20th Hussars - Other Rank PoWs 1914

The following men, all serving with the 20th Hussars, became Prisoners of War of the Germans before 25th December 1914. In the spirit of Christmas giving, I am also including their home addresses as recorded by the officer in charge of cavalry records (Hussars) when he wrote to Sir Ernest Goodhart in January 1919.

The original documentation is housed at The Imperial War Museum under B.O.2 1/164.

9842 Private E Blackford,  56 Liverpool Road, Watford 
6425 Private E Burns, 33 Conway Street, Beswick, Manchester 
47336 Private W M Death, 166 Wood Street, Walthamstow 
9357 Bandsman G F Foley, 15 Park Street, Windsor 
8167 Private B J Guppy, 10 Alexandra Terrace, Teignmouth 
4826 Private J Harvey, Yellow Road, Waterford 
47322 Private J Hope, 5 London Road, Walton, Liverpool 
4893 Private E Kavanagh, 9 Middle Gardener Street, Dublin 
7254 Lance-Corporal C H Lloyd, Habblesthorpe Farm, Near Leverton, Notts 
4556 Private R Lloyd, 6 Boyne Road, Liverpool 
2798 Private J Logan, Union Jack Club, London 
8869 Private J Lovell, Crown & Anchor Hotel, Wakefield 
47371 Private J P Mason, 19 Honiton Street, Carlton Grove, Peckham, London SE 
47378 Private V H McAuley, 27 Castle Road, Grays, Essex 
5663 Lance-Sergeant C Nunn, 21 Clarissa Road, Chadwell Heath 
804 Lance-Corporal T Ramsbottom, 12 Wooler Street, Scarborough 
11183 Lance-Sergeant T Roxby, 291 Heath Street, Winson Green, Birmingham 
3303 Private E A Vaughan, 2 Suffolk Cottage, Copse Lane, Freshwater, Isle of Wight 
8954 Private R Ward, High Street, Skelton-in Cleveland

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Regimental numbers research tip: duplicate number series

On this blog you will find lists of regimental number series. Back in 2003 I started to compile a database of regimental numbers and the known dates on which these were issued. I embarked on this mission because I was researching a community in Chailey and quickly realised that for the most part, the only surviving record of military service was a medal card and medal rolls. I felt sure that there was method to the way in which regimental numbers were issued, and so it turned out to be.

I want to use this opportunity though, once again, to talk about duplicate regimental number series. I have covered this topic periodically over the eight years that this blog has been in existence, but it does no harm to cover it again.

First of all, we need to have a picture in our minds of a typical line infantry regiment in July 1881. With the exception of the Rifle Brigade, all regiments have started a new regimental number series. Their designations have also changed and, with the singular exception of the 79th Regiment of Foot, single battalion regiments of foot from the 26th Regiment of Foot upwards have been formally paired with other regiments. Gone are the old numerical "Regiment of Foot" titles and in their place are county titles.  Using my own local regiment as an example, the old 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot and the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot have been formally merged to create the brand new two-battalion Essex Regiment. Men joining this new regiment from July 1881 are issued with new numbers beginning at 1. The numbers are issued when the men arrive at the regimental depot, NOT on the day on which they attest (although in many cases this will be the same day of attestation).

This is our first Essex Regiment regimental numbers series - numbers issued to regular soldiers.

The Essex Regiment also has two militia battalions in 1881. These are the 3rd East Essex Rifles and the 4th West Essex Militia. Both of these battalions have their own regimental series. 

In addition to the regular number series (covering the 1st and 2nd Battalions), a regimental number series for the 3rd Battalion, and a regimental numbers series for the 4th Battalion, the Essex Regiment also has four Volunteer Force battalions, each of these battalions operating its own regimental number series.

So in total, in 1881, the Essex Regiment has seven separate regimental number series being used concurrently.

