The information on this page refers only to infantry regiments: the cavalry and the corps had different arrangements which I hope to explain in a second article.
The details of a regiment’s Depot, Record Office, and Regimental District pop up in various places in its men’s service and medal records and in the operational records of its units. In most cases of research of an individual soldier they are not necessarily of huge value, but they can sometimes help to unravel a story or identify a document.
The information listed below is from the Army List, the official publication of such matters. As the hero of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” says, “Those invaluable volumes should have been my constant study”.
What were they?
The Regimental District
The Regimental District in use at the time of the Great War originated with the Childers reforms of the army in 1881, replacing what had previously been known as Sub-Districts.
The reforms introduced the regimental structure still in use in 1914, in that most infantry regiments had a territorial designation corresponding to the localities with which they were connected. So for example, the former 38th and 80th Regiments of Foot, long associated with the county of Staffordshire, became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the South Staffordshire Regiment. The Regimental District would cover that geographical area, and take the lower number of the two battalions covered: in this case, it would be numbered as 38th Regimental District. (The original order stipulated that the Regimental District would be named after the town where its headquarters was based, but this practice does not appear to have gained traction.)
Certain regiments did not have a Regimental District as they were not recognised as being associated with any given geography: the Guards, King’s Royal Rifle Corps and Rifle Brigade fell into this category.
The District
On 27 November 1907, the Army Council introduced the word “District” to replace and simplify what had previously been called “Grouped Regimental Districts”. It also gave them numbers. The Brigadier-General in command of the District also commanded the artillery* and infantry depots geographically situated within his command area, and was responsible for records and all recruiting within his command area. The Brigadier-General reported to the General Officer Commanding one of the seven geographical Commands into which Great Britain and Ireland was divided (below).
*Except for the artillery depots at Woolwich, Newport, Dover, Gosport and Plymouth.
The Depot
Each regiment had a physical location at which it would clothe and arm recruits, and store the uniform and equipment of reservists. The basic and infantry training of recruits was usually carried out there, and in most cases the depots were located at large barracks.
The Infantry Record Office
The Record Offices in use in the Great War originated with reorganisation in 1905 and were usually co-located with the District headquarters. It was responsible for maintaining personnel and unit records of many types, and was the organisation that would communicate with next of kin on behalf of the War Office when a man was wounded, severely ill, or died or declared as missing.
Army Commands
In 1902 a reorganisation of the army created six groups announced as Army Corps, numbered I to VI, each of which covered a defined geographical area. They were also named, so for example the VI Army Corps was known as Scottish Command. The commands were responsible for, among other functions, the recruitment, training, facilities, pay and administration of the force in their area.
This arrangement lasted until January 1905, when things were reorganised into seven Commands and one District (the Army Corps name was dropped): Aldershot Command (HQ at Aldershot), Southern Command (Tidworth with administration at Salisbury), Eastern Command (London), Irish Command (Dublin), Scottish Command (Edinburgh), Northern Command (York), Welsh and Midland Command (Chester) and the London District (London).
In 1907, further reforms under Haldane reorganised into: Aldershot Command (HQ at Aldershot), Southern Command (Tidworth), Eastern Command (London), Irish Command (Dublin), Scottish Command (Edinburgh), Northern Command (York), Western Command (Chester) and the London District (London). Each command would normally station three infantry brigades. This structure remained in place throughout the Great War.
