British Army

The British Army is the land-based forces of the United Kingdom. The British Army was heavily involved in Imperial affairs in India and most regiments (both infantry and cavalry) served in India at some point. Throughout the nineteenth century, a significant number of British troops were stationed at India at any one time. In 1847, for instance, around 20% of British Army regiments were on the sub-continent. The General staff were supported by the Staff Corps and the Office of the Quarter Master General.

A British man, or man of British descent could also be a soldier/officer in one of the Presidency Armies. These were seperate from the British Army, instead consisting of regiments formed by the East India Company and under their control.

Regiments

Any regiment name prefaced by the initials H.M. (Her or His Majesty's) is a British Army regiment, although the term is not strictly applied, especially amongst the ecclesiastical records. These regiments may be referred to as "Royal Regiments".

Regiments are divided across several arms of the army, these being the Cavalry (who fought mounted on horseback), the Infantry (soldiers who fought on foot) and the support arms such as the Artillery (who used weaponry such as canons and large guns) and the Engineers construction, demolition, surveying etc.) Also see Regiment names terminology below.

The article History of British Army Infantry Regiments is a general history of the origin and development of the infantry regiments and explains some of the reforms that took place.

• To browse the Infantry category, see British Army Infantry Regiments. From 1881, see 1881 Regimental Titles.
• To browse the Cavalry category, see British Army Cavalry Regiments
• To browse the Artillery category, see British Army Artillery Regiments

The cap badges of a few regiments can be found in Cap badge images.

When a regiment was to return to England, the men were given the opportunity to 'volunteer for' (join) another British Army regiment in India. The view seems to have been "A trained soldier in India is worth five recruits, and that soldier, when he is brought home, is not worth anything."As an example, when the 96th Regiment of Foot was ordered home in September 1854, a ‘great number of men’ volunteered for the 32nd foot, thirty volunteered for the 43rd, while twenty-two volunteered for the 74th Highlanders. However, when transferring to another unit, the soldiers were treated as new recruits, and lost any rank they had, reverting to the rank of a private, although it appears likely that in practice they were promoted again reasonably quickly.

Locating a regiment

There are many ways to find out locations at which a regiment was stationed. More labourious methods include tracking through the muster rolls, army lists or station lists published in newspapers. Many of our regiment articles include a timeline of major stations. One online source providing incomplete but highly useful information, is:

• Indian portion of In Search of the 'Forlorn Hope': A Comprehensive Guide to Locating British Regiments and their Records (1640-WWI) by John M Kitzmiller - lists the location/year of all British regiments that served in India and related regions. From Bob Holland’s Rampais website.
• The Nafziger Collection of Orders of Battle hosts a PDF catalogue including lists of “Stations of British Troops in India” (and a wider list for the whole army) transcribed from the sources such as the Army and Navy Gazette . The website says "Download the collection's Finding Aid (pdf format) to assist in navigating the titles available for viewing".

It appears best to use the binoculars icon to search the Finding Aid. The search facility seems designed so that the words you enter only are found if they are next to each other, so you will need to use just one word such as India, or use phrases which are title headings such as Stations of British Troops in India, (not Stations India) (available 1836-1904), British Regiments Serving in India, (available 1816-1835), Distribution of the British Army (available 1836-1868, 1872, 1899-1903) Stations of the British Army (available 1869-1904). The latter two titles include British troops in India. For specific lists from 1862, see

• Stations of British Army troops in India
• Stations of the Royal Artillery in India

• The publications New Annual Army List and New Army List, some of which are available on Military periodicals online contain details of the regiments in the British Army for each year of publication. The details of each regiment in each volume will usually include where the regiment is garrisoned at that point of time. This is often located at the very top of the page which gives details of the regiment. As an example, the 2nd Battalion of the 24th Regiment of Foot was stationed at Secunderabad, Madras, page 276 The New Annual Army List for 1869, shown in the top left hand corner.

• For those able to visit the National Archives at Kew, there are catalogue entries WO 379/11 Stations of regiments 1859-1900 and WO 379/15 Stations of regiments 1901-1920 Examples of the type of records available are this page and this page from WO 379/11, from the website maltaramc.com, on the page 52nd Regiment. These records are part of the WO 379 series "Disposition and Movement of Regiment, Returns and Papers (Regimental Records)"

Regiment names terminology

Regiments, especially prior to the twentieth century, were not named in a uniform manner and the historical terminology used can be unfamiliar to a beginning researcher. Some common terms and the regiment types they apply to can be found below.

