Changes

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."<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Ybk_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4 Page 4] ''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</ref>As an example, when the [[96th Regiment of Foot]] was ordered home in September 1854, a ‘great number of men’ volunteered for the [[32nd Regiment of Foot|32nd foot]], thirty volunteered for the [[43rd Regiment of Foot|43rd]], while twenty-two volunteered for the [[74th Regiment of Foot|74th Highlanders]].<ref>[http://www.archive.org/stream/fromenglandtoant00tyrrrich#page/36/mode/2up ''From England to the Antipodes & India - 1846 to 1902, with startling revelations, or 56 years of my life in the Indian Mutiny, Police & Jails''], page 36 by Isaac Tyrell (1904) Archive.org</ref> 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,<ref>[http://www.archive.org/stream/fromenglandtoant00tyrrrich#page/38/mode/2up ''From England to the Antipodes & India - 1846 to 1902, with startling revelations or 56 years of my life in the Indian Mutiny, Police & Jails''], page 38 by Isaac Tyrell (1904) Archive.org</ref> although it appears likely that in practice they were promoted again reasonably quickly.

===Locating a regiment===

==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 [[Anglo Indian|Eurasian]] men of fair complexion―those whose looks allowed them to ‘pass’ as white.<ref> [http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/satoshi.html Loyalty, Parity, and Social Control-The Competing Visions on the Creation of an ‘Eurasian’ Military Regiment in late British India] by Satoshi Mizutani ''The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies'' Volume 10, No. 1, 2010</ref>

===Enlistment in British Empire countries===

This Rootsweb Australia Message Board [http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/localities.oceania.australia.general/4184/mb.ashx?pnt=1 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.