31 Ambulance Train passengers

[PRC]

1 hour ago, Pat Atkins said:

Nice detective work!

Thanks Pat

Diane \ @Bardess

Here's one from you 6th July 2021 posting while I'm in the zone !

240170 Lance Corporal G E Morrison 1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment.

The clerks at the records office dealing with the Lincolnshire Regiment appear to have occasionally adopted the practice of raising one card to cover any 1914 or 1914/15 Star entitlement and another for any VM & BWM entitlement.

Thus 240169 Harry Lenton has a card showing VM&BWM entitlement with no Theatre entry date, and 1414 H. Lenton has a 1914/15 Star entitlement having landed in France on the 1st March 1915, but no VM& BWM entitlement. The remarks section on this second card is noted that he was Disembodied – so a Territorial Force man.

However 240171 John Morley has just the one card, showing him as having previously been 1590 in the same Regiment. He too is shown as having first landed in France on the 1st March 1915 and was subsequently Disembodied.

So looking for an individual with the surname Morrison who served with the Lincolnshire Regiment and who had a service number between 1414 (Harry Lenton) and 1590 (John Morley), there is one stand-out candidate.

Private 138890 George E. Morrison, Machine Gun Corps had previously been 1587 Lincolnshire Regiment. His medals were issued by the Machine Gun Corps. However he didn’t actually land in France until the 20th December 1915. (Although it can’t be ruled out that he originally opted for home service only, and that only towards the end of 1915 did he sign the undertaking to serve overseas). The related service medal rolls have been indexed by Ancestry as George Edward Morrison.

I couldn’t find any surviving service records on FindMyPast.

Cheers
Peter

[Bardess]

Peter
Your level of researching absolutely blows my mind and the above posts add so much info. I'm extremely grateful for your time and expertise

[RBau]

Great effort Bardess. Im sure all who read this thread will appreciate the effort and hours you have put in. 

[PRC]

Another one from the 6th July 2021 posting.

38076 Private T.D. Fuller 1/4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.

Struggled a bit with this one – the only East Lancashire match was a 30292 Thomas Dyson Fuller  who would die on the 5th September 1918 serving in France with “T” Company, 11th Battalion. He was originally recovered from a battlefield burial in November 1919 and moved to Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck. Thomas died aged 20 and the additional information on his CWGC page is that he was the son of Alexander Thomas and Mary Eliza Fuller, of 344, Baker St., Enfield, Middx. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/203416/THOMAS DYSON FULLER/

His MiC only shows him awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.

Soldiers Died in the Great War records that he was formerly 18076 Essex Regiment.

There are no obvious surviving service records.

A missing person enquiry was received by the International Committee of the Red Cross from his sister. This shows him as Private 30292, 11th Battalion, missing in France since the 5th September 1918. The ICRC would reply towards the end of November 1918 that nothing had been heard from the German authorities.

However the National Army Museum has two mentions of Thomas in their inventory. The first adds little apart from telling us he was in the Army in 1917. Personal letters and postcards written by 30292 Pte Thomas Dyson Fuller and sent to his family between 1917 and 1918; collection also includes the cotton bag used to send articles to him in France. But the second adds Two commercial studio portrait photographs of 30292 Pte Thomas Dyson Fuller, Essex Regiment and 1/4th and 11th Bns East Lancashire Regiment; he was killed in an air attack on 5 Sep 1918, aged 20, and is buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck;
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/inventory/objects/results.php?shortDescription=&event=&campaign=&associatedName=&unit=&placeNotes=&productionNotes=&keyword=&flag=1&page=741

So it would appear Thomas served in the 1/4th Battalion.

Looking at men with service numbers near to 30292 East Lancashire, a Private Albert Canterford was sent out to France as part of a draft from the Essex Regiment, reaching 15 Infantry Base Depot on the 8th July 1917. From there he was transferred to the East Lancashire Regiment on the 26th July 1917 and posted to the 1/4th Battalion. His new service number was 30286.

Not quite a smoking gun as there are also surviving MiC’s for East Lancashire Regiment men with five digit service numbers starting 3807x. One, a Private 38072 George Lindow, of the 1st Battalion, had even travelled aboard 31st Ambulance Train back on the 19th October 1917.