Term	Regiment type
Dragoons	Cavalry
Foot	Infantry
Fusiliers	Infantry
Grenadier	Infantry
Hussars	Cavalry
Lancers	Cavalry
Life Guards	Cavalry
Rifles	Infantry

Wars and campaigns

The British Army were involved in numerous wars, campaigns and battles in India and the surrounding region. The Fibiwiki has a Chronological list of wars and campaigns.

• To browse wars in the region, see the Wars and Campaigns category.
• To browse battles, see the Battles category.

Enlistment in India

It was possible for a man born in India to enlist in the British Army in India, a fact to be considered when researching. Enlistment was possible for men with European parents, or Eurasian men of fair complexion―those whose looks allowed them to ‘pass’ as white.

Enlistment in British Empire countries

This Rootsweb Australia Message Board 2004 post is called “Chelsea Pensioners - soldiers with an Australian connection”. It includes details of two men who were born in Australia and served in the Madras Artillery. They probably joined British Army regiments in Australia, subsequently served in India and transferred to the Madras Artillery in India. It is an indication that men in the British Army may have been born in countries other than Britain and Ireland.

Records

See also - Military reading list and Occupation:Soldier

There are various sources of information for finding out about a man in the British Army.

Army Lists

Army Lists are useful if you are researching an officer.
For volumes available online, see Military periodicals online

Military records at the National Archives

For advice about the National Archives, both about visiting and your options if you can't visit, see the Fibiwiki page The National Archives

Muster rolls

Unlike those of the presidency armies, muster rolls for British Army regiments stationed in India are not at the British Library but are instead at The National Archives at Kew in London. The majority of the Muster records up to 1878 are in WO 12, including Cavalry and Infantry. The catalogue describes the records as:

Detail from a 1877 Married Roll

"...a comprehensive means of establishing dates of enlistment, movements throughout the world, and of discharge or death. The first entry may show age on enlistment. An entry on the form "Men becoming non-effective", sometimes to be found at the end of each quarter's musters, shows the birthplace, trade, and date of enlistment of any soldier discharged or dead during the quarter. From about 1868, at the end of each muster, may be found a Marriage Roll, which enumerates wives and children for whom married quarters were provided."

From 1878 to 1898, all muster rolls are in WO 16

An 1889 example of data from a Marriage Roll can be seen here on Cathy Day’s archived site.

This India List post is about interpreting information on a casualty muster roll.

Muster roll records are unfortunately NOT available on LDS microfilms. If you are are unable to visit Kew, read the National Archives' guide Paying for Research. FIBIS also has a research service for FIBIS members.

Pleae note that muster roll records may be missing for some Regiments and periods, in India and generally. For example, there are virtually no muster roll records for the Royal Artillery in India.

Findmypast.co.uk has the online records Worldwide Army Index 1861 extracted from the National Archives April-June quarter Paylists held in WO 10 (Royal Artillery), WO 11 (Royal Engineers) and WO 12 (Cavalry, Guards, Infantry and other units) series War Office records, including men serving overseas. Searching the records is free, but charges apply to view the records, although they can be viewed for free at TNA (and other institutions with a FMP subscription). Note that soldiers of the East India Company Armies in 1861 would not generally appear in these records as most of these soldiers appear to have been transferred to the British Army after June 1861, although some soldiers appear to have transferred earlier and are included in these records.

Service and pension records

Chelsea Pensioners

Discharge papers (WO 97, (to 1913)), usually containing service/attestation information, and pension records (WO 22) may also be found at TNA. Records in WO 97 are usually only for men discharged with a pension (i.e. for long service or having been invalided ) as these were the papers sent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and preserved, but from 1883, most causes of discharge, (apart from death (with a few exceptions)) were included. Note however, the survival rate of discharge papers appears to be low for men discharged overseas [ie not in Britain, and therefore low for India]. If a man went on to serve during World War 1 then his records would normally have been removed from WO97 and placed with his WW1 service records. WO 97 records are also unlikely to include men who immediately went on active service with a Milita unit, (whose discharge papers may have been transferred to the Milita unit). The records often contain a wealth of genealogical information, including birth date and location, next of kin, physical description, service locations, medical history and medals. They may include information about marriages, births of children or deaths of family members.

