Sherwood Foresters - Other Rank PoWs 1914

There are 530 men on this list of Sherwood Foresters soldiers 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 1/285: a thirty-page typed list of Sherwood Foresters Prisoners of War.  No date or sender.
B.O.2 1/286: a fifteen-page typed list of Sherwood Foresters Prisoners of War dated 6th Jan 1919 and date stamped 28 Jan 1919 by Lichfield Infantry Record Office. Addresses and ranks appear to pre-date information contained in B.O.2 1/285.

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. 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.

The full transcription is available for sale for £25. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

 I research soldiers! 

Contact me if you need help with your military ancestor.

9820 Lance-Corporal J Adams, 12242 Private J Addison, 9822 Private C H Allen, 8594 Private H Allen, 12013 Private A Allitt, 9445 Private W H Allott, 9565 Private P Altoft, 10060 Private C Anderson, 11972 Private H Ashall, 10013 Corporal W Ashmore, 9191 Private J Ashton, 8956 Private R Aspinall, 10374 Sergeant E Astill, 11913 Private J Astill, 11870 Private G Atkins, 8685 Private J Attenborough, 9909 Private F Attenborough, 11944 Private A Ault.

11402 Private A Bacon, 8825 Private J Bailey, 8703 Private J Bailey, 8541 Private T Bailey, 11906 Private W Bailey, 9321 Private A Ball, 8480 Private W Banks, 10000 Private W Barber, 12152 Corporal B Barker, 9362 Private B Barnaby, 8877 Private R Barnett, 10833 Private S Barnett, 12133 Private H Barrowcliffe, 12212 Private C W Bartholomew, 10076 Private A H Barton, 8773 Private J Beard, 10052 Private S Beardmore, 9142 Private J H Beardsmore, 8901 Private E Beasley, 10028 Corporal C E Beck,  9287 Private G F Beckett, 11826 Corporal N Bennett, 10718 Corporal R Bennett, 10955 Private S Bennett, 11478 Corporal W Berral, 9170 Corporal H Beswick, 9568 Private E Bewley, 9053 Private J Billyard, 9317 Private G Blakeway, 9186 Private J Bland, 11985 H B D Bohan 12161, Private H V Bond, 12172 Private A Bonsall, 9908 Private G Booth, 8517 Private J Bowler, 9875 Lance-Corporal W Bowman,9723 Private J Bradshaw, 6280 Corporal T Bradshaw, 9947 Private A E Braithwaite, 9136 Private J Brannan, 12053 Corporal L Bray, 8884 Lance-Corporal F Brentnall, 12258 Private W Brett, 11752 Corporal P Brinklow, 10298 Drummer W Brittle, 9048 Private G Broadhurst, 9543 Private T Brown, 9164 Private W Brownlow, 8706 Private T Bull, 8534 Corporal W Burbury, 9644 Sergeant P Burke, 9780 Private F Burman, 8641 Private W Burns, 12156 Private A Burrows, 11899 Private C Burton, 10067 Private W Burton, 9665 Private J Bush.

9231 Private J Campion, 9456 Corporal J Carter, 8634 Private P Chamberlain, 12225 Private F Chantry, 8849 Private C Chapman, 12169 Private H Chapman, 11409 Private H Cheek, 11827 Corporal T H Chell, 10015 Private C Chesterton, 9266 Private A China, 9489 Lance-Corporal A Clark, 10016 Private G Clarke, 9787 Private J Clarke, 12046 Lance-Corporal H J Clay, 12115 Private A Cole, 9899 Private C Colley, 11320 Private J W Collings,10164 Private W Collis, 9330 Private T Colson, 12124 Corporal F Coltman, 11828 Corporal W Comery, 9676 Lance-Corporal A Conley, 6995 Private F H Cooper, 12099 Private J W Cooper, 8939 Private A Corker, 11019 Private A Corner, 11984 Private S Costall, 9563 Private H Cosway, 8832 Private E Cotteridge, 12227 Private N Cox, 5921 Sergeant H Cragg, 9751 Private T Crane, 8632 Private J Crawford, 9323 Private A Cresswell, 9451 Corporal C Crinage, 8546 Private G Crocker, 9892 Private R Crooks, 8628 Private J Cunningham, 11454 Corporal G Cutler, 9494 Private W Cutts, 12308 Private W H Cutts.

9792 Private B Davenport, 9219 Private J Davidson, 12138 Private W Davidson, 8797 Private C Davis,  11994 Private J Dawes, 6960 Private H Daykin, 9410 Private E Dennis, 9978 Private S Dennison, 11401 Private F G Dibden, 9363 Private E Dicken, 9383 Private E Dickerson, 9905 Private J Dickinson, 11774 Private H Dickson, 8664 Private H C Dobbs, 9083 Private H J Doncaster, 9638 Private A Dove, 8813 Private J Drake, 12126 Private W Drakefield, 10707 Private W Drury, 9547 Private W Drury, 9483 Private W Dudson.

12052 Private Charles Arthur Earl, 9530 Private William Henry Eatherington, 8526 Corporal W F Ellicock, 9745 Private E Elms, 11682 Drummer F Else, 10124 Private E Elsmore.

