33rd Labour Battalion, Royal Fusiliers - Pte Percy Williams

Pte Percy Williams 33rd (Labour) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and 100th Company, Labour Corps 

Private Williams' surviving service records show that he was born in Camberwell,  London circa 1888. At some point he was presumably removed to the country and fostered, his Foster Father being given in the records as Chas Thompson, of Dry Drayton.

At the point of call-up (17 March 1916), he noted that he had had 2 years' previous service with the 1st battalion, the Cambridgeshire Regiment. This is quite a short engagement, and it is possible that he was 'bought out' (obtaining his discharge by purchase) or was possibly discharged injured. In any case, it appears that he was under no Reservist's obligation on the outbreak of war. His records show that he expressed a preference for the Army Service Corps. However, the records further suggest that the Corps had no vacancies at the time.

His records show him as being in 'Class 10' and having been called up from Army Reserve. Taken together, these two references would seem to suggest that he was a "Derby Man" rather than a Conscript, one of 318,553 single men called up from the Army 'B' Reserve in the spring of 1916. 

At the time of his call-up he resided at High Street, Dry Drayton, being aged 27 years 4 months and employed as a Horsekeeper. He gave his next of kin as his Foster Father, Chas Thompson.

He was called up for General Service, as noted above, on 17 March 1916 and reported to the Cambridge Recruiting Office. From there he was then sent to the Suffolk Regiment Depot, Bury St Edmunds (3rd Suffolks) where he was assessed Medical category B.ii (probably due to his reported "concussed left retina with detachment", as his physical development was described as "very good"). 

He was then posted on 20 March, under the service number 30377, to the 33rd (Labour) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, which formed on 4/5 March (sources differ) at Seaford in East Sussex. He was probably part of a draft from one of the various depots which contributed troops to the newly-raised battalion. 

The 33rd was one of the first three of 33 Infantry Labour Battalions formed, following a War Office decision to enhance the military labour pool in order to supplement the labour efforts to prepare for the Somme Offensive on 1 July 1916. The first three battalions were raised by Northern, Western and Eastern Commands, respectively,  each consisting of four 250-man companies, under a Lieutenant-Colonel. Although not definitely established, given the place of formation and the location of Pte Williams' depot, it seems likely that the 33rd were raised under the aegis of Eastern Command.   

According to his surviving service records, Pte Williams was sent overseas on 1 April 1916, disembarking the following day. Whilst most published sources agree that the 33rd Battalion went overseas in June 1916, as Army Troops, 1st Army, the account in his records accords apparently with the battalion War Diary. This shows the battalion entraining in two trains at Seaford for Southampton Docks on 2 April 1916 and then setting sail via SS Archangel for Le Havre.  Similarly, the 12th (Labour) Battalion, Duke of Wellington's  (West Riding) Regiment, which was announced at the same time and formed slightly later in March, went overseas on precisely the same timetable as set out in Pte Williams' records and was in action railway building by 3 April. (The 18th Cheshires also appears to have followed a similar timetable.)   Although the June date of entry is probably wrong, the attribution of the battalion to road making duties as Army Troops, 1st Army that month is likely to  be correct.  Certainly, by August 1916 the battalion was recorded as on the strength of 1st Army, on road duties.  

A web page on another member of the battalion summarises the war diary as follows:

"The War Diary of the Battalion states that it was formed on the 4th March 1916 and for the next three weeks records a succession of officers, presumably with some engineering background, from various regiments arriving to take up their new duties. The Commanding Officer (C.O.), Colonel W.R. Inglis a career soldier who had previously served with the Norfolks and the Connaught Rangers, assumed command on the 7th March and on the 28th informed the Battalion that it would shortly be serving overseas. Colonel Inglis would not be joining them, a severe chill the following day kept him in his bed and on the 30th March he died."

The War Diary record that the men are unfit "for the first line duty, the majority being recruits but in some cases returned wounded soldiers" and then complaining that the work of forming the men into companies was "considerably put back by the Medical Board's rejecting a large number of men". Despite these pressures and the death of their C.O. the Battalion left Seaford on the 2nd April 1916 aboard two trains for the short journey to Southampton Docks."