The National Archives has worked with findmypast.co.uk to scan and place online WO 97 (Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers' Service Documents 1760-1913). All WO 97 records, for the years 1760 to 1913 are currently available on findmypast.co.uk as part of a group of records called British Army Service Records 1760-1915 . This group of records consists of

• Militia service records 1806-1915 (WO96)
• Chelsea Pensioners British Army service records 1760-1913 (WO97)
• Royal Hospital, Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents 1760-1887 (WO121) (see Other Pension Records below)
• Royal Hospital, Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents, foreign regiments 1816-1817 (WO122)
• War Office: Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers' documents, South African War 1899-1902 (WO128)
• Royal Hospital, Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions 1838-1896 (WO131)

Searching the records is free, but charges apply to view the records, although they can be viewed for free at TNA (and other institutions with a FMP subscription).

For some FindMyPast blogs about these records, see below

This link has some general information about pensions, quoting from The Victorian Army at Home by AR Skelley

Kilmainham Pensioners

The records online at findmypast.co.uk now include those men discharged through the Kilmainham Hospital in Ireland, as British Army Pensioners - Kilmainham, Ireland 1783-1822. These records are held under TNA reference WO 119, and are similar to the Chelsea Pensioner records WO 97, above. Searching the records is free, but charges apply to view the records, although they can be viewed for free at TNA (and other institutions with a FMP subscription).

There are other records for Kilmainham , not digitised, under WO 118 “Registers of in- and out- pensioners of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham”. In-pensioners were admitted until 1922.

Other Pension Records

Another useful TNA source is the WO 22 subseries "Army and other pensions paid out locally in India, Ceylon and China" detailing names and payments made, including WO 22/228-230 Bengal, WO 22/237-238 Bombay and WO 22/266-270, mainly Madras.

This India List post mentions WO 120 and WO 121 records. Catalogue references are:

• WO 120 "From about 1812 dates of death have been noted and in the last series these dates extend to 1877" The WO 120 records are available on LDS microfilm with this catalogue entry.
  • The book British Army Pensioners Abroad, 1772-1899 by Norman K. Crowder includes all British Army pensioners who retired to any place outside of Great Britain for which records are available (1772-1899). There are 8,934 entries, transcribed from WO 120/35 and WO 120/69-70. Each entry has one line, in the form "Josh ABBOTT; pension awarded 27 Sept 1842; residence - Hobart Town, Australia; died 22 Apr 1871. Source WO120 Volume 69 page 206".
• WO 121 records. These records are available online on findmypast.co.uk as part of British Army Service Records 1760-1915, refer above. The records include "Register of men discharged without pension", 1884 to 1887. Although the catalogue does not mention this, there are many records of men leaving the army in India under the heading "Nominal list of men discharged by the Commander-in-Chief in India." As the register provides name, regimental number, rank, corps, date and cause of discharge, attestation date (and a few other administration details) it is an invaluable resource for those not able to find these details elsewhere. Searching the records is free, but charges apply to view the records, although they can be viewed for free at TNA (and other institutions with a FMP subscription).

These records are included in the National Archives catalogue entry Records of the Royal Chelsea and Kilmainham Hospitals. The latter hospital was in Ireland. This category of records also includes

• WO 116 Disability and all Royal Artillery pensions and
• WO 117 Pensions awarded to soldiers for length of service.

Some of these records, in particular WO 116 (for what appears to be WO 116/1-165 being Cavalry and Infantry Disability to 1882 and Royal Artillery to 1893) and WO 117 (to 1913) are available to download free of cost from The National Archives Documents Online: Digital Microfilms. These are stated to be large pdfs, which need a broadband internet connection. This Ancestry.com British Army Message Board post details some of the information found.

An intersting series of selected records is PIN 71: Selected War Pensions Award Files for Service Prior to 1914. This series consists of personal case files on disablement pensions arising from service in the Army or Navy before the First World War and case files concerning widows of such servicemen. The files contain medical records and details of place of birth, age, names of parents and siblings, religion, physical attributes, marital and parental status. The series appears to consist of approximately 6,300 individual files which are searchable by name online on the Discovery catalogue. The actual files however are not available online.

Service and pension records from World War 1 from the National Archives are available on the pay site Ancestry .com. They do contain some papers for men who did not serve in WW1.

• British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 are WO 363 records also known as the ‘Burnt Documents.’ These are the records which survived a fire, about one third of the total documents.
• British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920 are WO 364 records

For information about interpreting some of the abbreviations used in these records, the Great War Forum thread Army Standards explains the medical classification used for new recruits during the First World War, and other abbreviations used during their subsequent service. In addition, the Great War Forum has a sub category Interpreting service records and medal index cards which however, is only accessible to logged in Great War Forum members.

