedia which references the photo as being part of an Imperial War Museums collection, reference Q80449.

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Royal Fusiliers - Regular Battalions

The Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment was formed on the 1st July 1881 from the 7th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot.  (The Derbyshire title, granted in 1782, was never used and in 1823 had been re-granted to the 95th Regiment). 

There are over 55,000 Royal Fusiliers 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.

The newly formed regiment was established as the city regiment for London and started numbering from 1 in 1881. 

14 joined on 3rd October 1881
335 joined on 9th June 1882
976 joined on 11th June 1883
1191 joined on 31st January 1884
1827 joined on 15th May 1885
2363 joined on 30th January 1886
2798 joined on 18th March 1887
3078 joined on 17th April 1888
3224 joined on 25th June 1889
3465 joined on 25th January 1890
3701 joined on 7th January 1891
4049 joined on 9th January 1892
4579 joined on 2nd February 1893
4964 joined on 3rd April 1894
5283 joined on 19th April 1895
5479 joined on 13th June 1896
5800 joined on 20th October 1897
5929 joined on 15th March 1898 

On the 1st April 1898 a 3rd regular battalion was raised at The Curragh, Ireland, from the nucleus of two companies from the 2nd Battalion.  Recruits joining the 3rd Battalion were issued with numbers from the same series that was being used by 1st and 2nd Battalion men.  The 3rd Battalion would eventually be disbanded on 16th July 1922.

7173 joined on 22nd February 1899 [L/ prefix added later] 

On the 30th January 1900, The Royal Fusiliers raised a 4th Battalion from the nucleus of the 3rd Battalion.  This battalion also shared the same number series that was in use for the other three regular battalions.  The 4th Battalion would eventually be disbanded on the 16th July 1922.

The Royal Fusiliers also fielded two volunteer service companies during the South African War.  Numbers issued to VSC recruits were within the range 8901 to 9144. Numbers 8901 through to 9026 were all 1st VSC men.  Numbers 9040 through to 9144 were all 2nd VSC men.  Numbers 9027 to 9039 are a combination of 1st and 2nd VSC men. 

7825 joined on 5th February 1900 [L/ prefix added later]

8635 joined on 10th January 1901
RF/9364 joined on 24th January 1902 [L/ prefix added later] 

In 1901 alone, and with four regular battalions in place, The Royal Fusiliers recruited well over 700 men and recruitment showed no signs of slowing in 1902.  Queen’s Regulations stated that, “When the [number] series approaches 9,999, application should be made to the Adjutant-General in sufficient time to obtain authority to commence a new series.”  This instruction was either overlooked or ignored by the Royal Fusiliers, or the application was submitted too late.  Although a revised King’s Regulations would extend numbering in infantry regiments to 19,999, this wouldn’t come into effect until 1904, and by November 1902, the Royal Fusiliers had passed 9,999 and just kept going.  The regiment would recruit over 800 men in 1902 alone.  

The L/ prefix was introduced for regular enlistments into regiments administered by the Number 10 Grouped Regimental District at Hounslow around October 1902.  This practice was also adopted by The Royal Fusiliers at the same time.  An RF/ prefix was already in use for the Royal Fusiliers and certainly appears to have been more consistently used than the L/ prefix when this was introduced for regulars joining the regiment. The numbers above and below are as they appear on attestation papers.  In all cases the L/ prefix appears to have been added some time after the man had attested.

RF/10145 joined on 1st January 1903 [L/ prefix added later]
RF/10830 joined on 23rd January 1904
RF/11128 joined on 16th January 1905
RF/11891 joined on 1st January 1906
RF/12477 joined on 4th February 1907 [L/ prefix added later]
RF/13039 joined on 15th January 1908
RF/13742 joined on 6th July 1909
RF/14193 joined on 20th October 1910
RF/14344 joined on 4th January 1911 [L/ prefix added later]
RF/15158 joined on 12th June 1912
RF/15459 joined on 11th January 1913
RF/16125 joined on 27th July 1914 [L/ prefix added later]

The First World War

When Britain went to war in August 1914, men joining the new Royal Fusiliers service battalions for wartime-service only were issued with numbers from new number series. The number series outlined above, continued to be used but was reserved for those men who wished to join the Royal Fusiliers on regular enlistment terms. 