Fast forward to 1908. There are no changes to regular battalions. The Special Reserve and Extra Reserve replace the militia. The Territorial Force replaces the Volunteer Force. The Essex Regiment is one of several regiments to lose one of its militia battalions. Men transferring into the new 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion from  the old 3rd (Militia) Battalion keep their old militia regimental numbers. Men transferring in from the old 4th (Militia) Battalion as well as new recruits who have never served in the militia before are all issued with new regimental numbers from a new series beginning at 1.

The Volunteer Force has been replaced by the Territorial Force, the old 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th VF battalions being replaced by the new 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Battalions. All of these battalions have their own regimental number series and all begin at number 1 in 1908. In 1910 an 8th (Cyclist) Battalion will also be formed and it will start numbering from 1 as well.

Fast forward to August 1914. The Essex Regiment will start to raise new service battalions. All of these battalions will issue numbers from the series being used by the 1st and 2nd Battalions.

The point is this.  There is massive duplication of regimental numbers in the Essex Regiment and in all line infantry regiments.

1. By the end of 1914 the Essex Regiment has two regular battalions (the 1st & 2nd Battalions) and five service battalions (the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions) all using regimental numbers from the same series.
2. The 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion uses numbers from another series.
3. The five Territorial Force battalions all have their own regimental number series

In theory therefore, by 1914 there could be four men in the Essex Regiment who all have the same number. The number 3000 would have been issued to:

1. A man joining the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in September 1914
2. A man joining the 5th Battalion in November 1914
3. A man joining the 6th Battalion in October 1914
4. A man joining the 7th Battalion in November 1914

The number 3000 would also have been issued to a regular recruit in 1890. It would also be issued to a man in the 4th Battalion in January 1915 and a man in the 8th Battalion in October 1916. 

This duplication of numbers is evident across all infantry regiments to a greater or lesser degree, and similar duplication of numbers appears in Territorial Force numbers for other Corps. This was the principal reason that the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917 except of course that it still resulted in massive duplication of numbers across regiments. The number 200001, for instance was issued by 56 different regiments, as was the number 200002, 200003 and so on.

On this blog you will find man different regimental number sequences explained, but there are many many more sequences which I have not published. Take a look at my posts on the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders regimental number sequences (see here for the INDEX) and then imagine that same scenario repeating across the majority of the other infantry regiments (excluding Irish regiments which had no Territorial Force battalions). 

I hope this post has been helpful. Use the information here and elsewhere to narrow down the enlistment and/or transfer dates of your own British Army ancestor but remember, if you get stuck:

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19th Hussars - Other Rank PoWs 1914

Here are some more cavalrymen, a small list of 12 men, captured by the Germans before Christmas 1914; this time men from the 19th (Queen Alexandra's Own) Hussars.

As I have said before, what I call the Princess Mary tin PoW lists are certainly incomplete but they're also a great starting point.  I have augmented the information I hold in these lists by looking at The Times casualty lists and also the Prisoners of War on Findmypast.  There are close to 2.7m indexed records in total and over 69,000 First World War PoW records. This is an ongoing task.

All of these men appear in a document held at the Imperial War Museum in B.O.2 1/163 which is a two-page hand-written letter to Sire Ernest Goodhart from the officer in charge of cavalry records at York. The letter is dated 7th January 1919.

2109 Private J Black,  19th Hussars, 65 Kingsland Road, Dalston, London E13 
46523 Sergeant W A Ducker,  19th Hussars, Fleech Hotel, Canterbury 
9701 Private G E Line,  19th Hussars, 75 St Peters Road, Edmonton 
5985 Private T McGrory,  19th Hussars, 36 Forest Street, Stonefield, Cantyre, Blantyre 
6754 Private C McGuire,  19th Hussars, 74 Everson Lane, Sheffield 
3044 Private N Phelan,  19th Hussars, 25 Burton, Kingston-on-Thames 
2924 Private G J Saunders,  19th Hussars, Petworth, Sussex 
8069 Private J W Seth,  19th Hussars, 5 Cemetery Lane, Shepperton, Middlesex 
3283 S/Sgt Frank Underhill,  19th Hussars, Regents Cottage, Edenbridge 
745 Private J Whitney.  19th Hussars. 77 Cambridge Street, Springfield, Northampton 
46500 Private Thomas Whybourne,  19th Hussars, Manor Farm, Guildford 
9684 Private W L Wills,  19th Hussars, Wyesham, Near Monmouth

