Here's an interesting case study from the 1st (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers) The London Regiment.
Numbers in the low 7000s were issued to men transferring to the 1st London Regiment from other London Regiment battalions – and mostly the 2/2nd Londons. 7049 James William Bowles is a typical example of these transfers.
James originally attested on the 2nd February 1916. He was a waiter by trade, 36 years old and living at 24 Marden Road, Bermondsey. He was called up to the 2nd City of London Regiment on the 18th August 1916 and given the number 6998. His service record states his locations as follows:
Home: 29.2.16 to 29.2.16 [his original attestation date]
Home: 18.8.16 to 22.11.16 [his mobilization date followed by the ensuing weeks and days in England]
Expeditionary Force France: 23.11.16 to 23.4.17
Home: 24.4.17 to 4.10.17 [returned home due to a severe gunshot wound sustained to his left arm on the 9th April 1917]
James’s statement of services records that he was posted to the Base Depot of the 1/1 London Regiment on the 24th November 1916 and transferred to the 1/1st London Regiment on the same day. This implies therefore, that he had arrived in France with the 2nd London Regiment and been transferred the following day to the 1st London Regiment. That being the case, I would have thought that it should have been his 2nd London Regiment number - 6998 - which should appeared on his medal index card as this is the unit with which he apparently arrived overseas. The medal index card however, makes no reference at all to the 2nd City of London Battalion. A clerical error, or am I missing something obvious?
James Bowles's service record is accessible on-line via the Ancestry website. The medal index card reproduced here is Crown Copyright.
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I've been looking a little more closely at the Special and Extra Reserve Battalions, and thought that I'd post something about the Cheshire Regiment's 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion.
To understand numbering in this battalion, we need to go back beyond 1908 and look at numbering in the regiment's 3rd and 4th Militia Battalions. Both of these battalions had each started an independent number series which began at 1 in July 1881 and continued sequentially from then. By 1907 however, recruitment into the 3rd Battalion had well and truly outpaced recruitment into the 4th.
The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907 reduced the British Army's 124 Infantry Militia battalions to 101, with the surviving Militia battalions converted into Special and Extra Reserve battalions. The 4th Cheshire Regiment was one of the 23 infantry Militia battalions which was disbanded. As for the men who had served in those battalions, they were offered the chance to transfer into the new Special Reserve and Extra Reserve battalions, that 'transfer' taking the form of a new attestation.
Unlike the majority of newly created Territorial Force battalions which did - despite an apparent lack of instruction from County Associations or elsewhere - start new number series from 1 in 1908, the vast majority of Special and Extra Reserve battalions simply carried on with the number series that had been in use by their Militia predecessors. The Cheshire Regiment was no exception.
Those men who had served in the 3rd Militia Battalion retained their numbers. Those men who had served in the 4th Militia Battalion were, to all intents and purposes, regarded as new recruits and were re-numbered from the point at which numbering in the 3rd Battalion had ceased in January 1908. We also see of course, men with no prior military service joining the newly formed Special Reserve battalion.
In terms of attestation dates, men joining from the 3rd Militia Battalion all have the same date recorded on their papers - 21st June 1908 - whilst other recruits had their actual attestation dates recorded. I've compiled the following list of men joining the Cheshire Regiment's 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in 1908 by digging through surviving pension (WO 364) and service (WO 363) records. These are accessible on microfilm at the National Archives in London and also on-line via Ancestry.co.uk (which is STILL offering a FREE 14-day trial).
Dates in square brackets are the dates on which the men originally joined the miltia battalions.
6248 John Andrews ex 3rd Militia Bn, [circa 1901] attested 21/06/08
7117 Henry Bennett, 3rd Militia Bn [04/02/1904], attested 21/06/08
7320 James Barnes, 3rd Militia Bn [05/03/1905], attested 21/06/08
7599 Joseph Breeze, 3rd Militia Bn, [25/09/1906]attested 21/06/08
7838 Alfred Beswick, 3rd Militia Bn [02/01/1908], attested 21/06/08
7853 Fred Oldham, 3rd Militia Bn [13/01/1908], attested 21/06/08
7860 John Booth, No prior service, attested 22/01/1908
7867 Frank Jones, No prior service, attested 29/01/1908
7876 James Dixon, 4th Militia Bn, attested 03/02/1908
7879 Edmond Burns, 4th Militia Bn, attested 03/02/1908
7900 Reuben Wilkinson, 4th Militia Bn, attested 04/02/1908
8039 John Kelly, 4th Militia Bn [1897], attested 03/02/1908
8072 Samuel Anderson, 4th Militia Bn, attested 01/05/1908
8180 Frank Atherton, 4th Militia Bn, attested 03/02/1908
8300 George Ainscough, No prior service, 28/07/1908
8325 John Robbins, No prior service, 07/10/1908
This numbering procedure was certainly adopted by other regiments - see my recent post on the 3rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers for instance - although I have yet to uncover any official instruction (it it exists) informing regiments that this was what they should do.
