Regiment number

[Welsh Jules]

How can I find out the regiment number of the 17th Battalion Welsh Regiment known as the Bantams?

Many thanks

[harribobs]

errm....

the 16th battalion of any regiment is the 16th

prior to 1888 regiments were numbered and not territorially based

from 1888 to the great war, as a rule of thumb, a regiment had two battalions ( 1st and 2nd) in the great war these were expanded upto the 16th and beyond

i think we need to know what you are looking for really, which regiment..Royal Welsh fusiliers or the Welsh Regiment and what period

[Welsh Jules]

I'm looking for my grandfather's WWI medal card on the National Archives site and as there are quite a few with the same name with various Welsh regiments I was trying to narrow it down by the Regiment number they have as one of the fields.

The national archives site gives the corps as Welsh regiment etc. but underneath has a 5 or 6 digit number that is the regiment number e.g. The Roayl Irish Rifles have a regiment number 51288

[harribobs]

that's not the regiment number, that is the soldiers service number

in the great war and until post 1922, service numbers were regimental based so e.g.

a soldier in the lancs fusiliers could be issued the number 54321 and a soldier in the royal irish rifles could be issued the same number

like this

Medal card of     Westgate, Herbert C
Corps:    Lancashire Fusiliers
Regiment No:    54321
Rank:    Private

Medal card of     Griffiths, Tom
Corps:    Royal Garrison Artillery
Regiment No:    54321
Rank:    Acting Bombardier...

Medal card of     Gilbert, Wilfred
Corps:    Royal Army Medical Corps
Regiment No:    54321
Rank:    Private...

[Welsh Jules]

Ah right it's all becoming a bit clearer now. I've not really delved into my grandfather's army history before as we're not sure what he called himself, as he seemed to periodically change his name.

So another stupid question, how can you tell on the Nationa Archives site which battalian the men listed are with? I know he was in the "Bantams" which I've found out where called 17th (Service) Battalion  The Welsh Regiment
The First Glamorgan Bantams but on the NA website all you can see is Welsh Regiment and I'm presuming there were more than one? As I said this may be a very stupid question.

[harribobs]

don't worry about asking questions, that's what we're here for  , if we knew all the answers......

the bantams battalions were formed as the recruiting fell behind what the army needed, they were formed from men who wouldn't have normally been accepted because of their height

the 17th and the 18th battalion of the welsh regiment were such battalions, they was also known as the 1st and 2nd glamorgan as they were raised in that area ( i assume from miners)

the glamorgan title was a secondary title for the battalions, they were primarily battalions of the welsh regiment

any clearer?

( where's bernard lewis? )

[Welsh Jules]

Yes my grandfather was very small, he had 8 children and the tallest is only 5' 4" my dad only being 5", so I suppose that's why he was in this regiment. I believe he was also a miner as a young man (coming from the Rhondda) and I've now found the war diaries of this regiment and it seems that many were miners.

So on the National Archives site he'll be one of the many Ernest Jones's listed as having been in the "Welsh Regiment"? I suspect he's the one Ernest M Jones as my father recalls him having a certificate on the wall when he was a child saying "Ernest Morgan Jones honourably discharged" and the badge of the regiment but everything linking us to him has been lost over the years. However, as he was registered Morgan William Jones finding anything concrete about him is a difficult task.

Maybe reading the war diaries of the regiment will give me at least a small idea of his life at this time.

[Welsh Jules]

I've just noticed your link to the Manchester Regiment and I found out this evening after finding the War Commission website that Ii had a relative who was in the 2nd/9th Manchester Regiment in WW1. He was also from the Rhondda and when in the past I've searched for his medal card always assumed he was the Thomas Blethyn who was in the Welsh Regiment as there are only 2 men listed with that name.

I've a lovely photograph that I've always been told was him in his uniform, if I posted a copy up would you be able to see if the unform is that of the regimemt? There's no one alive now who can confirm this photograp is really him.

[harribobs]

with pleasure, if you go to our site there's a very good history of the 66th division of which the 2/9th were part of, that you will enjoy

regarding the welsh regiment, hopefully bernard lewis will see this thread ( in fact why not changed the title to welsh regiment and he won't be able to resist) he's the expert