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6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons - Other Rank PoWs 1914

After last week's small list of 10th Hussars PoWs, here's another list of cavalrymen captured by the Germans before Christmas 1914; this time men from the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons.

What I call the Princess Mary tin PoW lists are certainly incomplete but they're also a great starting point.  I augment the information I hold in these lists by looking at The Times casualty lists and also the Prisoners of War on Findmypast.  There are close to 2.7m indexed records in total and over 69,000 First World War PoW records.

2492 Private W H Barnett
Captured 30th October 1914; home address: 606 Harrow Road, London 
2511 Corporal A Bowling
Captured 30th October 1914; home address: 48 Salt Street, Manningham, Bradford
2503 Private G Dixon
Captured 30th October 1914; home address: 4 Imperial Terrace, Woodfield Grove, Sale, Near Manchester 
5637 Private G Downs
Captured 30th October 1914; home address: 19 Sutherland Steet, Leicester 
6453 Private F Eversoll
Captured 30th October 1914; home address: 5 Acacia Avenue, Cardiff 
140 Private J Ferrie
Home address: Mrs McEwan, 50 Albert Road, Townhead, Glasgow 
5705 Corporal C Jaggard
Captured 30th October 1914; home address: 2 Albert Street, Chesterton, Cambridge 
6576 Private J Plain
Home address: 9 Salisbury Road, St Stephens, Canterbury 
5732 Private S Ripley
Captured 29th October 1914; home address: 1 Back Butler's Buildings, Crossgreen lane, Leeds 
5653 Private George H Tudball
Captured 30th October 1914; home address:  20 Keightley Street, Birkenhead 

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10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Hussars - Other Rank PoWs 1914

The list of 10th Hussars men who had become prisoners of war by December 1914 is tiny. It took the form of a two-page letter typed by Mrs E Mackenzie of the Tenth (PWO) Hussars Association and was sent to Sir Ernest Goodhart on the 19th December 1918. At the time of writing, at least six of the men were still being held in German camps.

At first glance, Corporal Addison looks to be the longest serving man here, assuming that is that the other men's numbers all belong to the regimental number series issued to the Corps of Hussars from 1907. That would place Corporal Addison as a 1907 enlistment, and all the other men a couple of years behind him, enlisting in 1909 and 1910.

On the other hand though - and this is where you need to be careful with line cavalry numbering - the numbers issued to all of the men except Corporal Addison could, in theory, have been issued to the 10th Hussars before 1907. This would make 4238 Sergeant Hawkes the longest serving man (enlisted 1899), with the other men enlisting between 1900 and 1906).

In actual fact, Lance-Corporal Arthur H Hawkes does indeed appear on medal rolls for the Queen's South Africa Medal and King's South Africa Medal and so he is the longest serving man in the list below.

909 Corporal Alfred H Addison 
4686 Private George R Bird 
6545 Private P Cairns 
5568 Private Joseph Cassidy 
5559 Private Arthur G Cater 
5590 Private H Grant 
4238 Sergeant H Hawkes 
5759 Corporal William R Miller 
5422 Private E Reeve

For more information on cavalry numbering and that crucial change from regimental numbering by regiment to regimental numbering by corps, have a look at my post on King's and Queen's Regulations, and in particular Army Order 289 of December 1906 which, for the modern day researcher, really is a vital document that should be pinned up somewhere where it won't be missed. Or alternatively, just bookmark this page.

Pictured above in about 1901, Prince Edward, HRH The Prince of Wales; Later King Edward VII, Colonel of the 10th Hussars.