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I've covered the South Down battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment in previous posts, but on the Day that Sussex died - 30th June 1916 - I thought it would be fitting to just drill down a little and look at one or two of the men.
On the 30th June 1916 the South Down battalions attacked towards a German position in Richebourg known as the Boar's head. The action, intended to be a diversionary assault for the main action further south the following day, resulted in over 1100 casualties for the three South Down battalions.
The sequence of numbers below is just a small group mostly centred on Chailey and Newick. NO IDENTIFIABLE SD/ RESULT means that I have been unable to find a confirmed medal index card for that particular number. In addition, b. = born, e. = enlisted, 12th = 12th Battalion, KiA = Killed in Action, DoW = Died of Wounds.
In terms of the data, it is actually depressingly representative of South Down data as a whole - two repetitive dates: 30th June 1916 and 3rd September 1916 - featuring heavily. Men joining the South Down battalions were organised broadly alphabetically by surname and then numbered, as can be seen from the segment below. Click on the individual name links below to read more about the men on my WW1 Remembrance blog and Chailey 1914-1918 website.
SD/1630 NO IDENTIFIABLE SD/ RESULT
SD/1631 Pte Percy Bish
SD/1632 Pte Sydney Arthur Brooks 12th b.Newick e.Brighton KiA 30/06/1916
SD/1633 Pte William Jared Brooks b.Newick e.Brighton
SD/1634 Pte William Thomas Brown
SD/1635 Pte Albert John Cushman
SD/1636 Pte Laurence Davis 12th e.Brighton KiA 30/06/1916
SD/1637 Pte Charles Hodges 12th b.Newick e.Lewes KiA 30/06/1916
SD/1638 Pte Ernest Larkin 12th b.Hurstmonceux e.Lewes KiA 02/06/1917
SD/1639 Pte Fred'k Charles Maple 12th b.Wiston e.Hove KiA 01/09/1917
SD/1640 Cpl William D Mead
SD/1641 Pte John E Mitchell
SD/1642 Pte H Moore
SD/1643 L/Cpl Ernest William Plummer 12th b.Ringmer e.Lewes DoW 03/09/1916
SD/1644 NO IDENTIFIABLE SD/ RESULT
SD/1645 NO IDENTIFIABLE SD/ RESULT
SD/1646 Pte Thomas Morris Warren 12th b.Lavant e.Bognor 11/11/1914; disch wounds 24/10/1917
SD/1647 Sgt William Wilkinson
Remembering the men of the South Down battalions on this, the 94th anniversary of the Day that Sussex Died. William Jared Brooks, pictured.
Read more about numbering in the South Down battalions:
11th (Service) Battalion, (1st South Down), Royal Sussex Regiment
12th (Service) Battalion, (2nd South Down), Royal Sussex Regiment
13th (Service) Battalion, (3rd South Down), Royal Sussex Regiment
Read more about the history of the South Down battalions - Lowther's Lambs.
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I was going through some old copies of Stand To! The journal of The Western Front Association, and came across this interesting map of Etaples in February 1917. Posting this here on a blog about Army Service Numbers is a little tenuous, but I felt it was just too good not to share. Here, for the first time that I recall seeing (and that includes the winter of 1986 when this issue of Stand To! would have dropped onto my doormat) is a map showing where various Infantry Base Depots, hospitals, and a good deal more were located. I've often seen reference to the IBDs on service papers, but never really had a clue where in Etaples they were located. Now, thanks to The Western Front Association and Julian Putowski who wrote the original article in Stand To! 18, I know.
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According to The Long, Long Trail, in 1914 each infantry Division had three Field Ambulances, each of which was divided into three Sections. Section A comprised 65 men and section B and C comprised 128 men in total. You can read more about Field Ambulances and the breakdown of the Sections, by clicking on the link above.
This post is concerned with numbering in the 1st Home Counties Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, between 1908 and August 1914. All of the numbering information in this post has been gleaned from service records in WO 363 and WO364 at the National Archives. These same records can also be accessed on-line via Ancestry which is currently offering a FREE 14-DAY TRIAL.
There were three Home Counties Field Ambulances in all. The 1st was headquartered at Maidstone in Kent, the 2nd at Ashford in Kent and the 3rd at Surbiton in Surrey. All three HCFAs used separate number series and all three maintained separate number series when the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917.
