Remount Service - standalone unit or part of the ASC?

[KizmeRD]

OK, now I understand the confusion - fyi I was only referring to the staffing of Remount Depots in UK and France, and I wasn’t at all concerned with the cap badge being worn (and I quite understand that there were two versions of this).

MB

 

 

 

[FROGSMILE]

30 minutes ago, KizmeRD said:

OK, now I understand the confusion - fyi I was only referring to the staffing of Remount Depots in UK and France, and I wasn’t at all concerned with the cap badge being worn (and I quite understand that there were two versions of this).

MB

 

 

 

I totally realise that you meant / mean well MB, but I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s really helpful to read a whole thread thoroughly before contributing to it, if such repetition and slight confusion is to be avoided, especially when there are several pages covering a specific and narrow subject.  No offence was intended.

Edited 30 November , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[GMT]

And my apologies too if I should have started a new discussion thread on the subject of women's role in the remount service and which branch of the army they would have come under.  For the record and just to finish, I have now trawled through my photo collection and come across this letter of invitation to join the Chester No.2 Remount depot, Madeline Chambres being my great aunt's friend and co-worker in the depot. The letter is from Headquarters, Western Command, Chester.  I don't know if it sheds any further light on which branch of the army the ladies remount depot comes under.  The second letter thanks the 'grooms' and Miss Smyth (my great aunt) for their service.  They were cited in the Times (8th march 1919) War Office Service list of mentions.  The final photo includes possibly Colonel Thorold, but the cap badges now look like the WAAC!?  The lady in black is Elsie Rowe.  And thanks Frogsmile for your question above re. the munitions factory - I don't know of any family members in this - my grandfather was in the ASC.  Would this badge have been his while he was waiting transfer to the ASC?

[FROGSMILE]

52 minutes ago, GMT said:

And my apologies too if I should have started a new discussion thread on the subject of women's role in the remount service and which branch of the army they would have come under.  For the record and just to finish, I have now trawled through my photo collection and come across this letter of invitation to join the Chester No.2 Remount depot, Madeline Chambres being my great aunt's friend and co-worker in the depot. The letter is from Headquarters, Western Command, Chester.  I don't know if it sheds any further light on which branch of the army the ladies remount depot comes under.  The second letter thanks the 'grooms' and Miss Smyth (my great aunt) for their service.  They were cited in the Times (8th march 1919) War Office Service list of mentions.  The final photo includes possibly Colonel Thorold, but the cap badges now look like the WAAC!?  The lady in black is Elsie Rowe.  And thanks Frogsmile for your question above re. the munitions factory - I don't know of any family members in this - my grandfather was in the ASC.  Would this badge have been his while he was waiting transfer to the ASC?

Thank you for the interesting letters and yet more excellent and intriguing photos.  Intriguing because this time the ladies in the photo, although once again wearing a highly distinctive and I believe unique uniform of what I would describe as a ‘hacking or hunting style of jacket’ (these traditionally (to this day) have longer skirts), but are instead wearing the earlier, or alternative pattern of cap badge for the Army Remount Service - see image below (the rationale for the different patterns is still unclear).  I believe that there’s no doubt now that the ladies were a directly employed part of the Army Remount Service, presumably on special War Office terms and conditions of service, and not a part of the Womens Auxiliary Army Corps (later QMAAC).  I think that there must be more to learn about this buried deep in some National Archives files somewhere.  It’s highly intriguing because it suggests that these ladies were set apart and not enlisted in the Army as such, but instead recruited as directly employed citizens.  As we’ve already discussed in this thread there were several men like this, but they wore civilian clothes (the fellow who died when crushed by a horse refers), whereas these ladies wore a quasi military uniform (i.e. a form of dress that included headdress and cap badge).  It truly seems to have been unique.

As regards the On War Service ‘lapel pin’ (rather than badge), these were for civilian workers and not worn with Army uniform, so it seems unlikely that your relative in the ASC wore it unless he was employed as a civilian in munitions prior to enlistment.

NB.  Your papers and photos really are quite extraordinary I believe and I do hope that you will donate copies of all that you’ve posted in this thread to the museum whose details I posted earlier on.

Edited 7 December , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[GMT]

It is indeed intriguing and thanks for identifying the cap badge.  You can understand my confusion now!  I will keep delving but feel we have made headway now.  Many thanks. 

[GMT]

And re. your suggestion to contact the Military Museum in Aldershot, I did visit them but at the time they were moving to Winchester so were unable to help me.  Then Covid hit!  It is on my to do list.  Many thanks again. 

[FROGSMILE]

36 minutes ago, GMT said:

And re. your suggestion to contact the Military Museum in Aldershot, I did visit them but at the time they were moving to Winchester so were unable to help me.  Then Covid hit!  It is on my to do list.  Many thanks again. 

I hope that you will persevere when the opportunity presents because this sort of information is of direct relevance to their pedigree (i.e. what is now the Royal Army Veterinary Corps).  Don’t get fobbed off by a minion, it needs to be seen by the head curator if its significance is to be appreciated.  Good luck with your continued research and thank you again for posting such unusual and rarely seen material.

Edited 7 December , 2021 by FROGSMILE