4th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment

[MrSaunders]

Hello,
I'm trying to find out more about the 4th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. My great grandfather was born in 1890 and was adopted by the Fulham Board of Guardians aged 5. He was fostered during his childhood but I lose track of him when he reaches teenage years. I suspect he enlisted young (so this would be about 1906-1910) but have no record yet. On his later short service attestation in 1914 to join KOSB he writes previous service as "4th Bt Gloucester Regt Disbanded".

Can anyone tell me what he might have done during this time with the regiment? Are the records online? I believe it would have been between the Boer War and Great War.

Many thanks!

[MaxD]

4th (Militia) Battalion was a militia battalion disbanded as such in 1907/8 when the Territorial Force was formed which then became 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment Territorial Force.

This suggests he was serving before the restructuring but left when 4th Battalion disbanded.  Whatever, these were part time units in which a man, after 49 days training when he first joined, had to turn up for annual camp for a couple of weeks and otherwise carried on his civilian employment.

Records on men in the militia do sometimes appear on line, not all survive.

MaxD

[MrSaunders]

Thanks MaxD! I think I found that the regiment records are at the National Archives. I’ll contact them to see what sort of detail might be recorded in them.

[Brentor boy]

It might also be worth contacting the "Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum" in Gloucester.