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Leicestershire Regiment - other rank PoWs 1914

The following men all appear on a list of Leicestershire Regiment men who were captured on or before the 25th December 1914 and therefore missed out on Princess Mary's gift to her troops.

This list is compiled from a single source at The Imperial War Museum, London: B.O.2 1/256 which is a two-page undated typed list. 

The extract below is an edited version of the full transcription which typically gives date of capture and home address. The full transcription is available for sale as a download or CD for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

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

7772 Private Joseph Arthur Allen 
6986 Private H Ball 
8051 Private L Bate 
8837 Private J E Beck 
7524 Private W Bent 
 7964 Private G Bevins 
9559 Private B Billington 
7277 Private H Board 
9530 Private H Botterill 
7059 Private T Cavner 
9675 Private F H Chambers 
6472 Private E Church 
6664 Private J W Clarke 
9769 Private J W Clarke 
8283 Private S C Clarke 
7186 Private F Cliffe 
6836 Private A Coleman 
6523 Private W Coleman 
6888 Drummer M Collins 
9253 CSM H Conner 
9902 Drummer G Craffey 
5276 Lance-Corporal R Cramp 
9718 Private J Dakin 
7783 Private W Dawes 
9703 Private G Dodge 
7299 Private A Durrant 
8937 Private R A Ellis 
7321 Private G Fairbrother 
7206 Private H Fall 
7987 Private H B Gilbert 
7593 Private J Goodman 
9498 Private H A Greenhalgh 
10458 G W Gregg 
9426 Private H Hall 
8593 Private J Harding 
8414 Private W Hardyman 
7050 Private H Hemmings 
17966 Sergeant C Hickman 
9613 Private W Holland 
8039 Private F W Hollingshead 
6979 Sergeant J C H Hubbard 
7047 Private S Hunt 
7994 Private G Hunter 
9104 Lance-Corporal A Iliffe 
7306 Private F King 
8759 Private G Lee 
9569 Lance-Corporal J Lines 
5324 Lance-Corporal E Lomas 
9719 Private H C Loseby 
7416 Private C Mann 
6564 Private T Marlow 
7731 Private G Marsh 
8706 Private G Mason 
5520 CQMS L McCarthy 
9673 Private J McGuire 
9155 Drummer G Millard 
9510 Private E Morgan 
7998 Corporal H Mott 
7195 Corporal F P Moylan
9321 Private J Murphy 
7491 Private G Narrowway 
6581 Private G Naylor 
6611 Private G A Newall
9543 Private P Noble 
7034 Private J O'Grady 
8537 Lance-Corporal H J Ormes 
9455 Private A G Pash 
7188 Private W A Phillips 
6622 Private R Randall 
9541 Private G H Sanders 
6570 Sergeant D Shea 
6992 Private G F Shepherd
7673 Private J Smith 
9644 Private J Smith 
7041 Private T L Stokes
7587 Private J Tinkler 
7319 Private G Todd 
9626 Private W H Turner 
7279 Private A E Vokins 
8884 Private E Ward 
6540 Private W Ward 
9739 Private L L Wells 
9704 Private William West 
 6462 Private J L Weston 
6630 Private H Wheldale 
8932 Private H Wiggings 
6990 Private A Williams 
9423 Private A E Woodford 
9765 Private W Wortley

British Army service & pension records online

I'm going to flag this again because I think the links I posted could be useful.

Last week, over on my Army Ancestry Research blog, I published a list of infantry and foot guards regiments with links to those regiments' surviving service and pension records on Findmypast. I was quite surprised at how many records survive for some regiments and how few survive for others.  

The records cover a wide year range, from 1760 to 1920, although the majority will be for the period 1881 to 1918. Clicking on the British Army infantry and foot guards links I published will take you to the search results but you will need a subscription or pay-per-view credits to actually view the records. You'll also find some of these on Ancestry but Findmypast has a far more comprehensive and better indexed collection.