(Source: http://www.hoxnehistory.org.uk/Alfred Patterson.php)

On 14 May 1917 his records show Pte Williams as transferred (authority ACF 611 of 1917) under service number 59916 to the Labour Corps and posted to 100 Company. This Company, and the 99th, were both formed from the 33rd Royal Fusiliers. The new regimental numbers issued to these two Labour Companies were 58801-59400 for the 99th Labour Company and 59401-60000 for the 100th Labour Company, Pte Williams falling in the latter bracket.

This is likely to be an example of the records catching up with reality as already in April 1917, 100 Company is recorded as in existence, one of several installing gas and smoke canisters to support the attack on Vimy Ridge. This would fit with a deployment with 1st Army as it was engaged in the Battle.

Early in 1918, Pte Williams returned to the agricultural life, being osted to 3 (987) Agricultural Company on [2]6 February 1918, joining the company in the field the following day (the designation was changed to 987 Coy on 25 April 1918). These units were engaged in growing fresh vegetables for the troops and grain and fodder for the horses.

After just over two years' active service, Pte Williams enjoyed a furlough to the UK, leaving via Calais on or around 15 August and returning to his unit on 29 August 1918.

Pte Williams was further posted on to 1083 Agricultural Company on 14 October 1918. At this time the unit may have been part of a group serving with XV Corps [2nd Army]; certainly it was by 30 November. 

According to the British Army Order of Battle for 11 November 1918, it appears that there was one Agricultural Company per Army (except for 4th Army, which had two).

Prior to discharge he was medically examined in France, with no claim for disability being made. He then proceeded to Purfleet Dispersal Centre via Boulogne on 9/10 January 1919 for Dispersal, bring discharged to the Army 'Z' Reserve on 13 February 1919.

His character on discharge was given as Good. His address on discharge was Potting Farm, Dry Drayton,  Cambridge.

Pte Williams acknowledged receipt of his medals on 19 July 1921.

203897 PTE Leslie Ewart LOUGHTON, 2/4th and 7th Lincolnshire Regiment - diagnosed Neurasthenia (Shell shock)

203897 PTE Leslie Ewart   LOUGHTON, 2/4th and 7th Lincolnshire Regiment - diagnosed Neurasthenia (Shell shock)

Leslie Ewart Loughton was born in Somercotes, in the county of Lincolnshire in 1899. A farm labourer by trade, he enlisted on 3 May 1917, being examined and medically categorised A1 at Lincoln the following day,  aged 18 years 325 days. He was noted at the time as having a slight stammer. He was recruited for service as a private in the 4th (Reserve) Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment under the regimental number 203897. This was part of the post-1917 Territorial number sequence, indicating service with the 2/4th Lincolnshires (absorbed on 31 January 1918 by the 1/4th Battalion, and renamed the 4th Battalion). It is not recorded when he went overseas. However, his medical history sheet shows him as having had dental treatment  completed at Grimsby on 8 October 1917. (His teeth had been noted as an area where work was required upon first being medically examined.) This would seem to suggest that he did not go overseas until the middle of that month at the earliest - possibly, like 204181 Pte William Ashton Ainsworth, on 19 October 1917. If so, he would have been part of a later draft to the battalion, which had gone out overseas in the March of that year, and it seems likely that - like Pte Ainsworth -, it was at Base Depot in France that his transfer to the 7th Battalion, a Kitchener service battalion, took place. This transfer is reflected in an undated fragmentary list of Sick and Wounded N:C:O's and men of the Expeditionary Force. It was probably done to replace casualties incurred in the 7th's attack on Taube Farm and Turenne Crossing, Ypres the previous week.

Pte Loughton suffered from neurasthenia deriving from shell shock, incurred according to his pension record on 18 November 1917, when he was in a trench blown up by a shell - seemingly only a matter of weeks after his likely entry into theatre. On this precise date, the battalion was out of the line in Soult Camp, Elverdinghe. It seems more likely therefore that the pension record is slightly wrong and the event occurred when the battalion took over front-line trenches from Turenne Crossing to Gravel Farm on the 22nd /23rd; this tour lasted only four days. On the 25th/26th, having been relieved, the battalion marched to Boesinghe and entrained for International Corner (Dragon Camp).

After his injury Pte Loughton was sent via a Casualty Clearing Station to 48 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne and thence to 7 Convalescent Camp for a three week stay, culminating in a transfer to the Labour Corps under the regimental number 583647.

His disabling symptoms, still present after the war, included hysteria (slight) and manifested as an inability to speak, tremors and slightly exaggerated reflexes.

