801 MT Coy ASC War Diary

[Gardenerbill]

I have transcribed volume 1 of my 801 Coy war diary photographs taken at
Kew a couple of weeks ago. The first few entries are at Bulford Barracks
when the company was being put together, followed by descriptions of the
move to Havre, then on to Marseille, Malta and Salonika.

Once there the company set up camp at 51¹/₂ and started moving stores,
rations, road materials etc along the Seres Road. Here is a sample page:

[Gardenerbill]

The war diary page in post #1 is divided into 7 columns the first 3 are
self-explanatory, the fourth appears to be the vehicle numbers (the company
has seven 15 ton lorries [now think this should be 7 3ton lorries and 1 5ton] and the numbers range from 3461 to 3467). The next
column details the journeys to and from the village of Likovan, Salonika
and various numbers that I assume refer to the kilometre posts on the Seres
road. The next column relates to the nature of the journey; rations, road
repairs, retyring etc. The final column contains the initials of the CO
Captain B.M. Patton.

I have a couple of questions outstanding on volume 1, what does SO stand
for and does anyone know what was at the following kilo post locations.

57, 59, 61¹/_2, 66, 72 and 74

64¹/₂ is 16^th Corps Troops Ordnance dump

71 is 2/5 DLI Camp

[Rockdoc]

72 is somewhere close to Orljak and must have been a dump or something similarly important because 74th AA Section had a Subsection at 72.5km for a very long time. I know there was also a Balloon unit just over the bridge on the plain so 74 may be that.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

Keith, I think you're right about 72, of the 134 journeys recorded 52 are to or from 72 and 49 are to or from Likovan. These must have been major stores dump locations.

There is an old post on here about Seres Road Kilo posts by AndyR it has OrlJak at 74.8 and Likovan at 46.6.

I also found a reference to 127th Siege Bty at 74.

[Gardenerbill]

Two more points of interest in volume 1

Enemy Aeroplane was seen on the 14^th of January 1917 circling the dump for 20 minutes before being driven off by ‘by our airmen’.

According to Michael Young’s ASC book there was a major reorganisation of supply in 1916 and 1917. The changes involved pooling of supply and reorganisation into MT companies some being allocated to Corps. I think the effect of these changes can be seen in some of the diary entries that request outstanding indents to be transferred from division to Corps.

[Gardenerbill]

I had a bit of a 'Eureka' moment yesterday. I finally got around to having a look at the Military maps for the Seres road area on the SCS trench map dvd (well worth a buy incidentally). I opened the Likovan 1:20,000 scale map first and two things jumped out; first the Kilometers are marked on the road and secondly a Decauville railway (military narrow guage) was marked coming in on the left side of the map to a terminus with sidings at K43¹/_² .

[Gardenerbill]

Following on from yesterdays post, K72 is on the edge of the Struma valley plain where the road comes down from the hills and crosses a bridge over a stream.

In January 1917 the location of the company is given as 16^th Corps Ordnance dump Kilo 64 Seres Rd Salonica. There is an inspection by Colonel Spencer D.D.O.S (? Director of Supplies), not just of the dump but the system of recording bulk and principle items.

Entries on the 16^th and 17^th raise more questions:

1 load of stores received from railhead – Have a quantity of u/s stores to return could not do so as Cpl had gone to Kilo 74 with stores to hand over for 127 siege Bty with the Way bill book in his possession.

338 MT Coy wired to arrange for two lorries returning empty to call and pick up u/s stores for railhead.

What are u/s stores, and what is a Way Bill Book.

[Rockdoc]

U/S is shorthand for useless, I think, and a way-bill is a document that's used to set and record a route for goods in transit.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

Thanks Keith, I was thinking unused but now you mention it 'us' is still used as an abbreviation for useless.