9811 Private A Farmer, 9944 Private C Farrant, 9129 Private W Farrow, 9028 Private J Fawcett, 11260 Private G Fearis, 11882 Private A Fell, 9830 Private A Fisher, 10836 Private L Fisher, 9394 Private T Fitzgerald, 7330 Private G Fletcher, 10612 Corporal W Fletcher, 10129 Lance-Corporal John Flint, 10139 Lance-Corporal E W Ford, 9481 Private A Fowler, 9235 Private J Fowler, 12101 Private W Fox, 12042 Private E Frost, 9637 Sergeant H Fulton.

11917 Private A Gale, 10654 Private E Gale, 12193 Private J H Garner, 9771 Private W H Gasson, 10711 Sergeant J Geary, 12209 Private J Geddes, 9926 Sergeant Charles George, 6457 Private W Gerrard, 8668 Private A Giddings, 10167 Private J W Gilbert, 8622 Lance-Corporal A Gill, 9509 Private J Gilliatt, 10006 Private T W L Gothard, 9943 L/Cpl Thomas Grant, 10582 Private W Green, 10292 Corporal T E Greenhalgh, 10798 Private A Greenwood, 15183 Private R Gribble, 9233 Private William Grierson, 12122 Private E Grigg, 7194 Private J Grimwood.

8709 Private J Hackett, 10880 Private T Hall, 9697 Private G Hallam, 12058 Private G H Hallam, 12044 Corporal J F Hallam, 11196 L/Cpl William James Hallam, 10165 Sergeant A Handley, 12106 Lance-Corporal A Hanson, 8844 Private J Harding, 9741 Private H Hardy, 9627 Private H Harker, 10625 Private J Harris, 9148 Private G Harrison, 9662 Private W Harrison, 10109 Private E Harvey, 12155 Corporal E Harvey, 9687 Sergeant Harvey, 8760 Private T Hatherley, 12154 Private T A Hawley, 10090 Private W Haycox, 9273 Private W H Hazard, 8766 Lance-Corporal G Heard, 9803 Private H Heard, 10043 Private Thomas Hemsley, 9699 Lance-Corporal L Henshaw, 10091 Pte William Henry Herbert, 3858 Private Charles Herrington, 10250 Private F Herrod, 11420 Private W Heslop, 8574 Private A Heys, 12210 Lance-Corporal C Hibbert, 10593 Private G Hibbert, 8940 Private G Hickey, 8538 Sergeant J Hickton, 9419 Private Walter H Hilditch, 9275 Private T Hill, 10881 Sergeant G H Hillier, 15909 Private T C Hillyard, 10180 Private A Hodgkinson, 11829 Private S F Hodson, 9139 Sergeant J Hoey, 10093 Private W Hollis, 8433 Private W Holloway, 8636 Private W Holloway, 9399 Private W Hooton, 12234 Private J W Hopewell, 9791 Private F Hornbuckle, 8511 Private J Hoult, 8646 Private F Housley, 10122 Corporal E Howard, 9138 Private J Howie, 9990 Private J Huskins.

9250 Private G Jackson, 9907 Sergeant W Jamieson, 18812 Private A Johnson, 12074 Private J Johnson, 12201 Private W Johnson, 12213 Private E Jones, 12102 Private F Jones, 11916 Private L Jones, 11832 Corporal F Jordan, 9352 Lance-Corporal Keeley, 10524 Sergeant Keeton, 9742 Corporal Kelly, 11456 Sergeant Kelly, 9910 Private Kerr, 8590 Private Kershaw, 11995 Private King 12314 Private Kirk, 11015 Private Kirkham, 12085 Private Knowles, 9462 Private Knowles, 8872 Private Kyle

10229 Private James Henry Lane, 8871 Lance-Corporal W Langham, 11979 Private S Lea, 9831 Private W Lee, 9319 Private Sydney Leigh, 9290 Private W Lester, 10089 Private J H Ley,  9370 Private A Litchfield, 8406 Private E Lomas, 9081 Private George Oliver Lowe, 12031 Private B Lye, 10021 Private D Lynch, 10648 Private C Lyons.

8840 Private J Maddocks, 9252 Private Maddocks, 9521 Private F Mahon, 12005 Private T Mahon, 10036 Private S Mantle, 10458 Lance-Sergeant B Marriott, 9369 Private J Marriott, 8518 Private F Marsh, 9874 Private L Marsh, 11855 Lance-Corporal F Marshall, 10912 Private J Marshall, 9738 Sergeant W Marshall, 10853 Corporal Mason, 11585 Private E Matthews, 9477 Private J Matthews, 9657 Private Matthews, 10370 Corporal F Mawson, 8730 Private J H May, 10132 Private J S McCulloch, 12061 Lance-Corporal McNulty, 9765 Private John Charles Mead,  11179 Corporal C W Mee, 8472 Private F Mee, 10664 Private S Mee, 11149 Private T Mee, 9573 Private W Mellors, 10637 Corporal Merriman, 11965 Private T Merry, 9849 Lance-Corporal W H Merry, 9593 Private W Midwood, 12011 Private Albert Miller, 10221 Private T C Miller, 9840 Private Miller, 12017 Private Morris, 10501 Private A Morritt, 10320 Sergeant Mortimer, 9708 Corporal H Moss, 12108 Private Mullins, 8600 Private C Mycock.