Pte Loughton transferred to the Army Reserve Class 'Z' on 1 March 1919.  His home address on discharge was given as Hogsthorpe, Alford, Lincolnshire.

In 1920 his condition, still present, was considered 50% disabling. His pensioner's record card of 6 January 1920 noted that "He makes an effort to speak but does not get beyond the first word or syllable".

He appeared before Special Neurological Boards at Nottingham in January 1921, 1922 and 1923. Initially presenting with a range of symptoms including sleep disturbed by war dreams, by 1923 his case presented as frontal headaches, tremors, hesitation in speech and stammering (related to a slight pre-war speech impediment), being finally considered less than 20% disabling.  Accordingly he was pensioned at a rate of 7/6 a week for 104 weeks (2 years).

Leslie Ewart Loughton died in Thames Street, Hogsthorpe, Lincolnshire on 8 June 1978.

Name:Leslie E LoughtonRegiment or Corps:Lincolnshire Regiment, Labour CorpsRegimental Number:203897, 583647

Name:Leslie Ewart LoughtonMilitary Year:1914-1920Rank:PrivateMedal Awarded:British War Medal and Victory MedalRegiment or Corps:Labour CorpsRegimental Number:583647Previous Units:203897 Pte Linc. R.

British Victory Medal to Private Herbert Adshead, 12th, 22nd and 11th (Service) Battalions, The Manchester Regiment, 866 Area Employment (Garrison Guard) Company, Labour Corps and 13th (Service) Battalion, West Riding Regiment

Herbert Adshead
Regiment or Corps:Manchester Regiment, West Riding Regiment
Regimental Number:3830 (Manchester Regiment), 405567 (Labour Corps), 27059 (West Riding)

Herbert Adshead was born in Hurst, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, in 1885. Aged 15 he lived with his parents, and worked as a waggoner whilst by 1911 he was the head of a family, married to Ann Adshead (neé Brierley), and had two children, Robert (born out of wedlock) and Lily. He worked as a coal miner filler (filling conveyances with coal to be taken away from the face), probably at the Ashton New Moss Colliery and lived with Ann and Lily at 2 Seel Cottages, Hurst Nook, Ashton-under-Lyne.

He enlisted on 25 August 1914 at Ashton-under-Lyme, one of 25% of the pit workforce to do so, a record for the local area. His terms of enlistment being for one year or the duration of the war. He was aged 29 years four months at the time and working as a labourer. On attestation he was posted to the 11th (Service) Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, a battalion which was raised in Ashton-under-Lyne in August 1914 as part of 'K1', Kitchener's first hundred thousand.

He would have moved with the battalion to Witley Camp, Godalming, in April 1915 entered France (presumably en route to the Mediterranean theatre of war) with the battalion on 6 July 1915 and so was entitled to the 1914-15 Star. From 6 July 1915 to 15 October 1915 he served with the 11th Battalion, 34th Infantry Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, probably landing with the battalion at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on 6 August and taking part in the subsequent night assault on the Karakhol Dagh and Hill 10, when they cleared the Turkish positions at the point of the bayonet.

During the month of September the battalion history notes that the health of the battalion was very bad (indeed it was forced to join with the 5th Dorsets to become a composite battalion of 630 all ranks on 25 August owing to losses incurred.) Private Adshead was posted to the Manchester Regiment Depot on 16 October 1915, presumably (given his absence from the daily casualty lists) due to sickness or injury not due to enemy action. At this point the battalion was back on the beaches at Suvla, preparing to go back into the line at Jephson's Post.  His depot posting was probably for pay and rations purposes whilst he underwent treatment and convalesced.

From there, after a period of three months he was posted to the 3rd Battalion, one of the regiment's reserve battalions, on 17 January 1916, a month after his old battalion had evacuated the Gallipoli peninsula. The battalion had been based at Ashton-under-Lyne in August 1914 but at the time of his posting would have been at Cleethorpes,  manning the Humber defences.

