Spree Farm Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February Hi, Does anyone know anything about the 6th Woodcutting Company, apart from they cut wood. I am seeking information on where they would have been located in July 1916, I guess somewhere near the Somme as I believe there was a bit of a skirmish going one around this time. I looking at a soldiers Joseph William Robson 10th DLI who was attached to them and was shot in the head only to die on 31/10/1918 I know he was in the 18th General Hospital after the 15th July 1916. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) To get this going you need to establish who he was. This Fold3 pension card appears to be your man There appear to have been two brothers killed. John & Joseph Wm. And Joseph Wm was #20528 in DLI Edited 12 February by corisande Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 12 February Author Share Posted 12 February Yes I know about his brother. It is unit I would like information about. Are there war diaries? What was their purpose? Where they were in July 1916? The pneumonia I would put down to either Spanish flu or bed ridden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February 2 minutes ago, Spree Farm said: It is unit I would like information about. Fair enough. I am afraid one has to establish the facts, so I will leave my input there His Service Record is on Ancestry - click This tells you he 1914 Oct 7 enlisted 1915 May 21 posted France Roll entry says with 10th DLI 1916 Sep 5 posted UK 1917 Apr 6 Discharged no longer fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) 10 hours ago, Spree Farm said: Does anyone know anything about the 6th Woodcutting Company, apart from they cut wood. I am seeking information on where they would have been located in July 1916, Might help to know which DLI battalion the 6th Company was in. [Not my field really] Then you could potentially find a war diary at TNA Timber was much in demand for construction - I think the Army Service Labour Corps took over such duties from 1917 [but that's an aside in 1916] M Edited 12 February by Matlock1418 strike/correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 12 February Author Share Posted 12 February The pneumonia I would put down to either Spanish flu or bed ridden He was 10th Bn “D” company until early 1916. Then was attached to the 6th Wood Company. Spent the remainder of his life in hospital with severe complications of his injuries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 12 February Author Share Posted 12 February Not sure if it’s part of a Bn but a support unit. Any info from the old and bold ones who may know about these things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February 3 minutes ago, Spree Farm said: Not sure if it’s part of a Bn but a support unit. Any info from the old and bold ones who may know about these things? Can't help you much more with such details I'm afraid [Pensions are more my thing] To find a WD I suggest putting all the below [or something like this - change the Regt and/or Bn as required into the TNA search engine https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk [complete with all the quotes and don't use 1st, 2nd, 3rd . 4th etc - just a digit(s)] "WO 95" "Durham Light Infantry" "10 Battalion" M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 12 February Author Share Posted 12 February Might even be a RE Bn Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) 5 minutes ago, Spree Farm said: Might even be a RE Bn Agreed that could be an option. [I think the above search methodology might also work in such circumstances] As you comment - you need someone more knowledgeable to surface. I wonder if @Terry_Reeves might perhaps be able to help [with his RE knowedge]. ?? Sorry I can't point a lead to any member for DLI Good luck M Edited 12 February by Matlock1418 TR mention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) 2 hours ago, Spree Farm said: Not sure if it’s part of a Bn but a support unit. Any info from the old and bold ones who may know about these things? It’s a likely task for a Labour unit. Before the Labour Corps were formed in late summer 1917 there were a number of infantry battalions and independent labour companies specifically assigned to Labour in the forward areas. They were made up of experienced older men and generally given manual labouring tasks to carry out. The RE had some Labour units too. I do not know which of these Labour resources would have been given the role of woodcutting, but it sounds like it might be associated with forestry, which was a task carried out by Labour throughout the war both, before and after, the Labour Corps was formed by merging the disparate labour elements to create a coherent whole. There was always a strong circumstantial link between the infantry and labour, as the latter was a common destination for infantrymen who had become incapacitated from the exigencies of infantry trench work, but who were capable of labouring duties. Just as infantrymen were sometimes attached for duties with RE tunnellers, so also might men be attached to a labouring task like wood cutting. That might especially be the case if a man had prior experience, although that wouldn’t have been essential. I suspect that you are looking for a unit specifically assigned to Labour. Edited 12 February by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February 25 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: It’s a likely task for a Labour unit. Before the Labour Corps were formed in late summer 1917 Indeed - later the Labour Corps from 1917 - I misrecalled/typed above [now corrected] M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February No such unit in the RE as “ 6 Wood Cutting Company”. There were a number of forestry companies RE however. 