The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) - 4th Battalion

This post will look at regimental numbering in the 4th Battalion (TF), The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) between 1908 and 1914.

The 4th Battalion was formed on the 1st April 1908 and prior to this had been the 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Buffs (East Kent Regiment). In 1907, the 1st VB was under-strength; 950 men out of an establishment of 1396. By 1908, as The Territorial Year Book for that year records, the battalion strength had shrunk further and now comprised 16 officers and 508 men. 158 men attended camp in 1908 for 8 days and 259 attended for 15 days.

The following year, after an obviously successful recruiting campaign, The Territorial Year Book for 1910 recorded that the strength of the battalion in 1909 stood at 18 officers and 787 men. At the annual camp that year, 316 officers and men attended for eight days whilst 385 officers and men attended for 15 days. Camp in 1910 was scheduled to take place from the 23rd July at Dover.

By August 1914 the battalion was headquartered at Canterbury, and recruiting in the following parts of the county:  

A Company: Ramsgate, with drill stations at Birchington and Broadstairs
B Company: Canterbury, with drill stations at Chatham and Ash
C Company: Canterbury, with drill stations at Littlebourne, Wingham and Nonington
D Company: Folkestone, with a drill station at Hythe
E Company: Sittingbourne, with a drill station at Sheerness
F Company: Herne Bay, with a drill station at Whitstable
G Company: Margate, with drill stations at St Nicholas at Wade, and Westgate
H Company: Dover

The above information about company distribution is particularly useful if your ancest

or enlisted with the 4th Buffs prior to August 1914. For argument's sake, if he lived in Whitstable he would have been most likely to have joined F Company; if he was in the immediate vicinity of Dover, H Company would have been the most likely company he served with.

Here are some sample regimental numbers and joining dates for the the 4th Battalion (TF), The Buffs (East Kent Regiment).

126 joined from the 1st Volunteer Force Battalion on the 24th April 1908
690 joined on the 12th January 1909

1017 joined on the 19th February 1910
1221 joined on the 17th February 1911
1367 joined on the 31st January 1912
1496 joined on the 29th January 1913
1774 joined on the 29th January 1914
1879 joined on the 5th August 1914

Use the regimental numbers above to estimate when a man would have joined this battalion between 1908 and August 1914. For example if your man's number was 1250 and he lived in Wingham, he would have joined the battalion some time after 17th February 1911 and before January 1912. Furthermore, he probably served with C Company.

The undated photo at the top of this page shows an unidentified battalion of the Buffs on the march.

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

Not with a bang but a whimper: the demise of Special & Extra Reserve enlistments

This post will look at the demise of Special and Extra Reserve enlistments in the Infantry of the Line. I've not seen any official Army Council Instruction dealing with this and consequently would be pleased to know if anyone has seen evidence that recruiting into these battalions should cease. What follows is an alphabetical listing of infantry regiments and the latest dates that I have in my database for enlistments into their Special and Extra Reserve battalions. This is obviously a huge caveat as my database is, and always will be, incomplete: the later the war progresses, the thinner the data becomes. With largely Irish exceptions though, as will be seen from what follows, recruiting into the majority of Special and Extra Reserve battalions had become a thing of the past by the end of 1914. I will be pleased to update this list if anyone wishes to  add to, or correct, the information contained here.

3rd A & S Highlanders: Oct 1914
4th A & S Highlanders: Oct 1914
3rd Beds Regt: Nov 1914
4th Beds Regt: Sep 1914
3rd Black Watch: Sep 1914
3rd Border Regt: Oct 1914
3rd Buffs: Aug 1914

Note that a new number sequence was begun for men wishing to join the SR for wartime service only and this ran at least until October 1914

3rd Cameron Highlanders: Jan 1915
3rd Cameronians: Sep 1914
4th Cameronians: Sep 1914
3rd Cheshire: Jul 1915
3rd and 4th Connaught Rangers: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences throughout the war
3rd Devonshire Regt: Oct 1914
3rd Dorsetshire Regt: Mar 1915
3rd DCLI: Oct 1914
3rd Duke of Wellington's: Apr 1916
3rd Durham L.I.: Oct 1914
4th Durham L.I.: Sep 1914
3rd East Lancs Regt: Oct 1914
3rd East Surrey Regt: Apr 1915
4th East Surrey Regt: Sep 1914