Once fit again for combat service, he was posted to the British Expeditionary Force in France on 24 August 1916, joining the 22nd (Service) Battalion (7th City Pals), The Manchester Regiment. This most probably took place whilst the battalion was in Reserve at Montauban Alley on 5 September, Pte Adshead therefore being one of 13 Other Ranks from his battalion and 26 from the 12th Manchesters who joined the same day. The battalion entered the trenches before Ginchy the following day but the intended attack was postponed and the battalion was relieved on 7 September. On the 18th the battalion entrained for the Second Army sector, near Bailleul and Douvre. The rest of the month was spent in and out of the trenches save for a raid on a German sap near Black Shed on 30 September. The month of October was spent similarly. In November the battalion spent most of a week in billets before joining the 91st Brigade on 9 November, returning to the Somme later in the month and taking over the Reserve Line on Hawthorn Ridge. Pte Adshead continued to serve 1until 5 December 1916 with the 22nd Manchesters; on this date, whilst the battalion was resting at Bertrancourt, he was hospitalised (via 23rd Field Ambulance, attached to 7th Division) with a serious wound in the foot from a pointed iron stake, incurred whilst undertaking salvage work on 30 November (according to the record, but more likely to have been on the 29th) near the old German front line which protected Beaumont-Hamel. He was adjudged not to blame as the stakes, which were in front of the German wire, were inconspicuous being painted brown.

He was posted to home depot again on 15 December 1916, then to a Command Depot (one of the military convalescent establishments which had by then been set up, for the benefit of soldiers too fit for convalescent camps but not fit enough to return to unit) on 3 February 1917 and finally to the 3rd Battalion again on 4 April 1917. Having been cleared for active service he was posted to an Infantry Base Depot with the BEF on 24 October 1917. After a short stay at the depot, possibly undergoing some refresher training, he was posted to the 12th Battalion, The Manchester Regiment on 2 November 1917, whilst they were in billets at Louches,  one of 29 Other Ranks reinforcements joining on that date. The battalion went into the line at Turene on 9 November and were immediately faced with enemy action, losing a whole platoon to enemy action at Gravel Farm on the 10th. The battalion spent the remainder of the month in and out of the line (where the waterlogged conditions were so poor that a number of cases of trench feet were reported on thr return to Dragon Camp on the 14th. The first half of the month of December was quieter, being taken up with training, re-equipping and travel down to the Somme area.

Unfortunately,  it seems likely that either Pte Adshead's health broke down under the strain of active service or he was returned to unit too early as just six weeks later, whilst the battalion was in training at Rocquigny Camp on 17 December 1917, he was transferred to 866 Area Employment (Garrison Guard) Company, The Labour Corps under an AGS of 23 (possibly a mistake for 28) August 1917. This would have accompanied a medical downgrading to category B I.The duties of the Garrison Guard companies (which had only been taken into the Labour Corps in September) included guarding prisons, dumps, railway communications, hospitals and providing escorts for PoW labour Companies. 866 Company was one of the group employed on the Lines of Communications. Private Adshead would have remained with the company when it was embodied into the 3rd Provisional Guard Battalion of 199th Brigade, Reserve Army between 18 and 21 April 1918 (a response to the urgent need for more men for defence in the face of the German Spring Offensive which began the previous month), and put into the line between Saulty and Harbacq,  south west of Arras.  When it was designated an infantry garrison battalion and became the 13th (Garrison) Btn, Duke of Wellington's Regiment on 25 May 1918, he would have gone with it, although it appears that he was not compulsorily transferred-in to the regiment, under the authority of AGS 833 (M) of 11 April 1918, until 29 June 1918. At the time of formation the Company had 225 Other Ranks under the command of Lieutenant H A S Walter, RNVR. It became 'B' company of the new battalion, containing 5 through to 8 Platoons. By this point, the battalion had been attached to the 177th Brigade and then attached to the 178th Brigade, both part of the 59th (2nd North Midland) Division, which was being reconstituted after its rough handling during the German Spring Offensive. The battalion was engaged in digging trenches on the BB Defensive Line and training for the remainder of May and early June.

It is probably reasonable to suppose that he was in grade BI or possibly B II, and thus considered unfit for frontline service, hence his drafting into a garrison battalion. This position crumbled, however, in light of the manpower demands of the Western Front and during June and July 1918 the 59th was trained to enable it to hold a sector of front line again. It took over a sector on 25 July 1918 under the command of Third Army, its battalions having dropped their "Garrison Guard" titles on or around 16 July. The 13th Battalion entered the trenches for the first time on 13/14 August,  relieving the 36th Northumberland Fusiliers, and then the 1st Grenadier Guards at Blaireville on 21 August. From 21 August, during the latter (Battle of Albert) phases of the Second Battle of the Somme the division was used to follow up attacking units, including under fire, to consolidate positions held, and provide working parties for tasks such as road repair.  The battalion was active in the areas Flingue and Bout de Ville through the month of September, suffering casualties to shelling, machine gun fire and sickness, B Company being regularly in the front line.