I don't know for certain, but I suspect that none of the HCFAs started numbering from 1 in 1908. A lot of those early Territorial Force attestations are by men who had previously been serving as Volunteers, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that serving Volunteers retained their old numbers whilst new recruits were given the next number along from the old Volunteer series.
There was obviously some thought given to numbering however, because in January 1912 we see the old series abandoned and a new series beginning at 2000 for the 1st HCFA. The same thing happened with the 2nd and 3rd HCFAs. The second started a new series from 2500 (around March 1912) and the 3rd HCFA started a new series from 3000 (around February 1913).
Here then, are sample numbers and joining dates - one per year - for the 1st Home Counties Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps:
354 joined on 15th April 1908
510 joined on 10th February 1909
650 joined on 14th June 1910
706 joined on 17th March 1911
755 joined on 5th January 1912
2013 joined on 31st January 1912
2112 joined on 19th February 1913
2236 joined on 8th May 1914
2301 joined on 8th August 1914, later 493215
When the Territorial Force renumbered in 1917, the 1st HCFA was allocated numbers within the block 493001 to 495000.
The photograph on this page shows men of the 2nd Welsh Field Ambulance (headquarted at Cardiff) and was taken at Aberystwyth in 1915. I've borrowed the image from the Parry family history at Rootsweb.
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This from my forthcoming book on regimental numbers issued to men joining the infantry regiments of the British Army between 1881 and 1914. The work covers all sixty-nine infantry regiments and augments and updates much of the information published on this blog.
Volunteer Service Companies - South African War
Army Order 29
"... in order to avoid the confusion which would result from the assignment of numbers to Volunteers and ordinary recruits indiscriminately, and also to simplify future reference, the Volunteer numbering should run consecutively, with an interval of a clear thousand between the last number received by an ordinary recruit, at the date on which the Volunteer numbering begins, and the first Volunteer number."
Not all regiments heeded the instruction in AO 29, mixing in Volunteers (who enlisted for one year or the duration) with regular soldiers. For those regiments which did conform, we see corresponding gaps in numbering sequences in future years; those gaps taking account of numbers already issued to men joining the VSC companies. Unfortunately the confusion doesn’t end here. There is evidence of duplication of numbers in some regiments, the same number issued to a VSC man being issued again later to a regular enlistment.
For example, Private W Herley, serving with the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, volunteered for South Africa in January 1900 and was given the number 8906 when he joined the 1st Volunteer Service Company, Lancashire Fusiliers. Fast forward to June 1902 and we see the same number issued to George Barton when he joined up for three years with the Colours and nine on the Reserve. Similarly, 8920 Private Lawrence Syrett was given his number when he joined the 1st VSC on the 29th January 1900. The same number was also issued to William Cartwright when he joined up for regular service on the 11th June 1902.
There is also evidence of numbers from within VSC number ranges re-surfacing for regular enlistments some years later. Take, for instance, the 2nd Volunteer Service Company of the Bedfordshire Regiment which, in 1901, issued numbers within the range 7915 to 7955. Twenty-two men were given numbers within this range and numbers 7946, 7948 and 7949 were all issued to volunteers. For some reason number 7947 was not used but neither was it forgotten. It appears much later, in February 1904; issued to Isaac Brown of Wellingborough who signed up with the regiment for three years with the Colours and nine on the reserve. The Bedfordshire Regiment also duplicated numbers. 7962 was issued to Private E Smith when he joined the 3rd Volunteer Service Company in 1901. The same number was issued again on the 23rd February 1904 when George Glasspool Swan signed up as a regular.
The photo shows men of the 3rd VSC, The Black Watch, (courtesy Ian Edwards) and is taken from his tribute website to the 5th (Angus & Dundee Battalion), The Black Watch.
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This post will look at numbering in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers between its formation in 1908 and the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.
The 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion was the natural heir of the 3rd Militia battalion and like the majority of Special and Extra Reserve battalions, continued with the same number series that had been used by its militia ancestor. A glance at 1908 enlistments for the 3rd (SR) Battalion shows a whole range of numbers dating way back into the 1890s.
Coincidentally, the regiment's two Territorial Force Battalions - the 4th and 5th Battalions - when they were formed in April 1908, also continued with the number series that had been in use by their Volunteer Battalion predecessors.
All of the information below is taken from surviving service records in the WO 363 and WO364 series at the National Archives - and now available on-line via Ancestry.co.uk.
4111 joined on 2nd August 1908 (but he had originally joined the 3rd Militia Battalion in March 1899 and the number dates to then).
