George Lane WW1 Army Records (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, August 27, 2012, 18:19 (4466 days ago) @ lane-david2

Hi David, pls see my post above, it seems we were both thinking and writing about George at the same time !
It wasnt unusual to have more than one number, soldiers moved units especially if they'd been in Service a while, and their numbers changed accordingly. Also prewar different Regiments had different and independent numbering systems, so numbers could and were duplicated around the Army especially as it expanded; hence longer numbers with more digits were needed, plus in 1917 the Territorials had completely new numbers allocated (prewar the Army strength was abt 730,000 men, yet by 1918 over 8 million men and women had enlisted !).

Almost all and any questions re WW1 British Army are answered by the superb Long Long Trail site
eg http://www.1914-1918.net/insights.htm

A common army term prewar was "ague" which usually meant malaria. One of my Beard ancestors served in India and Malta in the 1870s, he seemed to spend all his first six years either on ships or in hospitals with ague !. It seems this served him well to spend several more years at the Glosters' Depot in Bristol.