Shadow 1st Hussars Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Looking through my grandfather's old WWII forms I have come across a line called "regimental number" a few times. On some forms it is his service number and on others it is a different number. Could anyone shed some light on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 err.... not that I could help you much here, but for which nation served your grandpa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Weiss Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Are we supposed to guess the numbers? Okay, let's see, how about 17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Give us the numbers in context and I can help. The Service Number (also known as a Regimental Number) was prefixed with a letter denoting the Military District he was recruited from. A = Military District 1 B = MD 2 etc. Canada went up to M (MD 13) skipping 9 and 10, I believe. A was Ontario, L (MD 12) was Saskatchewan, M (MD 13) was Alberta, etc. My dad's service number was L554088. The two terms are used interchangeably - do you mean to say the nubmers are different? Service Publications puts out a guide to WW II service numbers - if you give me the number I can tell you which district and unit that number was allocated to. Generally a soldier kept the first number assigned to him, even once he changed units. Officers were identified by name and rank only, they did not get numbers. Serial Numbers, on the other hand, were used to designate units. When a unit was mobilized for the Canadian Active Service Force, that unit was given a Serial Number - the format was very different from Service/Regimental Numbers and may be what is being referred to in the documents, but I won't know until seeing a specific example. [ August 20, 2002, 12:09 PM: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow 1st Hussars Posted August 20, 2002 Author Share Posted August 20, 2002 Service number - B-52864 the other number - B-610471 on some forms the SN is in the regimental number box, and on others it is the other number. I know that he changed units from the 1st Hussars to the RCEME, but he kept the same SN after the change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow 1st Hussars Posted August 21, 2002 Author Share Posted August 21, 2002 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Originally posted by Shadow 1st Hussars: Service number - B-52864 the other number - B-610471 on some forms the SN is in the regimental number box, and on others it is the other number. I know that he changed units from the 1st Hussars to the RCEME, but he kept the same SN after the change.The first number is from the block assigned to No. 2 Dist Depot, Royal Cnadian Ordnance Corps - no doubt where he was enlisted. Second number corresponds to No. 23 Basic Training Centre. Probably where he did his basic before going off to his unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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