RE abreviations and Z22 form data

[Tyrim]

On my Grandfather's STATEMENT AS TO DISABILITY Army Form Z.22.

The place of examination is- Calais.

His Unit is- T T Base Depot which I take to be Transportation Troops Base Depot

Does anyone know what was the purpose of that unit and where it was located?

His Regiment or Corps is- RE T N Bch

Does anyone know what that means, where it was located and what did those

troops do?

Written in the upper left corner of the form is- Long Service.

Written in the upper right corner of the form is- RE

Z/ 58825

Stamped across the back of the form is a name under which is written- Z/RE/58825

Does anyone know what is the significance of that? I can find nothing in his records to match 58825.

[Tinhat47]

I would assume the "T" and "Bch" would be Transportation Branch, but I don't know about the "N".

[ian turner]

I would suggest the z numbering is administrative for the army's files - I wondered about Z reserve, but guess that is not so if he had a disability?

[Terry_Reeves]

Tyrim

Although I think Matt is on the mark, it would be helpful if you could post his number rank and name.

TR

[Tyrim]

Thank you all for the information you've provided.

My grandfather's name was James McQuaid

Royal Engineers Sapper W.R.50839

As a result of the examination he was determined to be 50% disabled.

His medical category was BIII

He was indeed transferred to the Class Z Army Reserve on 26.2.19.

He died on 26.3.19.

Tyrim

[Tinhat47]

I'm looking at his service record on Ancestry. He was transferred from the RGA to the I.W.T (Inland Waterways & Transportation) Depot at Sandwich then to the I.W.T. Depot at Richborough where it claims he was "transferred from Mech. Sect." This is kind of odd because the Richborough Depot WAS at Sandwich.

You grandfather's service record at Ancestry is quite extensive -- in fact the largest I've ever seen. Including duplicate copies, it numbers 94 pages total.

[Tyrim]

I'm looking at his service record on Ancestry. He was transferred from the RGA to the I.W.T (Inland Waterways & Transportation) Depot at Sandwich then to the I.W.T. Depot at Richborough where it claims he was "transferred from Mech. Sect." This is kind of odd because the Richborough Depot WAS at Sandwich.

You grandfather's service record at Ancestry is quite extensive -- in fact the largest I've ever seen. Including duplicate copies, it numbers 94 pages total.

Matt,

Thanks for your help. Yes. I was able to get a copy of all of his records when Ancestry was open earlier this year. As you know a lot of them seem to have been damaged by water and are hard to read. I also noticed that some of the records are certified copies, while others seem to have entries overwritten as though they may have been damaged while they were still active as opposed to the bombing damage later on. Clearly, with all the duplication, something must have gone wrong somewhere. At one point the RE sent several letters to the RGA asking for his files. Perhaps some of these sheets were made up at that time to give them something to work with while they awaited the official file. Another possibility is that some of the records may have been made to support the widow's pension application after he died although the bulk of those are in a separate section of the file.

I too was confused by all that transferring but assumed it must have been into and out of some kind of receipt and transfer barracks, training unit or something like that. There are a lot of other transfers shown but the information is too faint to read. It would be interesting to examine the original documents to see what could be gathered from them.

Bob

[Tinhat47]

I could make out all the RGA transfers pretty well. The only R.E. ones I saw at all were the ones I mentioned above.

He was probably transferred out of the RGA and over to the I.W.T. in the R.E., as his pre-war occupation was a docks laborer, on orders. I have several other R.E. men I've researched who were in other units but were ordered transferred to home service in the I.W.T. later in the war because there was a need for experienced navvies -- and due to their lesser health classification as well, as far as I can make out.

[Tyrim]

The RGA records are pretty consistent. Some have more info than others but it's possible to compile a fairly good record of his activities. He was severly battered by the concussion during the big sieges of July and August 1916 and was hospitalized for 11 days in August because of it. In October he was injured in a recoil accident that sent him to Blighty for recovery. It was then that he was tested and transferred to the RE.

The "transfer" I'm trying to figure out at the moment is on frame 974. There are 2 hospitals stays listed. There is also "Joined 277 Railway Company" which bears looking into. But there's a curious line following the last discharge (from the 4 Gen Hosp). The date column to the left is missing and in the record etc. column it says "Leave 4 -----18.9.18 (41 of 19.10.18 of TTBD)" Beneath this and on the same line is "Arrd TTBD Ex Leave 20.9.18" (20.9.18 is in the column that seems to have been used for the report date or the date the entry item was reviewed or approved)

Given the date column is missing, what is the significance of the other dates? If he went on leave in France, from 18.9.18 - 19.10.18 would seem like a reasonable amount of time. But coming back on 20.9.18 doesn't sound reasonable at all.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what that entry means?

Thanks in advance,

Bob