Stafford lad serving in the Royal Scots?

[Zen Rabbit]

I have just found the service record for my great Uncle James Finney who lived in Staffordshire but served with first the 12th Royal Scots (service) Battalion and later the 1st King's own Scottish Borderers. It is definitely him from the service record, same wife, home address and family so I am curious as to how a Staffordshire lad, albeit one who was born in Ireland (his father was English but worked briefly for the Land Corporation of Ireland), would be serving with the Scots?

[Mutley]

My dad was a Londoner and he was in the Royal Scots (WWII):
Had never been to Scotland before that but was very proud of the regiment.
I seem to remember him saying they did not have a choice. Went where they were sent.

[Megan Roberts]

I had a great uncle from Pembrokeshire who enlisted in the Welsh Regiment but was transferred to the North Staffs, sent to Gallipoli with them, where he was killed. My understanding is because the North Staffs were short of soldiers, but I don't know why.

I can also remember a friend of my father, both of whom were from North Wales, and for whom Welsh was their first language, regaling him with tales of being in the Scots Guards during WW2. I don't know how he ended up there.

[pennydog]

My dad served WW2 in the 'Leicestershires' although being London born and bred. When I asked at the military museum (at Duxford) I was told that this was done because in WW1 all the local men were enlisted in a local regiment if, as did happen, that regiment suffered catastrophic losses it then decimated the male population of that particular area. So lessons were learned, and in WW2 recruits were spread over many regiments/areas to stop this happening to another generation.

[Zen Rabbit]

I should have said that James served in the first world war

[Mutley]

I should have said that James served in the first world war

I think we must have realised that, darn sight harder to have 'just found his service records' otherwise.

Maybe I should rephrase that, probably 'impossible'. WWII I believe, needs to be 'sent for' rather than 'found'.
Apologies Zen, bit of a hijack to your thread here, just trying to clarify for any members new to searching for service records who may think they could find WWII on line.

[Zen Rabbit]

No problem.

[SueNSW]

Looking at his record he appears to have enlisted in Dec 1915 under the Group Scheme (commonly known as the Derby Scheme) and thus wasn't mobilised until October 1916 - by which time - as others have said - he wouldn't have had a choice - he would have been sent where the army deemed there was a need

There is some good background info to the Scheme on the Long Long Trail website

https://www.1914-1918.net/
derbyscheme.html

Did you see he was also awarded a Silver War Badge - due to a wound - and discharged from the Royal Scots in September 1918

[timbo58]

Interesting point pennydog makes for the policy of not all being recruited into local regiments, as whilst I was aware that it was (and still is apparently) seemingly 'random' on what regiments were selected, this theory stands up from the (probably little!) I know about this stage of recruitment.

Of course whenever I have responded to queries and assumptions over 'local regiments' in the past most people think the 'pals battalions' set the benchmark rather than are just an odd exception.

I always followed the belief that due to the larger populations of the larger cities their 'local' regiments would become over subscribed too quickly, meaning either the army had to form 'new' regiments and ended up with 200 London and Manchester regiments and only half a regiment for 'Wiltshire' (plucking a county out of the air at random!).

Pennydogs theory works better in this respect.

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