Service Numbers
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With grateful thanks to Lt. Cdr. Stewart for providing the following article.
Prior to the outbreak of war in August 1914 the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) had a numbering system in place which was based on the geographical location of the RNVR administrative units.
These units were the London, Sussex, Bristol, Mersey, Tyne and Clyde Divisions. On the outbreak of war one new Division was created, Wales. The first initial of these seven units preceded the number allocated to men and was often added to the prefix of a man who joined the RNVR before the outbreak of the First World War and to men who joined after the outbreak and before Conscription was introduced in 1916.
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 Derby scheme armband, worn with civilian clothes to show a man had attested. |
Men who joined the RNVR before the war were given a Company number followed by an individual number. For example, Sussex 2/235. This indicated the man was number 235 in the Second Company of Sussex Division of the RNVR.
Some units had more men than others and there could even be nine or ten companies in an RNVR Division. It is believed that a man's number was allocated by the administrators from a pool of numbers held by the Division when he joined and would remain with him during his service.
However, with this nationwide system it is possible for six or seven RNVR men to have identical numbers, differentiated only by the Unit Name. The possibilities for confusion in the days of hand written numbers are endless.
In Scotland, the Clyde Division was based in Glasgow. A Clyde man might have a number of Clyde 1/2354. First Company, number 2354. An RNVR sub unit of two companies was also created in Dundee. A man there could have the number Clyde 1/235, a member of the First Dundee Company of Clyde Division RNVR number 235. After the outbreak of war the Clyde part would be abbreviated to form C 1/235.
During September 1914 recruitment into the Royal Naval Division (RND) was opened to civilians to enter the RNVR specifically for service on land. A small number of men were entered using the old system before a directive was promulgated that all new entries would have the letter Z instead of a Company number. Again, the unit's name would prefix the number. Mersey or MZ/235 would indicated the man joined the RNVR after the outbreak of war in Liverpool and was the 235th man to do so.
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 Men of Howe Battalion |
As the war continued some units recruited so many men that the last number included 5 numerals after the Z. There are indications that some of the 5 numeral men were direct entries at Chief Petty Officer level, recruited for their specialist knowledge and employed in duties commensurate with their special, usually technical skills but not with the RND.
When Conscription was introduced in 1916 the Army took over recruitment for the RND. Men for the RND came from a national pool of Conscripts and the existing geographical nature of the RND faded away as casualties mounted. These men would be drafted to a battalion of the RND in France or Belgium after they completed their basic training in the UK. They were given the prefix R followed a number, for example, R/2354. This was an individual number which could not be given to anyone else or confused with anyone else.
It will be realised that the original RNVR numbering system is a minefield for mistakes and confusion. Seven units, each of which may have had up to seven men with similar number, so with countless handwritten and badly typed records, the opportunities for mis-recording data are enormous. The close resemblance of 2/ and Z/ also makes it necessary to double check any record to ensure the right person is being looked at.
That concludes the broad picture of service numbers of the RNVR members of the RND.
By the end of August 1914 the Army training system had been swamped by volunteers and could not cope with the huge influx. Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty and Civilian Head of the RN, offered to train some of these surplus recruits and the Army transferred a large number of men from the North East of England into the Navy for service in the RND. By this time the pre-war RNVR men not sent to sea had been transferred to the RND and were being trained as Naval Infantry in canvas tents near Deal in Kent. The North East men were absorbed into the RND Battalions and trained alongside the RNVR men but they were given different prefixes. They were allocated KP, KW and KX prefixes but would not have an RNVR unit allocated. The K part of the prefix of all three refers to Kitchener Army volunteers.
The KP indicated men entered at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham in SE London. After basic training they were drafted to battalions of the RND.
The KW men, mostly from the NE of England were, drafted directly to the First Naval Brigade (Benbow, Collingwood, Drake and Hawke Battalions) from 7 September 1914 and received a rudimentary training at Walmer and Betteshanger Camps near Deal in Kent.
The KX men, mostly from the NE of England were drafted directly to the Second Naval Brigade (Anson, Drake, Hood and Howe Battalions) from 7 September 1914 and also trained at Walmer and Betteshanger Camps near Deal in Kent.
The pre-war Dundee Companies had a Brass Band which played in their drill ship HMS Unicorn and ashore at displays and functions. The Bandsmen were not members of the RNVR but volunteered to join up and accompany their comrades. They, too, travelled to Kent and became the Hood Battalion Band and were given numbers from ZX/5 to ZX/25 but part of the KX block. Please see the Jack Clegg website who has done much research on this part of the RND.
There were other prefixes for RNVR Ratings but they did not serve in the RND.
Men from the Royal Fleet Reserve (RFR) and Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) also served in the battalions of the RND. Each had a different numbering system. The RFR was made up of men who had served as ratings in the Royal Navy (RN) and they have two numbers: their six digit RN number, sometimes with a prefix of SS for Special Service as well as a 6 digit RFR number allocated after they left the RN. One or another and sometimes both appear in records. |
 Blandford camp |
The RNR men had two letters in their service numbers which can appear as a prefix or a suffix and which designated which specialisation they were in. Numbers, normally made up of three or four digits would also be allocated by the Customs House of the port where they signed on. These men professional seamen and fishermen who signed up for engagements of five years prior to and during the war. Their numbers and letters could change if they re-engaged for a second or third time.
The Royal Marines (RM) who served in the RND were in the Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI) or the Royal Marine Artillery (RMA). They were numbered according to the RM Base they carried out their basic training in. These were Portsmouth, Plymouth, Chatham and Deal.
Officers in the RND did not have service numbers. RN, RM, RNVR and Army Officers were identified by their Rank, Surname, Initials and Seniority. Seniority was the date of promotion to their Rank and, in an argument about who could give orders to whom, Seniority was trumps. Annual Lists were published for both Naval and Army Officers with the details for all to see. Men promoted from the ranks will still have their record associated with their previous number but would start their Officers careers with the seniority date of their promotion.
With researching records there are always pitfalls. It is important to place yourself in the situation of the Officers, Senior Ratings, Junior Ratings, Writers and Administrative Staff in theatre and back at the UK Base. This was particularly complicated during major actions when casualties were very high, information sparse, records destroyed, witnesses unavailable or killed later and trying to answer many heart wrenching demands from Next of Kin for detailed information. In the front line reports were compiled by tired and traumatised survivors by pencil on paper, often damp, to provide the Divisional Staff with the information they demanded. This information would be passed upwards and, in due course, become fact. If it was possible to miss-spell how a name was pronounced or miss-copy a service number then, on occasion, it would be.
I A Stewart, Lieutenant Commander RD RNR
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