Leinster Regiment - PoW Other Ranks - 1914

This post will look at men serving with the Leinster Regiment who became prisoners of war on or before Christmas Day 1914. All of these men's names appear on a four-page typed list which was sent to Sir Ernest Goodhart on the 23rd December 1918 by the Leinster Regiment Prisoners of War Fund. The document is housed at the Imperial War Museum under B.O.2 1/258.

For background on this list and others I have published, read my post/index on the 1914 Other Rank PoWs.. With one or teo exceptions, the Leinster Regiment men noted below also have home or next of kin addresses noted against their names.

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

The photograph on this page shows a British PoW in the roll of Shylock at the Dulmen prison camp in 1918.

6858 Private James Berry
9876 Private John Broderick
6358 Private Frederick Brown
7597 Corporal Philip Byrne
7215 Private William Byrne
7004 Private Patrick Byrnes
8257 Private Edward T Bywaters
9794 Private Joseph Campbell
7762 Sergeant John Cannon
6859 Private Thomas Carroll
7977 Private William Collins
7106 Patrick Condon
9729 Lance-Corporal Michael Dalton
9400 Private Patrick Donovan
7421 Private William Doyle
7309 Private James Driscoll
10007 Private Charles Dunne
8784 Private Francis Farrell
9289 Corporal John Fox
6865 Private Martin Gallagher
9812 Private John Geraghty
6056 Private John Glennon
7046 Private John Hallissey
6839 Private Fenton Hanbury
4196 Private Alfred Hayden
7874 Private John Healy
9739 Private Richard Hegarty
9170 Private William Hennessy
9766 Lance-Corporal James Henshaw
9703 Private Patrick Hickey
6724 Private Thomas Hogan
7732 Private Michael Hourigan
6979 Private James Jackson
7868 Private Thomas Keane
9517 Private Patrick Lawlor
8673 Private James Leavey
9683 Private Richard Lombard
6829 Private Benjamin Madden
10011 Private John Markey
5580 Private John McCormack
9869 Private Michael McDonagh
8324 Sergeant John McDougall
5031 CSM Charles Mercer
9543 Lance-Corporal John Moloney
8391 Sergeant John Moran
7663 Private Edward Morrison
7345 John Murphy
9836 Private Michael Murphy
7712 Private William Murphy
7350 Private John Nally
8791 Lance-Sergeant Joseph O'Brien
7235 Private William O'Brien
4390 Private Felix O'Donoghue
10047 Private Denis O'Neill
7632 Private Thomas Poland
3039 Private John Revington
7953 Private John Roberts
9726 Private Edward Robertson
10028 Private Thomas Roche
8057 Private John Sheehan
5269 Private Patrick Sweeney
7154 Private James Walsh
7145 Private Francis Warby
6847 Private Joseph Ward
9857 Private George Williams
7077 Private Michael Young

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Royal Welsh Fusiliers - Boer War memorial - St Giles, Wrexham

 

I was in Wrexham not so long ago, and took the opportunity to stop by at St Giles Church. I'm glad I did so as there is a wealth of memorials to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (the old 23rd Foot) inside. Typically, in churches these days, many of the memorials are now half hidden or obscured, but there is a rather splendid memorial to those men who died during the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 and the China campaign of 1900. In fact it is so good that I borrowed a step-ladder in order to photograph it head on rather than at an oblique angle. A very helpful church warden steadied the ladder for me at the bottom.

Where possible I have added the men's regimental numbers to their names and I will come to the numbering later.

