Army Form B.104-53 - medal corrections

This is a nice little form which in this instance demonstrates the efficiency of the War Office if nothing else. I'm not sure that the form was used exclusively to record medal naming inconsistencies and would welcome further thoughts on this.

Private W Butterfield's 1914 Star was impressed incorrectly with "A Butterfield". This version of the army form documents the correction process. The medal was originally issued on 8th January 1920 and had been corrected and returned to the man by 13th February; a little under five weeks. Pretty good going considering the volume of medals which were flying around at that time.  Note that the man's medal index card (below) also records the amendment.

 

All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials. The medal index card image appears on Ancestry.

Army Form D.459 - Section D Army Reserve, attestation

Alfred Saunders had originally joined the  Royal Field Artillery in 1899. He was discharged in June 1911 and almost immediately decided to attest for a further four years. This document dates to 1st August 1911.  

 
Pages 2 and 3 give an enormous amount of detail: physical description, dates of service at home and abroad, medal entitlement, next of kin, full statement of services and so on.

 

Attesting for four years in August 1911 meant of course that Alfred would have been called up in August 1914 and he would have been obliged to serve an extra "bounty year". This from the Army Book for the British Empire (1893):

 

“In time of war or great emergency all soldiers can be detained for 12 months beyond their engagement.  In case of imminent national danger or great emergency, the men in the reserve are called up by “proclamation” to rejoin the colours, and must, together with all those who are serving, continue in the ranks as long as the war or emergency lasts, provided always that they are not detained beyond the term of their original enlistment, that is, for 12 years, and the 12 months above referred to.”

 

So this would have extended Alfred's obligation until August 1916, by which time conscription had been introduced. This is noted on the third image, above:

 

 

 

Alfred's four-year term of service therefore extended until June 1918 when he was discharged - as  a result of shellshock - as being physically unfit for further service. By the time of his discharge he had served a total of 19 years and 16 days in the British Army: 12 years (colours service and army reserve) and seven years and 16 days In Section D, Army Reserve.

 

All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials.

 

 

 

Army Form E.611 - Imperial Yeomanry, re-engagement

I have already posted the Territorial Force version of E.611. This is the one used for Imperial Yeomanry re-engagements.

All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials.

Army From E.595 - Imperial Yeomanry (UK) attestation

There are quite a few of these forms to be found tucked away in WO 363 and WO 364 service and pension records. The notable question appearing on this form and absent on every other from that I've seen is question 6: Do you own a Horse or can you obtain one for the Annual Training of the Regiment?  This was an essential condition for joining the yeomanry. Cavalry recruits could join a regiment without ever having ridden a horse, but yeomanry recruits were expected to be able to ride and lay their hands on a horse.

As with Form E.594 (Volunteers), the actual date of attestation appears on the reverse of this form.

All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials.

Army Form E.594 - Volunteer Force, Form of Enrolment

 

Here's a relative rarity: Army Form E.594, used for the enrolment of Volunteers into the Volunteer Force. The majority of these forms do not survive, however it is still possible to find examples tucked away in WO 363 and WO 364, online on Ancestry.  This example, for the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Border Regiment (which, in 1908, would become the 4th Battalion (TF) Border Regiment) dates to 1903. Interestingly, both residential and business addresses are recorded.

 

The second note is worthy of remark here.  It states:

 

"Men who are slightly ruptured may, if provided with a truss, be accepted for Infantry, but in no case for Artillery corps", testament to the fact that hernias were presumably commonplace, or at least common enough to warrant further clarification on Army Form E.594.

 

Here too, the regimental number does not appear on side one of the enrolment form but almost as an afterthought at the bottom of page two.

All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials.

Army Form E.501 - Territorial Force attestation

 

Introduced in 1908, Army Form E.501 was to be used for men who were not serving members of the Volunteer Force or Imperial Yeomanry; men who wished to serve with the newly formed Territorial Force for a period of four years. Unlike later incarnations, the pre-war E.501 form is packed with useful questions for today's military historian: Name, place of birth, residence, employment details, physical characteristics and next of kin name and address are all included.

 

 

Page 3 has sections for preliminary training and annual training and so we can see in Laxton's Boyall's case (above) that he attended training on four consecutive years between 1909 and 1912 inclusive and also where that training took place.

 

Here's a later version of this same form from 1914:

 

 

 

All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials.

Army Form E.611 - Re-engagement for the Territorial Force

Here's John Charles Allen again, an erstwhile Volunteer who joined the Territorial Force for a period of one year on 7th April 1908.  Form E.611 is his re-engagement form; a commitment to further periods of service.  On the example above (right click, then save and then view as a decent-sized image) we can see that he re-enlisted for one year on 7th April 1909, for a further year on 7th April 1910 and for two further years on 7th April 1911. The re-enlistment was approved on 11th June 1911.

John Allen's record survives in WO 364.  All document images reproduced on this post are Crown Copyright, The National Archives. Service and Pension records can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry and Findmypast. Both companies offer FREE 14-day trials.