5617 joined on 15th May 1909
5937 joined on 2nd April 1910
6162 joined on 13th April 1911
6342 joined on 22nd February 1912
6571 joined on 9th June 1913
6678 joined on 5th January 1914
6831 joined on 8th August 1914
Also see my post on numbering in the regular battalions of the Royal Scots Fusiliers between 1881 and 1914.
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I've been looking at numbers issued to men of the 5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, and I thought it would make an interesting and illustrative case study to focus on one of the men I found yesterday.
Harry Hall's badly damaged service record survives in the WO 363 (burnt documents) series. The first page is so badly burned that the number is missing and only the year - 1916 - can be seen. The attestation paper though is the Enrolment Paper, introduced after the Military Service Act was passed in 1916.
Harry Hall was 27 years and three months old, a farmer by trade and living at the Boat House, St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire. In answer to the question, "Have you ever served in any branch of His majesty's Forces..." the answer is given, "Yes, 1/5th King's Own Royal Lancs Regt. Served 5 years including 1 yr 245 days embodied service."
Burnt page two of his papers reveals that Harry was at Home between the 11th August 1916 and the 19th March 1917 and then with the BEF in France between the 20th March and the 12th May 1917.
Page three fills in a little more information and we see that Harry was immediately "promoted" lance-corporal (and the word "promoted" rather than "appointed" is used) on the 11th August 1916, the day he joined. He was also awarded a bounty of fifteen pounds, this allowed under Army Order 209 of 1916. The Army Order runs to four pages and was applicable to men who were retained in the Service or recalled to the Colours under the provisions of the Military Service Act, 1916 (Session 2), and also to soldiers who voluntarily undertook to continue to serve, or who re-enlisted or re-engaged.
We also discover on burnt page three that Harry was posted to the 8th KORL on the 9th April 1917 and that just over a month later, on the 12th May, he was killed in action whilst serving with this battalion.
It is only on page four of Harry's service record that we see his number for the first time - 1238 - and the 2/5th King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his number as 240102 which is the new six digit number issued to Harry when the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917.
Harry's medical history sheet, page five of his burnt service record, state that he was enrolled on the 11th August 1916 and that his number was 1238, later 240102. We already have this information from previous pages but of course it doesn't show the whole picture. Harry did join up in August 1916 but the four-digit number is the number he was issued with when he originally joined the 5th Battalion back in 1911.
Pages six to ten of Harry's service record are either blank or repeat previous pages. Page 11 is Harry's discharge "in consequence of the termination of his engagement". This took place on the 5th April 1916. Harry's complexion at the time is described as fresh, his hair dark brown, and his eyes, blue. As to his military character - those parts that can be read - he is described as Very Good and "Total abstainer. Thoroughly reliable. Whilst a soldier performed his duties in an efficient [manner] to the complete satisfaction of [his commanding] officer."
Page 12 of Harry's service record gives some more dates:
Home 5.8.14 to 13.2.15
Ex Force France 14.2.16 [This is incorrect, is should be 14.2.15] to 30.3.16
Home 31.3.16 to 5.4.16
The dates 5th August 1914 to 5th April 1916 are the embodied service - 1 Yr and 245 days - which Harry stated on his 1916 enrollment paper (see third paragraph, above).
It is only on page 13 that we finally see Harry's original enlistment date (although we could have worked this out - in theory - from his date of discharge). The date is given as 6th April 1911.
In Summary then, Harry joined the 5th KORL on the 6th April 1911 and was given the number 1238. He joined up for a period of four years which meant that he was still a serving member of the Territorial Force when Britain went to war on the 4th August 1914. He was embodied the following day and, under section 87 (1) of the Army Act, was also required to serve one extra year. Thus, by 5th April 1916, Harry had served his four plus one years with the 5th KORL and was discharged on the termination of his engagement.
His freedom from Army life was however, short-lived, and just four months later he re-engaged and claimed his cash bounty in so doing. It is interesting that on his 1916 enrollment form, Harry states that his preferred branch of the army was the Royal Garrison Artillery. It's possible, that after a year in France with the PBI, Harry felt that the RGA might offer him better prospects of survival. The military authorities though, were having none of that and he was sent straight back to his old battalion and - this is the point - given back his old number.
Harry's story is of course, not unique. There were thousands of time-expired men who found themselves back in the army as a result of the Military Services Act of 1916; either re-engaging voluntarily, or being conscripted.
To finish Harry's story - and his service record can be accessed via Ancestry's FREE TRIAL - The Commonwealth War Graves Commission states that he was the son of Mr and Mrs T Hall of The Boat House, St. Michael's, Garstang, Preston, and at the time of his death he was 28 years old. Harry Hall has no known grave and is one of nearly 35,000 men commemorated on the Arras Memorial in France. Next Wednesday marks the 93rd anniversary of his death.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Machine-gunners at Arras courtesy the Imperial War Museum.