1st Battalion

5515 Private P J Abbott
3949 Private W G Albach
3420 Private J Alsop
2802 Private A Andrews
3138 Private W Aston
5499 Private E L Averall
3663 Private T H Ballard
1104 Private S Barnes
5743 Private F Barnett
6152 Private F Bates
5687 Private C Baynham
5528 Private R Birkett
4149 Private G Brien
5814 Private E Broad
5543 Private A Burgess
6272 Private J T Cain
4070 Lance Corporal T J Chidley
3628 Private H Cliff
4200 Sergeant T J Cockram
4312 Private W Cowlard
2349 Private G Cox
2831 Private William Croucher
2527 Private A Davies
2753 Private J Davies
5980 Private J Davies
5767 Private S A T Davies
5696 Private T Davies
2901 Private W Davis
6274 Private A Dawes
4624 Private J Dixon
3652 Private W H Dodd
3331 Private J Edwards
5847 Drummer P Edwards
5834 Private E Evans
5787 Private E S Evans
2862 Corporal J Evans
3796 Private P Fallon
Second Lieutenant J C Farmer
5429 Private R Fitzpatrick
2957 Lance Corporal H M Garrett
5332 Private M Gelshon
6446 Private J Glover
862 Private J J Godfrey
6330 Private T W Gooding
2657 Sergeant J W Graham
6055 Private J Green
2898 Sergeant J H Hatton
5979 Private W G Hawkins
6140 Private A Highfield
6270 Private A C Hinks
5484 Private G Horne
5213 Corporal J Hosey
3313 Private M Huggins
5631 Private G Hughes
3355 Private J Hussey
5892 Private W J Jacobs
3455 Private D James
2402 Private C Jenkins
5527 Private W Jephcote
3611 Private C Jones
1232 Private G Jones
Private G L Jones
3288 Private J Jones
3826 Private R Jones
5910 Private W Jones
5349 Private W Jones
Private W Jones
2518 Private R G Joyce
971 Private S Leadbetter
5384 Private F Ledbrook
2625 Private J Lloyd
5646 Private J J Lloyd
6015 Private J Lockett
 Captain Richard Gordon Beresford Lovett
5220 Private A Lucas
2850 Lance Corporal F Maurice
3344 Lance Corporal P Miller
3387 Private G Morgan
5843 Private T J Morgan
3049 Lance Corporal A J Morris
6473 Private E L Morris
2778 Private W A Morris
821 Private F W Mott
5827 Private M Murphy
2361 Private B Murray
5900 Private J Parry
5830 Private C Payne
2316 Private W Perry
5721 Private S Pike
5953 Private J Plant
Private E J Pooltan
6495 Private H Purslow
4790 Sergeant J Rawle
1028 Private A Riley
2728 Private E Roberts
2600 Private P Roberts
5707 Private R J Roberts
Lieutenant G E S Salt
4104 Private W Saunders
6121 Private W Savage
1994 Private J Scott
5821 Private J Shipley
5463 Private C Smith
3050 Private G H Smith
2507 Private J Smith
2632 Private J Smith
Private J J S Smith
5403 Private W C Smith
3096 Private J Starkey
Lieutenant F A Stebbing
5764 Private T Stevens
4243 Private G Stroud
3539 Corporal B Sullivan
2987 Private P Thomas
5729 Private T Thomas
3824 Private W Thomas
5360 Private J J Thompson
5295 Private A Thomson
Lt-Col C C H Thorold
5156 Lance Corporal E Underwood
5854 Private E Vipond
5621 Private A Whiteside
5746 Private G Wilkinson
5751 Private L Williams
5584 Private O Williams
5538 Private W Williams
3145 Private W Williams
Second Lieutenant J R Williams-Ellis

2nd Battalion

It was the 2nd Battalion which took part in the operations in China and all of these men died there.

Private J Barker
Private J Bartram
Private A Burgoyne
Private J Cook
Private J Corben
Private W Crew
Private T Davies
Private H Dunbar
Private A Fisher
Private R Griffith
Sergeant G Hammerton
Private T Hanlon
Private C Heaton
Private W W Huddleston
Corporal B Hughes
Private T C Hughes
Private J Jones
Private P Jones
Private R Jones
Private R Jones
Colour Sergeant R Kirby
Private M Mansfield
Private G Martin
Private T Morgan
Private J Newberry
Private H Paddon
Private C Porter
Private J Porter
Private F Power
Private J Robinson
Private H W Scott
Private J Sheppard
Private W Smith
Private W Sweeney
Private J Thomas
Private J Thomas
Private J Thomlinson
Private W Wilkinson
Private C Wogan

These men all served with the 3rd (Militia) Battalion in South Africa

Lieutenant R W Bate
1379 Private N Cummings
2883 Private H Davies
1806 Company Quartermaster
Sergeant W Denton Private J Dunbar
2269 Private W Edwards
2084 Private J Foley
Private E L Jones
2750 Private W Jones
1760 Private M Kelly
Private G Reilly
1296 Private T Roberts
2223 Private L Rowlands
2344 Private C Thomas
2051 Private D O Watkins
Private E Williams
2096 Private W Williams

These men all served with the 4th (Militia) Battalion in South Africa

1787 Private W Evans
1812 Private J Gelder
Private J I Jones
2554 Private W Kelly
2823 Private T Mailen
1621 Private J Nolan
Private F Taylor
Private H Thomas
Private W H Williams

These men all served with the 1st Volunteer Service Company in South Africa

7376 Private H Brocklehurst
7384 Private A Holt
7464 Private J H Jones
7400 Private A Rogers
7402 Private G Stokes
7590 Private L A Wright

These men all served with the 2nd Volunteer Service Company in South Africa

7357 Private S Bailey
7496 Corporal P W Evans
7341 Private J Gallier
7471 Private T Jones
7554 Private T Lloyd
7373 Private H Parry
7347 Private N Roberts
7331 Private H Wynne

These men all served with the 3rd Volunteer Service Company in South Africa

7302 Private H Deverell
7417 Sergeant C Jones
 Private J Lewis
7522 Private H Roberts

Note the very obvious higher digit numbers for those men who served with the Volunteer Service Companies. I explained the reason behind this on another post all about Volunteer Service Companies in the Boer War. For the other men, the regulars in the 1st and 2nd Battalions all drew their numbers from a single number series. There are some very long-serving men listed here whose numbers date back to the early 1880s. The 3rd and 4th Battalions each had a separate numbering series. and again, the difference between these number series and the series issued to the men of the regular battalions and the VSCs is very evident. I have to say, that it is also entirely coincidental.

Royal Warwickshire Regt: Deaths, Sudan Campaign 1898

There's an impressive memorial in St Mary's Church, Warwick to the non commissioned officers and men of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment who lost their lives during the Sudan Campaign of 1898.

The names of the memorial are organised in order of seniority: non-commissioned officers first, followed by the men in order of length of service. The names appear in two columns and there are 49 casualties in all.

