6th Armoured motor battery in Salonika

[Sgt Stripes]

Hi . I am looking for information on the 6th Armoured motor battery. The only information I have is taken from the official history of military operations in Macedonia that states this unit consisting of four cars armoured with Machine guns had been in Salonika for sometime. The first two cars without personnel having landed there at the end of January 1916. The history states that on 3rd October the 6th AMB advanced up the Seres road in support of the 1st Suffolks. There is also mention that on 11th October one Armoured car supported the 1st Yorks and Lancaster at Bairakli Juma. I have also found a reference that on 6th October , the Sherwood Rangers yeomanry supported by Armoured cars attacked Kalendra. During the action the Rangers lost five men KIA and all the tyres on the cars were shot to pieces. The only other information is that the unit was transferred in June 1917 to Mesopotamia. Did the 6th AMB take part in any other actions and who operated the cars, was it the RNAS. Please note a similar post has been posted on the Great war forum under units and formations.      

[James A Pratt III]

The book "Warcars" by David Fletcher has arrives Salonika 2 Rolls-Royce armored cars Eygpt May 1917 added 2 more Rolls-Royce and 4 Leyland armored cars ex 1st AMB August 1917 Mespot 6th LAMB Leylands discarded September 1917 Dunsterforce 6 Rolls Royce armored cars Feb-Oct 1918

[david murdoch]

They seem to have been a bit of "bits and pieces" unit to start off with. The personnel would be a mix of MGC(M) and ASC. In the listings in War Cars they are noted as 6th A.M.B, but this may be a typo, as they are in the list of L.A.B s (Light Armoured Batteries) which mostly combined or up sized into L.A.M.B batteries. 6th A.M.B is listed with the other A.M.Bs was based in India. The 6th in Salonika became 6th L.A.M.B. There are some older threads regarding 6th L.A.M.B one going back about 9 years I had discussion with the original poster regarding his grandfather (ASC) who served in 6th L.A.M.B. As mentioned above they were involved with Dunsterforce. After WW1 they were based in Mesopotamia and their area of operations was what is now Anbar province. They are mentioned in H.V.F Winstone's book OC Desert. (biography of Lieutenant-Colonel Gerard Leachman DSO) and involved in countering the 1920 insurgency. They were finally absorbed into No.1 ACC Tank Corps.

Edited 26 December , 2017 by david murdoch

[Gardenerbill]

There's a bit on the 6th A.M.B. along with some pictues on my website here:

 

6thAMB

[david murdoch]

1 hour ago, Gardenerbill said:

There's a bit on the 6th A.M.B. along with some pictues on my website here:

 

6thAMB

Thanks - I've seen your link before related to another thread. The formation date and size of the unit (cars and personnel) tally in with them being a L.A.B unit as this is the formation size the MGC started with when they took over the RNAS cars. The difference in  total number of personnel versus armoured car crews for four cars would be in support vehicle drivers, artificers (mechanics)  armourers and also most likely they would have had several solo motorcycles/scouts as well. Their link to 801 M.T Company probably due to them being out on their own in Salonika so not having and MGC(M) motor workshop to service the cars. They would do most of their own running repairs, but possibly this was inspection/overhaul to have the cars in good order for the move to Mesopotamia.  On one of the very old threads a man  linked to 6th L.A.M.B was  John William Flower ASC. I need to revisit him and positively identify from several possibles.  He was from Sheffield and an engineer with Rolls Royce pre war.

[Gardenerbill]

Hi David,

I thought I had posted it before, in fact there is another topic on the 6th AMB in units and formations:

6th AMB in Units

[GraemeH]

Hello there. This is my first post to this forum, but been researching Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars for a couple of years now and information here has been invaluable.

 

With regard to 6^th LAMB in Salonika, I wonder if people are aware of the articles in the links below. The articles are in “The Dragon”, The Buffs Regimental Newsletter from 1940/41, and are the recollections of a (frustratingly) anonymous Sergeant joining 6^th LAMB in April 1916 as part of the initial recruitment - do a search on "armoured cars" as they are scattered throughout the individual issues

http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Dragon-Sept-to-Dec-1940-OCR.pdf

http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Dragon-No-496-February-1941.pdf

http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Dragon-No-497-April-1941.pdf

http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Dragon-No-498-May-1941.pdf

The article, entitled “Some Adventures with Armoured Cars on Active Service” fill in some blanks. All four Rolls-Royces are named; Chatham, Cleopatra, Desmond and Drake. It seems to prove all four cars were in Salonika at least by October, if not by April. Cleopatra is mentioned elsewhere as a 3^rd Sqdn RNACD car at Gallipoli. Are the four cars a mix of ex-3^rd Sqdn and 4^th Sqdn cars perhaps? The officers are named; Captain G Turner, Lt. T Eden and Lt. I.R. Napier (who appears in the 6^th LAMB war diary later), and Sgt S Bowers DCM

 

There is a detailed account of the unit’s action on 3^rd October and another at Bairakli Juma. The articles also cover service in Mesopotamia.

 

The article is split over a number of editions of the Dragon and unfortunately some are missing. The author does not state the articles are a precise historical record (recollections 25 years after the events), but they do seem to give some useful info about the unit that I’ve not seen elsewhere.

 

Graeme