damandblast Posted 7 December , 2005 Share Posted 7 December , 2005 Bit of an odd question this one. Speaking to a medal collector the other day who informed me that my Lance Corporal James Martin enlisited in Litchfield. More to the point, he told me this in a matter of minutes confirming additional information like rank, residence and birth place (all already known by me) at the same time. As he enlisted away from his home town as soon as K started his PALs recruitment drive, I suspect he was visiting family (near to birth place) so may have enlisted with other family members or close friends. Is there ANY way, any buyable database or online search facility that can advise who enlisted when and where? And, finally, was there a recruitment upper age limit at the onset of WW1? James's known brothers were older than him. Thanks Di Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 7 December , 2005 Share Posted 7 December , 2005 Is there ANY way, any buyable database or online search facility that can advise who enlisted when and where? Not as such. There may be individual regimental records, though. For example - there is a book of platoon photos for the Manchester Pals Battalions - now on a CD with a list of names accompanying it. Even that can only be a snapshot in time (with errors) John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 7 December , 2005 Share Posted 7 December , 2005 The details on where enlisted, place of residence and place of birth come from Soldiers Died (CD-ROM from Naval & Military Press). Date of enlistment is not given. The disc is available in good reference libraries; records offices & the like - and a number of forum pals will also have copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPotter Posted 11 December , 2005 Share Posted 11 December , 2005 It should be reasonably possible to deduce place of enlistment from the date and number allocated. At least I hope so, as I am presently collating SDGW, MICs and the War Badge Rolls for the one Regiment to try and establish some sort of boundaries or patterns as to which numbers were allocated to men who enlisted at a particular location at a particular time. Nightmare project, but fascinating (well, I think so - my wife thinks differently!) Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damandblast Posted 11 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 11 December , 2005 It should be reasonably possible to deduce place of enlistment from the date and number allocated. At least I hope so, as I am presently collating SDGW, MICs and the War Badge Rolls for the one Regiment to try and establish some sort of boundaries or patterns as to which numbers were allocated to men who enlisted at a particular location at a particular time. Nightmare project, but fascinating (well, I think so - my wife thinks differently!) Steve Hi Steve Were the numbers consecutive to a Regiment or consecutive depending on global date of joining? As an example, 1239 Is Lance Corporal James Martin, 1Bn KRRC, would it be a safe assumption that 1240 or 1238 could be a KRRC enlisting on or around about the same time too? I am trying to unerstand how the enlistment drives worked. Would it be one regiment that "hit" a certain place or town or just the army in general and the recruit then allocated to a unit after? So many questions. Feel a total novice . The number for James is also low by comparison to other records I have seen, so again, I am assuming the higher the number the later he was recruited? War badge Rolls Steve? SDGW and MIC's I understand but that one is new to me. Thanks Di Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 11 December , 2005 Share Posted 11 December , 2005 Di One the difficulties is that to some considerable extent, different regiments had their own conventions about numbering. If we were talking about someone with the Cheshires, I could give you a fairly good prediction. In general , it will be reasonable to assume that close numbers are going to be indicative of men recruited around the same time. But you can't take it as a guarantee. Manchester Regiment numbering, for example, can be something of a nightmare. As you're familiar with SDGW, can I suggest that you do some number crunching and see what comes up. To take your example, search for KRRC with numbers 1200 - 1300 (if need be, widemn the number search but not too much). It may give a pattern about Battalion and place of enlistment. It should also give an idea when men started to be killed. Not an exact science, of course, but little is in this game. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 11 December , 2005 Share Posted 11 December , 2005 Di, Here are some examples of recruiting for the Army prior to the Great War, being taken from the 1896 "Pamphlet for Recruiters". Prior to the War recruitng could take place any where and through the Post Office was one of the most popular. It's not unitl the Great War that you see the great influx of local men joining their county regiment, prior to this recruiters, recruited for specific units within their district. Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 11 December , 2005 Share Posted 11 December , 2005 (edited) This completes the methods by which a man could be recruited into the regular Army, albeit fourteen years prior. Graham. Edited 11 December , 2005 by Graham Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damandblast Posted 12 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 12 December , 2005 This completes the methods by which a man could be recruited into the regular Army, albeit fourteen years prior. Graham. Fantastic That should keep me quiet a while Di Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now