Colour Sergeant Doughty is the senior non-commissioned officer here and so his name appears at the top of the left-hand column. Sergeant Rea, as the longest serving sergeant, is the next most senior man and his name appears at the top of the right-hand column. Then it's sergeant Harrison on the left-hand column, Sergeant Stafford on the right-hand column and so on as you slalom down through the names. Here are the left hand-column names:

2578 Colour Sergeant H Doughty
2304 Sergeant W Harrison
3640 Sergeant G Gage
3250 Lance Corporal A Mitchell
1511 Private W Jones
3115 Lance Corporal W Vickers
3142 Private W Hale
3199 Private H Burrows
3313 Private F Bonehill
3404 Private A Power
3428 Private W Allkins
3611 Private G Clayton
3758 Private G Howling
3917 Private H Filkins
3990 Private T Raven
4067 Private J Wesker
4100 Private A Lockley
4125 Private F Gardner
4180 Private H Pettipher
4188 Private W Jackson
4212 Lance Corporal G Henshaw
4462 Private W Ray
4512 Private T Hunt
4868 Private C Newton
6175 Private H Burley

And here are the right-hand column names. The numbering goes slightly out of sequence when we reach 4088 Private M Lee who is followed by 4075 Private T Daffern.

1667 Sergeant H Rea
3681 Sergeant A Stafford
759 Corporal J Hirons
4335 Lance Corporal G Upton
2321 Private C Pink
3137 Private H Jones
3174 Private W Dutton
3219 Private A Holt
3321 Private J Yates
3425 Private H Meredith
3468 Private T Worrall
3641 Private E Wilson
3825 Private J Close
3973 Private J Cox
4088 Private M Lee
4075 Private T Daffern
4103 Private W Worrall
4171 Private A Fisher
4182 Private J Freebury
4201 Private J Hubbard
4418 Private C B Lowe
4471 Private W Manners
4565 Private C Gibbons
4900 Private W Jones

The longest-serving man on this memorial is 759 Corporal Hirons who, judging by his regimental number, must have joined the regiment in 1883 and would have been well on the way to a pension. 1511 Private Jones joined in the second half of 1885 and 1667 Private H Rea in 1886, but the majority of the men listed here joined in the 1890s. Private Burley, with the regimental number 6175, is the man with least experience. His number dates to late July or early August 1898.


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Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery (TF)

Royal Horse Artillery units were included in twelve of the fourteen pre-war Territorial Force Mounted Brigades, each of these formations consisting of one battery and one ammunition column.

Formed in 1908 and initially headquartered at Warwick Castle, the Warwickshire RHA moved in 1911 to 9 Clarendon Place, Leamington, with a drill station at Coventry. The ammunition column was also headquartered at Leamington with a drill station at Henley-in-Arden. The unit formed part of the 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade.

The following sequence of numbers between formation in 1908 and the outbreak of the First World War, gives some indication of just how slow recruitment into these Territorial Force RHA units could be.


50 joined on 22nd May 1908
105 joined on 15th November 1909
218 joined on 11th September 1910
232 joined on 24th February 1911
276 joined on 5th May 1912
321 joined on 22nd February 1913
392 joined on 21st January 1914
416 joined on 6th August 1914


When the Territorial Force was re-numbered in 1917, men serving with this unit were issued with numbers in the range 614001 to 616000.

The image on this post is unrelated to the Warwickshire RHA, showing as it does, personnel from the King's Troop, RHA, at the Trooping of the Colour in 2012. Image courtesy Wikipedia.


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Hampshire Regiment - PoWs 1914

The following list of Hampshire Regiment prisoners of war has been transcribed from the Imperial War Museum's collection, specifically the following items: 

• B.O.2 1/145 is a 4-page typed and undated list, of which the 4th page refers to Hampshire Regt PoWs.
• B.O.2 1/149 is a 2-page typed list sent to Sir Ernest Goodhart by Hampshire Regt Prisoners of War Help Fund, dated 20th January 1919
• B.O.2 1/150 is a 7-page typed list sent to The Director of Supplies & Transport, War Office, Whitehall, dated 17th January 1919.  The penultimate page, containing three names, is illegible
• B.O.2 1/151 is a 3-page hand-written list, undated and no addressee.

Uncommonly, this list of Hampshire Regiment men who had become prisoners of war on or before 25th December 1914, includes officers as well as men. Colonel Jackson is the highest ranking PoW on this roll call of 191 men. A number of the men listed here have two or more entries and entries commonly include some or all of the following information: home address, next of kin address (where a man has since died), other information, transcriber's notes.

