Was enlistment as regional as it would appear?

[Trebrys]

Did regiments go to districts outside their catchment area to enlist men? Would they have gone to a neighbouring county to "poach" men for their own ranks?

I'm trying to understand how someone from Glamorgan would end up with a South Lancs regiment. Wouldn't you automatically be claimed by your area's local regiment or would the authorities siphon you off to others during the act of processing enlistment details i.e. send you to a regiment a bit short on numbers.

Could you request the regiment for which you'd fight?

Just a question before setting off to work!

Trebrys.

[IanA]

Hi Trebrys,

The answer to your first question is yes. Regiments sometimes went far from their natural homes. I have heard of highland regiments recruiting as far south as Manchester.

Ian

[Chris_Baker]

Once the Military Service Act introduced conscription in early 1916, the recruit had no choice of regiment and was effectively enlisted into a machinery in which the local flavour was broken.

Prior to that the voluntary recruit had a choice - officially, at least. There is plenty of evidence that even the county regiments recruited far and wide and also that men even decided to travel to join a non-local regiment.

[stuartd]

Due to the preference of most Cornishmen for joining the navy as opposed to the army, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry had quite a few problems filling its regiment with locally based recruits. Many men from London were tempted to join the DCLI by the fact that the initial training would be in Cornwall and the DCLI painted a picture of sandy beaches and sunny weather to encourage men to join the DCLI and to head to Cornwall for their training. Thus a significant proportion of the regiment was non-Cornish...though precisely wah proportion would need further research.

[Charles Fair]

Thus a significant proportion of the regiment was non-Cornish...though precisely wah proportion would need further research.

I have heard this too. Another member of the forum recently told me that the archives in Bodmin hold some DCLI recruitment books which may shed some more light on this question.

Another example is 5th Seaforths (from Caithness/Sutherland) which sent a recruiting team into Ulster - there was a thread on this about 3 years ago. I believe that some of the Scottish battalions recruited a number of men who had tried and failed to get into the London Scottish.

[stuartd]

A few years ago I wrote my MA thesis on the response in Cornwall to the outbreak of war in 1914 and it contains sections on recruitment problems. It was published in an academic journal so is available.

[Graham Stewart]

A favourite question and as an example I'll show you the make up of the regular 2nd Bn, Northumberland Fusiliers as it was on the 30th September 1895 and exactly where the men came from;-

Berks(4) - Cambs(3) - C/land(10) - Cornwall(1) - Durham(196) - Dorset(3) - Derby(10) - Devon(2) - Essex(10) - Gloster(6) - Herts(8) - Hants(5) - Hunts(1) - Kent(19) - Lancs(36) - Lincoln(17) - Leicester(16) - Middlesex(84) - Northants(23) - Notts(35) - N/land(190) - Norfolk(29) - Rutland(1) - Salop(2) - Surrey(24) - Suffolk(6) - Sussex(2) - Stafford(11) - Warwick(21) - Worcester(2) - Wilts(1) - Yorks(97) - Ireland(57) - Scotland(28) - Wales(10) - Other Countries(24) - Battalion total 999 other ranks.

Recruitng problems locally were always there and infact it's only the first few months of the War which show a more parochial outlook in most regiments(Corps recruited universally). With the introduction of the Derby Scheme dillution was inevitable, but some regiments had already crossed recruiting borders to get the numbers of men they required, classic examples being the Tyneside Scottish and Irish who recruited North and South of the Tyne in the name of the Northumberland Fusiliers.

The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers also recruited from Northumberland & Durham, during the War, having a recruiting office in Newcastle itself and it's estimated from lists produced in local newspapers that they took at least a 1,000 local men. The Forest of Dean Pioneers also came to the North East in which to fill out the battalion with miners.

Post war there was a complete turn round in recruiting and regiments became more "county" based than they ever had been previously and this continued up until the Second World War, when dillution once again entered a regiments recruiting programme. After WWII the "county" aspect was again restored which lasted until the 1960's and the Brigade/large Regiment system.

Graham.

[Chris_Baker]

2nd Northumberland Fusiliers - so good they counted them twice!

[Graham Stewart]

Very, very strange. Clicked "Add Reply", which chugged and chugged and once through put in a double post??? Still managed to edit it down to one.

Graham.

[Petroc]

I'm not sure I'd agree that 'most Cornishmen' opted for naval service..the same has also been said of their neighbours east of the Tamar, but it would be wise to remember that, at the outbreak of war, the RN and affiliated services were over-establishment...witness the formation of the RND from 'surplus' Reservists. Also, the Naval services did not 'need' as many men as their land-based counterparts in the Army, so an out-and-out recruiting competition between the two branches is unlikely. There were certainly a great deal of men in Cornwall serving in the Navy and RNR in 1914, but their mobilisation was the fulfillment of a legal obligation to serve in time of war rather than a reflection of sudden voluntary spirit. Like many 'rural' county regiments, the DCLI (before the War as during it) were forced to rely on recruits from outside its nominal recruiting district...men from Birmingham and London especially. This was also true of the Devons, the Wiltshires, the Norfolks, etc etc, and certain Scottish battalions. For example, Bandsman Rendle, DCLI, who won the VC in 1914...a pre-war Regular in the Cornwalls who originally joined the regiment due to the fact that there were at that time no vacancies in his 'native' Bristol-based unit.

[stuartd]

Petroc, interesting information and thanks for that. However, I still believe that what I said above holds true: Cornishmen had a 'preference' for the Navy above the Army. Clearly that 'preference' doesn't mean that they got their wishes, and from what you say this is evidently true. However, letters and newspapers from Cornwall from the period repeatedly state that men in the county held the Navy in much higher regard.

[John_Hartley]

I have heard of highland regiments recruiting as far south as Manchester.

'tis true. Particularly after the idea of a "Manchester Scottish" was rejected. Most who had joined in the hope of being able to combine a link to Scotland AND the local regiment found themsleves in the Royal Scots.

In another recent thread, I'd trawled SDGW for Rochdale deaths on 1/7/16 to find more Devons than anyone else.

John

[Alan Tucker]

Combining war deaths for the 1st and 2nd Bns Royal Warwickshire Regiment (regulars) 62.2% were born or lived in Warwickshire; including within this figure 38.7% from Birmingham. The rest were all over the place.