8681 Private Abraham Naden, 11429 Private J Naden, 9243 Private W Neal, 9187 Lance-Corporal Eric E Needham, 12037 Private H Needham, 10930 Corporal W H Needham, 8821 Private J Newbold, 9756 Private William George Newbold, 9999 Private P Newborn, 11887 Private W Newbury, 9686 Private A Newton, 12111 Private W Newton, 8820 Private E Niblett, 8593 Private Leonard Nicholas, 10653 Corporal J Nicholls, 11863 Private R Nobles, 6299 Private J North.

11566 Private W O'Brien, 10243 Private Frank O'Connor, 10814 Private R O'Connor, 10668 Lance-Corporal R Oldfield, 9060 Private T Oscroft, 8804 Private A Owen.

9255 Private F Palmer, 11098 Corporal F Parfitt, 11208 Private E W Parr, 11648 Corporal W Parrish, 10816 Private J W Partridge, 10502 Private A Pattison, 18250 Private Robert Peace, 10290 Private Robert Peace, 10638 Private A Peach, 9123 Private F Pearson, 9855 Private A Peck, 9063 Private Bertie Penney, 6366 Corporal Frank Perkins, 9366 Corporal Frank Perkins, 10161 Private H Perkins, 9322 Private W Perry, 12322 Sergeant Percy Phillips, 9057 Private E Pike, 9759 Private A Platts, 11592 Corporal A Pleasance, 8586 Private W Plenty, 9798 Private W Plumtree, 10094 Acting Sergeant H Potter, 12001 Private E Poxon, 8918 Private W Pratt, 9761 Private V Pritchard, 8587 Private J H Pryor, 10765 Private O Pursglove, 11765 Corporal W Pykett.

12018 Private H S Raby, 11850 Private F Radford, 8785 Lance-Corporal G Radford, 12279 Private S Radford, 10198 Private S A Radford, 10133 Private C Rasdall, 9737 Private J Read, 12084 Private A Reaney, 9620 Private B Redgate, 9971 Sergeant W Reid, 9017 Private J Renshaw, 12033 Corporal J W Revill, 18971 Lance-Corporal A Rhodes, 11775 Private G Richardson, 11766 Private G H Rick, 9996 Private L Rippon, 9711 Corporal F Roberts, 8717 Private J Roberts, 10585 Lance-Corporal W Roberts, 11692 Sergeant G Robinson, 9504 Private J W Robinson, 9249 Private J Robottom, 9650 Private G Rockley, 9561 Private J Rockley, 8990 Private Thomas Rogers, 10128 Private E Rollett, 9157 Private W Rose, 11124 Corporal A E Ross, 9132 Private E Rowe.

9931 Private S Sault, 11039 Private J W Sawyer, 9511 Private W Sawyer, 11878 Private H Scott, 6537 CSM J Seagrave, 9736 Private A Sedgewick, 11793 Private W Sellars, 10096 Private A Seymour, 8359 Sergeant A Seymour, 9390 Private C Shakespeare, 10251 Lance-Corporal A Sharpe, 11952 Private A Shaw, 7319 Sergeant E Shaw, 11613 Private W H Shaw, 9970 Lance-Corporal E Shearman, 11822 Private E Shenton, 9283 Private W Shepherd, 12163 Private W Sheriff, 10029 Private J Sherlock, 9211 Private H Shilcock, 12081 Private W P Shilton, 10138 Private W Shirt, 11867 Private Ernest Arthur Sibbert, 12034 Corporal J Simms, 9883 Private C Singleton, 9691 Private J Slack, 10072 Private R Smalley, 9635 Private H Smeeton, 9316 Private A Smith, 8468 Private E Smith, 9922 Corporal F Smith, 9693 Private G Smith, 11861 Private G A Smith, 8601 Private J Smith, 8544 Private J Smith, 10114 Lance-Corporal J H Smith, 12162 Corporal P Smith, 1468 Private S C Smith, 9520 Private Thomas Smith, 12057 Private W Smith, 8402 Corporal W Smith, 9012 Private F Soar, 9690 Private Frederick Sowter, 8961 Private W Spencer, 9411 Corporal J Spray, 9402 Corporal C Spybey, 11680 Private C Staples, 10046 Corporal E Staples, 9392 Private J Staples, 4464 Sergeant John Staples, 8881 Lance-Corporal A Stapleton, 9867 Private J Startin, 9230 Private G Steadman, 12103 Private W Steele, 8560 Private F Stevens, 12168 Private A Stevenson, 9628 Private E Stevenson, 9877 Private W Stevenson, 11757 Private S Stewardson, 12129 Corporal H Straw, 9572 Private T Stroud, 9707 Lance-Corporal J Stubbs, 12110 Lance-Corporal H Styring, 11455 Private S Swain, 12144 Private H Swift, 11002 Private J L Symons.

12125 Private A Tanner, 10838 Private A Taylor, 10819 Private F Taylor, 9532 Private Frank Taylor, 12107 Private Fred Taylor, 10922 Sergeant G Taylor, 10963 Sergeant L Taylor, 6932 Sergeant James Tebbutt, 9415 Private E Theobald, 11562 Sergeant C Thompson, 9897 Private F Thompson, 9010 Private G Thorley, 6973 CSM H Thorpe, 11140 Corporal F Tindall, 10431 Sergeant P Tingle, 9997 Private F Tombs, 10235 Private G Tomlinson, 6547 Lance-Corporal H Tongue, 8934 Private T Toole, 9684 Corporal J Topham, 10918 Corporal A Towle, 5901 Sergeant T Toy, 8727 Corporal H Trussell, 12303 Private W Tulley, 9103 Private J Tunnicliffe, 11963 Private D Turner, 5169 CSM J Turner, 10208 Private R Turner, 8694 Lance-Corporal F Tyers.