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

7171 Private Edwin Alderman, 8364 Private John T Amy, 6913 Private Alfred J Andrews, 9462 Private John Arnold, 7539 Private C Ashford, 6582 Private Charles Austin

4887 Sergeant J Baker, 7356 Private A Baldock, 7000 Private Albert Ball, 8310 Private Ernest F Ballard, Major N W Barlow, 8963 Private F Barrow, 9305 Private F Bartlett, 6643 Lance-Corporal A Bastiani, 6457 Private George T Baulf, Captain N E Baxter, 9273 Private James Beale, 8398 Private P Bedwell, 7466 Private Bennan, 7297 Private Arthur George Bishop, 6540 Private George Blackmore, 7213 Sergeant E Booth, 4936 Sgt-Drummer George F Bowman, 7139 Private Charles H G Boxall, 8996 Private Nicolas J Bray, 7813 Private A Bullock, 5465 Private Albert E Burgess

9524 Private Arthur E Chaffe, 7358 Bandsman Jesse Chalwin, 8574 Private Reginald R Chalwin, 7005 Corporal Edward Charter, 5101 Private Alfred J Chase, 7134 Bandsman Thomas Clarke, 9359 Private George Cleal, 7314 Private William Climo, 7025 Corporal George Edward Colston, 9288 Private John Cook, 9266 Private Edwin H Cox, 3/2894 Private Albert E Croucher

9010 Private F Dann, 7938 Private Frank R Day, 6758 Private William Day, 9368 Private Thomas Digby, 7128 Private Frank Dowden, 7232 Private Alfred T J Dyer

6887 Sergeant Frederick Eldridge, 7341 Private Samuel F Empringham, 9289 Private George Etheridge

9395 Private Frederick Farmer, 6557 Private F G Fisher, 9165 Private Frederick Fisher

6425 Private A Fitzgerald, 9228 Private Charles Ford, 6710 Private Edward A Fox, 6678 Corporal Thomas A Freeman, 8767 Private A Fuller

5776 Private A Gale, 6824 Private Alfred Gilliam, 9051 Private John E Grant, 4890 Private Arthur H Greenman, 6571 Private A Grimshaw

8274 Private William H Hall, Captain S V Halls, 9066 Private George H Harfield, 7519 Private C Harmsworth, 7519 Private Charles Harmsworth, 8741 Private William G Harper, 8233 Sergeant H Harrington, 7846 Private Charles E Harris, 7266 Private F Harris

7991 Corporal Robert Harris, 9039 William H Harris, 9090 Corporal Francis S Harrison, 9201 Henry H Harvey, 7833 Private Frederick Hatcher, 7828 Private F Hawkins,

8508 Cyril James Head, 8233 Lance-Sergeant H Herrington, 6827 Louis W J Hilker, 14673 J Hillier, 8714 Denis Hinchey, 6803 Alfred V Hoare, 7001 Alfred Holder, 7875 George Holman, 6023 William Hoskins, 7275 Ernest Howe

Colonel S F Jackson, 8709 Walter Jacobs, 9302 Walter James, 7504 Harvey James Jeffery, 7270 William S Jenkins, 8031 Hubert B Jerome, 9232 Walter W J Joiner, 7546 William H Jones, 7853 Henry Kelleway,7176 William Kidd, 8831 Jesse Kimber, 9127 Private J Knapman

6917 Lance-Corporal William A Lance, 6817 Harry Langford, Captain J Le Hunts, 7576 A Leach, 7339 Frank Linzey, 8182 W Lock, 9198 Lance-Sergeant F Lockhart, 7357 William Lucock

8886 E Marsden, 7800 Stanley Martin, 7824 Harry C May, 9162 William J Maynard, 3/4448 Lance-Corporal Edward J McGrath, 6636 Lance-Corporal T A Meacher, 8763 Private William Misselbrook, 6648 Private W G Morris, 6990 Private Thomas R Mustion

7087 Private William Nicklen, 9205 Private James North

6810 Private E Payne, 5816 Private G Payne, 7537 Private T Pearson, 7506 Lance-Corporal Arthur W Phillimore, 9037 Private E Phillimore, 8151 Private E Porter, 7225 Private E Powell, 7508 Private Frank Powell (below), 9268 James Christopher Poyle, 9382 Private H Prior, 8408 Bandsman H Prosser

6743 Private William Ralph, 7254 Lance-Corporal A Randall, 7816 Corporal C Randall, 7825 Private G Read, 7287 Private G Reeves, 9129 Private Percy W Reeves, 7194 Private Arthur Ribbick, 8071 Private Sidney C Richards, 5968 Private Percy Robinson, 8674 Private A Rogers, 9387 Lance-Corporal L Rogers, 7688 Bandsman Frederick Rose, Lieutenant G T Rose, 9470 Private Cornelius Ryan

6732 Private Walter G Sansome, 5642 Private Sarkins, 9407 Private Morris Saunders, 7238 Private A C Scivier, 7330 Sergeant W Shephard, 7497 Bandsman J Sillence, 8407 Lance-Corporal Denis Smallwood, 8279 Private Harry Smith, 8887 Sergeant Sidney G Smith, 8144 Private F Souch, 7451 Lance-Corporal C Spanholtz, 7516 Private Frank Spencer, 7295 Private Jesse Sque, 9339 Private Clement Stay, 8800 Corporal Alfred Stead, 9306 Private W Steele, 9219 Private A Stevens, 5680 Sergeant Patrick Sullivan, 7081 Private G Summers, 7507 Corporal H Sumner, 8221 Corporal F Sykes

6567 Private Henry S Thomas, 6828 Private Thomas C Thomson, 9326 Private W Thurgood, 7291 Corporal Tom R Tobin, 7676 Corporal James Trigger

