Names of units mentioned in the 801st M.T. Coy A.S.C. war diary

[Gardenerbill]

Here is a list of the units mentioned in the 801st war diary, if anyone would like more information on the entries or a copy of the page they are on either post a reply or PM to me and I can post or email the information to you.

13/5 Black Watch

143 A.T. Coy R.E.

146 F.A.B.

2/24^th London Reg

2/5 D.L.I.

244 M.T. Coy

26^th Divn Signals

26^th Midd Pioneers

27^th C.C.S.

27^th Div SO

287 A.T. Coy R.E.

28^th F.A.W.U.

346 M.T. Coy A.S.C

40^th C.C.S.

660 M.T. Coy A.S.C

685 M.T. Coy

6^th Arm Motor Baty

711 Coy

738 Coy ASC

739 M.T. Coy

74^th A.A.S.

765 M.T. Coy

767 M.T. Coy

778 M.T. Coy

779 M.T. Coy

782 M.T. Coy

78^th Bde field ambulance

7^th Mtd Bde

802/3 Coy ASC

80^th F. A.

820 Employment Coy

910 M.T. Coy A.S.C

91^st A.A.S.

96^th Labour Co

Corps H.Q’s

Derby Yeomanry

Innis Fus

N^o3. H.T. Base Depot

Surrey Yeomanry

[miscelena]

Hi there! My ggf was in 778 MT Coy and I'd be interested to know what's said about that unit? Thank you so much. 

[Michelle Young]

Welcome to the forum. @Gardenerbill is till active on the forum , so my tag should alert him to your post.

[miscelena]

Thank you! 

[Gardenerbill]

Hi miscelena and welcome to the forum.

778 MT Coy ASC were formed 21st August 1916 a month before the 801st. The 801st arrived in Salonika 15th November 1916, so it is quite likely that the 778th arrived in Salonika a month earlier in October 1916. The 801st operated out of a camp on the Seres Road supplying the 16th Corps who were operating in the Struma valley. The Seres road was lined with army unit camps; Royal Engineers, Labour Companies, Ordinance units, Casualty Clearing Stations etc, as well as ASC companies, so 778 MT Coy may well have been located on the Seres road as well. To confirm this you would need to  see the war diary which would require a visit to Kew. According to 'Army Service Corps 1902 1918' by Michael Young the 778th were 28th Division Ammunition Park, part of the ammunition supply chain for 28th Division operating in the Struma valley as part of 16th Corps.

A description of the activities of an Ammunition Park can be found here on the Long Long Trail website:

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/definitions-of-units/the-ammunition-sub-park-of-the-army-service-corps-mechanical-transport/

[Gardenerbill]

There are 5 mentions of 778th  in the 801st war diary, this is the first:

19th January 1918 - Man sent to 778 Coy for musketry instruction. 

Which ties in with the 778th involvement with ammunition supply.

[Gardenerbill]

In September 1918 a successful offensive was launched in the Balkans against the Bulgarians and by the time of the next reference to the 778th the Bulgarians had been in full retreat and surrendered, the 801st had followed the advance and were located at Strumica, therefore it is safe to assume that the 778th had done the same and were located nearby.

Here is the next diary entry  dated  3rd October 1918

L.T.O. O.C. 778 Coy called ref the forwarding of spares from B.M.T.D. & arranged that I should forward a lorry to B.M.T.D. for spares & obtain C.H.Q. sanction to proceed to B.M.T.D. next day to try & urge delivery.

Not sure what L.T.O. stands for but O.C. is Officer Commanding and B.M.T.D is Base Mechanical Transport Depot which was located at Kalamaria to the south east of Salonika C.H.Q. is Corps Head Quarters.

Edited 1 May , 2023 by Gardenerbill
factual correction

[Gardenerbill]

By the time of the next entry 8th October 1918 the 801st had moved from Strumica to So Vrac which is near the river Struma but much further north well past the old front line where they had been a month earlier when located on the Seres road.

A.Q.M.G. ordered that 778 M.T. Coy supply water to 801 Coy camp

Again this indicates that the 778th were nearby.

A.Q.M.G. is Assistant Quartermaster-General.

[Gardenerbill]

On 21st October 1918  when the next reference to 778th is made the 801st were still at So Vrac. Two weeks earlier 3 lorries had been detached to 26th Division and had subsequently gone missing.

Found the three missing lorries i/c of an officer of 778 Coy doing a base detail & arranged with him to have retyring of bad wheels done before leaving the base.

[Gardenerbill]

When the final entry referencing the 778th was made 23rd October 1918, the 801st were still at So Vrac.

Visited L.T.O. & found that a lorry load of spares had been brought from Doiran Rhead & was waiting collection in 778 Coy camp arranged to collect next day.

Rhead is Railhead, a supply point on the Railway near the town of Doiran, 

Note: the last 4 entries were made after the armistice with Bulgaria was signed 30th September 1918.

If you would like to find out a little more about an MT Company operating on the Salonika front you could have a look at my website:

https://markshep58.wixsite.com/801-mt-coy-asc

 

[miscelena]

Thank you so much for this info! I will probably be back with hopefully intelligent questions once I process. Learning so much. Appreciate the quick response. 😊