Courts martial and desertion

• See Courts-martial

Research guides

National Archives Guides

• The National Archives have the following research guides:
  • British Army: Officers' Records 1660-1913 (Military Records Information 4)
    • Regarding records mentioned in this link, note that WO 76 records are available to download free as pdf files from National Archives: Documents Online: Digital Microfilm. For Army Lists, see Military periodicals online-New Annual Army List
  • British Army: Soldiers' Discharge and Pension Records, 1760-1913 (Military Records Information 5)
  • British Army: Muster Rolls and Pay Lists, c1730-1898 (Military Records Information 7)
  • British Army: First World War soldiers' papers (Military records information 9)
  • British Army: First World War officers' records (Military Records Information 10)
  • British Army: Useful Sources for Tracing Soldiers (Military Records Information 14)
• The National Archives has published the book Army Records: A Guide for Family Historians by William Spencer 2008. 160 pages. It is mainly about records in the National Archives and the India Office at the British Library. It contains a chapter "The British Army in India and the Indian Army", in addition to over twenty chapters about British Army records. Available at the British Library.

Other publications

• The Society of Genealogists has published the book My ancestor was in the British Army : how can I find out more about him? by Michael Watts and Christopher Watts 2009. This book is available to buy from the FIBIS Shop. Also available at the British Library on open access.

British Library Guides

• British Library Guide to Service Lists for the [British] Army, Navy and Air Force

India Office military records at the British Library

For a comprehensive description of sources available in the India Office Records, see Peter Bailey's article in FIBIS Journal 13.

There is a small collection of India Office records at the British Library called British Army Records IOR/L/MIL/15 1806-1930 (catalogue entry which includes links to subgroups including British Army: British troops embarked for India IOR/L/MIL/15/42-46 1871-1889).

There are also reference books from the Military Department Library relating to the British Army IOR/L/MIL/17/1 (catalogue entry), including Army Lists for the British Army, apart from publications specifically relating to the British Army in India.

Ecclesiastical returns

If the man married, had children or died out on the Sub-continent then records of these occurences can often be found in the India Office Church records. However, some regimental chaplains only filed their BMDs with the General Register Office in London. The British Army Overseas Indexes can be found in genealogical libraries, the National Archives and searched on various websites including findmypast.com and familyrelatives.com. Certificates of these army returns can then be obtained from the GRO by ordering them online. For more details refer Chaplains Returns.

Note that if a record is available both in the Church records and in the General Register Office records, the latter may contain more information, at least for some time periods. By way of example, in 1903 the additional information available for a marriage record was the nationalities of the groom and bride, and the occupations of the fathers of the groom and bride.

Other sources

Additional sources include:

Soldiers’ wills

Online search Find a soldier's will Search for the will of a soldier who died while serving in the British armed forces between 1850 and 1986. UK Government Probate Service. Free to search, (but first you must register) and then pay for a record.

No further details are given, but previously this link advised that 300,000 wills of soldiers killed in action were to become available online. They do not include officers. These wills date from the Crimea period onwards, and appear to be wills completed by soldiers in their paybooks. They do not include officers. It appears the majority are from WW1. The article "Wills of English soldiers killed in the Great War" by David Tattersfield 25 September 2013 (“The Western Front Association”) has more details.

The index to some soldiers’ wills are also available in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1861-1941 from Ancestry.com

Soldiers’ effects records at the National Army Museum

These records relate to monies paid to the named relatives of deceased soldiers and those discharged insane. They do not give details of the personal possessions of dead personnel, but provide next of kin details. Transcripts of records between 1901 and 1960 are available, at a charge. They are not viewable at the Museum as they are stored off site. Further details are provided in this National Army Museum link

WFA WW1 pension record cards

• "The Western Front Association preserves a major Great War archive of 6.5 million records" by David G Henderson 08 November 2012
  • "Great War Pension Record Cards and Ledgers: deeper understanding" 31 March 2013
  • Pension Record Cards: Manual Lookup Request 31 March 2013. A fee applies. It is intended that these records be digitised in time.

Medal Rolls

See Medal Rolls. Includes information about those medal rolls available online.

1911 England and Wales Census

British Army personnel in India, together with their families appeared for the first time in an England and Wales Census in 1911. Search the 1911 census data, free to search, but a pay site to view data. Also available on the pay site Ancestry.com and perhaps other pay sites. This National Archives catalogue entry shows the regiments that were included in the 1911 Census. The items (17 in total) are RG 14/34978-34992, 34995, 34997. However, it is probable there were other regiments in India at this time. The census was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April, 1911. Note however, there are is at least one known instance of a soldier and his family known to be in the British Army in India at the time of the census, whose names do not appeat in the census, another indication that the data may not be complete.

