Tracing Lincolnshire Regiment Soldiers (WWII)

The Lincolnshire Regiment presents an unusually broad Second World War research landscape, with its battalions appearing in campaigns separated not simply by borders but by continents. This page explores how an Army service number can help establish whether a soldier’s connection with the Lincolns began at enlistment, while the regiment’s traditional recruiting geography provides another way of comparing military evidence with a man’s civilian background. The real challenge comes when trying to determine where that soldier subsequently served. Lincolnshire battalions operated across several distinct regions of the war, creating potential research trails through Asia, the Mediterranean and continental Europe. Even European service requires careful interpretation, with different periods of the conflict opening quite separate possibilities. The hub examines how battalion information, dates, photographs and surviving place names can begin separating these routes, while campaign medals offer another means of testing which geographical trail deserves closer attention. Casualty information provides context for the human cost of such widely dispersed service and helps place an individual within the regiment’s broader wartime experience. For anyone starting with a name, Army number, photograph, medal group or family story, the Lincolnshire Regiment demonstrates why establishing the regiment is only the beginning: the crucial task is working out which part of its remarkably widespread Second World War story belongs to the soldier being researched.

The Lincolnshire Regiment Service Number Allocation

The Lincolnshire Regiment was allocated Army service numbers 4792001–4848000, providing a valuable means of identifying soldiers who originally enlisted into the regiment. Where a surviving Second World War Army number falls within this block, it can establish an original Lincolnshire Regiment affiliation even when later documents, photographs or family evidence point towards another unit.

This distinction is important because an Army service number generally remained with the soldier as his career developed. A Lincolnshire number could therefore survive subsequent postings or transfers and preserve evidence of where his Army service originally began. Equally, a man known to have served with the Lincolnshire Regiment but carrying a number from another allocation may have entered the Army elsewhere before joining it. The 4792001–4848000 block should therefore be treated as evidence of original enlistment rather than proof that a soldier remained with the regiment throughout the war. Used alongside dates, battalion information and surviving service documents, it provides a particularly useful anchor from which the rest of an individual military career can be reconstructed.

From Burma and India to Crete and North-West Europe

The Lincolnshire Regiment had an exceptionally broad geographical footprint during the Second World War, with its battalions serving across three very different operational regions. In the east, its story encompasses India and Burma, connecting the regiment with the war against Japan. In the Mediterranean, Lincolnshire service included Italy, Greece and Crete, while another strand of the regiment’s history leads through the British Expeditionary Force and the later campaign in North-West Europe.

This geographical spread is particularly striking because it encompasses both the early and later phases of the war in Europe as well as major campaigns thousands of miles further east. Two soldiers wearing the same Lincolnshire Regiment badge could consequently have experienced entirely different wars. Even a reference to European service leaves several possibilities open: Greece, Crete, Italy, the BEF and North-West Europe represent very different campaigns and periods of the conflict. Battalion and date therefore become crucial when attempting to place an individual within the regiment’s wartime history. Few broad assumptions about theatre can safely be made from the regimental name alone.

A Substantial Casualty Toll Across a Global War

The breadth of Lincolnshire Regiment service was accompanied by a significant human cost. During the Second World War, approximately 1,198 men of the regiment died, while estimated total casualties reached around 3,041. Regimental deaths represented approximately 0.53% of all British Army deaths during the conflict, placing the Lincolnshire Regiment within the medium range of the Army’s overall wartime sacrifice.

Those figures become more meaningful when considered alongside the regiment’s unusually widespread operational commitments. They belong not to a single concentrated campaign but to a regimental story stretching across Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia. Casualties could therefore arise within very different military circumstances, from the early campaigns involving the BEF to fighting in Greece and Crete, the long Italian campaign, the war in Burma and the return to North-West Europe. The overall figure provides useful context for the scale of the regiment’s losses, but it should not be interpreted as representing a uniform level of risk across every battalion or theatre. The Lincolnshire Regiment’s casualty experience was as geographically diverse as its wartime service itself.

Explore similar units:

1. Leicestershire Regiment: A similar sized neighbouring regiment from WWII
2. Sherwood Foresters: Another major regional regiment of similar wartime strength
3. Norfolk Regiment: Another similarly sized county regiment from the Second World War

Click here to explore similar infantry regiments in the main WWII Regiment & Corps Library.