War diary 283 Coy. - 7th Corps H. A. 'G' corps Siege Park

[dravin]

I am revisiting my grandfathers service & looking for some help to try and find the war diary or diaries covering the movements for my grandfather, his CWGC entry below

Name: YOELL, THOMAS GEORGE
Initials: T G
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Army Service Corps
Unit Text: "G" Siege Park
Secondary Unit Text: attd. VII Corps Heavy Artillery
Age: 39
Date of Death: 24/11/1918
Service No: M2/189877
Additional information: Son of Edwin and Charlotte Yoell, of "Carolgate," Retford, Notts; husband of Edith Caroline Yoell, of The Bungalow, Horsemoor Green, Langley, Bucks. Estate Agent.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. C. 38.
Cemetery: BUSIGNY COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION

Sadly his service record does not appear to have survived, I have his medal card, medal roll & PIN82 widows pension record, he died a victim of the flu pandemic

My grandfather made a will in the field 11th June 1918, it was witnessed by Albert Henry TINKER M2/203029 Corporal ASC MT B.E.F. France, he also sadly died same cause three days later

Alberts service record does survive and states his unit as "G" Siege Park Attd VII Corps H.A., place of death No 12 Casualty Clearing station (he is also buried at Busigny)

He was mentioned in despatches London Gazette 30th Dec 1918
TINKER, M2/203029 Cpl, A.H., 169th Siege By. Amm. Col. his papers show he was with 169 Siege Bty, before April 1917, then 282 Motor transport Company, to 402 Coy July 1917, promoted to cpl Oct 1917, to 884 Coy 24th Oct 1917, Dec 1917 to 594 MT Coy, Jan 1918 to 272, Mar 1918 to 594 then 641, 24th May 1918 to 272 MT Coy, 12th Aug 1918 to 641, 26th Aug to 272, 1st Nov 18 to 283 Coy and finally 12 C.C.S. died influenza 27th Nov 18

It seems likely my grandfather died in the same clearing station and latterly served in the same unit as Albert, if not for much of the time as Albert served

From
http://www.1914-1918.net/ASC_MT.htm
(ASC Coy) 283 Formed March 1915. Ammunition Column for 19th Brigade RGA. Later under XVII Corps Heavy Artillery, and called G Siege Park.

And
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=217339
283 Coy. - 7th Corps Heavy Artillery 'G' corps Siege Park (MT) - WO 95/817

That WO ref is confirmed on the National Archives

Try as I might I can't find the above in the war diaries released on Ancestry, I have no idea how many they have or if they intend to release any more

Can anyone help regarding the possibility the above diary is or is not on Ancestry? I cannot find a way to browse by reference only by major unit

Thank you

[Waggoner]

Could it be that the ASC war diaries have not been digitized yet?

All the best,

Gary

[dravin]

That was part of the question Gary, some are but as the ASC and others such as RAMC were attached to other units, I have found the major problem if finding just what unit they were attached to in the hierarchy of the army at the relevant times

What I don't know is how many of the total of war diaries are available on Ancestry, they have it organised by major unit not it appears by reference

[Ron Clifton]

Hello dravin

7 CORPS
WO 95/817 Corps Troops
WO 95/817 Senior Mechanical Transport Officer 1917 Feb. - 1919 Jan.
WO 95/817 Corps Supply Column 1917 Feb. - 1919 Jan.
WO 95/817 Troops Supply Column (382 Company A.S.C.) 1915 July - 1918 Nov.
WO 95/817 Corps Siege Park (283 Company A.S.C.) 1916 Nov. - 1919 Mar.

Corps and Army Troops war diaries are in the process of digitisation and I think they should be available online sometime later this year. Check their website, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk for more news.

Ron

[Colin W Taylor]

Dravin

I have the war diary for 283rd MT Coy but only for 1917 - it's not very likely that he was with the unit at this time - he probably moved around like Tinker. The diary mentions fatalities so it's likely the Nov 1918 page, if you can get a look at it at Kew, will mention him.

Even if you can get hold of the diary for 1918 I feel you'll not have much luck tracing his career. The turnover of manpower was massive in this MT company - it had 2000 plus soldiers attached in April 1917 and there is unlikely to be any mention of him elsewhere in the diary. Just the movement of different ammunition columns for different RGA batteries in and out. Without knowing similar information to Tinker tracing his movements will be next to impossible.

Have you looked whether Tinker left a will and whether Yoell witnessed it? It might give an additional date as to when they were together? An expensive long shot at £6 however.

Kind regards

Colin

[dravin]

To Ron & Colin

Sincere apologies for not replying sooner, I do not appear to be getting notifications, perhaps I have not ticked something or other

I am suffering the waiting for a bus syndrome, you know the thing you wait for leads and several arrive at the same time, nice problem to have of course

Very many thanks for the additional information, I did suspect the Corps diaries were not as yet available

I am aware that individuals are rarely mentioned, its more an attempt to get an idea of where my grandfather got to if only in general

Colin, I hadn't thought to look for a will for Albert TINKER, having done so he does not appear to have left one, it would have been an expensive punt though, wills are £10 these days unfortunately

Thanks again for the help, much appreciated

[dravin]

A small addition, I did find an administration (with will) for Albert in 1919 in the probate calendars rather than the soldiers wills

Like my grandfather whose will was also in the civilian calendars rather than soldiers wills, unsure why some appear in one rather than the other

So will see if I can find a relative of Albert who might have the will