Territorial Enlistment

[jim_davies]

I've been researching the 4th Lincolns for a little while now and thought I'd share some recruiting data I've put together. I would be very interested to see how it compares to other TF battalions.

I'm fairly lucky in that the 4th Lincolns seem to have numbered their 1914-15 enlistees in batches alphabetically (more or less). The data comes from service records, SWB rolls, newspaper lists of volunteers etc. I'm sure the below will have an element of error, but not too much (hopefully!)

The list below shows the number of men enlisting into the battalion:

4-6 Aug 1914 150 men

28 Aug 1914 261 men

Sept 1914 241 men

Oct 1914 315 men

Nov 1914 247 men

Dec 1914 70 men

Jan 1915 34 men

Feb 1915 53 men

Mar 1915 68 men

Apr 1915 100 men

May 1915 667 men

June 1915 121 men

July 1915 37 men

Aug-Oct 1915 183 men

Mostly the figures match my expectations, with the initial mass volunteering of Aug, slowing slightly in Sept, Oct & Nov and dropping up until the spring of 1915, when the battalion first went abroad. I can understand a slight uptick for April and May 1915 but not to the extend that I show.

Any ideas or comparsions?

Jim

[Chris]

NIce work Jim, an idea on the May 1915 figure, was this when the raising of more recruits was authorised in order to fill up the ranks of the 2nd line unit (2/4th) and when the 3/4th came into existance. Certainly the 5th Lincs went on a recruiting tour of the north of the county around this time for this purpose.

Chris