Genealogy Chat

Please could you tell me why a person would have 2 army service numbers?My grandfather has 2: 20387 and 433455.Is it simply because he was initially in the ASC and then the Lab Corps, or might he have been discharged after an initial term of service? Many thanks!Annabel.

they go in with one Service number and if they get transferred to another regiment then they get another service number. so its possible to go in on one number and then be discharged at the end of service with another number. Shirley

Thanks Shirley! Best wishes,Annabel.

I do not know if things were different for WW1 and WW11 but I have an Uncle who was transferred to 3 different regiments and on each record he has the same army number.

Lullie it depends on whether the regiments are connected .ie sister regiments, then the number would stay the same . if they are transferred outside the group then they get a different number. My ex SIL was a career Army lad. he was waiting for his upgrade to Corporal but there were no vacancies in his regiment or other connected ones. he accepted a transfer to get his Corporal, to the Guards and then got a new Service number . each group of regiments have their own sequence of Service Numbers ,makes it easier to identify them that way by those in the know. Shirley

Hi Shirley , the army nos. were obtained from his Marriage cert. and Birth certs. of his children. The regiments were Horse Guards...DCLI. and RAOC ,I have no knowledge on military matters so would these Regiments be connected then ? Sorry !.. did not mean to hijack the original thread, Regards Lulli x

Hi My grt grt uncle joined the army in 1888 until 1901 when he was discharged. He then joined or was recalled in 1914. He has 2 different service numbers,he was in the same sevice Royal Art. He is on the ancestry pension lists. Which was your gf in WW1 or WW2. if one i would be happy to do the look up for you. Kate

Hi Kate, He was WW1 and his name was Henry S Percival.Any info would be greatly appreciated, but please don't go out of your way!Many thanks, Annabel.

Hi everyone, I thought the regiment number was different from the service number. My gg/father has the same service number throughout his career in the army 1910-1921 but he was in two different regiments and those regiment numbers are different to each other and different to his service number? I thought your service number remained with you throughout your career, just your regiment changed if you changed regiment. There are usually two numbers on WW1 medals ie the Regiment No. and the Service No. Perhaps I'm wrong I usually am - ha ha Pat Pat

In many ways that makes a lot of sense! In which case I have the Reg nos from his Medal Index Cards, but nothing else on him.How do I find his Army Service No?I know NOTHING else about him.If I went to Kew might I be able to trace him from the MIC info?Any suggestions very gratefully received!

Hi Annabel Sorry to take so long to reply - been out and come back. I also found the MIC cards on NA but it wasn't until I found a cousin ( I didn't know I had) who had his actual medals and I was able to go and look at them, that I found his service number etched on the side of the medals along with his regiment nos. I had also got the application form off Veterans.UK to apply for his service records (the ones on ancestry are only pension records up to 1920) that I realised I needed his service No. to apply (plus loads of other info. which I don't yet have!!). There is a site somewhere that explains about Service and Regiment Nos. but I can't remember where - sorry. I get lots of info by googling for what I want to know. Happy hunting Pat