National Army Museum

The National Army Museum's website includes the following Information Sheets which also refer to sources at other institutions

• Information Sheet No 2: Soldiers’ Records 1660-1913
• Information Sheet No 3: Soldiers’ Records 1914-c1920
• Information Sheet No 4: Soldiers’ Records 1920–present
• Information Sheet No 5: Researching Family History at the National Army Museum

Regimental Journals

Some regiments published a regular regimental journal which can be a valuable source of information. Examples are St George’s Gazette, journal of the Northumberland Fusiliers,(previously 5th Regiment of Foot) published from 1883 to 1968, and The Highland Light Infantry Chronicle, journal of the Highland Light Infantry (previously 71st Regiment of Foot), published quarterly from 1893 to 1958. Whether a journal existed may be included in the regimental information available on the website Regiments.org (refer below). This link also lists the titles of some regimental journals. The British Library and National Army Museum are possible sources of these journals, together with Regimental Museums and regional libraries, if the regiment had a strong regional connection. A broken range of editions of The Rifle Brigade Chronicle for the years 1890 to 1905 is available online. A few editions of the Highland Light Infantry Chronicle are also available online, however these are accessible in limited countries only.

Newspapers

• The London Gazette online is a useful source of information about officers’ appointments and promotions. For more information about this resource, see Newspapers & magazines reading list
• Two Research guides by British Library Newspapers:
  • Family History Research and British Military History, 1801-1945
  • Scope of the Collections for British Military History, 1801-1945 Details specialist, non-newspaper publications of particular interest to military history researchers held by British Library Newspapers such as the Army and Navy Gazette, published from 1860.

Note that Colindale and St Pancras hold differing Indian newspaper collections (with some overlap), however Colindale microfilms will be transferred to St Pancras by 2012.

Army personnel serving after January 1921

The Army Personnel Centre Historical Disclosures Section holds Army Service records for officers whose service ended after April 1922 and soldiers whose service ended after January 1921.

The service records of Army personnel serving after these dates remain closed to the public. To obtain details from such records you will often have to prove kinship. Charges may apply. Application forms should be sent to

The Army Personnel Centre

MS Support Unit, P & D Branch

Historical Disclosures, MP555

Kentigern House,

65 Brown Street, GLASGOW G2 8EX

Telephone 0845 600 9663

Email disc4@apc.army.mod.uk

See the web page Requests for personal data and Service records (gov.uk) for forms to download. Veterans:UK

This WW2Talk Forum post advises "you want to get next of kin FULL records (make a note on the application for FULL records)".

This further WW2Talk Forum post advises “They will accept anything that is proof of death, even a undertakers receipt or a photograph of a post war civilian headstone”.

WW2Talk Forum post WW2 Soldier Research - Tips and Links for New Researchers, dated 28 August 2012 advises about the next of kin hierarchy and that “There is currently about a 12 month wait to receive the records once you apply”.

FIBIS resources

• Margaret Mulvihill, "'Peculiar Circumstances': Catholic Chaplains of the Victorian British Army in India" FIBIS Journal No 24 (Autumn 2010), pages 26-28. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals.
• Ainslie Sharpe, "Boy Soldier to Lancer: John Arnfield in the Anglo -Sikh Wars" FIBIS Journal No 26 Autumn 2011, pages 31-40. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals.
  

John Arnfield joined his father's regiment, the 3rd Regiment of Foot, the Buffs in India in 1833, as a Boy soldier, aged 14 years and became a Private on his 18th birthday.

He went on to serve with the 16th Lancers in the Gwalior Campaign and the 1st Sikh War, and with the 9th Lancers in the 2nd Sikh War.

He resigned in 1853 having spent 20 years in the British Army, all in India. However, his years as a Boy were not counted as years of service, so he was not entitled to any pension.

See also

• Category:Military Terms
• Category:Military ranks
• Category:Church records
• Category:Organisations has links to a number of military historical societies which publish journals containing articles about India.
• Courts-martial
• Doctor
• Duke of York's Military School
• Mailing lists
• Medals
• Military periodicals online
• 12th Regiment of Foot and 34th Regiment of Foot for examples of death as a result of a duel with a fellow officer.