Note that two new short-lived number sequences were begun In August 1914 for men wishing to join the 3rd E Surrey and 4th E Surrey for wartime service only and these ran at least until October and September 1914 respectively

3rd East Yorks Regt: Dec 1914
3rd Essex Regt: Nov 1914
3rd Gloucs Regt: Nov 1914
3rd Gordon Hrs: Nov 1914
3rd Hants Regt: Nov 1914
3rd HLI: Oct 1914
4th HLI: Sep 1914
3rd King's (Liverpool Regt): Nov 1914
4th King's (Liverpool Regt): Sep 1914
3rd King's Own: Nov 1914
3rd KOSB: Apr 1915
3rd KOYLI: Sep 1914
5th KRRC: Sep 1914
6th KRRC: Insufficient data
3rd Lancs Fus: Oct 1914
4th Lancs Fus: Oct 1914
3rd Leics: Sep 1914 3rd,
4th & 5th Leinster Regt: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences throughout the war
3rd Lincs Regt: Jun 1915
3rd Loyal N Lancs: Nov 1914
3rd Manchester Regt: Nov 1914
4th Manchester Regt: Nov 1914
5th Middx: Aug 1914
6th Middx Regt: Aug 1914

Note that two new short-lived number sequences were begun In August 1914 for men wishing to join the 5th Middx and 6th Middx for wartime service only and these ran at least until October and September 1914 respectively

3rd Norfolk Regt: Oct 1914
3rd Northants Regt: Sep 1914
3rd North Staffs Regt: Oct 1914
4th North Staffs: Sep 1914
3rd Northumberland Fus: Sep 1914
3rd Ox & Bucks LI: Nov 1914
3rd Queen's (RWS): Oct 1914
5th Rifle Brigade: Aug 1914
6th Rifle Brigade: Aug 1914
7th Rifle Brigade: Insufficient data
3rd Royal Berks Regt: Oct 1914
3rd, 4th and 5th Royal Dublin Fus: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences throughout the war 5th Royal Fus: Jan 1915
6th Royal Fus: Dec 1914
7th Royal Fus: Jan 1915
3rd & 4th R Innis Fus: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences at least until the end of 1915 and possibly throughout the war
3rd & 4th R Irish Fus: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences at least until the end of 1915 and possibly throughout the war
3rd & 4th R Irish Regt: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences at least until the end of 1915 and possibly throughout the war
3rd, 4th and 5th R Irish Rifs: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences at least until Jan 1916 in the case of the 4th and 5th Battalions, and at least until October 1916 for the 3rd Battalion; possibly to the end of the war for all battalions
3rd, 4th and 5th R Munster Fus: appear to have recruited and maintained their number sequences well into 1916 and possibly throughout the war
3rd Royal Scots: Jan 1915
3rd Royal Scots Fus: Oct 1914

3rd Royal Sussex Regt: Nov 1914 Note that a new short-lived number sequences were begun in August 1914 for men wishing to join the 3rd R Sussex for wartime service only. This appears to have petered out by November 1914.

3rd R Warwicks Regt: Sep 1914
4th R Warwicks Regt: Oct 1914
3rd Royal Welsh Fus: Feb 1915
3rd Royal West Kent Regt: Aug 1914

Note that a new short-lived number sequences were begun in August 1914 for men wishing to join the 3rd RWK for wartime service only. This appears to have petered out by October 1914.