At the end of January rain and heavy snow curtail movements. Two more entries catch the eye:

'Visited O.O. 7^th Mtd Bde re forming new dump at kilo 68¹/₂ as per instruction from A.D.O.S '

O.O. is presumably Ordnance Officer, 68¹/₂ is half way between Likovan and Lahana. A.D.O.S. Assistant Director of Supply Lieut Colonel Byrne.

and:

'One load 40 C.D.L. tents and Pins for 49 received from Railhead and sent over to 2/5 D.L.I. Camp Kilo 71'

Antone know what C.D.L. tents are? 2/5 D.L.I is presumably 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. K71 is part way down the western slope of the Struma Valley.

[Rockdoc]

Thinking about this more, I think the more formal expansion might be unserviceable, even if the sense is identical! 2/5 means the Second Fifth Battalion. I find Army designations extremely confusing!

Keith

[apwright]

In the context of aircraft, CDL is clear-doped linen. I suppose that might be applicable for tents too??

Kilo 71 was also the site of 2/3 Northumbrian Field Ambulance from September 1916, then later of 40th CCS until July 1918. The CWGC's Struma Military Cemetery is there now.

K71 is approximately the 2nd righthand bend in the road in the village of Kalokastro heading north. There's a road that leads round to the cemetery just before there.

Adrian

[Gardenerbill]

Adrian, there is no village at K71 on the military map, do you think the village that's there now is as a result of the site being used by the military, I presume the site would have been leveled.

February 1917 Snow and bad roads keep the lorries at base for several days of the month. The 801 camp has moved to K43¹/₂ (near railhead) and most of the deliveries are rations. There are several deliveries to SO 27^th Division at K44, an RE quarry at K50¹/₄ and an RE Dump at Lahana. Perhaps SO is Stores Office.

[Gardenerbill]

Into March and there is a visit from the MO a Captain with an unreadable name and a Sergeant from the Sanitary Section. There are convoys to RE dumps at K52¹/₂ and K44, and more to SO 27^th Division. 14 men proceed to 803 Company who have moved into 801 Companies old camp site at K58¹/₂. As well as rations the company is now moving hay from Guvesne to Likovan, the weather has improved and no days are lost. One man teams are ferried to N^o3 HT Base Depot but it doesn’t say where, not quite sure what this means.

At the end of March a new officer arrives, 2Lt McGraith, to replace 2Lt Foucard who had taken over duty of SO at K72. The company is still mostly moving Rations and hay, but unusually there is an ordnance move from K47 to K64 the Corps Ordnance dump.

[Gardenerbill]

April 1917 one lorry and 3 men return to 738 MT Coy. Started collecting winter clothing and taking sun helmets to K72, a bit early, it’s snowing. The sergeant from the sanitary section visits twice and then the company moves and pitches camp at K59³/₄ where there is a good spring. Early in the month the company is mainly moving rations, then they start moving stores to the 143 A.T. Coy R.E. at K62¹/₄ and at K58. 2 lorries are sent to another R.E. dump at 43¹/₂ one with rations and one ‘Defence’. A.Q.M.G. is informed that the company is ready to take over repairs of corps cars.

I presume A.Q.M.G. is Assistant Quarter Master General.

[Gardenerbill]

After the successful autumn campaign in 1916 when the XVI Corps had taken the villages of Karajakoi Bala, Karajakoi Zir, Yenikoi and Bairakli Jum'a to form a new outpost line in the Struma valley attention shifted to XII Corps and the Doiran offensive. Meanwhile in the hills north east of Salonika:

At the end of April 3, lorries are sent to the 7^th Mtd Bde at Likovan to pick up supplies for K63. There are more rations and stores for 143 A.T. Coy R.E. at K62¹/₄. On the 24^th the gardening starts with the sowing of lettuce, cress, broad beans, peas and turnips. The next day the first corps car (566) comes in for repair, the weather is cold again and an officer and an NCO go to K62 for anti gas training.