6852 Corporal Stephen Urry

6815 Corporal H Vaughan, 7779 Private D Venables

4524 Private E Walder, 9108 Lance-Corporal J Waterman, 6554 Private W Watts, 9163 Private Walter Wheeler, 8765 Private A J Whipp, 6768 Private Harry S Whitehead, 7837 Private Thomas John Whiting, 5764 Private Francis W Wilkins, Captain A S Williams, 7563 Private W Williams, 7184 Corporal William T Willis, 7268 Private Albert N Winter, 8016 Private Basil Withers, 7691 Corporal Albert Witt, 7180 Lance-Corporal G H Witt

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2nd Dragoons - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The following 30 men were all serving with the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) 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 1/43,  B.O.2 1/54 and B.O.2 1/59. My full transcription of these men (not reproduced here) also contains the following information against some or all of the names:


Date of capture
Home address
Next of kin
Next of kin's address
Notes

The full transcription is available for sale as part of a Dragoons and Dragoon Guards PoW roll - download or CD - for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.


3194 Private A G Anderson
2799 Private J Armour
5569 Shoeing Smith C E Bennett
2180 Lance-Corporal G H Bishop
5744 W Boothroyd
1582 Private J Boyd
5668 Private R Boyd
8627 Private G Brown
7998 Private W G Clark
4639 Private D Coll
6449 Private J Davidson
4812 Private J Douglas
6019 Corporal A H Dunlop
6875 Private W J French
3263 Private J Garner
4652 Acting Sergeant Shoeing-Smith R Gilling
5683 Lance-Corporal G M Lamb
3046 Private D Legg
4067 Staff Sergeant D McBrayne
4145 Private J McDonald
5032 Sergeant A S McTaggart
1330 Private D Murray
6342 Private D P Oliver
5705 Private James Pearson
6284 Trooper P Smart
8179 Private E Swinson
6302 Sergeant H Watts
7314 Private H Wilson
6122 Cpl James Wilson
2885 Saddler J Young


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DVD-ROM bargains - Quick sharp now!

Naval and Military Press has these current DVD-ROM bargains. I have a number of these myself - and rather wish I'd invested in the Military Operations, France & Belgium instead of filling up my bookshelves with red-spined volumes. You can buy the DVD of these volumes for £180. I think I was paying around £30 a time when I was buying these Battery Press / IWM imprints in the eighties and nineties. My incomplete set goes up to the end of 1917 and takes up eighteen inches of bookshelf. What's more, I need to refer to indexes to find what I need. Here on a single DVD-ROM, you have everything at your fingertips - and it's fully searchable. After 25th January, this will cost £45 more, so make the most of it now.

The other stand-out publication here is the War Diaries' DVD-ROM: 4,500 separate war diaries of battalions which fought on the Western Front, comprising 1.52m pages in full colour - £360 now or £450 after 25th January. I was looking at my copy this afternoon - so much easier to search than on Ancestry. Remember too, that Naval & Military Press offers an interest-free easy-payment scheme where you can spread payments across four or ten months. Well, why wouldn't you?

All of these DVD-ROM and CD-ROMs  - not to mention the books from Naval & Military Press's extensive back-catalogue are offered with a 20% discount until 25th January 2016 - so you'll need to be quick to catch these deals.

Here's a list of the titles with links to each of them.

Airmen Died in the Great War 1914-1918

British & Empire prisoners of war 1939-1945

British trench map atlas - Western Front

First World War campaign medal rolls

Official Boer War casualty rolls of the British and Empire Army 1899-1902

Sailors Died in The Great War

Silver War Badge roll

Soldiers Died in the Great War

War Diaries of the Battalions who fought the Great War on The Western Front

Military Operations, other theatres

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6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons - Boer War transfers

Here's an interesting little diversion. When the Army Reserve was called out in 1899 in response to the crisis in South Africa, the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons were under strength. Other Corps of Dragoons regiments however, appear to have had men to spare. The result? Some men recalled from the 1st (Royal) Dragoons, 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) and 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, were transferred into the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons upon their recall. Furthermore, there was nothing ad hoc about it. An examination of the regimental numbers shows that this was a well-planned out exercise.

6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons men with numbers in the range 5001 to 5178 are almost all recalled reservists. I say "almost all" because, just to make things awkward, 5004 certainly enlisted in April 1903. However, for the most part, all of these men were specially numbered out of sequence in late 1899 and early 1900. Their entries on the QSA and KSA medal rolls stand out like sore thumbs, and furthermore, there is a pre-planned and logical method in this re-numbering. There are some anomalies, to be sure - note, for instance that Karl and Roughan are oddities in the first, and otherwise alphabetical listing, below. Such is the British Army: exceptions to most rules.

The list which follows is taken from the QSA roll to the 6th Dragoons. Those men with annotated comments after their names have surviving papers in WO 97.