3rd Seaforth Hrs: Nov 1914
3rd Sherwood Foresters: Nov 1914
4th Sherwood Foresters: Sep 1914
3rd Shrops L I: Feb 1915
3rd Somerset L I: Oct 1914
3rd South Lancs Regt: Jun 1915
3rd South Staffs Regt: Oct 1914
4th South Staffs Regt: Oct 1914
3rd South Wales Bords: Sep 1914
3rd Suffolk Regt: Nov 1914
3rd Welsh Regt: May 1915
3rd West Yorks Regt: Oct 1914
4th West Yorks Regt: Aug 1914
3rd Wilts Regt: Nov 1914
5th Worcs Regt: Aug 1914
6th Worcs Regt: Nov 1914
3rd Yorks Regt: Jul 1915
3rd York & Lancs Regt: Mar 1915

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Border Regiment recruitment in 1906

This post will look at recruitment in the regular battalions - the 1st and 2nd Battalions - of the Border Regiment in 1906.

As I mentioned yesterday in my post on Border Regiment recruitment 1881-1914, 1906 was a bumper year for the regiment. In the period 31st January 1905 to 3rd January 1906, less than two hundred men had joined the regiment. Number 8088 had joined on 31st January 1905 and number 8164 joined on 3rd January 1906. And yet by 19th December 1906, the regiment had reached number 9211, an astronomical rise in recruits if all of those numbers had been allocated.

So what happened in 1906 to so dramatically improve the fortunes of Border Regiment recruitment, and where did all the men come from?

I've compiled the list below by looking at surviving Border Regiment service records for 1906. All of these survive in the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives (the vast majority of these in WO 363) and all are now available via the Ancestry website. I've indicated in square brackets, the place where the men attested.

8164 John Arthur joined on 3rd January [Stratford]
8183 Arthur George joined on 12th January [London]
8187 Edmund Baxter joined on 15th January [Jersey]
8188 George Bygrave joined on 15th January [London]
8199 Dick Button joined on 19th January [Stratford]
8200 Ernest Beale joined on 19th January [Stratford]
8210 Edward Day joined on 23rd January [Leicester]
8218 Henry Batt joined on 1st February [Stratford]
8220 Thomas William Emsworth joined on 2nd February [Stratford]
8243 Joseph Kiggins joined on 26th February [Stratford]
8247 William Charles Brown joined on 2nd March [Stratford]
8274 William Malyon joined on 24th March [Barnet]
8312 James Johnson joined on 23rd April [Workington]
8315 Alfred John Alford joined on 27th April [London]
8317 Harry Gallaway Mayo North joined on 21st April [Hastings]
8327 Alfred Charles Campbell joined on 30th April [Stratford]
8332 John William Harris joined on 4th May [Stratford]
8334 Frank Le Bontilier Harris joined on 4th May [Stratford]
8339 Edward Edwin Barrett joined on 23rd May [Stratford, London]
8348 Robert Alfred Brandon joined on 6th June [London]
8353 John Stanley Mitchell joined on 5th June [London]
8357 Phillip Davis joined on 16th June [Stratford]
8370 George Frederick Hanson joined on 21st June [Pontefract]
8372 Robert Douglas joined on 19th June [Carlisle]
8373 James Godden joined on 20th June [London]
8380 Charles Edward Ellicock joined on 22nd June [London]
8386 Conrad Burrows joined on 27th June [Stratford]
8429 Edward Hester joined on 11th July [Stratford]
8433 Andrew Mcmanus joined on 9th July [Carlisle]
8435 William Lake joined on 10th July [London]
8450 Walter Frederick Fox joined on 16th July [London]
8451 John Bow joined on 16th July [Nottingham]
8457 Charles Horwood joined on 16th July [London]
8475 John Gardner joined on 23rd July [London]
8479 William Harding joined on 24th July [London]
8486 John Tom Brown joined on 30th July [Nottingham]
8491 William Moore joined on 1st August [Nottingham]
8501 John Richard Coleman joined on 7th August [Walthamstow]
8504 George King joined on 9th August [Nottingham]
8511 Alfred Marks joined on 9th August [Stratford]
8521 Joseph James Giles joined on 4th August [Coventry]
8522 Percy John Evans joined on 10th August [Manchester]
8524 John Barry joined on 13th August [London]
8525 William Grace joined on 9th August [Hounslow]
8532 Albert Muncey joined on 13th August [London]
8533 Edward Clarke joined on 13th August [Coventry]
8544 Harry Hellwig joined on 13th August [London]
8615 Charles Cornelius Barnard, alias Charles Cornelius Berning joined on 26th August having transferred from Northumberland Fusiliers (number 1419) [Stratford]
8663 Arthur Berham Cox joined on 29th August [Chatham]
8682 George Harris joined on 10th September [London]
8698 Herbert Squelch joined on 12th September [London]
8715 Robert Johnson joined on 20th September August [Halifax]
8798 George Davis joined on 27th September [Stratford]
9011 Christopher Riley joined on 22nd October [Workington]
9211 Joseph Francis Doonan joined on 19th December [Workington]

