Bases and Advanced Bases

[silky28]

Hey all,

 

I always run into these terms - Base and Advanced Base - but I've never found out their purpose and function with the army. Hoping someone might be able to shed some light. I assume that the Advanced Base was the farthest towards the Front?

 

From what I gather, when the war began there were bases at Le Havre, Rouen and Amien (the Advanced Base). As the German began to pressure the right flank in late August 1914, the BEF relocated its bases to Le Mans, Nantes, and St.Nazaire. From what I gather the IGC relocated from Le Havre to St.Nazaire. 

 

thanks

[MaureenE]

There is an online book which describes some of the functions at a base.

Notes from Calais Base, and pictures of its many activities by C E Montague 1918 Archive.org

 

Cheers

Maureen

[brianmorris547]

Have you seen this page on The Long, Long Trail.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/other-aspects-of-order-of-battle/

Brian

[Ron Clifton]

Originally there were three Bases (Boulogne, le Havre and Rouen), all on the coast, and one Advanced Base (Amiens) inland. The moves to St Nazaire etc in September 1914 were temporary, in the face of the German advance, and they soon returned to their original homes. Basically, a Base was on the coast and an Advanced Base wasn't. Other centres inland,  such as Abbeville, were normally called Areas, and Etaples was an Administrative District.

 

Ron

[silky28]

Thanks all,

 

So, I am looking at the censorship officers attached to the headquarters of the bases. It says they were sent to No. 1, 2 and 3 bases in August of 1914 before those were relocated. Evidence suggests that No. 1 base was Amiens, No. 2 was Rouen, and I assume No. 3 would have been Le Havre. Does this seem right? So was Amiens relocated to Le mans, Rouen to Nantes, and Le Havre to St.Nazaire? 

 

Which branch controlled these bases? were they considered LofC?

[Ron Clifton]

Yes, they were all L of C units. According to Major A F Becke's Orders of Battle, Volume 4, No.1 Base was le Havre, No.2 Base was Rouen, and No.3 Base was Boulogne. Le Havre did relocate to St Nazaire, but Becke does not specify where the others were sent.

 

Ron

[silky28]

Ok, so from what I gather, the section was divide between 4 bases. One group went to Amiens and was simply called "Advanced Base". The others were sent to Le Havre (No. 1 base), Rouen (No. 2 base), and Boulogne (No. 3 base). With the retreat from Mons, Amiens was closed and advanced base moved to Rouen to work with No. 2 base. A short time later Rouen was closed and Advanced Base moved to Le Mans, while the men of No. 2 base were sent to Nantes. When Le Havre was closed the men of No. 1 base were sent either to Le Mans with Advanced Base or to Nantes with No. 2 base. There was only 1 man working at Boulogne and when it was closed he was transferred to St.Nazaire.

 

So basically, with the retreat from Mons and the closing of the bases the section reduced the number of bases it operated in from 4 to 3 with the bulk of them at Nantes and Le Mans....at least for a month or so. 

 

Question: This section was run by the General Staff at GHQ but was attached to the HQ's of these bases which were LofC. Would the section then be considered an LofC unit? it seems that there may have been some confusion on this score among the men in the section.

 

 

Edited 18 April , 2019 by silky28