But for now I’d suggest on the evidence available that its most likely Thomas Dyson Fuller who was aboard 31st Ambulance and that possibly the service number quoted 38076 was a mis-reading of his ID tag and jumbled his East Lancashire number, 30292, with his Essex Regiment number, 18076.

Hope that helps,
Peter

 

[Bardess]

18 hours ago, RBau said:

Great effort Bardess.

Thanks very much

[Bardess]

14 hours ago, PRC said:

possibly the service number quoted 38076 was a mis-reading of his ID tag and jumbled his East Lancashire number, 30292, with his Essex Regiment number, 18076.

If that isn't the finest conclusion I've seen... Thanks so much, Peter, you astound me
 

[PRC]

Another one from the 6th July 2021 posting.

156632 Pioneer J Bodell B Special Company, R.E.

No obvious MiC or surviving service records.

A nearby number search brings up:-
156630 Albert Bowden was previously Driver 31362 Royal Field Artillery
156631 Thomas Brown was previously Driver 31447 Royal Field Artillery
156633 William Brayfield was previously Driver 4602 Royal Field Artillery
156634 William Blenkinsop was previously Driver 96420 Royal Field Artillery
156635 George Brown was previously Driver 4362 Royal Field Artillery
156637 Luke Brown was previously Driver 239536 Royal Field Artillery
         Pioneer 156637 died serving with “J” Special Company on the 25th September 1917. (CWGC)
156638 Charles Belzer was previously Driver 19308 Royal Field Artillery
156639 James C Beech was previously Driver 85665 Royal Field Artillery
            Pioneer 156639 died serving with “N” Special Company on the 17th April 1917. (CWGC)

So whoever this soldier is it looks very much like he had been a Driver in the Royal Field Artillery prior to his transfer to the Royal Engineers for service with a Special Company.

There is a MiC for a Driver John Bodell 27068 Royal Field Artillery who was subsequently 512603 Labour Corps, but no obvious surviving service records. The RFA number probably only gets a mention because he qualified for the 1914/15 Star. The documentation relating to service medals prepared by the clerks at the Labour Corps Records Office is in my opinion towards the bottom end of useful.

The condition for the John Bodell on the 31st Ambulance Train admission register is shown as D.A.H. By 1917, (according to the Long, Long Trail),  a lot of effort was being put into rehabilitating such cases rather than discharge them as physically unfit. So I would tentatively suggest such a case might well have ended up in the Labour Corps.

One last thought – perhaps @Terry_Reeves has come across him in his study of the Special Companys.

Cheers,
Peter

[Bardess]

I thought of Terry too   Such a masterly dip into the ins and outs of RFA transfers to RE and LC, Peter. Thanks for suggesting his path and almost certainly confirming his SN

[David Porter]

1 hour ago, PRC said:

A nearby number search brings up:-
156630 Albert Bowden was previously Driver 31362 Royal Field Artillery
156631 Thomas Brown was previously Driver 31447 Royal Field Artillery
156633 William Brayfield was previously Driver 4602 Royal Field Artillery
156634 William Blenkinsop was previously Driver 96420 Royal Field Artillery
156635 George Brown was previously Driver 4362 Royal Field Artillery
156637 Luke Brown was previously Driver 239536 Royal Field Artillery
         Pioneer 156637 died serving with “J” Special Company on the 25th September 1917. (CWGC)
156638 Charles Belzer was previously Driver 19308 Royal Field Artillery
156639 James C Beech was previously Driver 85665 Royal Field Artillery
            Pioneer 156639 died serving with “N” Special Company on the 17th April 1917. (CWGC)

These were Drivers surplus to Divisional Ammunition Columns when they were reorganized in May 1916. The transfer date for them to RE Special Brigades will be from July 14 - 28, 1916 and amounted to 1000 men.

[Terry_Reeves]

 I do have him in my Db although the information is scant. He was one of around 950 RFA Drivers transferred to the special Brigade in May  / June 1916 when RFABrigade ammunition columns were merged with Divisional Ammunition Columns.

His pension card shows that he was discharged on 20/3/19 and he address was 97 Selber St, Blackfriars, London.

TR

 

Edited 16 July , 2021 by Terry_Reeves

[Bardess]

Thank you David and Terry. Much appreciated