The following list of numbers and dates has been derived from men’s service records and is offered here as a guide. It should help researchers narrow down a range of dates for searching for details of a particular man, for example.
Enlistments into the regular army before the declaration of war
The numbers were from a single continuous series used for enlistments into both the Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery.
Number > Enlistment date
26637 > 18 Sep 1902
29800 > 17 Jan 1903
34299 > 28 Apr 1904
37188 > 25 Apr 1905
41768 > 5 Mar 1906
47545 > 6 Aug 1907
52118 > 7 Sep 1908
54175 > 8 Jan 1909
61512 > 24 May 1910
65338 > 5 May 1911
71999 > 12 Sep 1913
76145 > 31 Jan 1914
78246 > 30 Jun 1914
Early war enlistments
The declaration of war and Lord Kitchener’s appeal for volunteers led to a rapid expansion of all branches of the army. The numbers issued to men enlisting into the RHA (and RFA, of course) reflect this growth. The dates of enlistment do not always follow in strict chronological order, as shown below:
78764 > 6 Aug 1914
80465 > 9 Aug 1914
80478 > 7 Aug 1914
81069 > 12 Aug 1914
82965 > 18 Aug 1914
85423 > 20 Aug 1914
85965 > 20 Aug 1914
87751 > 28 Aug 1914
87985 > 9 Sep 1914 (?)
88044 > 22 Sep 1914
89890 > 22 Aug 1914
91717 > 21 Aug 1914
93646 > 22 Aug 1914
95226 > 31 Aug 1914
This series continued until it reached 99999.
Some of the examples shown above joined the Special Reserve rather then the regular army, but apparently numbered from the same continuous block. David Porter, a member of the Great War Forum who had studied this subject, informed me thus, “The Special Reserve did have a unique series that was halted at around 14732 in February 1913. It was “accidentally” restarted for about 11 days (August 12 – 22, 1914) for those seen as RFRA entries but these men were swiftly renumbered in the Regular series (having got to 15090)…. With the Regular series used up, they started it again, issuing number 1 at No. 6 Depot RFA, Glasgow, on August 30, 1914.”
Territorial Force
Each unit of the Territorial Force RHA operated its own numbering system. Numbers were issued in sequence at enlistment or, in very infrequent cases, on transfer from a different unit. The sequences began from number 1 when the unit was established (which in most cases was in April 1908 when the Territorial Force came into existence.)
In the 1917 introduction of new numbering regulations, each unit was issued with a block of numbers. The block was used at first to renumber men serving with the unit, and then for men joining, whether by enlistment or, in certain cases, by transfer.
Numbers were not re-used when a man left a unit, for whatever reason.
| Unit | Original system: example dates | 1917 allocation | Notes and examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayrshire RHA | 216 > 7 Feb 1910 388 > 3 Apr 1913 504 > 5 Sep 1914 611 > 21 Sep 1914 678 > 4 Oct 1914 | 602001 – 604000 | 363 became 602069 602 became 602154 678 became 602242 |
| Berkshire RHA | 195 > 12 Mar 1909 332 > 31 Aug 1912 464 > 5 Mar 1914 649 > 15 Sep 1914 948 > 19 Jun 1915 | 616001 – 618000 | 332 became 616055 709 became 616285 888 became 616417 948 became 616464 |
| Essex RHA | 349 > 10 Oct 1911 504 > 29 Apr 1913 608 > 4 Sep 1914 764 > 5 Oct 1914 861 > 12 Apr 1916 | 622001 – 624000 | 349 became 622033 626 became 622182 785 became 622311 |
| Glamorgan RHA | 176 > 95 May 1911 393 > 29 Oct 1913 439 > 7 Aug 1914 506 > 9 Oct 1914 606 > 19 Feb 1915 671 > 8 Mar 1915 | 606001 – 608000 | 506 became 606165 577 became 606204 736 became 606278 |
| Hampshire RHA | 280 > 6 Nov 1911 417 > 8 Jul 1912 612 > 3 Jun 1914 760 > 25 Jan 1915 852 > 30 Apr 1915 | 618001 – 620000 | 417 became 618093 |
| Honourable Artillery Company RHA | This will be the subject of a separate study | 624001 – 628000 | |
| Inverness-shire RHA | 110 > 25 Mar 1909 229 > 19 Nov 1912 342 > 11 Aug 1914 410 > 7 Oct 1915 | 600001 – 602000 | 342 became 600108 710 became 600153 |
| Leicestershire RHA | 253 > 1 Dec 1911 365 > 7 Mar 1913 483 > 4 Sep 1914 511 > 6 Oct 1914 690 > 24 Mar 1915 | 610001 – 612000 | 366 became 610066 483 became 610165 690 became 610291 |
| Nottinghamshire RHA | 278 > 5 Apr 1910 363 > 16 Jul 1912 480 > 30 Apr 1914 573 > 21 Sep 1914 706 > 18 Mar 1915 | 612001 – 614000 | 573 became 612076 706 became 612307 |
| Shropshire RHA | 273 > 15 Apr 1912 403 > 31 May 1914 425 > 31 Aug 1914 606 > 14 Jun 1915 802 > 30 Oct 1915 | 604001 – 606000 | 299 became 604087 366 became 604132 497 became 604246 802 became 604446 |
| Somersetshire RHA | 144 > 9 Jan 1912 441 > 10 Aug 1914 502 > 3 Oct 1914 560 > 15 Feb 1915 614 > 18 Oct 1915 | 620001 – 622000 | 245 became 620049 373 became 620117 509 became 620217 747 became 620417 |
| Warwickshire RHA | 228 > 17 Dec 1910 416 > 6 Aug 1914 482 > 11 Nov 1914 531 > 14 Jan 1915 558 > 3 Mar 1915 | 614001 – 616000 | 228 became 614085 416 became 614122 531 became 614201 |
| West Riding RHA | 184 > 25 Jan 1909 327 > 11 Sep 1911 433 > 19 Apr 1913 591 > 2 Sep 1914 680 > 20 Apr 1915 840 > 22 Jun 1915 1025 > 25 Oct 1915 | 608001 – 610000 | 300 became 608023 460 became 608072 738 became 608249 |