Again, this is a snapshot, 55 men from a series embracing over a thousand numbers, but it's interesting to note that the vast majority of these enlistments took place in London - and most of these in the East End. Thirty-five men signed up at Stratford, Walthamstow or simply "London". Add in men from other parts of south England (and one man from Jersey), and the total rises to 40. The majority of the remaining men joined up in the Midlands (Coventry and Nottingham) with only a handful coming from what would tradionally be regarded as the Border Regiment recruiting area.

These recruiting locations are in marked contrast to recruitment the previous year which for the most part, according to my records at least, took place pretty much where you'd expect it to have done - in Border Regiment territory. Without having documentary evidence to hand, it's difficult to know exactly what went on but it would appear that after a poor showing in 1905, a decision was taken to spread the Border Regiment recruitment net and, if the recruits wouldn't come to the Borders, go and find the recruits. That's all guesswork on my part but the logic, based on the locations above, appears sound.

All of the men above signed up for seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. That means that excluding those men who'd extended their period of service, and those of course who had been discharged early, the majority of these 1906 enlistments would have been on the Reserve when Britain went to war with Germany in August 1914. It stands to reason therefore that the majority of these men would also have been recalled to the Colours when Britain went to war.

I had a quick look at Soldiers Died in The Great War and counted up the number of men with numbers in the range 8164 to 9210. By my reckoning, there were 236 men, 59 of whom are recorded on SDGW as having enlisted in London. The true total will be higher. Furthermore, numbers in that range for the Border regiment can only have been issued to men who joined up in 1906. If he had a number in the range 8164 to 9211 he must have joined up during the Border Regiment's bumper year.

For informed Border Regiment discussion, visit the Border Regiment Forum.


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Books about the Border Regiment during WW1


The Border Regiment in the Great War

Before the Great War the Border Regiment, primarily recruited from the Lakeland counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, consisted of two Regular and two Territorial battalions, plus the Regimental Depot. During the war this was increased to a total of thirteen battalions by the raising of volunteer service battalions. This history tells the story of all 13 battalions.

The regiment saw service in France from 1914, while the 1st battalion was at Gallipoli the following year. In 1916, six of the regiment’s battalions took part in the battle of the Somme, and in 1917 the regiment fought in the battle of Arras, at Bullecourt, and at the Battle of Messines. Six of its battalions took part in the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) while other battalions fought on the Salonika front in Macedonia and in Italy.

In this excellent and tightly written history, as the regiment’s Colonel, Maj.Gen. E.G. Sinclair MacLagan writes in his preface, the author “has recorded the doings of the different Battalions in six separate theatres of war, and has merged them into one consecutive narrative”. lllustrated by 14 photographic plates and seven maps.

4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards - 1882 enlistments

For no other reason than that I find recruitment patterns in regiments endlessly fascinating, I thought I'd turn my attention today to the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, the regiment that holds the distinction of having fired the first shot (by the British Expeditionary Force) in the First World War. For the subject of this post however, I'd like to look at enlistments in 1882.

The previous year, 1881, recruitment had taken place at a snail's pace. This was not at all uncommon in either cavalry or infantry regiments but as far as the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards was concerned, number 2437 joined on 13th January 1881 and by 17th November that year, the regiment had reached 2474: precisely 38 recruits in 11 months.

1882 was a different story altogether and a massive recruitment drive appears to have taken place. I'd like to see official documents or hear from a 4th Dragoon Guards expert on the subject but the surge is remarkable. What follows is a list of recruitments - and these are all first-time enlistments into the regiment - that pretty much covers the entire year. Service records for ALL of the army service numbers listed below, survive in the WO 363 series held at the National Archives in Kew. I have indicated in brackets, where the individual was born but there appears to be no specific regional stronghold.

