Private Jack Martin 497401 3rd Home Counties Field Ambulance

[Malcolm12hl]

Private Jack Martin, 3rd Home Counties Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C. died on 3 November 1919 aged 21 and was buried on 8 November in St. Nicholas Churchyard, Thames Ditton, Surrey.  His burial is recorded in the St. Nicholas Burial Register, and he appears as a 12-year old in the 1911 census, his home address on both occasions being 9 Weston Rd., Weston Green, Thames Ditton.  Despite all this, I have been unable to find any trace of his military service beyond the unit identification in the CWGC database.  I would be most grateful to hear from anyone who can fill in the gap.  I would also be interested to know if anyone can confirm that the 3rd Home Counties Field Ambulance was a local (Kingston/Surbiton) unit.

 

Malcolm

[HERITAGE PLUS]

The full name of his unit was the 83rd (1/3rd Home Counties) Field Ambulance RAMC. 

 

Its HQ was 62, Claremont Road, Surbiton.

 

As an aside the sculpted figure group on the RAMC War Memorial at Aldershot was cast at the Thames Ditton Foundry.

 

Dave

Edited 13 May , 2018 by HERITAGE PLUS
Typo correction

[Malcolm12hl]

Dave

 

Thank you very much for the information on the 83rd (1/3rd Home Counties) Field Ambulance RAMC.  Do you (or anyone else) know if this unit served overseas?  I have not been able to find a MIC for Private Jack Martin which makes me wonder if he only served at home.

 

There were in fact two Thames Ditton men who were killed on the Western Front as members of the 2/3rd Home Counties Field Ambulance: Private Jack Leslie Curd 497535 who died on 26 September 1917, and Private Roger Goodrich 497391 who died on 1 November 1917.  Would this unit have used the same HQ on Claremont Road?  I note that Martin's service number is only 10 above Goodrich's, which might suggest proximate entries into the ranks.

 

Malcolm

[clk]

Hi Malcolm,

 

The number 497401 is from the number block allocated to the to the various units of the 3rd Home Counties FA under the 1917 renumbering of the TF - see here. Doing a bit of near number sampling it would seem that the 6 digit numbers were likely issued sequentially based on the previous 4 digit numbers. For example:

 

Surname Pre 1917 Number 1917 Renumber Date of Joining Overseas Arrival Date Taylor 3341 497339 12.03.1915 26.01.1917 with 2/3 HC FA Gosling 3426 497377 12.04.1915 11.02.1917, posted 2/3 HC FA 12.02.1917 Martin   497401     Skinner 3478 497404 17.04.1915 26.01.1917 with 2/3 HC FA Gay 3505 497418 21.04.1915 26.01.1917 with 2/3 HC FA Coomber 3520 497424 22.04.1915 26.01.1917 with 2/3 HC FA
For me, it would appear that Jack probably joined up circa mid April 1915. Hopefully Dave will be able to clarify his 1/3rd reference/thoughts. In the absence of a service file or medal roll/MIC record I'm kind of wondering if Jack was 3/3 HC FA, and for whatever reason was not posted overseas to a front line unit.   Regards Chris

 

 

Edited 14 May , 2018 by clk

[clk]

13 hours ago, Malcolm12hl said:

Dave

 

Thank you very much for the information on the 83rd (1/3rd Home Counties) Field Ambulance RAMC.  Do you (or anyone else) know if this unit served overseas? 

 

According to the LLT, they were 27 Division - ORBAT here.

 

Regards

Chris

Edited 14 May , 2018 by clk

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Hi Malcolm

 

The 2/3rd Home Counties FA RAMC served overseas with the 58th (2/1st London) Division:

 

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/58th-21st-london-division/

 

The 3/3rd Home Counties FA RAMC served with the 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division but saw no overseas service.

 

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/67th-2nd-home-counties-division/

 

Chris' hunch about Jack Martin serving with the 3/3rd is a possibility that I cannot confirm.

 

Dave

 

[Malcolm12hl]

Gentlemen

 

Thank you very much for the information, and for your thoughts.  The known facts regarding Curd and Goodrich of the 2nd/3rd would seem to tie in well with the unit's divisional affiliation as both men died in Flanders in the second half of 1917.  The absence of a MIC for Martin, despite the fact that he might have joined up in 1915, does suggest that he may have served only with the 3rd/3rd at home.

 

Malcolm