Army numbers

Initially, yes.

That hole you are digging is getting deeper by the day Shelldrake

Dragging this back (again !) from Barnes Wallis, if I may.

Army dogs (and horses), had a number too. Tattooed inside the animal's ear, it incorporated the year it was born.

Not a lot of people know that.

Ah, Brum! That's my "Chosen specialised subject", military equines (horses for the Scaleys) have their Regiment and Regimental Number on the front hoof and their Army Number on the rear hoof so that when they pop their clogs, the Farrier can chop it off, take it back to the Riding Master and get a whole one.


householdcavalry.info

Gordon. wrote:

That hole you are digging is getting deeper by the day Shelldrake

All will eventually be revealed, have faith!

Are you trying to dig up BW?

Quote :

Army dogs (and horses), had a number too. Tattooed inside the animal's ear, it incorporated the year it was born.

Not a lot of people know that.

I suppose it would be Mules in your time Brum? (tic)

Gordon. wrote:

Are you trying to dig up BW?

I thought that was a Scaley on shovel patrol.

Shelldrake wrote:

Ah, Brum! That's my "Chosen specialised subject", military equines (horses for the Scaleys) have their Regiment and Regimental Number on the front hoof and their Army Number on the rear hoof so that when they pop their clogs, the Farrier can chop it off, take it back to the Riding Master and get a whole one.


householdcavalry.info

You can imagine it can't you ?

"Anything for Board of Survey ?"

"Well there are a couple of knackered horses Q"

Or, "There are a couple of Horses Hooves in my tent, Q". Still, Household Cavalry, eh! eh!

237.... double shovel, knife fork & spoon!:-)

Signed up July '59 for a man's life ( still looking for it!)

Odd event... last week I got a CC PIN sent for a new card.... it was my last 4 ( no you can't borrow it for the afternoon!)

My father's number was 1061695 - Royal Artilley (later REME).
He was recalled from the reserve in August 1939. Would that have been his original number and from that, can I tell what year he originaly enlisted?

Cliffo wrote:

My father's number was 1061695 - Royal Artilley (later REME).
He was recalled from the reserve in August 1939. Would that have been his original number and from that, can I tell what year he originaly enlisted?

It would be normal practice to retain the original number and that's what he would have been called up on. From that you can either approach the RA Assopc or the National Archive and find his original date of enlistment and his medal index card.

239***** Signed on the doted line nearly 50 years ago on 5th November 1963. It all comes back to me when I was gven my first pay of £6-00, an Army Railway Warrant and told to report to Catterick Garrison, Vimy Lines. This mean an overnight train journey from Plymouth where I was attested and signed up to take the Queens Shilling. Interesting times.

2271,,,, and only £1,40 per week of which I had to send 35p or 7shillings home less 5p (1shilling) for (someone elses) barrack damages - didn't leave much to spend!

225*****, 1951, 49 bob a week Regular pay.

Len (Ciphers)

ciphers wrote:

225*****, 1951, 49 bob a week Regular pay.

Len (Ciphers)

Bet you had an a egg with the nightly NAAFI chips!

NS ( '54) got 4 bob (20p) a day......... Out of that 28 shillings a week we were stopped 3/6d (17 1/2 p) for National Insurance and only paid to the nearest
5 shillings (25p), the remaining 4/6d ( 22 1/2p) went into credits and was held there until demob unless anything was extracted to pay for kit deficiences, etc.

It was surprising how you could manage on a quid a week especially when everybody was a smoker.........

Bloody hell Yorkie, how do you remember all that stuff ?

I'd forgotten about the 3/6d NHI, Cartav - and I used to do the pay!.(amongst justabout everything else) We used to pay in BAFS or marks
except those going on leave to UK, I drew what credits I had on my last week in Germany and blew it all on a boozy boat trip down the Rhine Valley at Weinfest time!! -

Looks like I'm a mere youngster here being of the 2448 lineage!

Hussar100 wrote:

Looks like I'm a mere youngster here being of the 2448 lineage!

beat yah 2457

You might be surprised. That's a number which was issued in England in 1979, am I right?
Mine was part of a batch issued in Northern Ireland in 78. Those issued in Scotland in 79 were still 2444, much to my surprise when I found out.

brum wrote:

Bloody hell Yorkie, how do you remember all that stuff ?

We look after t'brass, tha knows up 'ere ! Dunno why it sticks in the mind
Brum......... It always niggled that we had to pay National Insurance when the Army had their own medical set up. I do remember one mate had a good way to extend his income..... he'd go round each of the rooms in the billet scrounging a 10pfg coin for the trolley fare to Osnabruck. At 12 DM to the pound 10 pfg was nowt.. we threw coins at him to get rid of him and he scooped up enough for a night out. Don't know why I remember that either !

2383 here. June 1960, Waller Barracks, Devizes. Wouldn't have missed it for the World.

2351 meself.

Not long before I was demobbed, I had a man posted in who's number began 2451. A million numbers after mine but, I suspect, not a million men.
There must be someone on the clerical side who could put me right on that one.

Dolmetscher

In the days of BD, I remember that flash.