Numbers 5001 to 5052 were issued to men who had formerly served with the 1st Dragoons:

5001 Private Walter James Agland. Formerly 3130 1st Dns
5002 Private Harry Leonard Ashton. Formerly 3213 1st Dns
5003 Private W Baldwin
5005 Private W Cheeseman
5006 Corporal H Karl. QSA roll notes "deceased"
5006 Private T Creswell
5007 Private Harry Christensen. Formerly 3079 1st Dns
5008 Private J Campbell
5009 Private W Clarke
5010 Private J Capel
5011 Private Oswald Stephen Roughan. Also 10057 Royal Artillery
5012 Private C Dundrow
5013 Private P Devine
5015 Private T Dixon
5017 Private W Edmunds
5018 Private George William Evans. Formerly 3328 1st Dns (formerly 3371 3rd DG)
5019 Private W Edwards
5020 Private Charles Henry Edsall. Formerly 3040 1st Dns
5021 Private C E Evans
5023 Private George Freebury. Formerly 3142 1st Dns
5024 Private G Fenton
5025 Private R Fenwick
5026 Private Frederick Garrard. Formerly 3298 1st Dns
5027 Corporal G Groombridge
5028 Private G Gorett
5029 Private James Grattage. Formerly 3155 1st Dns
5030 Corporal Charles Grattage
5031 Private A Geal
5032 Private Luke Graham. Formerly 3121 1st Dns
5033 Private J Garlick
5034 Private P Glen
5035 Private Albert Edward Horne. Formerly 3300 1st Dns
5036 Sergeant D Hartland
5037 Corporal W Smith
5038 Private T H Smith
5039 Private William Alfred Stacey. Formerly 3135 1st Dns
5040 Private James Sweeney. Formerly 3137 1st Dns
5041 Private A Spratley
5042 Private A Shead
5043 Private T Williams
5044 Private Samuel Wagland. Formerly 3139 1st Dns
5045 Sergeant Charles Robert Sidney Milnes. Formerly 3222 1st Dns
5046 Private J Mustart
5047 Corporal Shoeing Smith Henry Taylor Parmenter. Formerly 3233 1st Dns
5048 Private Ernest Henry Herbert Jackson. Formerly 3234 1st Dns
5049 Private J Lawrence
5050 Private James King. Formerly 3138 1st Dns
5051 Private W Leedham
5052 Private Henry King. Formerly 3033 1st Dns

Numbers 5053 to 5063 were issued to former 2nd Dragoons men:

5053 Private Arthur Johnson. Formerly 3090 2nd Dns
5054 Corporal Albert Jenner. Formerly 3161 2nd Dns
5055 Private J Mathews
5057 Private J Kaberry
5058 Private C Brown
5059 Private Peter Dick. Formerly 3048 2nd Dns
5060 Private J Dalziel
5061 Private J Chapman
5062 Private George Louis Holder. Formerly 3135 2nd Dns
5063 Corporal Robert Raphael Birnie. Formerly 3031 2nd Dns

Numbers 5064 to at least 5156 were issued to former 4th Dragoon Guards men:

5064 Private Alfred Andrew. Formerly 3891 4th DG
5065 Sergeant Abberthue George Alliston. Formerly 3801 4th DG
5066 Private M Butler
5067 Private Albert Edward Broughton. Formerly 3823 4th DG
5068 Private William Bogle. Formerly 3785 4th DG
5069 Private H Beardswood
5070 Private J Manning
5070 Private W Jeffries QSA roll notes "deceased"
5071 Private Charles Curry. Formerly 3979 4th DG
5072 Private W W Felstead
5073 Lance-Corporal William Coleman. Formerly 3884 4th DG
5074 Private Thomas Crouch. Formerly 3848 4th DG
5075 Private Harry Clarke. Formerly 3849 4th DG
5076 Corporal George Cheek. Formerly 3852 4th DG
5077 Private William Alexander Carson. Formerly 3864 4th DG
5078 Corporal William Needs. Formerly 3832 4th DG
5079 Private J Carmichael
5081 Private C Day
5082 Private R W Epps
5083 Corporal E Ellison
5084 Private A Eager
5085 Private C Foster
5086 Corporal Fred Flowers. Formerly 3887 4th DG
5086 Private John Fortune. Formerly 3813 4th DG
5087 Private E H Osborne
5089 Private Albert Gunn. Formerly 3781 4th DG
5090 Private P Gardener
5091 Corporal C Hawkesworth
5092 Private J Hanvil
5093 Private A Hamill
5094 Private F O Jefferies. Formerly 3877 4th DG
5095 Private E Jeater
5096 Private William Lyons. Formerly 3899 4th DG
5097 Private H Love
5098 Private E Murphy
5099 Lance-Corporal J McClintock
5100 Private J Reilly
5101 Private Charles Stanley George Ralph. Formerly 3857 4th DG
5102 Sgt Farrier T Starsmeare
5103 Private C Mitchell
5104 Private Edward Lawlor. Formerly 3866 4th DG
5105 Corporal E Perrin
5105 Private J Mitchell
5106 Private Arthur McCartney
5107 Private James Thomas O'Hare. Formerly 3755 4th DG
5108 Private T Byrne
5109 Private J Smith
5110 Private A Page
5111 Corporal T Smith
5112 Private F H Smith
5113 Private M Tustin
5114 Private Justin Lawrence William White. Formerly 3812 4th DG
5115 Shoeing-Smith George Edwin Peacock. Formerly 3587 4th DG
5116 Private J Polden
5117 Corporal E J Russell
5117 Private S Padgham
5118 Private C W Robinson
5119 Private Frederick Smith. Formerly 3476 4th DG
5120 Private S Spong
5121 Private E Tatam
5122 Private W Watkins
5123 Private C E Perry
5124 Private S Stott
5125 Corporal George James Spanswick. Formerly 3565 4th DG
5126 Private W E Wedlock
5126 Private John Shevlin Formerly. 3635 4th DG
5126 Private John Thompson. Formerly 3998 4th DG
5129 Private T Quinlan
5130 Private Charles Osborn. Formerly 3689 4th DG
5131 Private Thomas Paisley. Formerly 3634 4th DG
5132 Private John Quinn. Formerly 3771 4th DG
5133 Private E Reed
5134 Private W J Shaw
5135 Private W Slavin
5136 Private H Smith. (3696 Herbert Smith, formerly 4th DG is either 5136 or 5137)
5137 Private H Smith
5138 Private J Stevens
5139 Private F G Stinchcombe
5139 Lance-Sergeant Andrew Quinn. Formerly 3369 4th DG
5140 Private Ernest Taylor. Formerly 3350 4th DG
5141 Private Albert Turner. Formerly 3541 4th DG
5142 Private Harry Unsworth. Formerly 3185 4th DG
5143 Corporal William Horace Ward. Formerly 3504 4th DG
5144 Private J Wickins
5145 Private Harry Windebank. Formerly 3558 4th DG
5146 Private M Whittle
5147 Private M Saunders
5148 Private Thomas Ward. Formerly 3532 4th DG
5149 Private John Williams. Formerly 3503 4th DG
5151 Private Herbert Charles Turley. Formerly 3816 4th DG
5152 Private Malcolm Rainey. Formerly 3669 4th DG
5153 Private Henry Smith. Formerly 3787 4th DG
5154 Private Frank Price. Formerly 3472 4th DG
5156 Lance-Corporal Alfred Edward Trinder. Formerly 3902 4th DG