9924 Sergeant Allan Walden, 9335 Private C Walker, 11999 Corporal J Walker, 9870 Private S Walker, 12223 Sergeant W Walker, 8898 Private G H Walters, 8470 Private J Ward, 10353 Sergeant C Wardle, 9100 Sergeant C Watson, 12255 Private H Watson, 12060 Private W Watts, 8700 Private C Weaver, 9534 Private J Webber, 9408 Private E Welch, 9014 Corporal H Wells, 9227 Private Herbert Wells, 12093 Private Albert West, 9435 Private Arthur West, 11871 Private S West, 9688 Private C Weston, 9418 Private F Whitehurst, 10852 Private C Whittington, 5941 Private G Whitworth, 8401 Private A Wilde, 11628 Corporal W Wilkes, 9912 Corporal J Williamson, 10105 Lance-Corporal F Wilson, 10693 Private H A Wilson, 11877 Private W Winfield,  Private T Winston, 9557 Private T Winterton, 9772 Private A Withers, 9318 Corporal F A Wood, 12304 Private Thomas Wood, 9558 Private C Woodhouse, 8914 Private H Woodward, 8670 Sergeant G Wright, 8448 Private J W Wright, 9151 Private W E Wright, 8638 Private W E Wright, 9160 Private W Wyld.

8900 Private F Yeomans, 5342 Sgt-Major S G Yeomans, 8865 Private H Young.

King's (Liverpool Regiment) - Other Rank PoWs 1914

There are only 19 King's (Liverpool Regiment) men recorded in what I refer to as the Princess Mary tin archive. These are men who were captured by the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. I transcribed this collection from original lists held at the Imperial War Museum and have been publishing edited versions on this blog for some while. The men listed here all appear under reference B.O.2 1/135 which is a two-page, part hand-written, part typed list sent by the Liverpool Civil Service League to Sir Ernest Goodhart, dated 20th December 1918. Sir Ernest was the man charged by Princess Mary with gathering together a list of men who had missed out on her Christmas 1914 gift. You can read more about this collection on my 1914 Prisoners of War page. 

11343 Private H Clark 
11198 Sergeant A Haines 
9299 Private J Lane 
11404 Private N Leatham 
11587 Private F Lee 
9545 Private T Lynch 
11271 Private J F Martin 
8645 Private M Molloy 
8424 Private J Morrough 
11224 Private R Norris 
9453 Private P North 
8319 Private R Potts 
9480 Private F C Randall 
9257 Private J Singleton 
8322 Private F Taylor 
11313 Private R Thorn 
11738 Private W A Turner 
8476 Private T Walsh 
9285 Private J Walters

The photo on this page is from my collection and shows an unidentified King's soldier wearing his tropical whites in India.

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3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

This post will look at regimental numbering in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). Thanks to AHJ for planting the suggestion.

The Special Reserve was formed in 1908, replacing the militia. Serving militiamen were given the option to join the Special Reserve, remain as militiamen or take a free discharge. Men transferring to the militia were given a bounty of £2 rendering them liable for foreign service in a time of emergency. These men also retained their original militia numbers.

Thus, for example, Daniel Firth was given the number 9546 when he originally joined the 3rd (Militia) Battalion on the 25th June 1906. He opted to transfer to the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in June 1908 and retained his old number, 9546.  Men joining the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion for the first time were given new numbers beginning at 1 which were prefixed with the number 3/. This prefix was inconsistently used, as it was in other regiments, for that matter.

By March 1909 number 3/353 had been issued; 3/594 by February 1910, 3/727 by June 1911, 3/907 by March 1912, 3/1237 by July 1913, and 3/1369 by March 1914.

Recruitment into this battalion increased dramatically by August 1914 and so we see 3/1567 issued on the 15th August and 3/2149 issued on the 2nd September. By the end of the month, over a thousand men had joined the battalion with the number 3/3204 issued on the 26th September 1914.

The regimental number series continued to be used well into 1915. For instance, 3/3683 was issued on the 26th October 1915 and 3/3691 on the 20th November 1915. This is the highest number I have come across in this series although do beware other numbers masquerading as 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion numbers. 

For example, 18849 Harry Bennett joined the KOYLI on the 30th August 1914. This regimental number belonged to the series which had originally been the preserve of the two regular battalions. Harry was originally posted to the regimental depot on the 30th August and then to the 3rd Battalion on the 27th October 1914. His regimental number on his attestation papers includes the number 3/ prefix and yet this number does not belong to the 3rd Battalion series which, as noted above, may not have made it beyond 3/4000.

I research soldiers! Contact me if you need help with your military ancestor.

10th Middlesex footballers 1917

Here's another football team from the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment; this time with a date. .