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The 8th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry, was another of those Territorial Force which did not start numbering from 1 in 1908. Formerly the 9th Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, it later became the 4th Volunteer Batttalion, HLI and continued with the 4th VB number series when the 8th HLI was born in April 1908. It was the only HLI Territorial Force battalion to adopt this practice.
5053 Pte James Dudgeon joined the 8th HLI on the 28th April 1908. His number though, dates way back to the 5th February 1902. By March 1908 the 4th VB was numbering at 5683 and I'll pick up the tale at this point.
This post will look at numbering in the 8th HLI between 1908 and December 1914. As usual, all of the information recorded below is taken from surviving service records in the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives. These records can also be accessed via Ancestry.co.uk.
5683 joined the 4th VB HLI on the 20th March 1908
6060 joined the 8th HLI on 18th June 1908
6147 joined on 19th January 1908
6605 joined on 10th February 1908
6853 joined on 6th February 1911
7083 joined on 14th April 1912
7196 joined on 30th January 1913
7554 joined on 19th February 1914
7628 joined on 6th August 1914
7844 joined on 28th September 1914
7860 joined on 2nd October 1914
7893 joined on 2nd Novembber 1914
8016 joined on 23rd December 1914
When the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917, the 8th HLI was allocated numbers within the range 305001 to 330000. 305005, for instance, was issued to William Speirs whose original TF number, recorded on his attestation papers when he joined the TF on 28th April 1908, was 5229. This number, in turn, had originally been issued to William when he joined the Volunteer Force in 1903 or Pre-April 1904.
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The creation of the Special Reserve and Extra Reserve in 1908, marked the end of the Militia. As far as the infantry was concerned, of the 124 infantry militia battalions on the establishment, 74 became 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalions and 27 became 4th or 5th (Extra Reserve) Battalions. The remaining 23 militia battalions, 15 in Great Britain and eight in Ireland, were disbanded.
The Royal Welsh Fusiliers was one of those regiments to lose a militia battalion and it is interesting to see how this was dealt with by the RWF in 1908.
Men who had been serving with the 3rd Militia Battalion retained their militia numbers when they joined the newly created 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion. Thus, for example, William Griffiths, who had been given the number 1766 when he joined the 3rd Militia Battalion way back in January 1893, was still 1766 William Griffiths when he joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion on 28th June 1908. 2296 Llewellyn Edward, who had joined the militia in 1897, was still 2296 on 28th June 1908, and so on.
But what about those men who had originally joined the 4th Militia Battalion but who still wanted to serve with the new 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion? Both the militia battalions had issued numbers to their recruits from separate number series. To also allow the old 4th Militia men to retain their original numbers would lead to duplication of numbers in the same battalion, and so 4th Militia men were issued with new numbers.
The old 3rd Militia Battalion numbers cease in the 35** range, and then the old 4th Battalion men start appearing. Here is a sample from my data. Numbers in square brackets are the years in which the men originally joined their militia battalions.
3507 William Barker, formerly 3507 3rd Militia Bn [1907]
3559 Richard Hughes, formerly 3428 4th Militia Bn [1905]
3584 John Griffiths, formerly 3327 4th Militia Bn [1904]
3593 Thomas Johnson, formerly 3135 4th Militia Bn [1902]
3599 Owen Edward Williams, formerly 3529 4th Militia Bn [1906]
3603 Ellis Evans, formerly 2336 4th Militia Bn [1895]
3655 Griffith Evans, formerly 3626 4th Militia Bn [1907]
As far as my incomplete data is concerned, the highest number for an old 4th Militia Battalion man joining the 3rd RWF is 3789. He joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion in October 1908. The next man on my database is number 3897, a man with no prior militia service who joined the Special Reserve on 2nd December 1908.
To summarise then:
1. Numbers up until 3507 at least, all appear to be ex 3rd Militia Battalion men
2. Numbers from at least 3559 through to 3789 all appear to be ex 4th Militia Battalion men
3. Numbers from at least 3897 all appear to be men with no prior militia service
The "appear to be" 'clause' above, is purely to allow for exceptions - and there often "appear to be" exceptions when it comes to regimental numbering. As usual though, I'll be happy to be corrected on any of the above. All of the data used in this post comes from surviving service records in WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives, also on line and accessible via a FREE trial with Ancestry.
The photograph, courtesy of David Langley, shows 3rd Battalion warrant officers and NCOs and dates to the 11th July 1915. Seated, left to right: Colour-Sergeant Jackson, RSM O'Leary, CSM Frederick Barter VC (although wearing the rank of colour sergeant in this photo), Acting Sergeant-Major Schofield, and QMS Holloway. CSM Barter had been awarded his VC for his actions at Festubert in May 1915.