External links

Encyclopedia articles

• History of the British Army Wikipedia
• Recruitment in the British Army Wikipedia
• British Army Regiments 1881 (The Childers Reforms) Wikipedia

Other

• Soldiers and Genealogy on TNA's Your Archives
• The Cadet and Staff Registers of the Sandhurst Collection. The registers show the details for almost every officer cadet that attended the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and Royal Military College Sandhurst, England
• Stephen Lewis' Soldiers Memorials lists NCO and other ranks graves in India by surname, amongst other memorials. Officers Died is the equivalent commissioned ranks site.
• Regiments.org (Archived Site), see archived versions of a Numeric list of British Army Regiments and 1881 Regiments.
• Army Regiments from British Armed Forces & National Service. Includes details of deployments
• Army Museums Ogilby Trust provides information about regimental museums. There is also a “book search” which lists books about the various regiments. Also includes
  • Ancestor Research & Military Genealogy
• The Asplin Military History Resources, about British Army history in the Victorian era, includes pages relevant to the British Army in India.
• Victorian Wars Forum post on "Terms of Engagement" by grumpy dated 16 July 2012
• 46th Foot.com includes a detailed account of the 1834 attestation of a private, Frederick Crosland.
• Army Service Numbers 1881-1918: Index armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com
• Renumbering of the army in 1920 1914-1918.net. A seven-digit number was issued in 1920 to all men then serving in regular or Territorial units. Once issued, the man retained the same number irrespective of his transfers and postings within the army. Generally the new numbers did not have prefixes but the Royal Army Service Corps was an exception. RASC numbers were prefixed S (Supplies), T (Transport), M (Mechanical Transport) or R (Remounts).
• International Ceylon Database: Military from Kyle Joustra’s website. Includes lists of names by regiment.
• Soldiers of the Queen: The Jewel in the Crown. Photographs of soldiers in India, Ceylon,The North-West Frontier Afghanistan. Includes Two Privates with a servant and pets, Sergeant E. J. Evans in the tropical version of his regimental "Mess Dress" uniform, with wife, Fusilier Sergeant and family c 1900
• British uniforms India 1914 Thread from the Great War Forum, with many pages, showing both British Army and Indian Army uniforms with many photographs. Note, to view the photographs attached to posts you must be a logged in member of the Forum, refer Military message boards.
• British Army Spine Pads [Part of the uniform] by Stuart Bates , April 27, 2012 militarysunhelmets.com
• "Transport of Troops to India" by Frederick Engels from New York Daily Tribune, 13 August, 1858 states that some troops were sent from England by the overland route from 1857. Marxists.org. This route became permanent some years later, see below.
• The trooping season between India and the United Kingdom lasted for about seven months each year, with the full programme being published some months in advance. The gap, April-October/November in India was the same each year – to avoid the worst of the heat in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. adenairways.com. Also see Deolali
• Troopships and Trooping by R G Robertson movcon.org.uk
• Bad conditions on troop ships coming to India in the late 1700s are mentioned in "The soldier's friend—Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick" by Richard L. Blanco Med Hist. 1976 October; 20(4): 402–421, particularly 415-417
• Terrible conditions are described in a Letter home from a soldier’s wife on a voyage to India 1859 As a result, the Captain was murdered! Eastern Monarch 1859 Fire broke out in English waters on this ship, whose passengers included 352 invalid soldiers from North West India. Old-merseytimes.co.uk.
• India List post dated 11 August 2000 by Tony Fuller. "Another snippet from Tower Hamlets. In a memorandum dated 16 August 1844, the government confirmed that in general, 6 wives were allowed to accompany their soldier husbands per 100 men anywhere in the world EXCEPT To India and Australia, where the ratio was 12 wives to 100 men, including the NCOs. The number of children was unlimited." (The reference appears to be to the Tower Hamlets Library, where the author was doing research, according to this earlier post)
• The Army Children Archive (TACA) contains information about children and wives, with themes such as Accommodation and On the Move. History Matters (scroll down) gives details of the enlistment of an orphan boy age five,the son of a soldier, as a drummer in 1786. There are references to India in a number of the themes. Accommodation Album: India
• On the Strength: Wives and Children of the British Army, a Canadian website. Some of the information, particularly in respect of physical work performed, may not be applicable to India.
• British Soldiers' Wives in the Napoleonic Era Royalartillery1815.co.uk
• Enlistment of Boy Soldiers in the British Army, 1795-1959 Your Archives
• History of the British Army Vol II by J W Fortescue First British troops to land in India p 171
• The National Archives podcasts have a military history category including
  • Sahib, the British soldier in India, 1750 – 1914 by Professor Richard Holmes
• The life of a soldier in India in the early 1900s is discussed in this Victorian Wars Forum thread. Includes reference to the book Old Soldier Sahib by Frank Richards, "an excellent read", which is about this period in India and Burma. First published in 1936, a reprint is available to purchase through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop. Also available at the British Library. Victorian Wars Forum thread about a 2005 edition , annotated by Krijnen and Langley, with many footnotes and illustrations. "Each page is annotated to give information on Frank Richards’s friends, his officers, the places where he served in India and Burma, dates, events and the language, for example". Stated to be available at the British Library (although not in the catalogue).
• This Great War Forum thread advises the book A Strange War: Burma, India and Afghanistan 1914-1919 by C P Mills 1988 describes experiences of Territorials in India during the Great War. The book is available at the British Library. The Regiment was the 2/5th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry
• Recruiting regions of Irish infantry regiments in the British Army from 1881 until 1922. A list of regiments, depots, counties together with a map. Select page 5 of this pdf
• "Information Document on the Irish Regiments of the British Army up to 31st July 1922". Irish Military Archives Dublin html version, pdf version
• James Henry Miller, born 1910. He was in India October 1932-1935 with the 2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. His memories of daily life in a regiment performing garrison duties. His Story, His Words Part Four (scroll down), Part Five, Part Six Includes photographs. Family website.
• From Semaphore to Satellite The memoirs of Major General David Horsfield, Royal Signals may be read online. He served in Burma during World War 2 and was then in India 1942-1946.
• "British Army Horse Transport" by Clive Elliott 2008 hmvf.co.uk
• Military reasons for the expansion of the railways are explained in "“Fire-Carriages” of the Raj: The Indian Railway and its Rapid Development in British India" by Amit K. Sharma 2010
• The system of purchase and sale of commissions in the British Army and the campaign for its abolition 1660 - 1871 by Anthony Peter Charles Bruce. PhD Thesis Manchester University, 1949. This link leads to a large pdf which may be opened or downloaded. The thesis may also may be accessed from this British Library Ethos link. If this is not a permanent link type uk.bl.ethos.488928 (or the title) in the search in this British Library Ethos Home link. Most of the British Library Ethos downloads are free
• Schola Forum’s Online Fencing and Martial Treatises includes some links on shooting manuals etc, particularly 19thC Treatises, which includes this post which links to The Soldier's Pocket Guide to Shooting by W G Underhill 1878 Archive.org