The names on the reverse of the card read:

Wilson, Popple, Birks, Lyon, Manning, Magnoni, Sharp

Elson, Mitchell, Buttery, Nichollson

Stubbs, Popple

I searched for these men using my British Army Ancestors search engine and come up with the following results:

Wilson [not positively identified]

1976, later 290399 Pte John Popple or 2018, later 290420 Pte William Popple

Possibly 290376 Pte Albert Birks (formerly 113719 Pte, MGC)

1413, later 290165 Pte Charles S Lyon

2305 L-Cpl, later 290597 Pte Arthur R Manning OR 2472, later 290713 Cpl Leonard D Manning

2178, later 290508 L-Cpl Bertram G Magnoni

2354, later 290628 Pte Albert G C Sharp

Elson  [not positively identified]

2050, later 290437 Pte Charles Mark Mitchell

Buttery  [not positively identified]

1331, later 290117 L-Cpl Ernest M Nicholson

2648, later 290824 Pte Alfred W Stubbs

1976, later 290399 Pte John Popple or 2018, later 290420 Pte William Popple

The 10th Battalion was in Lucknow between June and October 1917. A partial service record exists for Charles Mitchell which gives his stations as follows:

In the cases of the men above, I used their six-digit Middlesex Regiment numbers to identify them. Numbers in the range 290001 to 315000 were issued to men in this battalion in early 1917 and so they are easy to find in a search of service records and medal index cards (and all of these men would have been entitled to receive medals). For instant results, go to British Army Ancestors  and simply type 290* middlesex* in the search box. Over a thousand results are returned, the vast majority of these being men from the 10th Middlesex Regiment.

It's that time of year again...

Findmypast has opened up its military record collection free of charge for the Remembrance Weekend. Actually, the records all became FREE yesterday and the promotion will run until next Tuesday 12th. That's what you call a long weekend! Follow this FREE MILITARY RECORDS link to register.

What this means is that you'll be able to search ALL military records free, gratis and for nothing; and remember too that here, on Findmypast, you'll find indexes and images of military records all under the same roof and all easily searchable.  To get the best results on searches USE THE WILDCARD. This is one of THE best search facilities and you'll find it on Findmypast, The National Archives and my new British Army Ancestors' website.

To give you an idea of the importance of wildcard searching, if you were to enter Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in the regiment field, you would only see records returned where the regiment has been transcribed exactly as Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. That would mean you'd miss out on all the records which have been transcribed as Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and Princess Louise's Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. And one of those missing records might just be the record you're looking for.

So save yourself the hassle (not to mention the unnecessary keystrokes) and just type *Arg*. That will return all the records you want.  Try it - and try it for FREE.

Looking beyond the MICs

If your British Army Ancestor served overseas during the First World War there should be an MIC (medal index card) recording his medal entitlement. And if there's a medal index card there should be one or more medal roll entries. The latter can often add detail not found on the medal index card such as a battalion or unit, a date killed in action, or a date discharged. For some soldiers, this may be all that survives in terms of documented evidence of service. 

It is well-known that the majority of service records - 60 per cent is the figure commonly offered - was destroyed in bombing during the Second World War, hence the need to fully understand and explore what's left. As I often tell people, the medal index card had a specific purpose and that was to record the unit/s a man served with overseas. This information was then used when it came to impressing the correct details on the man's medals. Any service in the UK with other units prior to embarkation should not appear on the medal index card (or medal roll/s) although there are plenty of instances where this instruction was not followed. 

The sentence in bold is important to understand because when looking at a man's medal index card, the first unit that appears on it may not have been the first unit he served with.

I have just completed an interesting research project for man - 'boy' would be a more accurate description - who was captured by the Germans on the opening day of their spring offensive on the 21st March 1918. This soldier's regimental number indicated to me that he must have joined the battalion in late January or early February 1918. However, when I looked more closely, there was compelling evidence to suggest that he was probably a conscript and probably first spent time with one of two - and possibly both - Training Reserve battalions. This would not have been possible without a closer analysis of his regimental number.

Digging deeper to discover this is important because it helps to explain the logical path to the Western Front that this particular man took.  Luckily for him, his time in the trenches was short-lived, and surviving documents held by the ICRC outlined where he was held.

The undated photograph that I have used on this post shows prisoners of war at Stendal camp.

I research soldiers!

Contact me if you need help.

East Lancashire Regiment - PoW other ranks 1914

Here's a list of 137 men of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment who became prisoners of the Kaiser on or before Christmas Day 1914. Read more about this Prisoner of War data source on my 1914 PoWs page. 

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

• B.O.2 1/252: a three-page typed list from the officer i/c No 2 Infantry Record Office, Sessions House, Lancaster Road. Dated 17th January 1919.
• B.O.2 1/253: a four-page typed list from the Regimental Centre for the East Lancashire Regiment Prisoners of War.  Dated 10th January 1919