11th Royal Dublin Fusiliers - Part II Orders 29th May 1917

Regimental Part II Orders are real gems; the sadness is that so few survive. I think I read somewhere that these were mostly destroyed during the same bombing of London's Docklands in September 1940 which also destroyed 60 per cent of the other rank service records. Some regiments may have copies still, but most do not.

Findmypast has the most comprehensive collection of British Army service records online, and their thoughtful indexing of lists of men found amongst papers in WO 363 has turned up some very useful documents.

The extract below is a transcription of 11th Durham Light Infantry men who proceeded overseas to France on the 28th May 1917 (see the image above which Crown Copyright, The National Archives). I thought I'd manipulate the data and place it in regimental number order to determine when the men had joined up. First though, here are the 86 men:

13538 Sgt Martin,  B Company
18256 Pte Scullion B Company 
20082 Pte Pannell B Company 
23961 Pte McDermot C Company 
24926 Pte Jones C Company 
24942 Pte Ashenhurst B Company 
25096 Pte Jackson A Company 
25102 Pte Reardon C Company 
25368 Pte Chandler B Company 
25434 Pte Ashenhurst C Company 
25611 Pte Ahern A Company 
25637 Pte Douglas B Company 
25962 Pte Hegarty A Company 
26043 Pte Cronin C Company 
26090 Pte Brown D Company 
26224 L/Cpl Conway D Company 
26297 Pte Scanlon B Company 
26354 Pte Kelly A Company 
26546 Pte Lalor A Company 
26596 Pte Jones B Company 
26772 Pte Holden C Company 
26973 Pte Wynne A Company 
26979 Pte Gough B Company 
26994 Pte Doyle D Company 
27023 Pte McDonagh B Company 
27370 Pte Kennedy B Company 
27385 Pte Lynch B Company 
27428 Pte Smalley A Company 
27452 L/Cpl Armstrong D Company 
27640 Pte De Lacy B Company 
27680 Pte Ennis A Company 
27729 Pte Doyle D Company 
27957 Pte Devine C Company 
28269 Pte Lyons A Company 
28270 Pte Murphy A Company 
28406 Pte Kelly C Company 
28407 Pte Byrne B Company 
28607 Pte Douch A Company 
28652 Pte Quinn B Company 
28655 Pte Burke A Company 
28673 Pte Cosgrove A Company 
28683 Pte Hernon A Company 
28684 Pte Cahill B Company 
28716 Pte Devine B Company 
28731 Pte Harte B Company 
28732 Pte Kearns B Company 
28733 Pte Tattersall C Company 
28734 Pte O'Hanlon C Company 
28738 Pte McDonald B Company 
28747 Pte Duff B Company 
28954 Pte Robinson A Company 
28965 Pte Rowe A Company 
28969 Pte Hunt B Company 
28971 Pte Byrne B Company 
29042 Pte Overend C Company 
29043 Pte Smith C Company 
29055 Pte Keatinge D Company 
29058 Pte Duff B Company 
29063 Pte Ryan C Company 
29075 Pte Connolly A Company 
29081 Pte McManus B Company 
29131 Pte McGovern B Company 
29133 Pte Buckley B Company 
29211 Pte Murphy A Company 
29215 Pte Osborne C Company 
29216 Pte Gillor B Company 
29220 Pte Cowell C Company 
29223 Pte Hughes B Company 
29243 Pte Oldfield C Company 
29245 Pte Metcalfe B Company 
29247 Pte Walmsley C Company 
29251 Pte Cullen B Company 
29252 Pte Willan C Company 
29270 Pte Byrne B Company 
29278 Pte Smith D Company 
29289 Pte Skinner D Company 
29291 Pte McDonough A Company 
29293 Pte Dean B Company 
29333 Pte Davidson A Company 
29335 Pte Flint A Company 
29717 Pte Gargan B Company 
29765 Pte McFarlane D Company 
29830 Pte Hepburn D Company 
29831 Pte Fay D Company 
29917 Pte Heffron D Company 
29939 Pte Lightbound B Company

Sergeant Martin is the longest-serving and most senior of the men here. His regimental number tells me that he joined up around the 8th September 1914, but he was certainly not overseas any earlier than 1st January 1916 and it is possible that this posting in May 1917 was his first time abroad.  He later served with the Labour Corps.