2480 enlisted 2nd January [b. Grantham, Lincs]
2485 enlisted 24th January [b. Arva, Govan]
2487 enlisted 26th January [b. Maidstone, Kent]
2491 enlisted 11th January [b. Ellon, Aberdeen] SEE BELOW
2493 enlisted 7th February [b. Bermondsey, London]
2494 enlisted 9th February [b. Camberwell, London]
2495 enlisted 10th February [b. Kingston, Surrey]
2499 enlisted 22nd February [b. Killin, Perth]
2500 enlisted 23rd February [b. Gorbals, Lanarkshire]
2504 enlisted 4th March [b. Antrim, Ireland]
2508 enlisted 15th March [b. Barnwood, Glos]
2514 enlisted 17th March [b. Enfield, Middlesex]
2515 enlisted 18th March [b. Stratford, London]
2519 enlisted 22nd April [b. Gravesend, Kent]
2527 enlisted 27th May [b. Sherbrook, Derbys]
2531 enlisted 14th June [b. St Pancras, London]
2532 enlisted 15th June [b. Hawick, Scotland]
2534 enlisted 16th June [b. Yateley, Hants]
2538 enlisted 3rd July [b. UNCLEAR]
2679 enlisted 9th August [b. Tweedmouth, Sco]
2694 enlisted 13th August [b. Ryde, IoW]
2782 enlisted 12th September [b. Malta]
2783 enlisted 14th September [b. Queen's County, Ireland]
2784 enlisted 18th September [b.Hove, Sussex]
2785 enlisted 25th September [b. Glasgow]
2789 enlisted 24th October [b. Lewes, Sussex]
2790 enlisted 9th November [b. Bedford, Beds]
2825 enlisted 8th December [b. Chester, Cheshire]
2830 enlisted 28th December [b. Harrow, Middlesex]

I find this sequence interesting because there appears to be a clear recruitment drive extending roughly from the beginning of the year until around mid September when things slow down again.

Number 2491, highlighted above, is interesting in that his number alone does not appear to fit the general sequence. This man joined on 11th January and then served precisely 14 days before deciding that the army wasn't his cup of tea. He paid ten pounds to buy his discharge, something which a recruit could do within three months of his attestation.

As regards where the men listed above joined their regiment in 1882, 2480 through to 2679 joined at Aldershot, 2694 through to 2785 joined at York, and 2789 onwards joined at Brighton.

Recruitment into this regiment slowed down again dramatically in 1883 (2831 joined on 2nd January and 2867 joined on 6th December) but by 1884 the pattern had reversed again, close to 350 men enlisting that year.

 

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Numerous records for 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards servicemen survive at the National Archives. Read them on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Also see my other Corps of Dragoons posts:

1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards
2nd Dragoon Guards (The Queen's Bays)
3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards
4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards
5th Dragoon Guards
6th Dragoon Guards (Carabineiers)
7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards

1st (Royal) Dragoons
2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys)
6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons.

RECORD OF THE 4TH ROYAL IRISH DRAGOON GUARDS IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914-1918

This from the Naval & Military Press:

On the declaration of war the 4th Dragoon Guards were at Tidworth, part of 2nd Cavalry Brigade under command of Brig Gen H. de B. de Lisle. The regiment crossed to France on 15th August and a week later, the day before Mons, made the first contact with the enemy, a cavalry patrol. Corporal Thomas of ‘C’ Squadron fired the first shot by the BEF and Capt Hornby led the first charge, scattering the Germans, sabring several and taking others prisoner. The regiment remained on the Western Front throughout the war.

"This volume gives a concise account of the regiment’s experiences without much of the personal reminiscence. There is a useful appendix which gives the service details of every officer with any awards and noting casualties, and another contains the Roll of Honour in which the names are listed alphabetically regardless of rank, and on a year by year basis; the total amounted to 16 officers and 175 other ranks."