By early October the division had transferred to XI Corps, Fifth Army, and was operating in the River Lys area, advancing the line through to Flers before relief by the 36th Northumberland Fusiliers on the 18th. The 13th came out of the line towards the end of October for a mixture of training and road repair and clearing. Men of the battalion had won at least 13 Military Medals and a Military Cross over the period. The division was advancing towards Lille as part of the general final advance in Artois and Flanders (2 October – 11 November 1918), with the battalion back in the line and pushing towards Bruyere when the Armistice was signed.

In December the battalion moved to Mardyck demobilisation Camp, Dunkirk and there was engaged in hut construction. Some excitement took place on 1 and 2 January 1919 when the battalion was turned out under arms in the face of disorder amongst the Maori contingent of the New Zealand Rifles. Construction being finished,  the battalion began working the demobilisation camp from 23 January.

By January 1919, and his rerun to the UK, Private Adshead was recorded as being with 178 Labour Company (originally formed as 1st Hampshire Regiment Infantry Labour Company), attached to the 13th West Ridings. His medical category at the time was B1. On 25 January 1919 he was granted 28 days furlough and then demobilised to the Army Z Reserve on 22 February 1919 at York, his home address at the time being 3 Newton Court, Ashton-under-Lyme.

A late-War Conscript: Pair to Private Charles Clifford Mallinson, 28th and 2/6th Battalions, Durham Light Infantry and 4th Labour Company, Labour Corps

Holder's service details

Charles Clifford Mallinson
Year 1914-20
Service number106281, 652805
Second service number 652805
Rank Private,Private
Second rank Private
Regiment Durham Light Infantry, Labour  corps

Service record

Soldier Number: 106281,
Rank: Private, Corps: Durham Light Infantry
Second service record
Soldier Number: 652805,
Rank: Private,
Corps: Labour Corps

Charles Clifford Mallinson
Age in 1911:11
Estimated birth year:abt 1900 [actually mid-1899]
Relation to Head:Son
Gender:Male
Birth Place:Morley, Yorkshire, England
Civil Parish:Morley
County/Island:Yorkshire-West Riding
Country:England
Street address:82 Springfield Lane
Occupation:School
Registration district:Dewsbury

Married 13 Jun 1925 Parish:Morley, St Paul, West Yorkshire, England
Spouse:Margaret May Buraham
Father:James Arthur Mallinson. Residence at time of marriage was family home, 82 Springfield Lane, profession was Plate Moulder.

Judging by the careers of 106273/652808 Pte Alfred Bentham of Brightlington and 106282/652804 Pte Thomas Daniel of Leeds, CC Mallinson was probably called up between 10 and 17 July 1918 and posted immediately to 28th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, then posted to the BEF, 2nd/6th DLI on 29 September 1918, and then permanently and compulsorily transferred for the "benefit of the  service" on 12 October 1918 to 4th Labour Company, Labour Corps.

Notes on formations

28th (Home Service) Battalion:
Formed at Frinton on 27 April 1918.

2/6 DLI:  Landed at Calais as a Garrison Guard Battalion on 1 May 1918, under orders of 177th Brigade in 59th (2nd North Midland) Division. "Garrison Guard" title was dropped on 16 July. The 59th was trained to enable it to hold a sector of front line again in June-July 1918 and took over a sector on 25 July 1918 under the command of Third Army. During the latter phases of the Second Battle of the Somme it was used to follow up attacking units, consolidate positions held, and provided working parties. By early October it was operating in the River Lys area, advancing towards Lille as part of the general final advance in Artois and Flanders (2 October – 11 November 1918.) CC Mallinson was transferred out of the Division before the main attack on 16 October 1918.

4th Labour Company: Nothing known as yet.

Medal condition :

Both Extremely Fine.

