Victory Medal and 1914-15 Star to SS/8611 Pte Henry Albert Buttivant 8 L. Coy. ASC
Potted history of the Labour Companies and their use on the Western Front:
It was early on realised that local labour would be insufficient to off-load ships, supply and maintain communications for the troops on the Western Front. For this reason, specialised labourers were recruited and by December 1914 five labour companies of the Army Service Corps were formed for this task with more following, over thirty in total.
The 8th Labour Company was used on the lines of communications and undertook a range of labouring tasks including road repairs and moving goods and ammunition. They undertook this duty alongside a number of other units including Chinese and Indian labour squads, Pioneer battalions of infantry regiments and others.
Following the creation of the Labour Corps to bring some coherence to the patchwork of labour detachments on the Western Front in early to mid-1917, the 8th Labour Company, ASC became 718 Company of the Labour Corps. In October 1917 they were in the Abbeville area, moving in January 1918 to work in the area occupied by XVIII Corps.
The holder's probable service:
SS/8611(S standing for supply, and SS for a trade within that grouping) Pte Henry Albert Buttivant served with 8 L. Coy. ASC ("Labour Company") and Labour Corps. He entered the France and Flanders theatre of War on 25 April 1915, hence his entitlement to the 1914-15 Star.
The fact that he started off in an ASC Labour Company, and ended up in the Labour Corps, which absorbed all 38 ASC Labour Companies in 1917, leads me to imagine that he was in the same unit throughout. As noted above, the deployments of 718 Company give an idea of where Pte Buttivant might have served
Medal entitlement and service numbers:
(Extract from his entries on the RASC and Labour Corps medal rolls)
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 309110
Previous Units: SS/8611 Pte R.A.S.C.
Henry Albert Buttivant
Military Year: 1914-1915
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: 1914-15 Star
Regiment or Corps: Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 309110
Previous Units: 8 L. Coy. R.A.S.C. 8611 Pte
Some possible family history:
I have done a little name research and only one Henry Albert Buttivant comes up, a cabinet maker from Lambeth - it appears possible that it may be him. He appears in the 1911 census, as father of one of the parties (although not as a witness) for two weddings in 1916 and in the 1919 and successive electoral rolls. An interesting basis for some further research.
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