District numbers and letters
The Army List refers to the Regimental Districts and Districts by number. At a later date, the Districts were lettered, but it appears that this must also have been in use in certain regards during the war period. An indicator of this is the use of the corresponding letter in the titling of the campaign medal rolls:
The regiments by District and Regimental District
Number 1 District (until 1907, the Highland Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Perth
Letter G
Under Scottish Command
Regimental Districts
42: Royal Highlanders (Black Watch)
72: Seaforth Highlanders
73: Gordon Highlanders
79: Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders
91: Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
Number 2 District (until 1907, the Lowland Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Hamilton
Letter D
Under Scottish Command
Regimental Districts
1: Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)
21: Royal Scots Fusiliers
25: King’s Own Scottish Borderers
26: Scottish Rifles
71: Highland Light Infantry
Number 3 District (until 1907, the Lancashire Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Preston
Letter H
Under Western Command
Regimental Districts
4: King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
8: King’s (Liverpool Regiment)
20: Lancashire Fusiliers
30: East Lancashire Regiment
34: Border Regiment
47: Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
63: Manchester Regiment
Number 4 District (until 1907, the Welsh Border Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Shrewsbury
Letter J
Under Western Command
Regimental Districts
22: Cheshire Regiment
23: Royal Welsh Fusiliers
24: South Wales Borderers
40: South Lancashire Regiment
41: Welsh Regiment
53: The King’s (Shropshire Light Infantry)
Number 5 District (until 1907, the Yorkshire Grouped Regimental District)
Located at York
Letter O
Under Northern Command
Regimental Districts
5: Northumberland Fusiliers
14: West Yorkshire Regiment
15: East Yorkshire Regiment
19: Yorkshire Regiment
33: Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)
51: King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
65: York & Lancaster Regiment
68: Durham Light Infantry
Number 6 District (until 1907, the North Midland Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Lichfield
Letter F
Under Northern Command
Regimental Districts
10: Lincolnshire Regiment
17: Leicestershire Regiment
38: South Staffordshire Regiment
45: Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment)
64: North Staffordshire Regiment
The “Staffordshire Advertiser” of 2 January 1915 provided good details of the location of the Army Pay Office in Lichfield, at least in the early part of the war. It had occupied a small premises on the corner of Gaia Lane and Beacon Street, and was expanding into “Nether Beacon” on Beacon Hill and also the more commodious “Beacon Place” (site now Swinfen Broun Road). A house adjoining the Guildhall had also been taken over as a record office for the Territorial Force units of this district.
Number 7 District (until 1907, the South Midland Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Warwick
Letter L
Under Southern Command
Regimental Districts
6: Royal Warwickshire Regiment
28: Gloucestershire Regiment
29: Worcestershire Regiment
43: Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
49: Royal Berkshire Regiment
Number 8 District (until 1907, the Western Counties Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Exeter
Letter C
Under Southern Command
Regimental Districts
11: Devonshire Regiment
13: Somerset Light Infantry
32: Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
37: Hampshire Regiment
39: Dorsetshire Regiment
62: Wiltshire Regiment
Number 9 District (until 1907, the Eastern Counties Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Warley (Essex)
Letter K
Under Eastern Command
Regimental Districts
9: Norfolk Regiment
12: Suffolk Regiment
16: Bedfordshire Regiment
44: Essex Regiment
48: Northamptonshire Regiment
Number 10 District (until 1907, the Home Counties Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Hounslow
Letter E
Under Eastern Command
Regimental Districts
2: Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
7: Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)*
3: Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
31: East Surrey Regiment
35: Royal Sussex Regiment
50 Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
57: The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
*The Royal Fusiliers medal rolls do not use the district letter E, but the “TP” associated with the London Regiment (Territorial Force)
Number 11 District (until 1907, the North Irish Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Dublin
Letter B
Under Irish Command
Regimental Districts
27: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
83: Royal Irish Rifles
87: Royal Irish Fusiliers
102: Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Number 12 District (until 1907, the South Irish Grouped Regimental District)
Located at Cork
Letter A
Under Irish Command
Regimental Districts
18: Royal Irish Regiment
88: Connaught Rangers
100: Leinster Regiment
101: Royal Munster Fusiliers
Rifles Depot
Located at Winchester
Letter M
Regiments
King’s Royal Rifle Corps
The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own)
Infantry regiments of the Territorial Force
Some regiments that became part of the Territorial Force when it came into being in 1908 were not formally assigned a Regimental District and the Army List does not assign them to a District, either. The letter codes used for their campaign medal rolls does however imply association:
Monmouthshire Regiment – letter J – 4 District
Cambridgeshire Regiment – letter K – 9 District
London Regiment – letters TP – presumably London District
Inns of Court Officer Training Corps – also letters TP
Hertfordshire Regiment – letter K – 9 District
Herefordshire Regiment – letter J – 4 District
Northern Cyclist Battalion – letter O – 5 District
Highland Cyclist Battalion – letter G – 1 District
Kent Cyclist Battalion – letter E – 10 District
Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion – letter K – 9 District.