365, 366, 367, 370 and 371 have war diaries at TNA which have been digitised. Perhaps the OP can say where the information came from for 6 Wood Cutting Company? TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February 3 hours ago, Terry_Reeves said: where the information came from for 6 Wood Cutting Company? Probably from this FmP Hospital record A blow up is shows it is likely to be "Corp" rather than "Coy" And on that page Company is always written "Coy" I have no idea how to interpret it. Looks like Wood Cutting Corp" to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) 1 minute ago, corisande said: Probably from this FmP Hospital record A blow up is shows it is likely to be "Corp" rather than "Coy" And on that page Company is always written "Coy" I have no idea how to interpret it. Looks like Wood Cutting Corp" to me Yes I agree, well spotted. Edited 12 February by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) 5 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: Yes I agree, well spotted. The document seems to be annotated - ‘10 att 6 DLI’ which I read to be 10th DLI attached to 6th DLI. Perhaps a company of 6th DLI had been temporarily assigned to wood cutting. Edited 12 February by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February There is a Pte J W Robson named in the Field Returns of 6 DLI but with a different number. TNA/Ancestry WO 95/2840 Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February 4 minutes ago, brianmorris547 said: There is a Pte J W Robson named in the Field Returns of 6 DLI but with a different number. 2432 = Might that have been a/his TF pre-renumbering number?? M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 12 February Share Posted 12 February (edited) The dates seem to fit despite the numbers. He was admitted to 18 GH on 29/02/1916. The above post is from the index book. MH 106/1090 EDIT. I think att 6 DLI was a mistake in the Index Book and should have been att 6 Wood Cutting Co. 2432 might be a Red Herring. Brian Edited 12 February by brianmorris547 additional info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 13 February Author Share Posted 13 February 12 hours ago, FROGSMILE said: It’s a likely task for a Labour unit. Before the Labour Corps were formed in late summer 1917 there were a number of infantry battalions and independent labour companies specifically assigned to Labour in the forward areas. They were made up of experienced older men and generally given manual labouring tasks to carry out. The RE had some Labour units too. I do not know which of these Labour resources would have been given the role of woodcutting, but it sounds like it might be associated with forestry, which was a task carried out by Labour throughout the war both, before and after, the Labour Corps was formed by merging the disparate labour elements to create a coherent whole. There was always a strong circumstantial link between the infantry and labour, as the latter was a common destination for infantrymen who had become incapacitated from the exigencies of infantry trench work, but who were capable of labouring duties. Just as infantrymen were sometimes attached for duties with RE tunnellers, so also might men be attached to a labouring task like wood cutting. That might especially be the case if a man had prior experience, although that wouldn’t have been essential. I suspect that you are looking for a unit specifically assigned to Labour. Unfortunately Joseph left the army 1917 Apr 6 Discharged no longer fit Which means that the unit was in existence before late summer 1917 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 13 February Author Share Posted 13 February 5 hours ago, Matlock1418 said: 2432 = Might that have been a/his TF pre-renumbering number?? M 2432 Pte Thomas William Robson 1st/6th renumbered 250212 5 hours ago, brianmorris547 said: There is a Pte J W Robson named in the Field Returns of 6 DLI but with a different number. TNA/Ancestry WO 95/2840 Brian I think it is a T not a J 2432 Pte Thomas William Robson 1st/6th renumbered 250212 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 13 February Author Share Posted 13 February 6th Wood Cutting Comp/Corps would be a rather large organisation to a Corps or they had a lot of wood. But I am still none the wiser to what the organisation was. I will keep digging and see what I can come up with. I might try the IWM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 13 February Share Posted 13 February (edited) 1 hour ago, Spree Farm said: Unfortunately Joseph left the army 1917 Apr 6 Discharged no longer fit Which means that the unit was in existence before late summer 1917 Yes I explained that Labour during that period was carried out by Labour battalion’s and Labour companies, well prior to the formation of a Labour corps and that it was probably one of them tasked with wood cutting during that earlier period. Edited 13 February by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 13 February Share Posted 13 February (edited) 1 hour ago, Spree Farm said: 6th Wood Cutting Comp/Corps would be a rather large organisation to a Corps or they had a lot of wood. But I am still none the wiser to what the organisation was. I will keep digging and see what I can come up with. I might try the IWM corps has two meanings. It can be a small, individual unit, or an enormous organisation providing an entire, pan army function. Edited 13 February by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spree Farm Posted 13 February Author Share Posted 13 February 22 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: Yes I explained that Labour during that period was carried out by Labour battalion’s and Labour companies, well prior to the formation of a Labour corps and that it was probably one of them tasked with wood cutting during that earlier period. That make sense now 20 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: corps has two meanings. It can be a small, individual unit, or an enormous organisation providing an entire, pan army function. Point taken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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