This practice was adopted by The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), The Royal Fusiliers, The East Surrey Regiment, The Royal Sussex Regiment, The Royal West Kent Regiment and The Middlesex Regiment. With the exception of the Royal Fusiliers, these regiments were all administered by the Number 10 Grouped Regimental District at Hounslow. The Royal Fusiliers also raised a number of Pals-type battalions, most of which operated separate number series, many of these being additionally differentiated by letter prefixes.   

Recruitment rates 1881-1911

Between 1st July 1881 and 17th January 1891, The Royal Fusiliers recruited 3,701 men, an average of 386 soldiers a year and the fourteenth best recruitment rate of all the British infantry regiments that decade. 

The following decade showed further improvement with a grand total of 8635 men recruited by 10th January 1901 and an average recruitment rate for the decade which stood at 493 men per annum. 

Recruitment into the Royal Fusiliers showed no sign of abating during the period 1901 to 1911 and by 4th January that year, the regiment had issued number RF/14344 to its latest recruit.  By 1911 The Royal Fusiliers was the fifth most successful recruiter of all the British infantry regiments and could claim a high annual average of 483 men recruited per annum between 1881 and 1911.

The well-known photo that I've used to illustrate this post shows men of A Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers at rest on the 22nd August 1914.  The following day they would be in action at the Battle of Mons. Photo source: Wikipedia.

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Further Reading

Historical Records of the Seventh or Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Covers the period form the raising of the regiment in 1685 to 1875. Includes a roll call of every officer who served in the Regiment during these 190 years with his record of service, listed in alphabetical order.
Royal Fusiliers in the Great War
The appendix gives the Roll of Honour of officers (1054 names); a table showing the numbers of Warrant Officers, NCOs and Men on the Roll of Honour, by battalions; a table summarising decorations awarded, including foreign awards; brief biographies or notes on a number of RF general ranking officers; and several accounts of soldiers who took part in the various operations.2nd City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) in the Great War 1914-1919
The Roll of Honour lists 1,345 dead and the summary of awards shows 65 British decorations to officers and 246 to other ranks, excluding MiDs.The War History of the 4th Battalion The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 1914-1919
Includes a list of Honours and Awards, including foreign decorations, as well as a list of officers and men of other regiments who won their awards serving with the 4th London Regiment.The History of the old 2/4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
There is no Roll of Honour nor list of Honours and Awards, all these are noted in the text and the last ninety pages contain the service records of every officer and man of the battalion where such information can be found, including details of any wounds received.The Kensington Battalion
This books draws on first hand material (diaries, letters and official documents) as well as interviews from the 1980s. History of the 22nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Kensington)
A Roll of Honour gives dates of death of the officers, and in the case of other ranks, they are grouped by companies for each year of the war without number, rank or date of death. There is also a list of recipients of honours and awards, which includes mentioned in despatches. Names are grouped alphabetically for each medal, but no number, rank or date of award. Hard as Nails: The Sportsmen's Battalion of World War One
Michael Foley's history of the 23rd (Service) Battalion.

In search of Sergeant Newell

A couple of months back I picked up an MM to Sergeant W A Newell of the Royal Fusiliers. There appears to be no surviving service record for this man and so pretty much all I have to go on his campaign medal index card (above) and the reference in the London Gazette to his MM award.

The medal index card (MIC) notes that he arrived in France as 1444 Pte William Newell of the Royal Fusiliers on the 1st June 1915. By the time he was discharged to Class Z of the Army Reserve on the 24th February 1919 he was a sergeant, and acting Company Quarter Master Sergeant with the Cameron Highlanders; not a bad record of promotion.

