paulofur Posted 22 October , 2018 Share Posted 22 October , 2018 Hi, I am travelling to the WW1 battlefields in a couple of weeks time and am trying to find out more about my grandfather's service, particularly where he may have served. His name was Edwin Furner (regimental no 99932) and he enlisted with the Royal Engineers in May 1915. He gave his age as 37 but was in fact 49 when he enlisted. On the 'Statement of the Services' section of the form attached it's not clear to me which unit he served with between 1915 and 1918 - can anyone work this out from the attachment? There is an entry which says "Joined unit attached from 244th Artizan Works Company" in May 1918 - this would make sense as Edwin was a skilled bricklayer. Does anyone have any more information about this unit or suggestions how I can find out where they were between May 1918 and the end of the war? I've been in contact with the RE museum. I'm waiting to hear back from them but suspect they may also be struggling as there is nothing listed for this unit on the list of WW1 diaries they hold - https://www.re-museum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Library-War-Diaries-WW1.pdf Many thanks in advance Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 22 October , 2018 Share Posted 22 October , 2018 (edited) From 1 May 18 he was with 244 Artisan Works Company. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/artizan-works-companies-of-the-royal-engineers/ Prior to that I can't yet work out who he was with in the RE but he did join the 244th from the RE Base Depot so seems to have been in a draft sent to France and then allocated. Craig Edited 22 October , 2018 by ss002d6252 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 22 October , 2018 Share Posted 22 October , 2018 (edited) This should help regarding the unit he was with pre-France. He was based with the 3rd Reserve Battalion at Newark, this was formed Jan 1918.https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/other-aspects-of-order-of-battle/royal-engineers-depots/ Craig Edited 22 October , 2018 by ss002d6252 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulofur Posted 22 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 22 October , 2018 Thanks Craig - really helpful. I owe you a beer! Any clues re the period March 18 - May 18 when Edwin joined the 244th Artisan Works Company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 22 October , 2018 Share Posted 22 October , 2018 At some point he was also with 32 Base Park Company in Francehttps://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/the-fortress-companies-of-the-royal-engineers/ I suspect he spent most of his time at Newark but it's hard to be definite. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 22 October , 2018 Share Posted 22 October , 2018 3 minutes ago, paulofur said: Thanks Craig - really helpful. I owe you a beer! Any clues re the period March 18 - May 18 when Edwin joined the 244th Artisan Works Company? Other than the fact that they were probably at Cherbourg when he served with them I have no idea what they were doing. Possibly working in and around the port and infrastructure at Cherbourg (although they could have been building a nice seaside retreat for the Generals) Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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