8476 Private R H Ashworth 
8588 Private F Auty 
8405 Private W H Ball 
10893 Private H Beamer 
10030 Bandsman A V Bell 
5374 Sergeant C Bennett 
10714 Lance-Corporal F Beresford 
8831 Private W Bolger 
5630 Private J Bowman 
9486 Private S H Boyd 
3447 Private G Bradley 
7885 Private W H Bromley 
9493 Private T Bully 
7827 Private A Bunney 
8271 Private P Byrne 
8560 Private H Cambridge 
7663 Lance-Corporal H Carnell 
8505 Lance-Corporal E Carter 
7133 Private J Caton 
8585 Drummer V G S Champion 
8970 Private A Chapman 
10729 Lance-Corporal R Clark 
8338 Private R Clegg 
9464 Sergeant A Craymer 
8312 Private C W Cripps 
9118 Private A Davies 
911 Private A Davis 
8219 Private W Davison 
10602 Lance-Corporal W R C Denwood 
9356 Bandsman F Dolman 
8260 Private J Donnelly 
8896 Private J Dooley 
7006 Private T Dyer 
7843 Private A Eastham 
6897 Private J Eaton 
9053 Private W Ellicott 
7132 Private W Entwistle 
8076 Private E Finn 
8129 Private J J Flood 
7718 Private C Ford 
9441 Private R Gammon 
7813 Private J Grafton 
7798 Private J Green 
7972 Private S H Halliwell 
10920 Private W Hart 
8534 Private H Hatcher 
10343 Private W T Hawkins 
10891 Private T Hazell 
8225 Private J Healey 
7650 Private J Higgins 
10800 Private A Hill 
8037 Private R Hillman 
7115 Private A Holden 
10705 Private P Holden 
10227 Corporal F E D Horsley 
10762 Private W Hoy 
8224 Lance-Corporal J Hughes 
8177 Private Vernon William Hurcum 
10701 Private G W Jenkins 
5753 Lance-Corporal C W Joel 
10760 Private A Jones 
8685 Private G W Jones 
5689 Sergeant J R Kay 
10623 Corporal J R Kenney 
10898 Private A King 
8427 Private J R King 
9784 Bandsman E Knight 
7785 Private F Ladams 
8091 Private F Lakin 
8291 Private F Lancaster 
10869 Private F Lee 
9456 Private R Leeder 
8008 Private William Leybourne 
8507 Bandsman F Lomas 
8507 Private F Lomas 
7959 Private Henry Lund 
10789 Private W Maddocks 
8133 Private J Mansell 
7920 Private J Martin 
7739 Private James Mason 
7657 Private E Mathers
10520 Bandsman A Maycock 
8360 Private B McConnell 
19026 Sergeant A Merritt 
4737 Sergeant T Miley 
7125 Private F Miller 
10565 Private H Mitchell 
7683 Private W Moore 
6453 Private J Muirhead 
8412 Private J N Naylor 
9029 Private E Newsham 
8543 Private T Nunn 
10244 Private E Oates 
9006 Private J Ozanne 
10562 Private B Pass 
10777 Private H E Pawley 
8639 Private W Peoples 
8263 Private R Pilling 
7910 Private G Plowman 
7610 Private J Rampton 
10646 Private W Ramsbottom 
10904 Private J Redmond 
8175 Private A E Reed
8175 Private A Reid 
10439 Drummer C G Riches 
7844 Private T Rogers 
7120 Private H Rutherford 
10241 Lance-Sergeant I G F Scott 
8944 Private C Shanley 
6791 Private J Shaw 
8489 Private R Short 
10851 Lance-Corporal R J Slater 
6742 Private C Smith 
7990 Private J Smith 
8234 Private T Smith 
9487 Private W Smith 
7128 Private T Spencer 
9857 Private J Stephens 
8095 Corporal S A Thompson 
10280 Sergeant J Tingle 
10648 Private B J Toop 
8801 Private P Tracey 
10087 Private C Travis 
6710 Corporal W Tynan 
8660 Private R Underwood 
8648 Private A Watson 
9435 Private G Watts 
7726 Private J Whewell
8486 Private B White 
7899 Private J Whiteside 
8942 Private J Whitwell 
8191 Private A Williams 
8712 Private J T Williams 
6554 Sergeant F Wilmott 
9677 Private A Wishart 
8452 Private W Witherington 
5964 CQMS H Woan

Remember, I research soldiers!

Contact me if you need help.

Why would he have been given a new number?

It's time for another of those, 'this is how it worked' type of posts.  I was dealing with an enquiry in the week where the soldier in question had originally joined the 3rd Battalion of a county regiment in 1902 and, after a short while, had been given a new number, What was the reason for this?

The 3rd Battalion was a militia battalion. This particular regiment had only one militia battalion but many regiments had more than one. Each militia battalion had its own series of regimental numbers which had, at some point, started at 1 and which were issued sequentially. 

So hypothetical Recruit A could be standing in a queue at the regimental depot waiting to be issued with a regimental number for the 3rd Battalion, and Recruit B could be standing next to him in a separate queue waiting for a regimental number for the 4th Battalion. Both battalions drew numbers from their own regimental number sequences, there was no cross-over.

On the other hand, if a man wanted to join the army as a career soldier he would arrive at the same regimental depot and would be issued with a number from the series used by both of the regular battalions. Typically, his army career would begin with the issue of the regimental number and kit at the regimental depot followed by three months' intensive training followed by a posting to the home battalion. Learning his trade there for a further eighteen months or so he would then, in all likelihood be posted to the overseas battalion in one of the British Empire's far-flung outposts - and most likely, India. 

This switching between depot and regular battalions did not impact on a man's regimental number. He retained this number throughout his army career, and it was still retained for him when he joined the army reserve. If he extended his period of reserve service for a further four years as a Section D Reservist, the number would still be his as and when he was recalled to the colours. If he was discharged, deserted or died, his number was not to be re-issued. Queen's and King's Regulations were explicit on this point, this from Queen's Regulations 1895:

As can be seen from this extract, numbers were not finite and, in this instance, when an infantry regiment was close to issuing number 9999 it would have to apply "in sufficient time to obtain authority to start a new series". Read more about regimental numbering as dictated by Queen's and King's Regulations by clicking on the link. 