The rest of the men have numbers in the range 20082 to 29939. 20082 dates to around the 21st September 1914 whilst 29939 would have been issued over two years later in October 1916. For many of the men listed here, this scrap of information is now all that survives of their service records although First World War medal index cards and campaign medal rolls 1914-1920 have been publsihed online.

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9461 Pte George Henry Byrom, 1st Cheshire Regiment

Here's an eBay win from yesterday. When this photograph was taken in 1917, George Henry Byrom of the 1st Cheshire Regiment was about 22 years old and had already been a prisoner of war for over two years. 

George was not a regular soldier at all. His regimental number, 9461, belongs to the series that was issued by the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and dates to the 27th December 1912. His medal index card notes that he arrived in France on the 31st August and he must therefore have been part of a draft for the 1st Battalion which had been overseas since the 16th.

According to his surviving service record, George was captured on the 14th October 1914. A surviving page held by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) notes that he was captured at La Bassee, one of 55 Cheshire regiment men who became prisoners of war that day. The ICRC record was compiled at Hameln Prisoner of War camp and dates to 6th February 1915. This photgraph was taken by A Mohn, a photographer based in Nienburg, which in turn was attached to Munster. 

George was repatriated on the 12th January 1919. His name appears on two lists sent to Sir Ernest Goodhart who had been charged with ensuring that all men captured before Christmas 1914 would retrospectively receive HRH Princess Mary's gift tin. George's address is given as 30 Hatherlow Street, Portwood, Stockport, and his next of kin recorded as his mother. A note on the back of my PoW photo also notes Portwood, thus linking the photograph to my PoW list. Hatherlow Street has long since been demolished, but the photograph below shows the street in the background, awaiting demolition in 1967. (The photograph below is courtesy Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council which, although it has disabled "Right Click" on its archive site, has not, thankfully, found a way to disable "Print Screen". Thank you, Stockport MBC).

The Princess Mary tin data also confirms George as a 3rd Battalion man, one of only a handful of Special Reservists captured with the Cheshire Regiment in 1914.

A little bit more about the man. George Henry Byrom was born in Stockport on the 29th March 1895, the son of John Henry Byrom (born c1871) and Mary Ellen Byrom (born c1873), and the brother of Elizabeth (born c1897) and Sarah Byrom (born c1899), James Byrom (born c1902), Richard Byrom (born c1904) and John Henry Byrom (born c1908). The family was Roman Catholic and George's baptism into the Roman Catholic church survives in Cheshire archive records. The 1911 census records George's trade as a "Doffer in Doubling Mill" a doffer being the person who removed the full bobbins from the frames in the spinning mills and replaced them with empty ones. 

After he had been repatriated in 1919, George tried to claim a pension, stating that he had an enlarged heart as a result of "neglect and hardships whilst a prisoner of war in Germany". He also noted that he had been a patient at Uchtermoor hospital in Germany and Amersfoort Hospital in Holland. Notes on his record state, "claims that owing to enlarged heart he has had to give up his ordinary work in mill after five nights". His pension claim was rejected.

George married Elizabeth Pollitt (born 3rd December 1894) in Stockport in 1920 and the couple went on to have three children: George (born in 1920), Elizabeth (born in 1922), and James (born in 1924). When the 1939 Register was taken, George and Elizabeth were living at 11 Gerrard Street, George working as a ring doubler, and Elizabeth working as a ring winder. None of their three children appear with them at this address.

George Byrom died in 1957 at the age of 61, Elizabeth Byrom died in 1974.