Numbers 5157 (possibly) to 5178 were issued to former 4th Dragoon Guards men who had completed their time on Section B Army Reserve and had re-enlisted for Section D Army Reserve. This is entirely right and proper as the regulations stated that Section D men were to be recalled after Section B men.

5157 Private A Thompson
5160 Private J Willoughby
5161 Private C C Smith
5162 Private J Clemo
5163 Private Patrick Doyle. Formerly 3185 4th DG, Section D Reservist
5164 Lance-Corporal Robert Ives. Formerly 3270 4th DG, Section D Reservist
5165 Private Henry Rose. Formerly 3313 4th DG, Section D Reservist
5166 Private W Ritchie
5167 Private T Buckley
5170 Private Harry Haimer. Formerly 3169 4th DG, Section D Reservist
5178 Private T Wilson

Another interesting to point to note is that on none of the surviving papers that I came across are the men's new 6th Dragoons numbers written. It is clearly stated that they were recalled from the Army Reserve, but the new regimental number has not over-written their former regimental number.

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1st Highland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, TF

This is something of a work in progress and I only stumbled upon these number series when I was doing some research on a DCM winner for a friend.


The 1st Highland Brigade comprised the 1st, 2nd and 3rd City of Aberdeen Batteries and the 1st Highland Ammunition Column. Here's the important point. Despite all being administered by the same County Territorial Force Association, the City of Aberdeen, each of the batteries and the ammunition column operated their own regimental number series. I have not researched this unit much beyond November 1915 but here's what I have found out so far.


1st City of Aberdeen Battery
Started numbering from 1 in April 1908 from a number series extending to 999. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers between 630001 to 630300.


2nd City of Aberdeen Battery
Started numbering from 1000 in April 1908 from a number series extending to 3000. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers between 630301 to around 630574.


3rd City of Aberdeen Battery
Started numbering from around 3001 in around 1911 (I am unclear when this battery was formed)from a number series extending to 4000. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers from around 630575.


1st Highland Ammunition Column
Started numbering from the high 3000s in April 1908. The lowest number on my database is 4005 issued in 1911.  When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers from around 630840.


The significance of understanding this, particularly if your RFA ancestor was serving in the 1st Highland Brigade before late November 1915 is that if you know his regimental number, you'll also be able to identify which battery he served with, or whether in fact he served with the ammunition column.


For instance the men with the regimental numbers 289 (1st City of Aberdeen Battery), 1276 (2nd City of Aberdeen Battery), 3340 (3rd City of Aberdeen Battery) and 4128 (1st Highland Ammunition Column) - all of these units forming the 1st Highland Brigade RFA - enlisted in 1911.


Treat the number ranges above with a little caution. This is not an exact science, but I have enough data to be able to see significant patterns emerging for this Territorial Force artillery brigade in Aberdeen.

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4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards holds the distinction of being the first British Regiment to fire a shot during the First World War and Corporal Edward Thomas, pictured above, was the man credited with firing that shot.

The following men were all serving with the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards when they became prisoners of war of the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. There are 78 names in this list. Read more about this Prisoner of War data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

This data has been transcribed from three separate lists (B.O.2 1/47 to B.O.2 1/49 inclusive)which are now housed at the Imperial War Museum.

This is an edited list, giving number, rank and name only. The full transcription also includes date of capture and home address or next of kin address for most men. Supplementary information is also included for a number of the men listed here. If you would like a copy of the full, un-edited list for £20, please contact me via the RESEARCH tab on this blog.