As regards my questioner, the reason her ancestor had two numbers was that he had first served with the militia and later enlisted with the regular army. In such cases, even though service records may not survive in either WO 96 or WO 97, it is entirely possible (and hugely satisfying) to pinpoint the enlistment dates.

Also see my post on duplicate regimental numbers.

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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.

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Casualty lists 1914

I'm mid-way through a project to transcribe non-fatal casualties of 1914; a somewhat depressing task which nevertheless is not without its rewards as I inch slowly forwards, one day at a time.

The names below are a small sample of wounded men whose names appeared in The Times newspaper on 2nd November 1914, all of these men reported to be recuperating at the 1st Eastern General Hospital in Cambridge.

Enlistment dates for all of these men could be approximated by using the information published elsewhere on this blog.  So, for instance, go to the Devonshire Regiment page to see that Private Gage must have enlisted in 1902 (and was therefore probably a reservist by 1914), and to the Royal Scots page to see that, coincidentally, Private Gemmell must also have enlisted in 1902.

Private Grace of the Northumberland Fusiliers has a low number because the regiment had reached 9999 by 2nd December 1903 and had then started a new number series from 1 from that date. Private Grace's number therefore dates to late December 1903 or early January 1904. He too was probably a reservist and probably originally enlisted for a period of three years with the colours and nine years on the reserve meaning that when he was recalled to the colours in August 1914 he probably hadn't worn khaki for seven years or more. 

7055 Pte J Gage, Devonshire Regiment 
8237 Pte G Gemmell, Royal Scots
195 Pte P Grace, Northumberland Fusiliers 
7619 Pte A Gray, Scots Guards
8524 Pte C Griffin, Middlesex Regiment 
4755 Pte H Hadfield, King's Royal Rifle Corps
14270 Cpl L Hale, Royal Fusiliers 
8913 Pte W Hancock, Middlesex Regiment 
13996 L-Sgt Alfred W Harper, Royal Fusiliers 
10512 Pte A Harrison, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
609 Pte W Harrison, Lancashire Fusiliers
7064 Pte W Harvey, Wiltshire Regiment
6713 Pte J Hayes, Connaught Rangers
7984 Pte A T Heart, Coldstream Guards
5130 Pte W Hindon, Wiltshire Regiment

The regimental numbers for The Royal Fusiliers and Loyal North Lancashire Regiment reflect the change in King's Regulations in 1904 which noted that number sequences would now extend to 19,999 rather than 9,999. You can read more about this on my 2009 post which dealt with the all important King's and Queen's Regulations and how these impacted on regimental numbering over the years.

I have borrowed the photo on this post from WW1Photos.org and specifically, the section which deals with wounded men. There are a number of photos published here from the 1st Eastern General Hospital, Cambridge and this is one of them.

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1st (Royal) Dragoons - Other Rank PoWs 1914

There are only five men from the 1st (Royal) Dragoons who appear on a list of men from that regiment captured on or before the 25th December 1914. The Imperial War Museum reference is B.O.2 1/53 and the complete details are listed below. All of these men were captured on the 19th October 1914.

2824 Lance-Corporal J F Harris of Whittocks Lane, Frome 
5986 Private W J Luck of 10 Dapdune Crescent, Guildford 
5052 Lance-Corporal J W Murkin of 126 Waterloo Street, Burton-on-Trent 
3381 Private W Proctor of 34 Coxwell Avenue, off Queenseast Street, Toronto, Canada 
7885 Private W S Wide of 1 Victoria Parade, Church End, Finchley

Read more about this data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

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4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

The 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers came into being in 1908 with the demise of the militia. Rather than start a new regimental number series from 1, the newly formed 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion simply continued with the series which had been used by the 4th (Militia) Battalion.  The battalion was headquartered at Enniskillen.

2311 joined on 29th June 1908 albeit he had originally been given this number when he joined the 4th (Militia) Battalion on the 4th April 1902
2430 joined on 27th October 1909
2474 joined 10th January 1910
4/2583 joined on 6th March 1911
4/2706 joined on 10th January 1912
2840 joined 4th October 1912
2875 joined 28th November 1912
2896 joined 11th January 1913
2925 joined 20th February 1913
2941 joined 1st April 1913
3023 joined 30th July 1913
3097 joined 3rd October 1913
4/3121 joined 15th October 1913
3126 joined 17th October 1913
3148 joined 19th November 1913
3181 joined 30th December 1913
3231 joined 11th March 1914
4/3261 joined 17th April 1914
4/3338 joined 28th July 1914
4/3374 joined 7th August 1914

Note that men with numbers lower than 2311 will all have seen prior service with the militia. Note too that this particular regimental numbers series was distinct form the series used by the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, and the series used by the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions. Some attempt at distinguishing the series was made by prefixing the regimental number series with the battalion number, thus 4/2583 etc. However, this convention was inconsistently applied and still, over a hundred years later, leads to confusion when researching military ancestors in British infantry regiments.

My thanks to AJH, whose comment on my 1st & 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers post, together with many of the regimental numbers and enlistment dates posted above prompted today's addition to this regimental numbers' blog.

I've borrowed the image on this blog post from the very interesting British Army Medical Services and the Malta Garrison 1799-1979.

