LESLIE HERBERT MILLSON - ROYAL ENGINEERS 338878 AND WR/205551

[NickF]

1.         We have previously inquired about my wife’s grandfather, Leslie Herbert Millson whose MIC and medal roll entry show he served in 3 different regiments/corps under 4 separate regimental numbers as follows: 18881 in the Leicestershire Regt; 42416 in the Manchester Regt; and 338878 and WR/205551 in the Royal Engineers (RE).  Based on the feedback we had, we have conducted some further research into Leslie’s background and now have a much better feel for what he would have experienced in these regiments/corps.  However, there are still some gaps in our knowledge of his time in the RE.

2.         Analysis of the 35 positively-identified men with RE regimental numbers between 338851 and 338894 (incl) show 31 of them have been transferred to the RE railways service from the infantry with one from the cavalry while just 3 are recorded as having served only in the RE (and these 3 are open to some doubt as the surviving material is contradictory).  Authority for the transfers was Army Council Instruction (ACI) 468/1918 and, being compulsory, the men were entitled to retain their previous rates of pay if it was more advantageous to them under ACI 2084/1916.  The transfers were apparently enacted at some point during the period 18-24 May 1918 (2 of the men were definitely assigned their 3388XX regimental numbers on 24 May) and they took place at either:

a.         ‘Royal Engineers Railway Construction Troops Depot, Longmoor Camp, Bordon, Hants’.

b.         ‘A Coy, Transfers Depot RE, Applepie Camp (sic), Longmoor’.

We have assumed Leslie’s transfer to the Corps occurred at the same time and location.  With only one of the previous occupations listed in the surviving records (gardener, printer, tanner, porter/shunter/railway servant and fitter’s mate) showing any connection to working with railways, we could not see any obvious connection as to why they might have been transferred to work on the Army’s railways (particularly given the shortage of trained infantry at that time).  However, we did note 2-3 of the surviving records indicate the men had lowered medical categories, and at least 16 of them have records of wounds or hospitalizations before the end of 1917.  Therefore, while there is nothing of this nature specifically recorded against Leslie (Richard was discharged in 1919 as ‘surplus to military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the service)’), the question arises whether they were transferred due to a lowered medical category?

3.         The men in this sample group go on to have RE regimental numbers with a WR/ prefix (including Leslie) and, with one or two exceptions, they follow on from each other in numerical sequence, suggesting they were allocated at the same time and before the men had been dispersed around RE railway units.  The earliest recorded movement of anyone back to the BEF is 17 June 1918, suggesting the change in regimental numbers took place before that date.  Thereafter, there are just 2 named RE railway units listed, suggesting the men were probably posted subsequently to units on an individual basis rather than as a formed group.

4.         To address the above issues, we would welcome feedback from anyone who might be able to provide any information at all on the transfer of men to the RE in mid-1918, eg Why transfer them?  How was it done?  Where (if anywhere) else did they happen?  Why are men with no obvious connection to railways being sent to work on them?  Were lowered medical categories a factor?  Is it possible to find out which units men were posted to?  Moreover, does anyone have copies of the 2 ACIs or transcripts of their contents?  Finally, can anyone advise of any good quality reading material covering what the RE railways units did as a whole?

[Michelle Young]

Link to previous thread to avoid repetition of information.