Guest Tankman Posted 22 April , 2004 Share Posted 22 April , 2004 I have just found my grandfathers discharge certificate and would like to find out more about his service details. Unfortunately the papers are very dirty making it difficult to read, and has some holes in places. He was dischared on the 22 Feb 1919 and was in the 76 Lab. Coy., Labour Corps. His Regtl. No. is either 656992 or 606992. According to the certificate he enlisted on the 28 Feb 1916, in the Suffolk ( next bit missing but suspect 'Regt' ). He was also in the Bedfordshire Regt., Tra( missing bit ) Reserve. It also indicate service overseas. Any info on the units etc , would be gratefully received. I also have 2 medals ( British War Medal and Victory Medal ) giving his Service No. as 39471 and Bedf R. Would Service Nos. change going between the different units. Many Thanks Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 22 April , 2004 Share Posted 22 April , 2004 Hi, The missing bit after 'Bedfordshire Regt' is training reserve. The Suffolk regiment is indeed a regiment of the British Army. Service numbers for the Great War period do indeed change when the soldier changed unit. In order to make specific comments about his service it is necessary to know what battalions of the Suffolk and Bedfordshire Regiment he served with. However, as the unit on the medal is Bedfordshire Regiment then this is the unit he was serving with when he first entered a theatre of war. How to research his war service is stated in the grandad's war section of this forums parent website, and the war service of the various battalions in which he served can also be found by following the links found on the home page. Rgds, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tankman Posted 22 April , 2004 Share Posted 22 April , 2004 Alex, Thanks for the information. I will lool up the pages you suggest and see if I can narrow down the battalions. Regards Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 22 April , 2004 Share Posted 22 April , 2004 Tankman A Labour Corps number in the 600000 series means he joined the Corps in the summer or autumn of 1918. In October and November 1918 they were being used to work on forward roads in XVII COrps area. When the war ended they transferred to XIII Corps area and would have been used for battlefield clearance/salvage work. I do have a couple of dates/locations for them: 25 November 1918 in the Feigies area (specifically at location Army Map Sheet 51 location E.25.a.2.2 8 December 1918 location Goegnies Chausee 15 December 1918 location Mons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tankman Posted 22 April , 2004 Share Posted 22 April , 2004 Ivor, Thanks for the info. Do you know if they were still in the Mons area on 23 Feb 1919, as my grandfather re-enlisted into the Bedfordshire Regt the day after his initial discharge. From his second discharge form it looks like Mons as the place of enlistment. For info. He also enlisted into the Sect. 'D' Pool Army Reserve on his discharge from his second enlistment. Also as he was only 4 foot 10 inches tall, he had to be originally enlisted into a 'Bantam' unit. I did not know about height restrictions before. Overall, not bad record for a 'Half-Pint'. Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 23 April , 2004 Share Posted 23 April , 2004 Tankman, Sorry no location for the time when he was discharged. In fact 76 Company only continued to exist as a full unit until 15 March 1919, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tankman Posted 23 April , 2004 Share Posted 23 April , 2004 Ivor, Thanks for looking up the info you provided. Could you tell me where the two Corps area's you previously mentioned were, and where I can get more info on the Labour Corps. Regards Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 23 April , 2004 Share Posted 23 April , 2004 Tankman, With reference to the two Corps have a look at Chris's main site for information on the Corps. Have a look at What was a Corps However as you will see a Corps covered a very large area of land. With reference to further information on the Labour Corps there is very little written about them. Hopefully this will be rectified before too long - work permitting! There is no history of the Corps and very few War Diaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tankman Posted 24 April , 2004 Share Posted 24 April , 2004 Ivor, Thanks for all your time and effort on providing the information. Many Thanks Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now