My main intention (apart from reuniting his MM with his trio) is to find out how he won his gallantry award, but at this point in time I don't have a battalion for him. The Supplement to The London Gazette for the 14th September 1916 simply notes, 1444 Cpl W A Newell. So, no battalion, but we can see that he had been promoted by the time he won his MM and we also have another initial for him.

[Update, October 2019. The MM medal index card gives 8th Battalion. The schedule number also indicates that the award was for the period March to May 1916. These awards are non-immediate awards and retrospective awards].

A check through the medal rolls (using the references on his medal index card) revealed nothing on the 1914-15 Star roll, but there was additional information on the British War and Victory Medal roll. Thanks to the information contained there, I now know that he transferred to the 11th Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders, and also that he seemed to be part of a draft of men who all transferred from different regiments (see below).



I checked all the men listed on this page to see if I could ascertain when they transferred to the Cameron Highlanders but could find no surviving service records for any of them. I did however find a pension record for S/49801 Sgt Jonathan Malpas who originally joined the Northumberland Fusiliers on the 9th November 1914 and was transferred to the 11th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders in the Field on the 10th June 1918. So it looks as though that's when Sergeant Newell, and all the men listed with him, were also transferred.

As for Sergeant Newell's original number with the Royal Fusiliers, 1444; at this point in time I find it difficult to pin a precise date to it.

[Update October 2019. He enlisted in August 1914. The number should have had a G/ prefix]

The search continues...

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22nd (Service) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (Kensington)

The 22nd (Service) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (Kensington) was raised by the Mayor and Borough of Kensington on 11th September 1914 at the White City. It moved to Roffey Camp, Horsham, Sussex in October 1914 and by June 1915 it was at Clipstone Camp, as part of the 99th Brigade (along with 17th, 23rd and 24th Battalions RF) in the 33rd Division. It landed at Boulogne in November 1915.

Bert Danson of the Ten Tommies joined this battalion and, like all new recruits to the battalion - certainly the initial intake at least - his number was prefixed with the letter K/ for Kensington. Numbering started at 1 and by by June 1915 it had reached the 1500s. This post will look at numbering in the Kensington Battalion between August 1914 and June 1915.

With the exception of the first number, below, service records for the following numbers survive in the WO 363 (Burnt Documents) and WO 364 (Pensions) series at the National Archives in Kew, London. These records can also be viewed on-line via Ancestry.co.uk which is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial.

K/225 joined on 25th August 1914
K/464 joined on 18th September 1914
K/1223 joined on 14th November 1914
K/1244 joined on 5th December 1915
K/1369 joined on 13th February 1915
K/1452 joined on 24th April 1915
K/1521 joined on 31st May 1915
K/1574 joined on 7th June 1915

The author, Saki (Hector Hugh Munro, pictured) was the K/225 mentioned above. He would be killed in action with the Kensington Battalion in November 1916.

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From The Naval & Military Press:


A History of the 22nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Kensington)

This book, as the editor stresses, was compiled for the surviving members of the battalion. Some 410 died and Lance-Sergeant Palmer (who also held the Military Medal) won the Victoria Cross near Courcelette in February 1917.

There is a Roll of Honour in which the dates of death of the officers are given, but in the case of other ranks, they are helpfully grouped by companies for each year of the war but unhelpfully without number, rank or date of death. Researchers would need to piece this latter information together by referring to Soldiers Died in The Great War.

There is also a list of recipients of honours and awards, headed by L/Sgt Palmer with his VC. In this list, which includes mentioned in despatches, names are grouped alphabetically for each medal but again, no number, rank or date of award. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.

Also see these other Royal Fusiliers titles

Historical Records of the Seventh or Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Covers the period form the raising of the regiment in 1685 to 1875. Includes a roll call of every officer who served in the Regiment during these 190 years with his record of service, listed in alphabetical order.

Royal Fusiliers in the Great War
The appendix gives the Roll of Honour of officers (1054 names); a table showing the numbers of Warrant Officers, NCOs and Men on the Roll of Honour, by battalions; a table summarising decorations awarded, including foreign awards; brief biographies or notes on a number of RF general ranking officers; and several accounts of soldiers who took part in the various operations.