Historical books online

• Also see Military periodicals online
• Lists of the officers of His Majesty's, and the Hon. Company's troops, serving under the presidency of Bombay. Adjutant General's Office. January 1st. 1798 Google Books
• Google Books has editions of A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines 1778-1855 (incomplete series) and New Annual Army List and New Army List 1840-1869 (incomplete series). Some additional volumes may be found if they are searched for individually. Also see Military periodicals online for editions mainly from 1863.
• Annual Army Lists from 1754 to 1879 are available to download (free of cost) as pdf files from the The National Archives Documents Online: Digital Microfilm,under WO 65 records.
• The Royal Military Calendar, Or Army Service and Commission Book: Containing the Services and Progress of Promotion of the Generals, Lieutenant-generals, Major-generals, Colonels, Lieutenant-colonels, and Majors of the Army, According to Seniority: with Details of the Principal Military Events of the Last Century Third Edition by John Philippart 1820 Google Books Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5
• A History of the British Army by Sir John William Fortescue. Archive.org. This link describes the contents of the volumes.
  • Volume 2, 1713 to 1763 (1899), Volume 3, 1763-1793 (1911), Volume 4, 1789-1801 (1906), Volume 4, Part II 1789-1801 (1906), Volume 6, 1807-1809 (1910), Volume 7, 1809-1810 (1912), Volume 8, 1811-1812 (1917), Volume 9, 1813-1814 (1920), Volume 10, 1814-1815 (1920)
  • Relating to India: Volume 2, page 167, Volume 3 page 49, Volume 4 page 402, Volume 4, Part II, page 711, Volume 6 page 40, Volume 7 page 563

The following volumes are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website: Volume 5, 1803 to 1807, includes detailed treatment of the situation and operations in the East Indies and Ceylon. Volume 11,1815-1838, includes the War with Nepal, the Pindari War, the War in Ceylon and the War with Burma. Volume 12, 1839-52. This volume is mainly concerned with India, and covers operations in Afghanistan and on the Khyber Pass, together with internal security operations in India itself. Volume 13, 1852-1870, includes the Indian Mutiny

