Recruits & Number Crunching

Each man that enlisted into the Army was allocated a service number and each regiment issued its own numbers so a man transferring between regiments would have been issued with a new number.

For the Royal West Kent Regiment, those men that signed on as a Regular Soldier would have been allocated a number with the letter L as a prefix. These were the men who signed on for a period of 12 years, with 7 years in the army and 5 years on the reserve. When war broke out in 1914 it was the reservists who flocked back to the ranks and along with the soldiers already serving, helped the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) in its fighting retreat from Mons and the subsequent counter-attacks against German Forces pushing them back to the River Aisne. The Royal West Kent's 1st Battalion was involved in all of these actions and lost a good number of men killed and wounded.
A man could still sign on for 12 years of service during the war if he wanted to and choose which regiment he wanted to serve with.

Next came the Special Reserve (S.R.) a form of part time service that was introduced in 1908 as part of the Army Reforms submitted by the then Secretary State for War Richard Haldane. Unlike the Territorials the S.R. were liable for overseas service if required. Initially a man would serve a number of months in the Army and put through full training on full pay and then return to civilian life. He would then on an annual basis do so many weeks of training. In this way the Army would have a pool of men available to make up any shortfall in numbers. Men who signed up for these terms in the Royal West Kent Regiment were issued a service number that had the letter S as a prefix.

The Territorial Force had only been existence since 1908, introduced as part of the "Haldane Reforms" born out of the old volunteer and militia units that formed a Home Defence. The Royal West Kent Regiment, like most county regiments formed two battalions, the 1/4th and the 1/5th. The number 1 denotes the First Line while the latter number denotes the number of the battalion. Recruitment was very much on a local level and training was done on an evening or weekend basis with a summer camp held annually. Men of the Territorials signed on for Home Service only but were liable to be called up for full time service at home in the event of full mobilisation. With the advent of war in 1914 many men waived the right of home service and volunteered for overseas.
In the Royal West Kent's two battalions, numbering was issued on a first come first served basis, with a service number prefixed with the letters TF. As each regiment in the British Army generally followed the same numbering pattern this led to mistakes and many clerical mix ups as men transferred between regiments so in 1917 all men of the Territorials were issued with a new six digit number including those who had already enlisted.
It must also be noted that the county of Kent had two Yeomanry Regiments, the mounted arm of the Territorials. These were the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry and the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles. Both units were to have a say in the history of the 11th Royal West Kent's.

The letter G was issued by the Royal West Kent's and several other regiments to those men who volunteered in their thousands from 1914 onwards for wartime service only. It stood for General Service and was used as a prefix throughout the war to volunteers, Derby Men and conscripts alike.
The G prefix was issued to the majority of men who served in the 11th Royal West Kent's. It had a number of Regular and Special Reserve soldiers pass through its ranks as the war progressed as well as a number of Territorials who were posted to the battalion to make up for its losses.

For the 11th Royal West Kent's service numbers were not issued sequentially. The 11th would have a block of numbers and each recruitment depot was issued with a batch of those numbers, these were then allocated as men enlisted. For example Lewisham, Deptford, Rotherhithe and Southwark all had their own batch of numbers for the 11th and a man enlisting in Deptford on such a date could have a lower service number than a man enlisting at Lewisham the previous day.
Their was also the case of other battalions within the regiment issuing service numbers.
The 10th battalion in Maidstone which was being raised at the same time as the 11th had a block of numbers that were allocated to volunteers from depots around Kent. Tonbridge, Dartford, Gravesend, Chatham for example all had their own batch of numbers.
For the 11th battalion the numbers issued started from the G/8000 block onwards. As previously mentioned in an earlier post Sgt George Alderton was issued with G/8008 and then upwards to G/8077 which was issued on the 19th May 1915 to Charles Albert Louis a 47 year old from Melbourne Grove, East Dulwich who had previously served in the Hampshire Regiment as a regular.
The next block for the 11th started at the G/8130 batch with Pte Edwin James Freeman, a 32 year old Tram Driver from Sydenham enlisting on the 20th May 1915 and allocated service number G/8137.
The last in this block was Corporal (Cpl) Stanley John Hele G/8199 a 21 year old Clerk from Hither Green who joined up on the 29th May 1915.
And so it went on with blocks of numbers issued by the 11th Royal West Kent's to its volunteers until G/11500 was allocated to 20 year old Dental Mechanic Charles Fraser Hoffman from Sydenham who enlisted on the 3rd December 1915. Thereafter men enlisting were generally sent to the Royal West Kent's Regimental Depot at Maidstone and then sent on to whatever battalion they were assigned to...although there were exceptions.
Frederick Keefe G/11517 a Rag Dealer from Watergate Street, Deptford enlisted in Deptford on the 6th December 1915 while ex Grenadier Guardsman and father of six  Police Constable Alfred Aldridge (picture below) G/11584 from Forest Hill also enlisted on the 6th December at Lewisham.

