Pre- and post-1920 Army Service Numbers

[SmallTownGirl]

Two questions, if I may, please :

1.  If a man was serving before August 1920 (when the new numbering system for all regiments came into effect) say, as Private 12345 in Regiment X, he wouldn't have kept his "original" 12345 service number would he?

2.  Assuming the answer to Q.1 is "No", when regiments began using the new numbering system (from the allocation issued by the MOD), did they all allocate numbers in the same way?  I mean, did they, allocate the first number in the series to, say, the man with the longest service, or did they, say, start with the WOs/sergeants and work down through the ranks?  Or did each Regiment do it their own way (whatever that was)?

I hope this makes sense!

Thanks
STG

[CraigM63]

I suspect the answer to the first question would be a fairly firm no. Since the objective of the post-1920 renumbering was to give each soldier a unique service number that would remain with them no matter where they went, and prior to this regiments had their own individual numbering systems which meant that there were likely to be multiple soldiers with the same service number, it would have defeated the purpose of the post-1920 renumbering if they had retained their old service numbers.

As for your second question, the new service numbers were allocated in blocks of numbers, with each block being assigned to a particular regiment, see the Long Long Trail on the post-1920 renumbering.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/new-british-army-numbers-issued-in-1920/

What I can't tell you is how each regiment then initially allocated the first set of numbers in their assigned block to those soldiers serving at the time. It could have been in date order according to when they enlisted, it could have been alphabetically, or indeed some other way. I think the two most logical ways are the ones I've mentioned above, doing it by rank and seniority would just be overly complicated. Certainly I've seen both ways mentioned above used when looking at the WW1 medal rolls and the renumbered 1917 Territorial Force service numbers. In fact the Long Long Trail has this to say of the 1917 renumbering of the Territorial Force, and how the new numbers were allocated:

The distribution of numbers to the different elements of a unit followed no set pattern.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/renumbering-of-the-territorial-force-in-1917/

[CraigM63]

Duplicate post

[SmallTownGirl]

I suspect the answer to the first question would be a fairly firm no. Since the objective of the post-1920 renumbering was to give each soldier a unique service number that would remain with them no matter where they went, and prior to this regiments had their own individual numbering systems which meant that there were likely to be multiple soldiers with the same service number, it would have defeated the purpose of the post-1920 renumbering if they had retained their old service numbers.

As for your second question, the new service numbers were allocated in blocks of numbers, with each block being assigned to a particular regiment, see the Long Long Trail on the post-1920 renumbering.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/new-british-army-numbers-issued-in-1920/

What I can't tell you is how each regiment then initially allocated the first set of numbers in their assigned block to those soldiers serving at the time. It could have been in date order according to when they enlisted, it could have been alphabetically, or indeed some other way. I think the two most logical ways are the ones I've mentioned above, doing it by rank and seniority would just be overly complicated. Certainly I've seen both ways mentioned above used when looking at the WW1 medal rolls and the renumbered 1917 Territorial Force service numbers. In fact the Long Long Trail has this to say of the 1917 renumbering of the Territorial Force, and how the new numbers were allocated:

The distribution of numbers to the different elements of a unit followed no set pattern.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/renumbering-of-the-territorial-force-in-1917/

That's what I thought, but someone who "thinks he knows best" was arguing with me that pre-1920 service personnel retained their original number, although as you say, that would have made no sense.

Many thanks
STG

[Andy J2022]

STG,

The definitive answer can be found in the Army Order (no. 388) of 1920 which brought the new system into use. All serving soldiers, with the exception of the Labour Corps which was about to be disbanded, were issued Army numbers to replace their previous regimental numbers. For a period of one or two months (depending on the size of the  Corps) both numbers were to be shown on any documentation concerning a particular soldier, and thereafter the old regimental number was to be discarded. This applied to both the Regular and Reserve Forces. No timescale was given for how long the changeover was supposed to take, but given the number of men still in uniform in 1920, it won't have happened overnight.
Rather than reproduce the Order here, you can follow this link and go to the end of the page to see a transcription of the Order: https://www.researchingww2.co.uk/army-numbers-british-army-ww2/

[SmallTownGirl]

STG,

The definitive answer can be found in the Army Order (no. 388) of 1920 which brought the new system into use. All serving soldiers, with the exception of the Labour Corps which was about to be disbanded, were issued Army numbers to replace their previous regimental numbers. For a period of one or two months (depending on the size of the  Corps) both numbers were to be shown on any documentation concerning a particular soldier, and thereafter the old regimental number was to be discarded. This applied to both the Regular and Reserve Forces. No timescale was given for how long the changeover was supposed to take, but given the number of men still in uniform in 1920, it won't have happened overnight.
Rather than reproduce the Order here, you can follow this link and go to the end of the page to see a transcription of the Order: https://www.researchingww2.co.uk/army-numbers-british-army-ww2/

That's fab!   Many thanks