'25th Works Battalion, Royal Engineers'

[Guest]

Hello. I'm new to the forum and hoped somebody might be able to assist.

 

I am researching a WW1 serviceman from Derbyshire. He survived the war and is listed on a WW1 'roll of honour' in his local parish church, though no service records have survived, nor is there any reference to him in the medal rolls. He was a carpenter by trade and I suspected that he served in the UK, perhaps as a carpenter in a works battalion.

 

I just received his son's birth certificate. He registered his son's birth in Derbyshire in March 1917. His occupation was given as 'Private, 5th Company, 25th Works Battalion, Royal Engineers'.

 

My question for the forum relates to the '25th Works Battalion' of the Royal Engineers. I understand that there were no 'works battalions' in the Royal Engineers and the only reference I can locate to a '25th Works Battalion' is the Durham Light Infantry. Can anybody explain what '25th Works Battalion, Royal Engineers' would actually be referring to? Many thanks.

[brianmorris547]

Simon

Welcome.

Information on BM&D Certificates is often wrong, as any family researcher will know. It needs corroboration. Please can you give us his name. If he was a carpenter he would have been a sought after commodity for a Field Company RE or Army Troops Company RE. There may be reasons why he did not serve overseas. Is there any further info on the ROH.

Brian

[Guest]

Hello Brian

 

Many thanks for getting back to me. His name was Alfred BOWMER (1886-1972): a lifelong resident of Derbyshire. A Google search will return his entry on the Crich Parish WW1 website - I provided the information and photograph which is included on the website entry, so that information is already known to me.

 

His name is listed on a 1920 WW1 'roll of honour' in Crich Parish Church, Derbyshire. This just gives his rank as 'Pte.'; nothing more. His name is listed as absent as a naval/military voter on the relevant 1918 register of electors - again, no further details.

 

- No references located to his WW1 service in extensive searches of local newspapers, using the British Library Newspaper Archive (the relevant newspapers have good coverage on BLNA).

- No medal records in WO372, WO329.

- No surviving service records in WO363/364.

- No surviving 'medical' records in MH106.

- Surviving family have no relevant photographs or documentation, nor any memory of WW1 service having been mentioned.

 

He registered his son's birth in March 1917 - his address was given as his home address in Derbyshire. As he registered the birth, it was he who provided his regimental details for entry in the register.

 

I'm just keen to decode that entry on the birth registration. Would it mean that he served with the Royal Engineers, but was 'attached' to the '25th (Works) Battalion' (of which I can only locate reference in the Durham Light Infantry)?

 

Simon

[brianmorris547]

Simon

There is some information on The Long Long Trail about the formation of the Labour Corps and about 25 Works Bn of the DLI in particular. See under Army - Regiments and Corps - DLI and Labour Corps. Could he have been a conscientious objector perhaps, if he was a footballer he should have been fit enough to serve overseas. I can not explain the RE connection.

The usual reason for mistakes on certificates lies with the Registrar or the clerk. My dad's address on his wedding certificate is shown as Daisy St Lancaster when in fact he lived at Daisy St, Bolton.

Brian