2nd City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) in the Great War 1914-1919
The Roll of Honour lists 1,345 dead and the summary of awards shows 65 British decorations to officers and 246 to other ranks, excluding MiD.

The War History of the 4th Battalion The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 1914-1919
Includes a list of Honours and Awards, including foreign decorations, as well as a list of officers and men of other regiments who won their awards serving with the 4th London Regiment.

The History of the old 2/4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)There is no Roll of Honour nor list of Honours and Awards, all these are noted in the text and the last ninety pages contain the service records of every officer and man of the battalion where such information can be found, including details of any wounds received.

The Kensington Battalion
This books draws on first hand material (diaries, letters and official documents) as well as interviews from the 1980s.

Hard as Nails: The Sportsmen's Battalion of World War One
Michael Foley's history of the 23rd (Service) Battalion.

Can I ascertain a man's battalion from his number?

In most cases, the answer is probably no but I've just done a little research on a Royal Fusiliers casualty which - up until a point - does suggest a battalion based on his number and his age.

I've posted that research - and my conclusions - on a separate blog: WW1 Remembrance - George John Albrecht.

Knowing the different army number series used by the regular battalions and the special and extra reserve battalions up until 1914 at least, is generally going to be useful. Take, as an example of this, the four regular battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, the 5th (Special Reserve) Battalion, the 6th (Special Reserve) Battalion and the 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion.

In 1913 the four regular RF battalions were numbering in the 15000s, the 5th Battalion in the 9000s, the 6th Battalion in the 2000s and the 7th Battalion in the 8000s. This would make it a straightforward task if, for argument's sake, a new RF recruit in 1913 was given the number 2100. He could only have joined the 6th Battalion (and his number may also have been prefixed with SR/ - Special Reserve). Even without knowing the year of joining we'd be able to narrow our hypothetical recruit down to the 6th Battalion and from there, come up with a rough estimate of when he joined, which actually would be January 1913. However, there'd be no way of telling - if the man's number was 15800 - whether he'd joined the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th Battalion because all four battalions shared the same number series. We'd know that he was a regular and that he'd joined in October 1913 but we wouldn't know which battalion.

George Albrecht's number marked him out as either a candidate for the 5th or the 7th Battalion, and a little extra digging to determine his age has ascertained that he would have been too young for the 5th Battalion and therefore must have joined the 7th and transferred shortly after that (but keeping his 7th Battalion number).

And that's where the trail goes cold. George was killed on the Somme whilst serving with the 8th RF but he'd already been to the Balkans, arriving there in September 1915, and to have done so means he must have served with another RF battalion. The medal rolls may reveal exactly which one.

But army service number series (particularly if blocks were set aside for specific battalions) and army service number prefixes, can certainly help in identifying which battalion a man initially joined, even though they may not reveal subsequent postings within the same regiment.

Puzzled image from Marquette University.


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The Royal Fusiliers - Sportsman's Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers issued to volunteers serving with the 23rd (1st Sportsman's) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, the 24th (2nd Sportsman's) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, and the 30th (Reserve) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers. It will look at initial recruiting during the period October 1914 to November 1915.

Information contained on this post comes from an examination of surviving records in the WO 363 and WO 364 series held at the National Archives in London and now partially available on-line via the Ancestry website: Royal Fusiliers service records, pension records and medal index cards. The photograph above which shows men of the 23rd RF being inspected at Hyde Park in October 1914 is taken from THE 23rd (SERVICE) BATTALION ROYAL FUSILIERS (FIRST SPORTSMAN'S) - A RECORD OF ITS SERVICES IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914-1919 by Fred W Ward. This book is on-line via The Project Gutenberg and contains a nominal roll.

The 23rd (1st Sportsman's) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (RF) was formed on 25th September 1914 and a separate numbering series was initiated for the battalion. The lowest number on my database is SP/15 which was issued on 14th October 1914. Numbers were generally, but not always, prefixed with SP or SPTS for "sports".