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I was in 5th Suffolk territory today. En route to Bury St Edmunds, the headquarters of the 5th Battalion (and also home to a splendid Boer War Memorial, above) I passed through Sudbury. In the days before the Territorial Force was formed, Sudbury was home to two companies of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, and the building which housed D Company is still standing and still in use by today's territorials. There, above the large red doorway, carved into stone, is the legend, "D Company, 2nd Vol Batt, Suffolk Regt". That gives me as good an excuse as any to write a little bit about the 5th Suffolk Regiment.
This post will look at numbering in the 5th Suffolk Regiment between 1908 and 1916. All of the number information below is taken from service records which survive in the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives. You can view these there, or on-line via Ancestry which is offering a FREE 14-day trial.
Prior to 1908, the companies of the Suffolk Regiment's 2nd Volunteer Battalion were distributed as follows:
A Company: Stowmarket
B Company: Eye
C Company: Sudbury
D Company: Sudbury
E Company: Bury St Edmunds
F Company: Bury St Edmunds
G Company: Haverhill
H: Company: Newmarket
When the 5th Suffolk Regiment was born on the 1st April 1908, the distribution of its companies was slightly different:
A Company: Stowmarket, with a drill station at Eye
B Company: Beccles, with a drill station at Bungay
C Company: Hadleigh, with a drill station at Bildeston
D Company: Sudbury, with drill stations at Long Melford and Bures
E Company: Bury St Edmunds, with a drill station at Barrow
F Company: Bury St Edmunds, with a drill station at Lavenham
G Company: Haverhill, with a drill station at Clare
H: Company: Newmarket, with a drill station at Mildenhall
The battalion started numbering from 1 in 1908.
26 joined on 6th April 1908
654 joined on 18th January 1909
1062 joined on 21st February 1910
1167 joined on 6th March 1911
1504 joined on 27th March 1912
1690 joined on 25th January 1913
1944 joined on 20th February 1914
2080 joined on 10th August 1914
2190 joined on 2nd September 1914
2577 joined on 22nd October 1914
2715 joined on 14th November 1914
2876 joined on 15th December 1914
2964 joined on 2nd January 1915
3187 joined on 15th February 1915
3223 joined on 8th March 1915
3267 joined on 17th April 1915
3362 joined on 3rd May 1915
3519 joined on 1st June 1915
3656 joined on 26th July 1915
3752 joined on 20th November 1915
3774 joined on 25th January 1916
3832 joined on 8th February 1916
4062 joined on 1st March 1916
4545 joined on 12th April 1916
5189 joined on 31st May 1916
5636 joined on 17th July 1916
5697 joined on 4th August 1916
5719 joined on 4th September 1916
5848 joined on 12th October 1916
6285 joined on 11th November 1916
When the Territorial Force was re-numbered in early 1917, the 5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment was issued numbers within the block 240001 to 256000.
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Suffolk Regiment titles from The Naval & Military Press:
History of the 12th (The Suffolk Regiment) 1685-1913
A very detailed history by an experienced author who observes that he was much assisted by the wealth of personal diaries, journals and varied reminiscences of the old 12th. There are informative appendices such as the succession of Colonels with biographies, succession of COs and Adjutants, and a chapter on uniform, equipment and the Colours.
During the almost 230 years covered by this history, the Suffolks served in India (Seringapatam is a principal battle honour), in Africa during the Kaffir and Boer Wars, in New Zealand in the Maori War, on the NW Frontier in the 2nd Afghan War, in the West Indies and Mauritius. Colour plates depict uniforms, battle scenes and the Colours in 1686 and 1849. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.
History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927
This volume begins on 1st January 1914 when the Suffolk Regiment consisted of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, and the 4th, 5th and 6th (Cyclist) Battalions of the Territorial Force. After the outbreak of war sixteen more battalions were raised and added, and in 1917 the Suffolk Yeomanry converted into the 15th Battalion, making a grand total of twenty-three. Battalions of the Regiment served in France and Flanders, Gallipoli, Macedonia, Egypt and Palestine, and at home.
This book, based on war diaries, private diaries, letters and interviews, tells the stroies of the men who served. 6,650 officers and men died for King and Country and two VCs were won and 73 Battle Honours awarded.
Given the scope of this volume and space considerations there is no Roll of Honour and the list of Honours and Awards is a very limited one showing only some of the more important honours gained. Inevitably some battalions get fuller treatment than others but the main events are clearly described.