XXXIII

Northumberland Fusiliers Territorial , Labour Corps and Garrison Battalion : Pte A Sheers

Holder's service details :

Arthur Sheers
Military Year:1914-1920
Rank:Private
Medal Awarded:British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps:Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
Regimental Number:GS/110681
Previous Units:1/7 North'd. Fus. 294418. Pte., 932/Coy. Lab. Corps. 425971, 44/R. Fus. GS/110681

1/7th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
August 1914 : in Alnwick. Part of Northumberland Brigade, Northumbrian Division.
April 1915 : landed in France.
May 1915 : became 149th Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division, in France.
12 February 1918 : transferred to 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and converted to Pioneer Battalion.

44th (Garrison) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
Formed in France in September 1918 from Garrison Guard Companies, for duty at the five Army HQ’s. Manned by troops who had been rated as medically unfit for front line duty.

Medal condition :

Very Fine.

XV

Queen's Regiment and Labour Corps: Pte N D Jeffrey of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment

Holder's details:

Norman D Jeffrey
Regiment or Corps: Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 47875, 74604

Norman Donald Jeffrey
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 74604
Previous Units: 47875 Pte R.W. Surr. R.

One of a group transferring from the Royal West Surreys; probably from the 16th Labour Company, possibly to 124th Labour Company, Labour Corps.

Medal condition:

Fine. Loss of gilding to obverse; reverse intact. Original ribbon.

A broken infantry trio: Pte Harry Lee, 6th Battalion, Queen's (West Surrey) Regiment and Labour Corps

Holder's details:

Harry Lee
Regiment or Corps: Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 5197, 396568

Re-enlisted. LC: new no 98047

Entered France & Flanders theatre 20-10-15

1914-15 Star Roll

Name: Harry Lee
Military Year: 1914-1915
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: 1914-15 Star
Regiment or Corps: Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 396568
Previous Units: 6 R.W. Surr. R. 5197 Pte.

BWM/VM Roll
Harry Lee
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Labour Corps
Regimental Number: 396568
Previous Units: 5197 Pte R W Surr R.

Notes on the history of the battalion and regiment:

The Queen's is the senior English line regiment in the British Army and second most senior regiment overall, after the Royal Scots. It raised six active service battalions during The Great War. The 6th (Service) Battalion was formed at Guildford in August 1914 as part of Kitchener's First New Army (K1) in August 1914 and placed under the command of 37th Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division.

Medal condition:

Both Very Fine. Victory Medal has original ribbon.

XXIX

A Lincolnshire Pioneer: Pte Holden, Labour Corps late Lincolnshire Regiment

Holder's probable service:

36963 Pte Jackson Holden, Lincolnshire Regiment & Labour Corps

Transferred in to Labour Corps with a number of other Lincolnshires, was probably from:

12th (Labour) Battalion
Formed in Brocklesby in July 1916.
August 1916 : landed in France and moved to Lines of Communication.
April 1917 : transferred to Labour Corps as 16th and 17th Labour Companies.

Medal condition:

Very Fine. Some wear to raised surfaces, loss of gilding. On clean length of original ribbon.

A Welsh Infantry Pioneer from Swansea: Pte Jack Davies, 1/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion the Welsh Regiment and Labour Corps

Pte Jack Davies, 1/6 Welsh Regiment & Labour Corps

Details of holder's service and that of the regiment:

His service records do not appear to have survived and, in view of his transfer to the Labour Corps he appears on their medal roll (which does not, in my experience, generally record previous battalions served with.) However, reference to the appropriate piece of the 1/6th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Welsh Regiment medal roll indicates that 266327 Pte Arthur James Jones, and 263329 Cpl Brinley Richards both commenced their active service with the 1/6th (Glamorgan) battalion, the Welsh Regiment, as did 266323, 266324, 266335 and 337 albeit under different numbers in some cases. This strongly suggests that Pte Davies went into action with this battalion. This would have been shortly after it became a divisional Pioneer Battalion to 1st Division on 15 May 1916, having worked on lines of communication duties since disembarkation at Le Havre in October 1914, and shortly before the division participated in the Somme offensive of July 1915.

MIC:

Regiment or Corps:Welsh Regiment, Labour Corps
Regimental Number:266328, 597780

Entered France theatre of war 17/5/1916

Home address:
154 High Street
Swansea

Medal roll:

Jack Davies
Private
Labour Corps
597780

Medal condition:

Fine. Some edge knocks and spotting, much gilding lost. On new replacement ribbon.

XVIII

A broken trio: Pte HA Buttivant ASC's Victory Medal and 1914-15 Star

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.