Help Identifying L/Cpl Parker RASC

[Clook]

Can anyone help with an identification of an RASC l/corporal.  I am fortunate in having photographs of him and know his surname, Parker and rank as l/Cpl, I know from newspaper articles that he was one of the last four BEF soldiers to leave France in October 1921 but I cannot find his first name or initial nor service number or any other details about him.  He obviously served on after the war so perhaps re-enlisted and his lance corporal rank was current as of 1921.  I am hoping that he may have become a minor celebrity in his home town and perhaps made headlines locally.  The articles that I have found were dated 28th October 1921 and were published in the Daily Mirror and Daily Sketch.  At his time of leaving France he was attached to the department of Graves Registration and Enquiry (DGRE) at St. Pol.  Any help or pointers appreciated.

The photograph attached is courtesy of Fitzsimon family collection.

Edited 18 September , 2019 by Clook
Omission

[Waggoner]

Identifying the medal ribbon might help to narrow the search.

 

All the best,

 

Gary

[Gardenerbill]

Can't help with identifying the soldier but the scoop out of the corner of the radiator suggests that the car is almost certainly a Vauxhall Type D, typically used as a staff car.

[Clook]

Thank you Gardenerbill, I have a few letters that refer to the car as the "Chocolate Vauxhall" so I'd say you are correct. I also have him photographed in a stolen (captured) Mercedes Benz, unfortunately my vintage car knowledge ends there as regards model type etc. 

[Ron Clifton]

It looks as if he was a motor-vehicle driver, so he was probably part of the Mechanical Transport Section of the ASC (renamed RASC in November 1918). His rank would have been Private, as lance-corporal was an appointment, not a rank in its own right. It is still possible that he re-enlisted after the war to continue his service assisting the DGRE.

 

Ron

[Clook]

Thanks Ron, to narrow down a medal roll search would his circumstances have meant he had any particular letter prefix to his service number or do you know if his number would have been changed on re-enlisting? 

 

[Ron Clifton]

The prefix would have been M, or ossibly M1, M2, M3 or M4. If he stayed on as a Driver, it is unlikely that either the prefix or his service number would have changed, although the whole Army was renumbered in 1920/21.

 

Ron

[Gardenerbill]

1 minute ago, Ron Clifton said:

The prefix would have been M, or ossibly M1, M2, M3 or M4. If he stayed on as a Driver, it is unlikely that either the prefix or his service number would have changed, although the whole Army was renumbered in 1920/21.

 

Ron

MS is also a possibility.

[Waggoner]

Also “EMT” for a post-war re-enlistment?

 

All the best,

 

Gary

[Clook]

Thanks guys, I'll start searching for those prefixes and see if I can find him. 

[dbridge276]

In the Ancestry online records there are 1526 WW1"British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920" 

or Parker + Army Service Corps

 

 

 

 

Edited 19 September , 2019 by dbridge276
correction of number

[Andrew Upton]

On ‎18‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 12:33, Waggoner said:

Identifying the medal ribbon might help to narrow the search.

 

British War Medal as rendered by orthochromatic photography.

[Clook]

Thank you for that Andrew, helps narrow things down.