East Surrey Regiment

[bakis]

Can anyone help me with information on the 4th Battalion East Surrey regiment around 1900, or where I could find it. Particularly "k" company.

    Thanks

[km1971]

The 3rd and 4th Battalions of the East Surrey Regiment were Militia. Rank & file men enlisted for six years, during which they served an initial 49 days training followed by six annual trainings of 6-8 weeks. While serving they would be paid the same as Regular soldiers. In exchange they were liable to mobilisation. This occurred in 1899 for the Boer War. A lot of men did not appear for mobilisation and were usually discharged.

The 3rd Battalion were serving in South Africa in February 1902. I have no information about the 4th Battalion. If you have a specific name you should check the medal rolls on Ancestry - but they are not complete.

Findmypast will be putting Militia Attestation Papers online this year. The company a man was assigned to is usually written in the top left hand corner of these forms. So do you already have his papers?

Ken

[bakis]

Thanks Ken, that has given me some very good info,inline with a strong possible line we are trying to follow looking for my g/father in 1900. I have come across a entry on Ancestry in military campaign medals for a Sergt T Mead reg no 385, this could be my G/father Thomas Edward Mead. I did put a topic on here a while back with photos, I do not know how to show it again. I did get a lot of helpful hints to try and solve our problem.

       Barry

[km1971]

Hi Barry

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,358178.msg2357700.html#msg2357700

I just looked at your 'last posts', then cut and pasted the url (address). In this thread it seems 2nd Battalion was favoured - ie he was a Regular. The Militia (3rd and 4th) battalions would not have been in Ireland.

If he was a Regular and his records survive they will already be on Findmypast - or Ancestry if he served continously into WW1 - assuming they were not destroyed in the 1940 Blitz. I think you are going to have to pay to see who 385 was. The number seems too low to me to be from this period. It is either c1870s, or a post 1908 Territorial, but it could be a mounted infantry unit created during the Boer War.

Ken

[bakis]

Thank you Ken for your help, your comment about the mounted infantry is interesting because it as been raised before about the 1st photo. So you have given me some more tips to go on.

   Thanks again Barry.

[km1971]

Hi Barry

Companies of mounted infantry was created from Regular infantry battalions, as well as temporary regiments created just for the Boer War. These latter units only issued knaki uniforms. If you have a photograph of a man wearing a red tunic he can only be a Regular. In which case the problem with the low number still exists.

Ken

[bakis]

Interesting point Ken, if you look at the first photo in the other post, the men are in khaki tunics.

   Barry.

[km1971]

.... I think you are going to have to pay to see who 385 was. The number seems too low to me to be from this period. It is either c1870s, or a post 1908 Territorial, but it could be a mounted infantry unit created during the Boer War...

I now believe that the East Surreys got to 999 and started at 1 again, rather that continue to 10000 etc like other regiemnts. If so 385 would have been issued c1898. Number 310 enlisted in January 1898.

Ken