PMaguire Posted 16 May , 2011 Share Posted 16 May , 2011 I am hoping to find out something about a relative's service during The Great War. He was a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, (from 1915?) with the number 155748 and later transferred to the RAMC, where his number was 161245. Can I get more information from these numbers re his actual regiments, experiences, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinrowlinson Posted 17 May , 2011 Share Posted 17 May , 2011 His RGA number would indicate he was conscripted/mobilised to Fort Brockhurst around the 22nd April 1917. Do you have anything that indicates he was serving before this? Kevin Edit: If one looks at the service records in the RAMC for 161237, 161241, 161248 and 161250 they had already been transferred to the Labour Corp, from the infantry, and then transferred to the RAMC at the beginning of August 1919 to No. 8 Coy RAMC at York. You would have to look at the Medal Rolls to see whether any further information is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMaguire Posted 19 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 19 May , 2011 Thank you. He was living in Liverpool when he joined up/ was conscripted. I believe he was in the army in 1916, possibly in 1915. While in the RAMC, he was wounded and taken back to hospital in Yorkshire (Leeds? Wakefield?) - is this in keeping with his being in No 8 Coy RAMC? Having recovered, he got some leave and returned to the army on the 11th Nov 1918! Apart from the Reg No, Rank and Corps, the only other information on his Medal Record is RAMC/101B58, under Roll, and 4291 under Page. Is it possible to get information on the deployment of NO 8 Coy RAMC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 19 May , 2011 Share Posted 19 May , 2011 Looking at the records Kevin has indicated, and a few others besides, it would appear that the Medal Index Card you have doesn't tell you the whole story and possibly (highly likely in my opinion) doesn't show a transfer to the Labour Corps. All of the RAMC men highlighted by Kevin (161237, 161241, 161248 plus 161216 & 161222) served overseas and were wounded etc. with their original (pre-RAMC) unit. On return to the UK they were treated in hospital and convalesced before returning to service. After convalescing their Medical Category was downgraded and they were all transferred to the Labour Corps (at various times in 1918) and posted to Agricultural Companies in the Nottingham area. The common link through them all is that they all served in 472nd Agricultural Company, which appears to have been at Burton Joyce, prior to being posted to No.1 Transfer Centre Northern Command at Ripon at the end of July/beginning of August 1919. From here they were then all transferred to No.8 Company RAMC at York (again end of July/beginning of August 1919) before being demobbed. Hope this helps. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMaguire Posted 20 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 20 May , 2011 Thanks, Steve. Perhaps my information is inaccurate - that he may have been transferred to RAMC after his convalescing. (I had wondered why he would have been moved from RGA to RAMC.). The dates do not fit with what I have learned - he was demobbed before Christmas 1918 and had served for approximately 3 years. Might he have been demobbed early because he had just finished his convalescence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 20 May , 2011 Share Posted 20 May , 2011 There is obviously some conflict between the information you have that "he was demobbed before Christmas 1918" and the issuing of the RAMC number which appears to have been July/August 1919. Service Number allocation isn't an exact science so I'll go back to the service records and see if I can identify if any of the 161xxx numbers were issued at an earlier date. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMaguire Posted 20 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 20 May , 2011 I have now found a photograph of "Wharncliffe War Hospital Sheffield", so I assume that this is where my uncle was treated for his wounds. Would any hospital records survive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 20 May , 2011 Share Posted 20 May , 2011 I've had another trawl of the records for RAMC service numbers in the range 161011 to 161464, there are about 48 records in total and I'll admit I've only looked at 30 of them, but am happy that that particular range of numbers was allocated between July and September 1919. I would suggest that if your relative was demobbed before Christmas then it was Christmas 1919 and not 1918. Whilst trawling through I did see mention of Wharncliffe Hospital in a couple of the records, I'm not going to go back and find out which ones though . Sheffield would, I believe, be in Northern Command's area (unless someone knows differently) so it makes sense that once convalesced and medically downgraded he would be put into that area's 'Labour' pool, be it with the Labour Corps or another unit. My understanding from the records I looked at is that No.8 Company RAMC was in effect a "Labour Centre" for the RAMC and held, posted and discharged men as necessary. It's quite feasible (there are quite a number of instances in the records) that once transferred to the RAMC your relative could even have been posted to a medical establishment for a while before being demobbed. Hope this helps. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMaguire Posted 21 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 21 May , 2011 Thanks for your help, Steve. I was already beginning to think that his being demobbed before Christmas 1918 was unlikely. When you say that you have trawled through the RAMC records, where did you access this data? Apart from mention of the hospital, is there any further information e.g re wounds? Thanks again Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 21 May , 2011 Share Posted 21 May , 2011 Patrick The records I searched were in the 'pension' records set available on Ancestry, these are the WO364 series of records held at NA, Kew. As they're records for individual servicemen then yes, there is further information on wounds etc. but only specific to that man. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sponge Posted 4 November , 2013 Share Posted 4 November , 2013 Looking at the records Kevin has indicated, and a few others besides, it would appear that the Medal Index Card you have doesn't tell you the whole story and possibly (highly likely in my opinion) doesn't show a transfer to the Labour Corps. All of the RAMC men highlighted by Kevin (161237, 161241, 161248 plus 161216 & 161222) served overseas and were wounded etc. with their original (pre-RAMC) unit. On return to the UK they were treated in hospital and convalesced before returning to service. After convalescing their Medical Category was downgraded and they were all transferred to the Labour Corps (at various times in 1918) and posted to Agricultural Companies in the Nottingham area. The common link through them all is that they all served in 472nd Agricultural Company, which appears to have been at Burton Joyce, prior to being posted to No.1 Transfer Centre Northern Command at Ripon at the end of July/beginning of August 1919. From here they were then all transferred to No.8 Company RAMC at York (again end of July/beginning of August 1919) before being demobbed. Hope this helps. Steve Hi Steve. I am very interested in your knowledge of 472 Agri Company. I believe my grandfather also served in 472 between 9.10.18 and 20.4.19. His name was Charles Walter Ward and his LC number was 662570. His number before being transferred was 66929. Do you know anything more of 472? I also believe he was in 411 Agri Company at some stage as well. Thanks, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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