Both men joined the 11th Battalion with Alfred Adridge becoming Company Sergeant Major (C.S.M) and was awarded the Military Medal in 1916 for his bravery during the Battle of Flers in September 1916. Subsequently wounded twice he went on to serve in the 10th battalion and was discharged from the Army in January 1919.
Pte Frederick Keefe was to lose his life while serving with the 2nd Royal West Kent's on the 28th October 1918. After training with the 11th he was sent to the 12th reserve battalion and then transferred to the 10th Kent County Battalion of the Regiment. Wounded at the end of September 1916 he recovered to be sent to the 2nd battalion and today lies in Baghdad War Cemetery in Iraq.

In summing up an original volunteer into the 11th Royal West Kent's would have been allocated a service number between G/8000 and G/11500. These were joined by those regulars who were either transferred from the regiments 2nd battalion in India or those Regular Soldiers who upon recovering from their wounds or sickness were posted to the 11th battalion before its embarkation to France.
The only Special Reserve soldier that embarked with the battalion in May 1916 was Walter King S/8917 from Rotherhithe who had signed up in January 1914. He had been wounded in the right shoulder in May 1915 with the 1st Battalion during the fighting for Hill 60 in the Ypres Salient. Upon his recovery he was posted to the 11th battalion in December 1915 but was to lose his life during the Battle of Flers on the Somme in September 1916 and today lies at Bulls Road Cemetery on the outskirts of the village of Flers.

I'm indebted to Paul Nixon's excellent blog which inspired me to research the service numbers of the 11th Royal West Kent's little knowing what a minefield it would be.
http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk

Recruitment in South London and Kent.

Recruitment in Britain in 1915 was slowing down and the manpower making itself available was sought after. This was especially true in South London and Kent where many different units needed men. As well as the 11th Royal West Kent's of Lewisham, Maidstone was also raising a battalion for the regiment which was numbered the 10th and known as the "Kent County".
Nearby the Mayor of Bermondsey had also embarked on raising a battalion, the 12th East Surrey's as they were titled from that ever decreasing pool of men.
 The Mayors of Battersea and Lambeth not to be outdone had also answered the call, both raising battalions numbered the 10th and 11th respectively under the badge of the Royal West Surrey Regiment while Wandsworth's Mayor was adamant that a battalion of men could be raised under the East Surrey badge numbered the 13th.
There was also the London Regiment made up of the Territorials, those volunteers who trained on a part time basis and who initially were only contracted for home defence only. But thousands waivered this right, only too willing to help the regular army in its efforts in France and Flanders as well as Gallipoli in Turkey. As a result its numbers needed replenishing and South London and Kent was fertile recruitment ground.
The 1/20th the "Blackheath and Woolwich" Battalion was based in Blackheath and had already recruited many men from Lewisham, Deptford and Greenwich.
The 1/21st, the First Surrey Rifles was based in Flodden Road, Camberwell, the 1/22nd, The Queen's was at Jamaica Road, Bermondsey, the 1/23rd in Clapham and the 1/24th was in Kennington.
There was also the Territorial battalions of the Royal West Kent Regiment itself. The 1/4th battalion was based in Tonbridge and a second battalion, the 2/4th had been raised in the town in September 1914. Likewise the 1/5th were based in Bromley and a second battalion the 2/5th had also been raised in September 1914.

Everywhere posters were encouraging men to enlist at various depots across London.

Competing for manpower were the Heavy Siege Batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery that had been raised in Camberwell (126th) and Deptford (137th) respectively.
Each battery needed several hundred men, all with different roles to play for the 4 large howitzer guns that they deployed.

Here is a recruitment poster for a Siege Battery that was raised in Hampstead, London.

Women were also targeted to encourage their menfolk to enlist.

The pressure to enlist in the summer of 1915 was intensified by the passing of the National Registration Act in July. Every man and boy between the ages of 15 and 65 were required to state their name, age and occupation. This way the government could determine the number of males available and who was working in a job vital to the national interest.

