R4-062473 PTE L AUSTIN A.S.C. and Royal Warwickshire Regiment

R4-062473 PTE L AUSTIN A.S.C. and Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Leonard Austin was born in 1886. A groom in civil life, he was living at Montpelier Cottage, Fairfield, Buxton with his father and next of kin, William when he enlisted. He enlisted on 27 February 1915 for the duration of the war at Lathom Park, aged 30 years 4 months and was posted to the Remounts Depot the same day. His attestation was approved by the Assistant Commandant, Army Remount Depot, Ormskirk, on 5 March 1915 and he was posted to the Expeditionary Force ('A', 28th (later 20th) Squadron, 3 Base Remount Depot, Dieppe) on 27 March. At 3rd Base Remount Depot he was appointed Rough Rider on 28 March. A maintenance order also followed him, with a stoppage of pay of 4d a day for one child born on 31 July 1914 to Ada Summer of 56 Cemetery Road, Crewe.

Pte Austin spent 19 April to 4 September 1916 at home, possibly due to illness or an accident, and then was sent to No.1 Base Remount Depot on 5 September 1916.

On 13 June 1918 Pte Austin was compulsorily transferred to the 15th Royal Warwickshires at ASC rates of pay. With them he is likely to have taken part in the Battle of Albert (1918), Second Battle of Bapaume,  Battle of the Drocourt-Queant Line, Battle of Epehy, and the Battle of the Canal du Nord. He was then subsequently posted - presumably upon the disbandment of the 15th Warwickshire as part of the delayed reconstitution of the regular 5th Division on a 3 battalion per brigade basis - to the 16th (Service) Battalion (3rd Birmingham) on or around 6 October 1918 at Ytres.  He was wounded by a gas shell the following day - 7 October 1918 (over half the recorded use of gas and half the casualties occurred in the final year of the War; in this case the German gunners were probably using it as an area denial weapon). He was admitted to 14th Field Ambulance and then to 3rd Casualty Clearing Station that same day. He was sent home to the United Kingdom on 18 October and posted to depot. He was discharged as no longer physically fit for war service (paragraph 392 vxi of King's Regulations) on 14 January 1919, with 20% disabling Nephritis attributable to war service. His pension was 8 Shillings for one year, reducing to 7/6 for 70 weeks from 14 December 1921, his degree of disablement by this time being judged as 6-14%.

For his service he was entitled to one gold wound stripe and four blue chevrons, plus the Silver War Badge (number B.90380, acknowledged 14 February 1919), King's Certificate (acknowledged 26 February 1919), 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Leonard AustinRegiment or Corps:Army Service Corps, Royal Warwickshire RegimentRegimental Number:R/4/062473, 48338

A/257124 Pte HWA Abell, Army Service Corps Expeditionary Force Canteens

A/257124 Pte HWA Abell, Army Service Corps Expeditionary Force Canteens

Henry William Albert Abell, a motor driver of 15 Birkbeck Road, Acton, served with the Canteens section of the Expeditionary Force Canteens, Army Service Corps. He was a married man on call-up, being married to Mary Ellen (née Tobin), and having three children. He had formally been a pupil of Saint Mark's National School and in 1911 was employed as a 'mechanical cabman'

He was deemed to have been enlisted for General Service on 24 June 1916, being called up for service and posted to the EFC - for which he had expressed a preference - around 4 November. He was aged 36 at the time, having been born on 23 October 1880, standing 5'6" tall, and medically graded B.i. He was sent overseas remarkably quickly, being sent as a Private to join the BEF in France only five days later, on 9 November 1916. His unit at the time of discharge was ASC/MT, and it seems likely that this is how he was employed throughout his time with the EFC.

He remained in France for the next two years, enjoying a fortnight's furlough to the UK from 10 November 1918, before returning until the end of March 1919. After a month back in the UK he was discharged to the Army 'Z' Reserve via No.2 dispersal unit, Crystal Palace, on 27 April 1919.

His permanent address on discharge was 39 Churchfield Road, Acton, London W3 and his full entitlement was the British War Medal and Victory Medal. By 1939 a taxi driver living on the Fulham Road, he died at Croydon on 27 January 1965, aged 84. His effects were £560.

Name:Henry William A AbellMilitary Year:1914-1920Rank:PrivateMedal Awarded:British War Medal and Victory MedalRegiment or Corps:Army Service CorpsRegimental Number:A/257124Previous Units:R.A.S.C. A/257124 Private.