Border Regiment - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The vast majority of the 107 Border Regiment men listed below were captured on the 26th October 1914. This list, which is almost certainly incomplete, was compiled as a six-page typed list and sent to Sir Ernest Goodhart in March 1919. It resides today at The Imperial War Museum under the catalogue reference B.O.2 1/93. My full transcription also includes the date of capture and the man's home address. All of these men were serving with the 2nd Battalion which had been in France since the 4th and 5th October.

By my reckoning, the longest serving man here was 5391 William Kimber whose number indicates that he joined the regiment in early June 1897. He served as a drummer with the 1st Battalion during the Boer War, and received the Queen's and King's South Africa Medals. So too did 5480 James Sherlock and 6017 Charles Harrison. To still be serving in 1914, all three of these men must have either re-engaged to complete 21 years with the colours or, more likely, were Section D Reservists when Britain went to war.

At the other end of the experience scale are men like 10675 George Lockerby and 10600 John Palmer whose regimental numbers indicate that they had joined the regiment in 1913. In peace time they could have expected further training in the UK before being posted to the overseas' battalion - the 1st Battalion - which was stationed in Burma. As it was, with around a year's experience under their belts, they found themselves sent out to France with the 2nd Battalion, shouldering their rifles along with other young soldiers and recalled men.

Here is the list of 2nd Battalion, Border Regiment men captured on or before the 25th December 1914.

6843 Private Daniel Airey
8647 Private Albert Aitkenhead
9224 Private Thomas A Allen
7375 Private Thomas William Ames
8896 Private Edward Andrew
7415 Pte Edward Ayers
8739 Lance-Corporal Horace Edwin Bellamy
10435 Private Reginald Bennett
8947 Lance-Corporal Sidney Bettis
8063 Private Charles William James Bewley
8653 Private Harry Bollam
6794 Private Charles Bowyer
7851 Private William Frederick Brackenborough
6823 Private Ishmael Braithwaite
9455 Sergeant Horace Charles Bray
7411 Private Bernard Briggall
6920 Private Thomas Brindle
8026 Private George Brooke
10558 Lance-Corporal Frank Brooker
6984 Lance-Sergeant Francis George Buchanan
9818 Private Harold Blanchard Bull
8295 Private Alfred Bunyan
8225 Private William Charles Burgess
9979 Private Robert Fredrick Burnes
8606 Private Charles Casey
7807 Private James Edward Chignell
7641 L/Cpl Walter Clark
10379 Private William Clarke
7796 Private Alfred Clay
7160 Private William Charles Clift
8620 Private Arthur Coates
8904 Private Robert Coatsworth
9454 Private Percy Percival John Cox
6886 Private Joseph Crossby
7309 Private Oswald Cunliffe
8215 Sergeant John Davidson
9345 Private Arthur Dawes
8249 Private Charles Henry Dayman
7163 Private Percy George Dewey
6831 Lance-Corporal John Watson Dickinson
7387 Private Harry Dodds
7456 Private John Douglas
8205 Private G H Dyer 
8657 Private Henry Edwards 
7731 Private William Edwards 
10353 Private Charles Alfred Ely 
7119 Private Peter Faughey 
10361 Private Edmund Fitton 
8648 Private Robert Fletcher 
10093 Corporal Richard Fotheringham 
7156 Pte Joseph Gray 
8908 Private James Gregory 
8591 Private Arthur Edgar Hahn 
8555 Private George Harris 
6017 Private Charles Harrison 
9566 Private Henry Hatcher 
6803 Private Joseph Ingham 
8238 Pte Robert Irving 
8458 Lance-Corporal Frank Jarvis 
6115 Private John Kemp 
6928 Private Thomas Kemp 
8611 Private James Kennedy 
5391 Lance-Corporal William David Kimber 
9411 Corporal William Kinghorn 
7126 Private William Kirkpatrick 
7110 Private William John Knox 
10519 Private Stanley Lee 
10675 Private George Frederick Lockerby 
10474 Private John Maloney 
10324 Private Thomas Matthews 
10500 Private Walter McKellar 
7991 Lance-Corporal James Meagan 
10322 Private Ernest Merrifield 
6774 Private James John Messer 
7504 Private John Neville 
9880 Private Cecil Charles Nicholls 
6919 Private Richard Norris 
7374 Private George Oakes 
7723 Private William Henry O'Key 
8672 Private William Stanton Orchard 
10600 Private John Edwin Palmer 
7099 Pte William Parkinson 
7561 Private Charles Lewis Pegram 
8977 Lance-Corporal Victor Price 
10468 Private Harold Pullan 
8346 Private Thomas William Purdon 
6873 Private Fred John Pye 
8996 Private T E Radley 
8686 Private George Read 
7152 Private John Frederick Richardson 
6923 Private Fred Rogers 
7784 Private David Rollason 
6851 Private Reginald Rudden 
9307 Private J Shepherd 
5480 Private James Sherlock 
7951 Private Edward Stalham 
8326 Private Herbert Stanley 
8927 Private Thomas Swaddle 
9889 Private Herbert Thompson 
8660 Private Edgar Reuben Tindall 
7601 Private Samuel Alfred Usher 
8708 Private James Edward Vincent 
8198 Private Alfred Whitehead 
9390 Private John Whitfield 
10491 Private Reuben Wilmot 
10495 Private James Wilson 
7939 Private Henry Wiltshire

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