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Saturday 27 May 2017

Army Form W.3194 - Group Scheme, proof of attestation


I suspect that this document is uncommon. Army Form W.3194 appears to be proof of attestation under the Group Scheme or Derby Scheme. This man fell into Group 37 which indciates that he was a married man, born in 1884, when he attested on the 15th December 1915. Apart from this useful information, we also see the man's home address and that he attested at Melton Mowbray.  Apart from a postage stamp, the reverse of this form is blank.





Army Form Z.53 - Cover


An envelope by any other name, Army Form Z.53 was a "cover for certificates and other documents of a soldier on demobization, transfer to the Reserve, or Discharge". This particualr form dates to 1919.

Monday 1 May 2017

Army Form B.267 - long service attestation


My spreadsheet of attestation forms indicates that Army Form B.267 was first introduced in 1880. Men signing up for long service - 12 years' service - attested using this particular form, and it was certainly still being used in the early twentieth century when a run of 30,000 was printed for what was then the 32nd iteration of this particular form.

The image above shows long service attestation, version 2, issued March 1881 in a print-run of 10,000. This particular version was completed for 4466 Frank Collins when he joined the Rifle Brigade on the 9th June 1881. 


Long service attestation, version 12, July 1885; a print-run of 10,000. This particular version was still in use fifteen years later when James Robert Beatrup joined the Life Guards on the 15th June 1900.


Long service attestation, version 21, September 1894; a print-run of 20,000. This particular version was completed on the 15th April 1889 when James Ayres joined the 2nd Life Guards.


Long service attestation, version 24, September 1898; a print-run of 8,000. This particular version was completed on the 27th June 1899 when James Bennett joined the 2nd Life Guards.


Long service attestation, all arms except cavalry, version 28, March 1901; a print-run of 40,000. This particular version was completed on the 9th June 1902 when Frederick James Frost joined the 2nd Life Guards.


Long service attestation, all arms, version 32, May 1904; a print-run of 30,000. This particular version was completed on the 21st February 1910 when John James Bagley joined the Rifle Brigade.

All images on this blog post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives.