The History of Regimental Numbers in the NWMP, the RNWMP and the RCMP
Many, many researchers who study the history of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) will discover considerable confusion over the early Regimental Numbers system employed during those first years of the Force. Jack O’Reilly of Toronto has kindly researched Regimental Numbers and he provides the following explanation.
The Regimental Numbers (Reg. #) Original Series (OS) from 1873 to 1878 (period of the March West) were prefixed with a small 'o' to indicate Original Series. As members joined, sequential numbers were assigned to them beginning with o.1 upwards. Examples of these Regimental numbers can be seen in the grave databank.
At the same time, however, managers in the Comptroller's Office in Ottawa assigned their own numbers. Apparently these numbers were not assigned in sequence. Comptroller’s numbers (or Ottawa Original Series) were shown as OOSxxx. So, this means that many of the original members were assigned two Regimental numbers; the Original Series indicated by an o.xxx plus an Ottawa Original Series indicated by an OOSxxx.
More confusion arose over Regimental numbers because some Original Series (OS) numbers were used over again (recycled) after a member left the Force. A number could be reassigned to a new recruit.
In 1878 an attempt was made to correct the number system, but even then more errors were made. In some cases, a letter was used to correct the problem. One will find a number such as Reg. # 948A. As well, when renumbering took place in 1878, members still serving were assigned a new number, so in some cases these members will be shown with an old (o.xxx) number plus a new number.
Commissioned Officer’s Regimental Numbers
Assigning Officer's numbers was even more confusing because originally when an Officer joined the NWMP from the military as a Commissioned Officer they were shown simply as ‘JWC’ (Joined with Commission). Examples of ‘JWC’ can also be seen in the databank.
The British and Canadian military maintained a separate numbering system for commissioned officers. The North-West Mounted Police did not, however, immediately adopt this practice. One reason perhaps was because at the outset the Officer establishment in the NWMP was only twenty-three men.
Since everyone knew these early Officers, administrators did not consider it necessary to assign them a new NWMP number. Eventually, however, the number of Officers grew as did the duplication of surnames such as ‘Allen’ or ‘Smith’. As a result, sometime after 1900 it was decided to retroactively introduce a consecutive system of numbering for Officers based upon the date of their appointment to the Force. Accordingly, Commissioner G.A. French became Regimental Number O.1.
Unfortunately again, in the process of allotting Officers’ numbers, three Officers were overlooked. The problem was likely the incompleteness of early records. When the errors were discovered, it was decided to modify the existing numbering system to accommodate the overlooked Officers rather than to renumber everyone. Accordingly, (Temporary) Commissioner W.O. Smith became Regimental Number O.2.5 and Inspector M.H. White-Fraser became Regimental Number O.50A.
A further discrepancy occurred in the case of Superintendent Walsh. As one of the first Officers appointed to the Force in 1873, he was allotted Regimental # O.7. But, in 1883, he resigned his commission. Fourteen years later, when he re-engaged and was re-instated as a Superintendent, he was issued a second Regimental # O.109.
The following table shows the Officer Regimental # reached at the beginning of the years noted:
| Reg. No. | Year | Reg. No. | Year | |
| O.1 | 1873 | O.297 | 1940 | |
| O.42 | 1880 | O.401 | 1950 | |
| O.97 | 1890 | O.500 | 1960 | |
| O.117 | 1900 | O.693 | 1970 | |
| O.153 | 1910 | O.1162 | 1980 | |
| O.197 | 1920 | O.1290 | 1985 | |
| O.230 | 1930 | O.1541 | 1990 |
In 1998, Officer Regimental #’s were discontinued and Commissioned Officers continued to use the original Regimental # which they were assigned at the time of their engagement. Their engagement number complied more simply with a new computer program. The last Commission to be assigned an Officer Number was O.1849.
Despite this change to Officer Regimental #’s, a sprinkling of Officer Regimental # ‘s began appearing again apparently on a temporary basis for pay purposes until the computer system changed over. In 2004 the computer glitch was fixed so Commissioned Officer Reg. #’s began appearing again. Perhaps over time the gap of almost six years will be filled in little by little.