If anyone knows of the whereabouts of George's medals and would like to part with them, please do get in touch.

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1st Nothumbrian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery

It's been a while since I published regimental number sequences and so here are a few regimental numbers with corresponding joining dates for men of the 1st Northumbrian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. This was a Territorial Force unit which comprised the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Northumbrian Batteries.  The range below covers the period 1908 until June 1915.

309 joined on 8th April 1908
637 joined on 17th May 1909
766 joined on 3rd April 1911
1005 joined on 28th April 1913
1159 joined on 4th August 1914
1233 joined on 31st August 1914
1527 joined on 6th January 1915
1630 joined on 10th February 1915
1794 joined on the 24th April 1915
2239 joined on 2nd June 1915

For those of you not familiar with how these sequences work, the idea is that you can use the dates above to gauge the joining date of your own 1st Northumbrian Brigade Ancestor.

If, for example, you know your man served with this unit and had the regimental number 1346, it would be reasonable to assume that he joined the regiment at some time between the 31st August 1914 and the 6th January 1915.  Note that there is a subtle difference between date of attestation and date of joining, and this becomes particularly important from late 1915 onwards. A man could attest under the Derby Scheme but his number would not be issued to him until he had been mobilised.

Note too, that men joining the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Northumbrian Brigades were all issued with numbers from different series allocated to each of these units. The sequence above is ONLY for the 1st Northumbrian Brigade. My recently re-bound volume of the 1909 Army List - which is an object of beauty in its own right - states that, in 1909 at least, this unit was headquartered at Barrack Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne with the Duke of Northumberland as its Honorary Colonel

After the war, C H Ommaney wrote the Brigade history which these days is scarce but obtainable from around £75. At the time of writing, Turner Donovan books has a copy.

The image on this page shows RFA territorials, unit unknown.

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Re-numbered after death

Over on my WW1 Remembrance blog I have just posted a depressing roll call of close to a thousand men who lost their lives one hundred years ago today on the 1st October 1916.

There are a lot of Territorial Force infantrymen included in this roll, 114 of whom have six-digit numbers which belong to new regimental number series which would not come into effect until the 1st March 1917. So why re-number men who had been killed five months earlier? The answer is simple. These men were all reported missing in action on the 1st October 1916 and would not be officially presumed killed in action until a year later (or until their remains were positively identified, whichever was the soonest).

Of these 114 men, 91 have no known grave and are commemorated on the memorial at Thiepval; they were never found. Twenty of these re-numbered men are buried in Warlencourt British Cemetery, a Lutyens cemetery which I visited in July this year. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery was made in late 1919 when graves from smaller cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars were brought in.

Here, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records can be extremely helpful as they usually include concentration reports and graves registration documents.  For example, 276032 Private John Hanson of the 1/7th Durham Light Infantry was originally brought in from a battlefield grave and recorded as 370 Pte W H Hansen. This was later corrected to 3750 Pte W H Hanson, although he had long since been re-numbered as 276032 Pte W H Hanson and it is this six-digit number which appears on his headstone at Warlencourt. These CWGC reports are therefore useful in locating a man's original number, although these may also appear in the Soldiers' Effects Register, published over on Ancestry.

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4th (Queen's Own) Hussars - other rank PoWs 1914

The following 25 men were all serving with the 4th Hussars when they were captured in 1914. Read more about this data source on my 1914 PoWs page. This data has been transcribed from the Imperial War Museum's collection, specifically item B.O.2 1//153 which is an eight page hand-written letter dated 1919 at York and sent by the officer i/c cavalry records (Hussars).  Many pages are virtually unreadable due to fading.   My full transcription of these men (not reproduced here) also contains the home address of most of the men.

