Men serving in the Territorial Force got new numbers in 1917 and a great deal can be determined about their service from these numbers. This page should help you understand what it all means.
Background
The renumbering of the Territorial Force in 1917
Renumbering the Yeomanry
The renumbering of the TF Yeomanry was promulgated in Army Council Instruction 381 published on 3 April 1917. As in the other arms, ACI 380 also dealt with changes in the arrangements for TF records, pay and other administrative matters. These arrangements were to take effect from 1 April 1917.
It also set out the affiliation of Yeomanry units serving overseas to particular Reserve Cavalry Regiments, which were to act as reinforcing and rejoining units for them and it stated that soldiers serving in the Mounted Brigade Signal
Troops were to be renumbered in the block assigned to the Yeomanry Regiment from which the troop was originally drawn. Under the Corps Warrant, Yeomanry units belonged to either the Cavalry Corps of Dragoons, Lancers or Hussars (as did regular cavalry units). By the time this ACI was published a number of Yeomanry units had already been converted to infantry. ACI 381 emphasised that Yeomanry renumbering did not ‘apply to personnel of the Yeomanry who have ceased to be Yeomen in consequence of their unit to which they belonged having been organised on an infantry basis, 3rd line Yeomen who have been transferred to Reserve Infantry Battalions, nor those transferred to Reserve Cavalry Regiments’.
Those soldiers treated as regulars for renumbering retained their existing number as long as they served in the same Cavalry Corps, even if subsequently posted to a TF unit of that Corps or to another regular unit of that corps. If they were transferred to another Cavalry Corps they received a regular number in their new corps, even if posted to a TF unit.
From date of renumbering the only men who could join Yeomanry units and be dealt with as TF were:
- Men directly enlisted who did not come under the provisions of the Military Service Act
- Men serving on TF attestations who were transferred from other arms of the TF
- Men directly posted to Yeomanry units, as their first units, from Army Reserve Section B
The allocation of numbers to Yeomanry units
| Corps | Regulars | TF |
| Lancers | Below 30001 | Above 30000 |
| Dragoons | Below 70001 | Above 70000 |
| Hussars | Below 200001 | Above 200000 |
The detailed allocation of numbers to TF Yeomanry units, together with their affiliations to Reserve Cavalry Regiments and other details, are shown in this table:
| From | To | allocated to … | which was considered to be in the … |
| 35001 | 40000 | Lanarkshire Yeomanry | Corps of Lancers. |
| 40001 | 45000 | City of London Yeomanry | Corps of Lancers. (Includes men from London Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 45001 | 50000 | Surrey Yeomanry | Corps of Lancers. |
| 50001 | 55000 | East Riding Yeomanry | Corps of Lancers. |
| 55001 | 60000 | Lincolnshire Yeomanry | Corps of Lancers. |
| 70001 | 75000 | Berkshire Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 75001 | 80000 | Derbyshire Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from Notts & Derby Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 80001 | 85000 | Essex Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 85001 | 90000 | Fife & Forfar Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 90001 | 95000 | Glamorgan Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from South Wales Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 95001 | 100000 | QO Royal Glasgow Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 100001 | 105000 | Hampshire Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from 1st South Western Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 105001 | 110000 | Herts Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 110001 | 115000 | Duke of Lancs Own Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 115001 | 120000 | County of London Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 120001 | 125000 | Lothian & Borders Horse | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from Lowland Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 125001 | 135000 | Lovat’s Scouts | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from Highland Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 135001 | 140000 | Montgomeryshire Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 140001 | 145000 | Norfolk Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from Eastern Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 145001 | 150000 | Northamptonshire Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 150001 | 160000 | Scottish Horse | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 160001 | 165001 | Shropshire Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 165001 | 170000 | North Somerset Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 170001 | 175001 | Sussex Yeomanry | Corps of Dragoons. (Includes men from South Eastern Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 175001 | 200000 | Yorkshire Dragoons | Corps of Dragoons. |
| 200001 | 205000 | Ayrshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 205001 | 210000 | Buckinghamshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 210001 | 215000 | Cheshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 215001 | 220000 | Denbighshire Hussars | Corps of Hussars. (Includes men from Welsh Border Mounted Brigade Signal Troop). |
| 220001 | 225000 | Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. (Includes men from 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 225001 | 230000 | Royal North Devon Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 230001 | 235000 | Dorset Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 235001 | 240000 | Gloucestershire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 240001 | 245000 | East Kent Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 245001 | 250000 | West Kent Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 250001 | 255000 | Lancashire Hussars | Corps of Hussars. |
| 255001 | 260000 | Leicester Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 260001 | 265000 | County of London Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 265001 | 270000 | County of London Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 270001 | 275000 | Northumberland Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 275001 | 280000 | Nottinghamshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 280001 | 285000 | South Notts Hussars | Corps of Hussars. |
| 285001 | 290000 | Oxford Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 290001 | 295000 | Pembroke Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 295001 | 300000 | West Somerset Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 300001 | 305000 | Staffordshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. (Includes men from North Midland Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 305001 | 310000 | Suffolk Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 310001 | 315000 | Warwickshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. (Includes men from 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| 315001 | 320000 | Westmorland & Cumberland Yeo | Corps of Hussars. |
| 320001 | 325000 | Wiltshire Yeomanry | Corps of Hussars. |
| 325001 | 330000 | Worcestershire Hussars | Corps of Hussars. |
| 330001 | 335000 | Yorkshire Hussars | Corps of Hussars. (Includes men from Yorkshire Mounted Brigade Signal Troop) |
| Welsh Horse | Not allocated new numbers ad the regiment had effectively ceased to exist by this time. |
Tip: how do I use this table?
Taking note of the details above and especially what qualified a man for the renumbering, it would be reasonable to assume that he was serving in the unit to which his new number had been allotted. For example, Trooper 257111 Bill Smith would have been with the Leicestershire Yeomanry.
Tip: “my soldier was renumbered like that but had another number after that … why?”
TF soldiers retained their new number as long as they served in a unit of the same cavalry corps, even if posted to a regular unit of that corps. If they were transferred to another cavalry corps, they were transferred to a yeomanry unit of that corps, renumbered in that unit’s allocation, then could (if necessary) be posted to a regular unit of that corps. So for example if a soldier who had already been renumbered was subsequently moved from a Hussars regiment to a Lancers regiment he would be renumbered again.