Army Service Corps MT units

[Soozi-Bee]

Hello,

This is my first ever post so please bear with me........

I have been tracing my family history for the last eight years, & feel pretty confident that I know what I am doing. However, the one fly in the ointment has been trying to find details about my paternal grandfather, Frank Robertson! The only definite piece of info that I have is his date of death - 2nd January 1946,aged 64. Other info gleaned from birth & death certs of his children show that during WW1 he was a private in the A.S.C MT unit, & he was a motor mechanic. I have a service number which appears on a death certificate from April 1918, which isn't too clear, but seems to read as " Pte MT 1 - 07111." Does this make sense to anyone, please? Also, at this time he was resident in Southport with my grandmother & 2 children, the youngest of whom had been born in Southport in December 1917. Grandad , Grandma,& all their other children were born in London. Would anyone know if there was a ASC unit based in Southport for any reason at that time.

Also,if the service number I have quoted is correct, does anyone know where I could find further details. I need a date of birth at least so that I can proceed with my research. I haven't been able to find a marriage record for Grandad & Grandma either, so must assume they weren't married, so I have no father's name to fall back on either.

Sorry to ramble on but I'm running out of places to look! Can anyone help,please??

Many thanks

Soozi-Bee

[seaforths]

Ancestry should hold a medal card for him. A search for his grave on CWGC website should help you confirm you have the correct service number to search for the medal card on the Ancestry website. Long, long trail link here for the ASC http://www.1914-1918.net/asc.htm

Edit: Ancestry might also have a roll of honour entry and a service record for him - if it survived.

I hope this helps.

[Waggoner]

Soozie-bee,

Welcome to the Forum. I am confused - did he die in 1946 or 1918? Have you tried to find his service records at either The National Archives or Ancestry?

All the best,

Gary

[seaforths]

Soozie-bee,

Welcome to the Forum. I am confused - did he die in 1946 or 1918? Have you tried to find his service records at either The National Archives or Ancestry?

All the best,

Gary

It confused me too but having re-read. Could one of his children have died in 1918 and therefore his service number appeared on the child's death cert? In which case he couldn't have a CWGC grave because he died in 1946.

[Soozi-Bee]

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your welcome.

Grandad died in 1946. He was in Southport, apparently with the ASC, in 1917-1918. checked medal cards but can't find a service number that corresponds to the one I quoted in my post; checked service records , pension records, both online & at TNA in person. I do not have a date of birth & so cannot verify which of the numerous Frank Robertson's or Frank Henry Robertson & any other connotation of those names you care to put in a search engine, is my Frank Robertson .

Cheers

Soozi-Bee

[Soozi-Bee]

Hi Seaforths,

Many thanks for your reply & sorry for the confusion. My grandad's eldest child did die in 1918,& his service number was on the death cert, but as I said, was not very clear.

Thanks again

Soozi-Bee

[jay dubaya]

There were certainly ASC depot companies based at Southport and its unlikely Frank Robertson was awarded any medals, he would appear never to have served overseas which explains the lack of a MIC. I'll look through my notes over the coming days and see if I can shed light on the ASC companies that were based in Southport throughout the war

Jon

[Soozi-Bee]

Many thanks for your reply,Jon. i look forward to your findings.

regards

Susannah

[jay dubaya]

Susannah, I can't give much detail but I can say that its very likely that Frank Robertson served with the 52nd Home Depot MT Company ASC (Southport, Western Command). As well as being a stores and repair depot from December 1916 it became a Discharge Depot (with elements of retraining wounded men for home service) for ASC men returning from the BEF. The 52nd Company also had its main depot at Aldershot and a further depot at Catterick

Jon

[Soozi-Bee]

Hello Jon,

Many thanks for your information - you are a star!! This is the first information to do with my Grandad that I feel I can build on. Thank you so much.

All the best for 2014

Kindest Regards

Susannah

P.S.

Do you know if there are any records available that I could access about the 52nd Company that would give me any details about my grandad, especially a date of birth or next of kin. I know that's a long shot, but I had to ask.

Cheers,Jon

Susannah