74 Infantry Regiments 1914 - what am I missing?

[TomPC]

Hi All,

Quick one - hopefully. I have read in several sources* that in 1914 the British Army contained 74 infantry regiments, eg:

"The Special Reserve was integrated into the regular army's regimental system. Each of the 74 infantry regiments received a 3rd (Special Reserve) battalion, and 23 regiments also established between them an additional 27 Extra Reserve battalions." [1]

or

"The British Army in 1914 contained 74 infantry regiments, 31 cavalry regiments and 279 artillery batteries..." [2]

Now try as I might, I can only find 73 of them, being the 69 infantry of the line from R Scots to Rifle Bde (for full list, see [3]) and the four guards regiments then extant (Welsh Guards not formed until 1915).

Who am I missing?

Thanks, as always,

Tom

*Sources:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Reserve
[2] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...nts%22&f=false
[3] http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/...-of-1914-1918/

[Wmr-RHB]

I di dnot check your reference, but my list The Battalions in 1914 has 75 regiments. That includes four Guards, the West India Regiment and the West African Regiment. I assume that many will leave out one or both of the two last. Maybe you can compare with what you have.

You can compare with the 1881 list The Regiments in 1881, which hasn't the Irish Guards and the West African Regiment.

BTW, your description about the Regiments receiving a 3rd Bn in 1914 is a bit confusing. Those battalions were already in those regiments since 1881 as Militia: From the Militia to the Special Reserve (1881-1908) and beyond

[CAM]

Royal Marine Light Infantry?

Chris

[KLR]

Look at my album of 1914. The answer 69 Inf of the Line and the 5 Guards regts = 74 !!!!


(I also put the county TF regiments at the bottom).

[Wmr-RHB]

Originally Posted by KLR

Look at my album of 1914. The answer 69 Inf of the Line and the 5 Guards regts = 74 !!!!

The Welsh Guards were raised at 26 February 1915. So they have no place in a 1914 list (maybe with a foot note). TomPC used this already in his calculation as he mentions in his first post above.

That makes your list 73 (minus 4 is still 69 of the line).

[Wmr-RHB]

And the link to the Long long trail shows also 69.

I assume Wikipedia has it wrong.

[Wmr-RHB]

Sorry that this comes piecemeal, but in my age the longer one sits over it, the better the ideas .

There were 69 regiments in 1908 that had 74 militia battalions converted to (Reserve) Battalions. Why? Because there was to be 1 (Reserve) Battalion per two regular battalions.

In my the pages I link to above you can see that the in 1908 following regiments:
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
The Worcestershire Regiment
The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
The King’s Royal Rifle Corps
The Prince Consort’s Own (Rifle Brigade)
each had four regular battalions. Thus they each got two (Reserve) battalions (which were of course numbered 5th and 6th)

Thus 74 (Reserve) Battalions for 69 Regiments (and Wikipedia interpreted those data wrong, maybe I will correct that).

[Dan M]

Originally Posted by TomPC

Now try as I might, I can only find 73 of them, being the 69 infantry of the line from R Scots to Rifle Bde and the four guards regiments then extant.

Who am I missing?

Tom,

I don't think you're missing anyone. In 1914, sixty-nine regiments of the line and four regiments of Guards (not counting those recruited in West Africa or the West Indies). That's it.

Sometimes one has to expand their research beyond what's found on the internet. For books on British infantry, get a hold of The British Infantry 1660-1945 by Frederik Hyatt (although you have to be careful with his numbers) and For Love of Regiment (Two Volumes) by Charles Messenger. These are a good place to start.

Cheers,
Dan.

[Dan M]

Originally Posted by Wmr-RHB

The Battalions in 1914

The Regiments in 1881

From the Militia to the Special Reserve (1881-1908) and beyond

Great resources. Thanks for creating them.

Your list Militia Infantry in 1914 shows that a great many of the infantry of the line had two or even three (Reserve) battalions by that time. The Irish regiments alone each having two or three.

Like I said, great resources.

Cheers,
Dan.

[Wmr-RHB]

Originally Posted by Dan M

Great resources. Thanks for creating them.

Your list Militia Infantry in 1914 shows that a great many of the infantry of the line had two or even three (Reserve) battalions by that time. The Irish regiments alone each having two or three.

Like I said, great resources.

Cheers,
Dan.

It is one (Reserve) for every two of Regular. And a total of 27 (Extra Reserve), as already mentioned in post #1 above. I do not know why those Extra Reserves were kept. Probably because they had good recruiting and good records. In any case, there were more in Ireland because there was no TF in Ireland and thus the Militia (changing into the Special Reserve) was the only way of doing some part time Military.

And thanks for liking the pages. I assume you understood there is more there when you start from the link in my signature below.

[Wmr-RHB]

I chaned the Wikipedia article. It now reads:

The Special Reserve was organised into battalions, providing a third for each of the regular army's 64 two-battalion infantry regiments and a fifth and sixth for the five four-battalion infantry regiments.

In my opinion then still the 23 Extra Reserve Battailons should be mentioned, because they are as good as the other ones part of the Special Reserve and that is what the article is about.

[Wmr-RHB]

And there was a second part to correct:

The Special Reserve was integrated into the regular army's regimental system. Each of the 69 infantry regiments received a 3rd (Reserve) battalion (or, for regiments with four battalions, a 5th and 6th (Reserve) Battalion), and 23 regiments also established between them an additional 27 (Extra Reserve) battalions.

[KLR]

As a boyhood collection of Guards and Infantry of the Line, I allowed the Welsh 6 months late.


The original query was "regiments"



But thanks for the REGIMENTS link -although I only research one regiment (with its components)

[Wmr-RHB]

I think the main result is that we all agree on 69 infantry of the line regiments 1881-1922.

(This apart from West India and West African, which were on the British establishment).

[cbuehler]

I never knew that the Worcesters and Middlesex had four regular battalions! Other than the rifle regiments and Guards, I had thought line infantry were only two.


CB