4781 Private J W Agar
1003 Private W Arthur
5234 Private E A Badcock
6140 Private A E Bailey
3526 Private A Benton
4716 Private L H Bittleston
3102 Private A Blades
7940 Lance-Corporal R Bruce
4603 Lance-Corporal E W Buckland
3017 Private H Burgess
2662 Corporal C Burr
8039 Private R Cade
3933 Private J J Cheeseman
2951 Shoeing Smith A T Cook
4866 Lance-Corporal R N Cornall
2661 Trumpeter / Pte E G Coventry
7931 Private T R Cumber
4865 Private F B De Vriese
4002 Private J B Dinsmore
5088 Private G Evans
5067 Private R French
5121 Sergeant W Gardner
1025 Private H Gray
6106 Private J Grimes
5422 Private P Halford
7755 Private J Hanley
5113 Private A R Hardy
4521 SQMS W Harnett
4985 Lance-Corporal J Harrison
2786 Private E W Harvey
5149 Private H W C Hedges
1067 Private A Hewett
1055 Corporal H Hope
8138 Private J J Hopkins
2170 Private J W Hornsey
1078 Lance-Corporal G Knight
6196 Private T C Laidlaw
8300 Private C F Lee
6474 Private F F MacDonald
6960 Private T Marygold
3930 Private W Merryweather
2963 Private F J Milborrow
5139 Private G Morton
8648 Private F Mott
4940 Lance-Corporal J Murphy
3101 Private A S Nicholls
5806 Private A H Osborne
5191 Private G W Palmer
2361 Trumpeter J Patterson
5485 Private E Penfold
5373 Private W Pennington
2928 Private F A Piercey
5169 Private J Priddey
7742 Private C M Raymond
4732 Private E Robb
7463 Private R Robinson
6656 Private A Scriven
1079 Private F W Seago
4803 Private H J Searle
5306 Private E St Ledger
6109 Private J Starr
6832 Private H Stretton
3918 Private W H Sullivan
5404 Private G H Tanner
7923 Private A V Taylor
4911 Private E J O Thunder
5915 Lance-Corporal J A Turner
5214 Lance-Corporal W F Upton
4410 Corporal J Varley
3466 Lance-Sergeant T J Vaughan
3845 Private J Veasey
6042 Private J W Vincent
6096 Private W J E Vincent
6001 Private R Wallington
6001 Private R Wallington
2855 Private R H Webb
7010 Private J E Wright
5377 Private J Wyeth

The photograph of Corporal Thomas published on this post was first published in the magazine series, The Great War, I Was There.

The importance of regimental numbers in military research

This is a well-worn topic on this blog but it doesn't harm to go over the basics again once in a while. And before I forget, the image above is borrowed from the Postcards of Cornwall website and shows men from Section 4, A Company, 10th DCLI photographed in 1915.


The reason I began my study of regimental numbers in the first place was that for many of the men I was researching at the time, a regimental number on a medal card / medal roll was all I had. Knowing how particular the army was I felt sure that there must have been a system in place when it came to issuing regimental numbers and that if I could crack the code, a man's regimental number could tell me quite a bit.


Over the years I  have built a database of men with known enlistment and/or transfer dates and the regimental numbers they were issued with. I did this for the majority of all infantry of the line battalions and for all other corps except the Army service Corps and Labour Corps. My study embraced all branches of the army: regular, militia, special reserve, extra reserve, Volunteer Force (partial), Territorial Force, Yeomanry and New Army (from 1914). I have published a fraction of this research on this blog.

So here's an example of what I mean. The eight names listed above are the first eight results you get if you run a blank search of "Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry" on Ancestry's medal index card collection. The DCLI appears to be one of the worst affected regiments when it comes to surviving documents from 1914-1918 and so understanding when numbers were issued for this regiment becomes particularly important. Here's what I make of the numbers:


36689 Percival H Abbiss
Some papers survive in WO 363 but documents dealing with his transfer to DCLI do not survive. From my database, 36689 dates to October 1917


38115 Albert E Abbott
No service record survives. The number dates to late November 1917.


5288/201891 Albert S Abbott
No service record survives. The six-digit number marks this man as a member of the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion. Papers survive in WO 364 and show that this man enlisted in April 1916, although he had attested earlier, in December 1915, under the Derby Scheme. My army service numbers database also identifies patterns of Derby Scheme enlistments.


6326 Alfred Abbott
Some papers survive in WO 364 which show that this man was discharged from The Norfolk Regiment in June 1917. The papers show that this man enlisted in 1891 and again in October 1914. The 1891 enlistment cannot have been when he was issued with the number 6326 and therefore this number must have been issued in October 1914. The only battalion that this can have been was the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion.


676/240010 Arthur W Abbott
No service record survives. The six-digit number marks this man as a member of the 5th (TF) Battalion and an enlistment date of June 1908. This man was probably an original member of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion which pre-dated the 5th (TF) Battalion. By the time he was issued with his new six-digit number in 1917, he was the 10th longest serving man in the battalion.


28818 Fred Abbott
No service record survives. The number dates to September 1916.


23049 George Abbott
No service record survives. The number dates to August 1915.


27960 George Abbott
No service record survives. The number dates to May 1916.


So there you have it in a simple blog post: eight good reasons why regimental numbers are important.


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