[Rockdoc]

Guvesne was another railhead and important enough to have a full AA Section (98th) stationed there from 9th April 1917. They were there for around a year before moving to Lake Tahinos in the Struma and were replaced by only one gun, B Subsection of 141st AAS. Clearly, the threat to the dump was thought to have lessened

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

I see on the maps I have that Guvesne is further back down the Seres road nearer to Salonika and would have been a very important supply point during the Birdcage days hence the AA section.

I also noticed that the Decauville rail head I found on the Likovan map doesn't connect with the main railway but heads in a northerly direction to another roadside rail head near Mirova and was probably built to take supplies from the Seres road to Mirova.

[Rockdoc]

It would have been useful had the Birdcage ever been used in anger but, I read somewhere, it was used as the main dump for supplies to sites along the Seres road and to the northern part of the Struma valley. Stuff went there initially from Salonika and was shipped on as required. The south end of the Struma was supplied from Stavros via a Decauville line to a dump at Kar Tasli Derbend (Neohori map on the SCS disk) and thence quite some distance by road.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

Keith I think Guvesne was important throughout the campaign, have a look at this picture on the IWM website:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205250007

[delta]

U/S is shorthand for useless

U/S is unservicable = either repairable or able to be canniblised

[Gardenerbill]

While the first battle of Doiran rages on, May finds the 801 company still moving rations and stores for 143 A.T. Coy R.E. at K62¹/₄ and K58. An officer is now regularly going out on road patrol. More cars are coming in for repair and a dam is built across the ravine at the head of the camp to provide washing water.

A request is sent to the 28^th F.A.W.U. for spares to be sent over. Then a trip to Salonika is made to purchase vegetables and glass for the company clock. While there a visit is made to the D.S.T.

F.A.W.U. I assume is Field Ambulance Workshop Unit.

Anyone know what the D.S.T. is?

[Gardenerbill]

By mid May 1917 16th Corps are withdrawing from the outpost line in the Struma valley for the summer, was this a total withdrawal?

This is the page for the middle of May I have included it as there is a lot in it:

On the 11th the lorries of 27^th and 40^th C.C.S. (Casualty Clearing station) are inspected and also looks like 6^th Ara Motor Baty. Is this Anti Aircraft?

Then 3 men report for duty followed by another the next day, one of these men is almost certainly my Grandfather Private William Hodgson.

A trip is made to Salonika for D.S.T. and spares from MT base depot.

1 man is transferred to B.M.T.D. (B.M.T.D. Base Motor Transport Depot?)

Then there is a pay reference ‘To 72K to pay army men there.’

Motor cycles and lorries start coming in for repair.

Now supplying 287 A.T. Coy R.E. at 67¹/₂.

To Marinz and Ligrita to inspect anti-air section lorries.

782 M.t. Coy lorries on the limit.

To 40 C.C.S. with springs for lorries and to Corps H.Q. to see D.A.G.M.G.

[apwright]

To Marinz and Ligrita to inspect anti-air section lorries.

Marian and Nigrita ... probably

Adrian

Your other query is probably 6th Armoured Motor Battery, which was in Salonika from early 1916 to ?June 1917 when they went to Mespot.

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Wave/image/memoire/1508/sap40_or065222_p.jpg

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Wave/image/memoire/1508/sap40_or065219_p.jpg

[Rockdoc]

91st AA Section had guns at Marian and Nigrita around this time. A Sub (Nigrita) were at 1940/1538 and B Sub (Marian) at 1848/1613 on 1st June. The pages for May 1917 are missing but the guns were at similar positions at the end of April. Although nothing is specifically stated in the Diary about the lorries used, they did exchange a drive-shaft from a Thornycroft GS lorry with a broken one on a gun lorry so the chances are they were Thornycroft Type Js.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

Adrian/Keith,

Thanks for the responses, now you mention it, it does look like Arm for armoured, likewise Marian and Nigrita, where abouts are these villages?

The armoured lorry pictures are great, I didn't know they had these in Salonika, were the pictures taken in Salonika or Mesopotamia?

I have just had a brainwave (rare) could D.S.T. be Divisional Supply Train?