1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment
Upon the outbreak of war in 1914 the Hertfordshire Regiment was made up of 8 companies (A-H) with an additional Machine Gun Section and Corps of Drums. Typically each company and section were recruited from the same area of the county, making it possible to identify which company a serviceman was with based upon their original enlistment location.
In August 1914 the breakdown was as follows:
A Company – Hertford & Hatfield
B Company – St Albans
C Company – Bishop’s Stortford, Ware, Widford, The Hadhams & Braughing
D Company – Watford
E Company – Royston & Letchworth
F Company – Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring & Ashridge
G Company – Hitchin, Stevenage, Welwyn & Whitwell
H Company – Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Wormley & Hoddesdon
Machine Gun Section – Stevenage
Corps of Drums – Ware
In January 1915 along with all other Territorial Battalions, the 1st Herts restructured to the new 4 Company system, although unlike any other ‘Terrier’ units, the Herts took on the peculiar ‘Guards’ system of numbering, rather than lettering their Companies.
As of January 1915 the new Battalion composition was:
No. 1 Company – Hertford, Hatfield, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Wormley & Hoddesdon
No. 2 Company – St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring & Ashridge
No. 3 Company – Bishop’s Stortford, Ware, Widford, the Hadhams, Braughing & Watford
No. 4 Company – Royston, Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock, Stevenage & Whitwell
While this was not always the case, it is reasonable to assume that up until September 1916 any man enlisting in the 1st Herts would find themselves in the appropriate company relevant to their enlistment location.
For service numbers see the Archives.