Name:Henry William Alf AbellGender:MaleBirth Date:23 OctAdmission Date:3 Feb 1890School:St Mark's SchoolFather:Alfred AbellNotes:Non-provided school (0283): previously known as Saint Mark's National School until 1907, (the term National was replaced with Church of England)

The Silver War Badge: Worcestershire Regiment and ASC example

Name:D Lockley
Military Year:1914-1915
Rank:(P&L) Private
Medal Awarded:1914-15 Star
Regiment or Corps:Army Service Corps
Regimental Number:T/423285
Previous Units:1st. Worcestershire Regt. 9606 Pte., Trans. A.S.C. M.T. Pte M/396397 2-5-18

Daniel Lockley
Discharge Unit:R.A.S.C.
Regiment:Army Service Corps
Regimental Number:T/423285
Rank:Pte.
Badge Number:B55230
Piece:3217
List Number:RASC 2751-3000

Born Wolverhampton. 34 years old on enlistment. Carter. Enlisted 14 September 1914, posted to  5th/6th Worcestershire Regiment (Special Reserve/Training battalions), recorded on medal rolls as serving with 1st battalion, entered France theatre of war 1 April 1915, compulsorily transferred to ASC MT branch 25 February 1918 (learner driver?), transferred ASC P&L 31 July 1818 discharged 2 December 1918 under para 392 xvia II (Sickness). Aged 38 years, 11 months on discharge. Served overseas. Entitled 1914-15 Star. Home address on discharge 191 Summer Lane(?)

A possible Somme WW1 British War/Victory Medal pair to 40082 Pte CONNELL of the 6/7 Royal Scots Fusiliers

A WW1 British War & Victory Medal pair to 40082 Pte CONNELL, 6th/7th Royal Scots Fusiliers (a New Army battalion), formerly of 1st and 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Potted history of the regiment's service in WW1:

The 6th (Service) and 7th (Service) battalions were New Army battalions, of the first and second hundred thousand respectively.

In spring 1916 the 6th Battalion were in Flanders, under the command of one Lt-Col Winston Churchill, before moving down to the Somme and being amalgamated with the 7th Battalion in May 1916, prior to the Somme offensive. Both the 1st and 2nd battalions also served on the Somme.

Holder's possible service history:

A number of comrades with service numbers also in the 40,000 series appear on the Somme Roll of Honour, whilst a fellow private, with a service number only 5 lower than Pte Connell's, was buried on 31 January 1917 at CONTALMAISON CHATEAU CEMETERY, near Albert - a cemetery begun by fighting units on the evening of the 14th July, 1916, and used from September, 1916 to March, 1917 by Field Ambulances. It's therefore perhaps not unreasonable to assume that Pte Connell also served on the Somme at around this period.

Medal condition:

Very Fine on original period silk ribbons (a little distressed in the case of BWM).

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.

An interesting WW1 British Indian Victory Medal to 3244 Rest Allaud Din, 107th Pioneers

3244 Resvt Allaud Din, 107th Pioneers, Indian Army

A sound WW1 Indian Army VICTORY MEDAL to a Reservist (RESVT) in the 107th Pioneer Regiment (107-PNRS). Correctly engraved on rim to 3244  RESVT. ALLAUD  DIN.  107 PNRS.

Potted history of the regiment

Tracing its roots back to 1788, when raised as the 4th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys, the regiment was designated the 107th Pioneers in 1903, and a second battalion raised in 1917. It was then  reconstituted in 1922 as the 1st Battalion, 2nd Bombay Pioneers, continuing under this designation until disbanded in 1932.

WW1 service

During WW1 the 107th served with the 9th Sirhind Infantry Brigade, 3rd Lahore Division of the Indian Expeditionary Force in France then with the 7th Indian Division in Mesopotamia before returning to India in 1917.

Role of pioneer regiments in WW1

Pioneer regiments undertook many labouring tasks associated with the maintenance of lines of communications, and defensive positions including trenches, but could and did also operate as fighting troops as needed.

The service of the holder

The holder of this medal, Reservist (Resvt) Allaud Din, 107th Pioneers, could therefore possibly claim service on the Western Front between September and December 1914 (including at Festubert and Neuve Chapelle) and/or in Mesopotamia from January 1915 on. The regimental war diaries are available in digitised form from the National Archives at Kew.

Features of interest

Medals inscribed to this rank/appointment (Resvt) appear to be quite rare, and it is fairly unusual in my experience to find WW1 medals to Indian Army personnel still with their original silk ribbon. The degree of loss of finish is, unfortunately, fairly typical.