• History of the Scottish regiments in the British Army by Arch. K. Murray 1862 Archive.org
• The History of Scotland, its Highlands, Regiments and Clans, Volume VIII by James Browne 1909 Archive.org. This volume includes the regiments.
• "East Indies" page 1 The Regimental Companion: Containing the Pay, Allowances and Relative Duties of Every Officer in the British Service, Volume 3 by Charles James 7th edition, considerably enlarged 1811 Google Books
• Strength, Composition and Organization of the Army of Great Britain by Capt Martin Petrie (1864) Google Books
• The Army Book for the British Empire: A Record of the Development and Present Composition of the Military Forces and their Duties in Peace and War by William Howley Goodenough and James Cecil Dalton. HMSO 1893 Archive.org. Includes "The Army in India" page 442
• Camp and Barrack-room, Or, The British Army as It Is by John Mercier McMullen, a late Staff Sergeant of the 13th Light Infantry (1846) Google Books
• The British Army in India: its preservation by an appropriate clothing, housing etc by Julius Jeffreys, formerly Staff-Surgeon of Cawnpore 1858 Google Books
• "Adulterated Liquor sold to Sailors and Soldiers in the Bazars of Calcutta" and "The dangers to which Sailors and Soldiers are exposed in the Bazars of Calcutta" from On the preservation of the health of seamen, especially of those frequenting Calcutta and the other Indian ports by Norman Chevers MD, Surgeon, Bengal Army 1864 Google Books
• "East India (Transport of Troops"). Report of Select Committee c 1858 page 308 'Series F British India, Colonies etc' Annals of British Legislation, Volume 5 edited by Leone Levi 1859 Google Books
• "Report on the Ships "Clifton Belle" and "Dudbrook," which arrived at Kurrachee with Soldiers' Families in March 1860" by Surgeon Major D.Grierson M.D., Staff Surgeon, Kurrachee. Appendix page l, Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bombay, Volume VI, New Series 1860 Google Books. There were many deaths on board, particularly of young children
• "The New Overland Troop Service to India" Colburns’s United Service Magazine 1867 Part 3, page 226. Google Books. (The Suez Canal was subsequently opened for navigation on 17 November 1869)
• "Cantonment Life [c 1876]" , page 151 from A King's Hussar: Being the Military Memoirs for Twenty-five Years of a Troop-sergeant-major of the 14th (King’s) Hussars by Edwin Mole 1897 Archive.org .
• "Sunday in the British Army in India" by Rev. Arthur Male, (written sometime after the defence of the Residency of Kabul, on the 3rd September 1879) from The world's story; a history of the world in story, song and art, Volume II India, Persia, Mesopotamia and Palestine] ed. by Eva March Tappan (1914) Archive.org
• "A Penny A Day" page 9; "Soldiers’ Wives" Page 30 from Soldiering and Scribbling: A Series of Sketches by Archibald Forbes 1872 Archive.org.
• Social Life in the British Army by "A British Officer" Illustrated by R. Caton Woodville. 1899 Archive.org
  • The officer in India, page 55,The soldier in India, page 94, The soldier’s wife’s view of India, page 81
• The Queen's Daughters in India by Elizabeth W. Andrew and Katharine C. Bushnell 1899. Investigation and Report by two American missionaries into the government sanctioned brothels in British Army cantonments. html version, original pdf godswordtowomen.org
• Army Equipment by various Topographical Staff, War Office Google Books
  • Part I: Equipment of Cavalry by Lieutenant HM Hozier 2nd Life Guards 1864
  • Part II: Equipment of Artillery by Major Miller RA c 1864
  • Part III-Section 1 Engineers : Equipment of a Company of Engineers by Lieut-Colonel A. C. Cooke RE 1866
  • Part IV: Equipment of Military Train by Lieutenant HM Hozier 2nd Life Guards c 1865
  • Part V: Equipment of Infantry by Captain Martin Petrie 1864
  • Part VI: Equipment of Commissariat Staff Corps by Lieutenant HM Hozier 2nd Life Guards c 1864
  • Part VII :Hospital Equipment for a Battalion of Infantry, Regiment of Cavalry, Battery of Artillery, and a Company of Engineers by Captain Martin Petrie, c 1866
• Regulations for the Dress of General, Staff and Regimental Officers of the Army 1864 Google Books
• Royal warrant and regulations regarding army services: and Explanatory directions for the information and guidance of paymasters and others 1st July 1848 Google Books
  • "Pensions for Discharged Soldiers", page 211
• The Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Army 1 July 1844 3rd edition Google Books; 1 December 1859 Archive.org; 1 January 1868 Google Books; 1 July 1899 Archive.org
• Revised Army Regulations Volume 1: Royal Warrant for the Pay and Promotion, Non-effective Pay, and Allowances of Her Majesty's British Forces serving elsewhere than in India dated 27 December 1870 HMSO Google Books
• A catalogue of books relating to the military history of India drawn up by Maurice J.D. Cockle 1901 Archive.org