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Remembered Today:

Gassed in Salonika


charliec

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My grandfather's MIC details show he was a Driver in the RE, Number 90176 and first theatre of war as France on the 6 Sep 1915.

He was apparently gassed in Salonika at some point and sufferred with chest problems the remainder of his life until passing in 1957.

At present I have been unable to identify his unit, brigade or division or the circumstances of being posted to Salonika.

Any thoughts or information would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

CharlieC

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Charlie,

I take it you don't have a service reocord for your Grandfather otherwise you would know his unit,however being gassed may be a clue. The British Salonika Force consisted of 2 Corps XII and XVI.

Assumption 1; I am not aware of gas shells being used in the Struma valley so that would rule out XVI corps. Gas shells were used by both sides on the Doiran sector at both battles of Doiran (Apr-May 1917 and Sep 1918) and there were gas casualties among the British units, so probably XII Corps who occupied the line in the Doiran sector.

Assumption 2; if he was gassed he was probably in a unit attached to a division i.e. a field company in XVI corps. According to the long long trail (parent web site of the forum) XVI corps consisited of 3 divisions 22nd, 26th and 60th, all these division were in France before moving to Salonika.

Assumption 3; if there is no suggestion that he served in Palestine he probably wasn't attached to 60th Division who moved to Palestine in 1917, that leaves 22nd and 26th divisions.

The 22nd Division Field Companies:

87th and 88th Field Companies left February 1915 so probably not these

That leaves 99th, 100th or 127th Field Companies.

The 26th Division Field Companies:

95th and 96th Field Companies left February 1915 so again probably not these

That leaves 107th, 108th or 131st Field Companies.

If you want to find out more about the Salonika campaign I would recommend you get a copy of 'Under the Devils Eye' by Wakefield and Moody. Both battles of Doiran are covered in detail in the book.

If you can get to Kew they may have war diaries for these units that might mention gas casualties but they rarely mention other ranks by name.

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Thanks for info, much obliged

No service record yet, only copy of MIC and his medals, including 1915 Star.

Have heard of book you mentioned, must buy methinks.

Also have briefly looked at units arriving in France early September 1915 and some of the ones you mention are there, so to not far off the mark.

CharlieC

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Thanks, I'll have a look to see if I can find him.

Just found a discharge document on Ancestry which may be him, full name and year of birth match his details.

The record says he was discharged from Labour Corps, 646 Agricultural Company and in the locality he hails from.

Could it be he was transferred to Labour corps due to becoming unfit for overseas service following the gassing incicent?

Although his MIC does not reflect this new info?

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Charlie

I don't know much about the Labour Corps, but men no longer fit for front line duty were transferred to the Army Service Corps in exchange for Army Service Corps men who were fit enough to join infantry battalions and I am sure the same would have been true for the Labour Corps. As a driver you would have thought that he would have been a good fit for the A.S.C. but maybe he wasn't fit enough to drive. Driving lorries was a physically demanding job, no power steering or servo assisted breaks in those days.

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Gardenerbill

My Grandfather was a groom prior to the war so used to looking after horses and supposedly rode in a few amatuer races.

I'm presuming he may have been able to revert back to these skills in the Agricultural Company rather than continue as a driver in the RE as MIC states.

Or could he have been a 'driver' of horses in RE rather than vehicles, pure speculation on my part but maybe a possibility?

CharlieC

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