ASC and Siege Parks?

[Bow123]

Hello

this is my last question for a while, but could someone please clarify what the establishment of a Siege Park would have been i.e how many ASC men.Am I corrct in thinking that a Siege Battery would have it's own attachment of ASC men and that there would also be ASC men serving at the Siege Park-so 2 sets of ASC pesonnel,one with the actual battery and the othr working at the Siege Park?

Cheers

Roger

[Ron Clifton]

Hello again Roger

I have been studying War Establishments for about twenty years and this one has always foxed me!

Originally, each Siege Battery had its own transport section of ASC MT personnel. From June 1916, one ASC MT company was atteched to each Corps and Army, to work with the heavy artillery, and these companies were designated Siege Parks in Jan 1917, reverting to their previous description in Sep 1917. There are no specific official establishments for these units: my best guess is that the transport personnel in a Corps were effectively "pooled", possibly in an attempt to reduce numbers of both men and vehicles, and that thereafter a Siege Battery which was being moved could call upon the Siege Park to move them, having given up their "own" MT drivers.

This is, as I say, my best guess, but it seems to make sense. The demand to move SBs about was not continuous and it would make more sense to have a permanent "removals team" rather than having a lot of drivers sitting around when the SB stayed in one place for any length of time.

I would be delighted to learn that I am wrong!

Cheers

Ron