In October 1915 Lord Derby, recently appointed Director General of Recruiting, introduced the Group System which became known as the Derby Scheme. Men were allowed to enlist but defer their calling up until a later date or they could enlist immediately. Those that deferred were then split into groups determined by age and marital status and then called up, single young men first to oldest then married men, youngest to oldest. The men were then given an armband and waited for their call up. By mid December the scheme had closed due to the lack of volunteers under the Group System leaving conscription the last resort of a desperate government seeking manpower.

In January 1916 the Military Service Act was introduced into Parliament and single men between the ages of 19 and 41 were liable to be called up for military service. In May 1916 the act was amended to include married men and lower the age to 18. In all the Military Service Act was amended five times during the war with the age of conscripted men being lowered to 17 and as high as 51.

The 11th Royal West Kent's during its existence between May 1915 and March 1918 had all types of these men in its ranks as the volunteers of 1915 were replaced by the Derby Men and the Conscripts as their losses began to mount.

Each and everyone deserves to have their story told and although I aim to name as many as possible with this blog it wont be feasible. Nevertheless by telling the story of recruitment I will be able in future blogs to give some background to the Men & Boys of the 11th that made it a battalion the Royal West Kent Regiment could be proud of.

The Battalion's Officers, Summer of 1915

One of the first actions of the recruitment committee which had been formed by the Mayor of Lewisham was to propose the name of Herbert L Searle as Commanding Officer of the newly formed battalion.
Major Searle was well known locally as a Commissioner of Boy Scouts for South-East London but had previous military experience. Entering the Army in 1884 he had served in Sudan and then West Africa where he had been a Major in the Niger Coast Protectorate Force.

At the outbreak of war he was given a temporary commission and went on to help with the training of the 8th East Surrey Battalion until transferred to the 11th Royal West Kent's and appointed temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. 

By the summer of  1915 Major Arthur James Annesley had been appointed second in command while Captain Edgar Stopford-Holland held the post of Adjutant until replaced by Captain George Pragnell in September.
George Pragnell was to have a major say in the shaping of the battalion, being responsible for recruitment marches, organising sporting events such as boxing and billiard tournaments and arranging the day to day orders and administration so the 11th could run smoothly.

Captain Reginald Puttock M.B was the battalions first Medical Officer after being attached from the Royal Army Medical Corps while a host of  junior officers had gained their commissions and had been posted to the 11th.

Notable amongst these were Lieutenants Dickinson, Stone and Vigers. All three were soon promoted to Captain and would have a major impact on the initial training of the battalion.
Captain Arthur Dickinson would go on to command D Company, Captain Leonard Stone would become second in command of C Company while Captain Vigers was instrumental in the training of A Company before being accidentally wounded.

There was also many 2nd Lieutenants. They included Noel Barrs who had received his commission after attending the Officer Training Corps at his school, St Bees in Cumberland, now Cumbria.

20 year old John Oswald Heath was the son of a local businessman from Lee. Having served in the Honourable Artillery Company from 1913, he received his commission and was appointed Bombing Officer of the battalion.

Robert Donovan Jackson was the grandson of the Mayor and the battalions first signalling officer while Arthur Morley was the son of Councillor Morley who was part of the recruitment committee.
Henry Richmond Prior, Bernard Purver, Peter Clarke-Richardson and Charles Yorke were all to make an impression on their fellow officers and the men under their command while with the battalion.

In August and September of 1915 other officers joined the battalion as the numbers of volunteers increased. Lieutenant Frederick Fraser formerly of the London Regiment, Henry Bainton who was 45 years of age, Spanish born Antoino Jimenez and Donald Knott would soon make their mark but the most prominent was Major Arthur Cecil Corfe.

New Zealand born and the son of a headmaster Arthur Corfe was a well known Rugby player in his youth representing Queensland and gaining a cap while representing Australia against a touring Great Britain side. In 1902 he embarked for South Africa as a Trooper with the Queensland Mounted Infantry where he took part in the latter stages of the Boer War. He went on to receive a commission and served with the 10th New Zealand Mounted Rifles reaching the rank of Captain. Another promotion followed and as Major he was appointed second in command of the 7th (Southland) Mounted Rifles.
At the outbreak of the war in 1914 he took part in South West Africa campaign where British and South African forces fought Germany and its allies.
In August 1915 he turned up at the War Office in Whitehall, London and received a letter from the Secretary of State of War himself, Lord Horatio Kitchener that he was to be given a second in command post at one of the new battalions that had been formed recently.
As the 11th already had Major Annesley in that post Major Corfe readily agreed to take up the  command of A Company as a "Junior Major" such was his keenness to immerse himself into Army life.