The narrative appears in chronological order, beginning in 1914 with the 1st Battalion moving from Egypt to Khartoum and the 2nd Battalion in the Curragh with 14th Brigade, 5th Division, one of the original BEF divisions. As the story unfolds so the various battalions on active service are brought into the picture and the part they played in the battles is described. One chapter is given to the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion at home and another to all the other battalions that did not go on active service. There is a comprehensive, 26-page index. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.
Diary of Colonel Bayly, 12th Regiment, 1796-1803 (Seringapatnam 1799)
Entertaining, if bloody, account of the 12th Regiment of Foot in India and their struggles against Tippoo Sultan. CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
Centurions of a Century
Nostalgic look back at Britain’s military campaigns, battles and leaders as well as (Suffolk) regimental actions and regimental life, all spread over more than a hundred years. Published in 1914, the book deals with Britain's colonial wars up until the death of Queen Victoria. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
In 1897 the 21st Hussars was re-designated the 21st Lancers. Read about numbering in the 21st Hussars HERE. Numbering in the 21st (Empress of India's) Lancers picked up from where the 21st Hussars left off, and this post will look at numbering in the regiment between 1897 and 1906.
All the numbers below are taken from service records which survive in the WO 363 and the WO 364 series at the National Archives. View them at Kew or on-line via Ancestry which is currently offering a FREE 14-day trial.
4032 joined on 15th January 1897
4208 joined on 9th September 1898
4250 joined on 28th January 1899
4785 joined on 21st February 1900
5089 joined on 2nd January 1901
5549 joined on 1st January 1902
6623 joined on 23rd February 1903
I currently have no data for 1904
6366 joined on 4th September 1905
6569 joined on 13th January 1906
In December 1906, Army Order 289 changed the way in which the cavalry were to number. Prior to this Army Order, all cavalry regiments had numbered individually by regiments. Now, line cavalry and household cavalry were differentiated, and each corps of line cavalry was to use a separate number series extending to 49,999. For more information on cavalry numbering and examples of cavalry attestations, see these previous posts:
Queen's & King's Regulations - numbering
Cavalry numbering in 1906
A cavalry numbering conundrum
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
I came across an excellent internet resource today: Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force 1859-1908. Click on the link in that last sentence and you can download it for free.
The following information regarding the birth of the Volunteer Service Companies and their composition, is taken from page 92 of this work.
"The reverses suffered by our arms in South Africa in December 1899 led to a call for more troops, and to a great outburst of national warlike enthusiasm, and accordingly, on January 2, 1900, a special Army Order was issued calling upon the volunteers to furnish their contingent of trained men to reinforce the army in the field.
"For each battalion serving in South Africa a selected company was directed to be raised from its affiliated volunteer battalions and sent out so serve with it, and to be placed under the orders of its commanding officer. Each company was to be composed of 1 captain, 2 subalterns, 1 serjeant-instructor as pay serjeant, 4 serjeants, 2 buglers, 5 corporals, 99 privates and 2 stretcher-bearers, or 116 of all ranks and an equal number of "waiting companies" was to raised and maintained at home. Each volunteer battalion was to form a complete section at least.
"To surmount the difficulties of the Volunteer Act, the men were to be enlisted for the regular army for a period of one year or the duration of the war, those taken for the "waiting companies" being transferred to the reserve until required for service. The conditions of enlistment were that men should be not under 20 or more than 35 years of age, 1st class (volunteer) shots, efficient in the years 1898 and 1899, of good character, medically fit, and, by preference, unmarried. They were to be paid, rationed, clothed and equipped as soldiers of the regular battalions (though continuing to wear the designation of their volunteer battalions on their shoulder straps), and were to be granted wound pensions as for the regular army. On completion of their term of service they were to be granted £5 as a gratuity, besides any special gratuity issued for the war. The corps to which the men belonged was to be given a sum of £9 to cover the cost of equipment of each volunteer, and the men were to be borne as supernumerary to their corps and to be considered as "efficients", the corps continuing to draw the full capitation grant for them.
"Needless to say, this call was met with alacrity in Scotland, end eleven special service companies were quickly formed, one for each regiment with one battalion in the field and two for the Gordon Highlanders, both regular battalions of which were at the seat of war, the London Scottish being affiliated with the local volunteer battalions of that regiment in the formation of the service companies. The companies sailed for South Africa in February or early March 1900.
"On January 25 1901, before the year's service of the first companies had expired, a call for companies to replace those was made and responded to and on March 3 1901, the formation of 8 volunteer cyclist companies was called for, one of them to be furnished by the Scottish volunteers..."
The image on this post was originally published in The Graphic of 1902 and shows men from an unknown VSC of the Hampshire Regiment. The image also appears HERE on the South African Military History Society website.
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
This post will look at numbering in the 21st Hussars.
