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When you research a soldier who served in either the British or Indian Army during the Second World War you’ll be confronted by a wide range of military jargon. This is often in the form of abbreviations and acronyms and can make reading military documents very difficult.
- Army Numbers | Researching the Lives and Records of WW2 Soldiers
During the Second World War, each British Army officer had a...
- Army Numbers | Researching the Lives and Records of WW2 Soldiers
Apr 5, 2015 · I have compiled a list of abbreviations found in my father's Service Record (he was in the Intelligence Corps, in the British Army, during WWII); I have been through the whole lot by now, having started in late 2013 and doing a bit of it once a week...
Nov 11, 2013 · Here’s a list of some of the soldiers’ language that they saw emerging during and immediately after the war.
- Rebecca Onion
- Pre-War and 1914-1915 Attestations
- War Time Volunteers 1914-1915
- Group System (Derby Scheme) Volunteers
- Conscripted Men
“X years with the colours and Y years in the reserve”
If it reads “X years with the colours and Y years in the reserve”, then the man was enlisting into the regular army. The normal engagement was for a total of twelve years, so now look down at the date of his signature or that of the person approving it. If you add twelve years to the attestation date and that takes you out to beyond 1922, and if the man survived the war and you do not know that he was discharged early, it may imply that his record still exists and is available from the Minist...
Special reservists
A man would normally join the Special Reserve for six years although experienced men could enlist for just one year. Service was part time unless the army was mobilised. See reserves and reservists
Territorial Force
A man would normally join a unit of the Territorial Force for four years although it was also possible to engage for one or two. Service was part time unless the man and his unit were “embodied”. See Territorial Force
men could continue to enlist into the regular army, Special Reserve and units of the Territorial Force as above, but from August 1914 they could also enlist into the regular army for war service only. This is typically signified by an attestation form that may say “three years with the colours” or “the duration of the war”.
For full details, see Group System. From mid-October 1915, a man could attest and request that teh start of his service be deferred to a later date. The attestation form looks smilar to those used before but there are two clues to look for that confirm he attested this way.
For details of the Military Service Act and conscriptionsee this article. Although the old versions of the attestation forms continued to be used up (the dates of enlistment are the giveaway), a new “enrolment form” also began to appear. Cinscripted men were committed to serve for the duration of the war but could technically be enlisted into the r...
During the Second World War, each British Army officer had a unique personal number and each soldier serving in the ranks a unique army number. This page looks at why the numbers are so important and how they can help you to research those who served in the British Army.
Number BlockRegiment/corps1 to 294,000Royal Army Service Corps294,001 to 304,000The Life Guards304,001 to 309,000Royal Horse Guards309,001 to 721,000Cavalry of the LineJun 13, 2009 · POSTED: Any disposition of a soldier within his own corps or arm of the service; i.e., a soldier is “posted” to any unit of his own corps or to an HQ or extra-regimental unit, but not the “X” list.
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Sep 6, 2016 · The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which signaled the return of the U.S. military draft as employed during World War I, was meant to control how many people entered service, so that no more than 900,000 would be in training at any one time.