With this experienced fighter the 11th Royal West Kent's were lucky, fortunate or maybe blessed to have such a soldier in their midst. Here was a man who would gain the respect and admiration of not only the civilians who volunteered into the Lewisham Battalion but the subsequent drafts of reinforcements of "Derby Men and Conscripts" while Major Corfe knew that these "Men and Boys" who recently arrived from "Civvy Street" were temporary soldiers who were only there for the duration of the war.

       

Major Arthur Cecil Corfe pictured at Battalion Headquarters in the spring of 1917.

The First Volunteers

At the raising of the 11th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment a meeting was held on Friday 21st May 1915 at the Catford Skating Rink to begin the task of encouraging volunteers to enlist in large numbers.

A few men had already enlisted as the news of a local battalion spread. George Alderton from Claremont Terrace, Lewisham had joined up in Deptford earlier in the week along with William Bailey, a Carman from Blackfriars in London. Their service numbers were G/8008 and G/8009 respectively but their paths would take a different course.
George Alderton was to reach the rank of Sergeant and was the battalion cook but lost his life in April 1918  after being wounded with the 1st Battallion of the Royal West Kent's while William Bailey deserted from the battalion while it was still being raised in Lewisham.

Other volunteers included Harold Henry Butcher G/8010 a 19 year old Bank Clerk from Hither Green, James Collins G/8012 a Gas Fitter from Catford, William Carne G/8013 a Decorater from the Old Kent Road and William Frasier G/8015 a 21 year old Cabinet Maker from Laleham Road, Catford (Picture Below) who was appointed Pioneer Sergeant.

Also enlisting was father of 8 Norris Harding G/8019 a 32 year old Scaffolder from Giffen Street, Deptford.

A newly raised battalion needed a nucleus of Non Commissioned Officers (N.C.O's), that backbone of any Army that trains and moulds the new recruits into a fighting force. Due to the sudden large expansion of the British Army during the latter part of 1914 early 1915 and the losses already incurred by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, those men were few and far between.
But the 11th managed to find some amongst whom were a number who would live long in the memory of the survivors.
A number of these N.C.O's  returned home from India where the 2nd Battalion of the Royal West Kent's were stationed. These included Sydenham born Sergeant William Tranter L/4736 who had enlisted in 1896 aged 19, Sergeant William Ellis L/4239, Sergeant Major James Hayley L/5614 and William Johnson L/5971 who was appointed Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant while Sergeant William Garland L/8141 had rejoined the Army after serving over 11 years with the Border Regiment.
Another notable figure to join the battalion on that Friday in May was one Ephram Walter Goulds L/4956 who had joined the Royal West Kent's at Maidstone on the 4th November 1895 as fresh faced 21 year old from Hadlow in Kent.

It's hard to determine the number of men who initially joined the battalion after that first meeting but a study of the service numbers and enlistment dates of the records that survived (more of which I'll explain at a later date) gives an approximate figure of 40 men enlisting in the week following including the Gramson brothers Richard G/8046 and Henry G/8176 from New Cross and Deptford respectively as well as George G/8171 and Richard G/8175 Law both of Elm Terrace, Deptford.

So the battalion had its foundation of its first company, A Company but it also needed officers from the battalion commander to its most junior of commisioned ranks the 2nd Lieutenant.

Raising of a Battalion

The 11th (Lewisham) Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment was raised in the Spring of 1915 by the Mayor of Lewisham, one Robert Jackson. A "Pals" battalion raised primarily from the men of South London and North West Kent, it went on to fight it's way through the fields of France and Flanders during the Great War of 1914-1918.
After a brief sojourn in Italy during the winter of 1917/1918 the battalion was disbanded in March 1918 due to the restructuring of the British Army.
The Somme, Messines Ridge, 3rd Ypres or Passchendaele as it's now known were amongst some of the bloodiest battles of the Great War that the battalion was involved in yet the men who fought, died or returned home to civillian life with their experiences and in may cases wounds, their tale is forgotten.

This is the story of the officers and men, of which there was over 3000 who passed through the ranks, and the events that they lived through that shaped our world today.