Almost immediately, it would appear, a need was recognised for a 2nd Sportsman's Battalion and this battalion was formed on the 20th November 1914, numbers appearing that same month. The lowest number on my database for the 24th Battalion is 2014 which was issued on the 26th November 1914.

It would appear from the patterns of numbers appearing in both battalions that the 23rd RF was allocated numbers within the range 1-2000 and the 24th RF in the range 2001-3800s. In August 1915 the 3oth (Reserve) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers was formed and this was a local reserve battalion for the two sportsman's battalions, men joining this battalion being given numbers from the series being used by these battalions.

23rd (Service) Bn (1st Sportsman's) The Royal Fusiliers

SP/15 joined on 14th October 1914
SP/1273 joined on 21st December 1914

1423 joined on 9th January 1915
1501 joined on 2nd February 1915
1609 joined on 25th March 1915
1658 joined on 10th April 1915
1804 joined on 19th May 1915

In June 1915, numbers in the 4000 range start to appear, the intervening numbers in the range 2001 to 3999 having been taken up by - for the most part - the 2nd Sportsman's Battalion, but also the 30th (Reserve) Battalion. So,

SP/4055 joined on 25th June 1915
Sp/4067 joined on 13th July 1915

24th (Service) Bn (2nd Sportsman's) The Royal Fusiliers

2014 joined on 26th November 1914
2099 joined on 3rd December 1914
2293 joined on 6th January 1915
SP/3076 joined on 10th February 1915
3306 joined on 6th March 1915
3413 joined on 5th April 1915
SP/3524 joined on 5th June 1915
SP/3643 joined on 5th July 1915
SP/3797 joined on 5th August 1915

Numbering in the 24th Battalion certainly extended into the 3800s in August 1915 but by the following month numbers in the 3800s also start appearing in the newly formed 30th (Reserve) Battalion.

30th (Reserve) Bn, The Royal Fusiliers

3893 joined on 1st September 1915
4129 joined on 10th October 1915
4373 joined on 14th November 1915

That same month, 4538 was issued to a man who joined the 24th (Service) Battalion RF and it is at this point, with the two Sportsman's battalions filled with their initial complement of volunteers, that I am going to conclude this post.


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Find Royal Fusiliers service records, pension records and medal index cards on-line at ANCESTRY

Further Reading

Historical Records of the Seventh or Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Covers the period form the raising of the regiment in 1685 to 1875. Includes a roll call of every officer who served in the Regiment during these 190 years with his record of service, listed in alphabetical order.

Royal Fusiliers in the Great War
The appendix gives the Roll of Honour of officers (1054 names); a table showing the numbers of Warrant Officers, NCOs and Men on the Roll of Honour, by battalions; a table summarising decorations awarded, including foreign awards; brief biographies or notes on a number of RF general ranking officers; and several accounts of soldiers who took part in the various operations.

2nd City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) in the Great War 1914-1919
The Roll of Honour lists 1,345 dead and the summary of awards shows 65 British decorations to officers and 246 to other ranks, excluding MiD.

The War History of the 4th Battalion The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 1914-1919
Includes a list of Honours and Awards, including foreign decorations, as well as a list of officers and men of other regiments who won their awards serving with the 4th London Regiment.

The History of the old 2/4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)There is no Roll of Honour nor list of Honours and Awards, all these are noted in the text and the last ninety pages contain the service records of every officer and man of the battalion where such information can be found, including details of any wounds received.

The Kensington Battalion
This books draws on first hand material (diaries, letters and official documents) as well as interviews from the 1980s.

History of the 22nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Kensington)
A Roll of Honour gives dates of death of the officers, and in the case of other ranks, they are grouped by companies for each year of the war without number, rank or date of death. There is also a list of recipients of honours and awards, which includes mentioned in despatches. Names are grouped alphabetically for each medal, but no number, rank or date of award.

Hard as Nails: The Sportsmen's Battalion of World War One
Michael Foley's history of the 23rd (Service) Battalion.