The full transcription is available for sale as part of a Hussars PoW roll - 350+ names in all - for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

8544 John J Ballancie 
7801 Lance-Corporal G R Berry 
9957 George R Berry 
5653 Private James Braine 
1271 Private Patrick Brennan 
9564 Alexander F Brightley 
2217 Private A E Caldwell 
6049 Ernest Collis 
448 Private Patrick Costello 
4163 Private P Dempsey 
1217 Private Herbert P Dommett
9961 Private Harold A Emberson 
9951 John Fanning 
1244 Harry Fitzell 
10081 Private Percival Germains 
10026 Private Frank Hay
3046 Private Albert Jennings
7027 Arthur Moss 
6267 Edgar G Peters
2261 Private Percy F Sandford 
2133 Arthur J P Smith
1236 Private Samuel Smylie
9575 Frederick Tapp 
4830 J Taylor
5328 Private Melton Waterfield

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3rd (King's Own) Hussars - Other Rank PoWs 1914

The following ten men were all serving with the 3rd Hussars when they were captured in 1914. Read more about this data source on my 1914 PoWs page. This data has been transcribed from the Imperial War Museum's collection, specifically item B.O.2 1//152,   My full transcription of these men (not reproduced here) also contains the home address of each of the men.

The full transcription is available for sale as part of a Hussars PoW roll - 350+ names in all - for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

3143 Bandsman Herbert E Browning 
9759 Lance-Corporal Oliver M Buckner 
10206 Private Albert F Butler 
4454 Private W Freeman 
45108 Private J Grey 
45092 Bandsman A R Hodson 
10493 Private F C March 
9154 Private A F Paterson 
45015 Sergeant P Randall 
9084 Lance-Corporal E Taylor

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S-28524 Pte Leonard Thomas Bouchard, Rifle Brigade

Leonard Thomas Bouchard's First World War campaign medals are unremarkable. Like many men, he probably had an unremarkable war too. Nevertheless, that British War Medal and inter-allied Victory Medal are evidence that he served overseas or, to use a phrase current at the time, "did his bit" for King and Country.  Having bought his medals on eBay recently, the least I could do was to find out a bit more about him. This then, is his unremarkable story.

Leonard Bouchard was born in Bethnal Green, east London on the on the 9th September 1896 (in other words, one hundred and twenty years ago, yesterday). He was the son of William and Florence Bouchard and the younger brother of William Robert Bouchard (born . Another brother, Richard Thomas Bouchard, would be born in 1901.

William Bouchard senior was a french polisher by trade, and when the 1901 census was taken, the family was living at 30 Burgoyne Road, Bethnal Green. Ten years later, however, the family had moved on and was living at 20 Kingsley Road, Walthamstow. That's the house on the left in the image - courtesy of Google - below.  

Leonard's regimental number, S-28524, dates to the end of June 1916. It is possible that he had attested under the Derby Scheme in 1915 and been called up in in June 1916 although I think, given his age in 1916, that this is unlikely. Had he attested under the Derby Scheme, as a single man he would have been place in Group 2, and this group was mobilised in January 1916. I think it more likely that Leonard was conscripted and that he probably remained in the UK until December 1916 before sailing for France.

Leonard served overseas with the 2nd Battalion and later with the 12th Battalion. It's possible that the posting from one battalion to another was a result of wounding with the 2nd Battalion, recuperation and then posting to the 12th Battalion. In the absence of a surviving service or pension record, however, this must remain conjecture.

The 2nd Battalion was a regular battalion which formed part of the 25th Brigade in the 8th Division. The 12th (Service) Battalion was a new army battalion which formed part of the 60th Brigade in the 20th (Light) Division; the same division in which my grandfather's brother, Sidney Herbert Nixon, also served.

Leonard survived the war and married Mary Heatley in 1920. The couple went on to have two daughters: Iris F Bouchard born in 1923, and Jeanne M Bouchard born in 1929. Leonard and Mary's marriage and their daughters' births were all registered in West Ham district.

By the time the 1939 Register was taken, Leonard and his family were living in Liverpool Road, Islington, with Leonard's trade recorded as "Omnibus Conductor". He died in 1974, his death registered at Waltham Forest in the third quarter of that year,

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