My data for the cavalry regiments goes back further than 1881 and so I'm going to start in 1874 which is where my data for this regiment currently begins. Service records for all of the following numbers survive in WO 364 and WO 363 at the National Archives. These records can also be viewed on line via Ancestry which is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial. Plenty of cavalry records also survive in WO 97, the Chelsea Pensioner series.
1370 joined on 28th November 1874
1412 joined on 5th October 1876
1784 joined on 24th July 1878
1940 joined on 26th May 1880
2016 joined on 3rd February 1881
2131 joined on 3rd January 1883
2414 joined on 23rd February 1885
2486 joined on 21st January 1886
2733 joined on 25th January 1887
2998 joined on 22nd February 1888
3132 joined on 21st October 1889
3225 joined on 9th September 1890
3331 joined on 4th July 1891
3472 joined on 28th July 1892
3590 joined on 14th February 1893
3857 joined on 28th September 1894
3955 joined on 25th August 1895
3977 joined on 21st November 1896
In 1897 the regiment was re-designated the 21st Lancers and so as far as this post is concerned, the 21st Hussars story ends here. See HERE for the 21st Lancers.
In December 1906, Army Order 289 changed the way in which the cavalry were to number. Prior to this Army Order, all cavalry regiments had numbered individually by regiments. Now, line cavalry and household cavalry were differentiated, and each corps of line cavalry was to use a separate number series extending to 49,999. For more information on cavalry numbering and examples of cavalry attestations, see these previous posts:
Queen's & King's Regulations - numbering
Cavalry numbering in 1906
A cavalry numbering conundrum
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
Special Army Order 29 of 2nd January 1900 stated:
"The regimental numbers given to the members of the Volunteer companies will form a portion of the regimental series, but, in order to avoid the confusion which would result from the assignment of numbers to Volunteers and ordinary recruits indiscriminately, and also to simplify future reference, the Volunteer numbering should run consecutively, with an interval of a clear thousand between the last number received by an ordinary recruit, at the date on which the Volunteer numbering begins, and the first Volunteer number."
The following year there was another Army Order. On 25th January 1901, Special Army Order 41 stated that fresh companies could be raised as above and those already in South Africa could stay if they wished to.
The Manchester Regiment fielded four Volunteer Service Companies during the Boer War and this post will look at numbering in those companies and how that numbering fitted in with numbering in the - at that stage - four regular battalions.
For some reason, the WO 363 class at the National Archives is awash with service records for the Manchester VSCs. Some other regiments appear to have no surviving VSC records at all. All the records mentioned below are at the National Archives and can also be viewed on-line at the Ancestry.co.uk website which is currently offering a FREE 14 Day Trial.
1st Volunteer Service Company
This VSC comprised numbers from 7001 through to 7197. First numbers were issued on the 9th February 1900 and the final numbers by 10th March 1900. Men joining the 1st VSC joined in sequential order according to the Volunteer Battalion they were serving with at the time. So 7001 through to 7026 are all 1st VB men; 7032 to 7057 are 2nd VB men, and so on. All Volunteers, in all VS companies, enlisted for one year only.
2nd Volunteer Service Company
Numbering in this VSC is a little more complicated. Numbers 7113 through to 7224 are all 2nd VCS men. So too are numbers from 8225 through to 8325, and the single number 8367.
7224 was issued to a VSC on the 10th March 1900. Meanwhile, numbering in the four regular battalions continued apace and by October 1901 the regiment was approaching 7000 (ie, the series of numbers that had already been allocated to VSC men the previous year).
Numbers 8225 through to 8257 were all issued in 1901. 8227 was issued on the 4th February 1901 and I'm guessing that the other numbers also date to close to that time. Presumably the authorities realised that numbering in the regular battalions would soon reach 7000 and they took the decision in early 1901 to give a clear break of 1000 from the last VSC number they had issued in March 1900 (7224).
3rd Volunteer Service Company
This VCS comprised numbers from 8236 through to 8366, all of which were issued in February and (I'm guessing) March 1901.
4th Volunteer Service Company
This VSC comprised numbers from 8376 to 8462. These numbers were issued between 17th February and 4th March 1902.
8463, the next number in line, was issued to a regular soldier who joined on the 2nd January 1903.
My thanks to Stuart Wilson, David Langley, Graham Stewart and Mike C in Canada, for their input - via correspondence on this blog and elsewhere - regarding VSCs generally and the Manchester Regiment specifically. The AO reference above is taken from the privately published Regimental and Army Numbers of the British Line Infantry Soldier from AD. 1800 to 2008 by Langley and Stewart.
Also see my blog post on the regular battalions of The Manchester Regiment.
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
