England Army Organizations - International Institute

Army Organizations
This section can only hope to skim the surface of the organization, history and records but will point the student to the references needed and the type and location of records. Colonel Swinnerton in his book, The British Army: Its History, Tradition and Records. (1998-1) has provided a readable introduction to the history and organization of the army useful to anyone unfamiliar with its traditions and jargon, and Oldham’s bookSources of Army Research (1995) has an excellent overview.

There can hardly be a family in Britain that has had no member serving in the British Army, thus it is always wise to check your male ancestor’s name against a list of wars being fought during his lifetime. It was an especially important source of work for impoverished Irish, (after 1801), and Scots, (after 1707), and an army record for an ancestor, or his brother, can uncover a wealth of information not findable elsewhere. A vast number of Irishmen enlisted in the British Army; it was said that they had two choices, to either stay in Ireland and starve to death, or join the British Army and go to hell! The vast records have only recently been made accessible by valuable new finding aids, including several databases now available electronically. The amount of detail available for the lives of soldiers is the most extensive of any profession or trade.

The organization of the army has varied greatly over time and what follows is a brief summary of mainly the 19th century situation. Please refer to Fowler and Spencer’s Army Records for Family Historians, and to Swinnerton’s articleThe Way the Army Works in Family Tree Magazine. Vol 17 #9, page 29-30 for further details. Some important points of terminology should be clarified: the establishment was the number of soldiers allowed per unit in war or peacetime, whilst the strength was the number actually present. Putting someone or some unit on the strength simply means adding them to the muster rolls, the official list of those paid and fed. A very limited number of women, (and their children), were put on the strength to serve in domestic duties for the regiment. There were typically far more women termed camp followers, and an interesting article by Oldham (2001) describes their role and conditions. No women officially served in the British Army until they were recruited as nurses during the Crimean War.

During wartime a much broader structure was used with several major armies designated, each being subdivided intocorps,divisions and brigades, the latter being composed of several regiments. The strength of the British army began at 4000 in 1661 and reached its zenith of many millions in WWI. John Spencer in his articleMilitary Matter, Family Tree Magazine Vol 16 #8, page 6 has summarized figures involved in some major conflicts. Never discard a potential soldier as too young or too old. There are records of boys who enlisted as young as 8, (but age 4 in militia and men who were discharged aged 75 (Dixon). Families put on the strength may include infants who received an allowance.

Army Regiments
Each Regiment had an official name, often a number, and usually one or more nicknames, for example the Nottinghamshire Regiment was the 45th Regiment of Foot, and known as Sherwood Foresters, and nicknamed The Old Stubborn. In indexes they are often identified only by initials, thus DCLI is the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (32nd Foot). The chart below which gives the situation in 1881, will provide clues to these initials, and lists the regiments in their order of precedence, which is how the records are listed in catalogues. Most of these titles survived until after WWII.

CHART: Regiments of the British Army as of 1881 in Order of Precedence with Dates Raised From Swinnerton and Kitzmiller

Over time it is a lot more complicated than this because of amalgamations and renaming, producing a constant state of flux. It is obvious, for example, that the 13th Foot did not start out being Prince Albert’s as he was not alive in 1697. These changes hinder finding the correct regiment and its records, but Kitzmiller in his work, ''In Search of the Forlorn Hope. A Comprehensive Guide to Locating British Regiments and Their Records 1840-WWI'' has provided reference lists to the names, numbers and amalgamations. His indispensable lists also show from whence most were recruited. Iain Swinnerton (2000 onwards) has provided an informative series of articles on regiments. For the record, invalids in army parlance may refer to medical fitness, but also has an entirely different meaning referring to their being not valid. They were soldiers, companies or regiments held surplus to the establishment.

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