Herbert Beeby Royal Engineers 71127

[Stebie9173]

Hello all.

Of my relatives who served in the Great War, my Great-Grandfather is the most elusive.

Serving in the Royal Engineers and his surviving the War (thankfully) means there is very little to work with to find out which unit he served with.

All my family remembers is that he may have been Signals RE (a story of telegraph poles), perhaps then an Air Line unit of some sort.

I have checked the Medal Rolls (just in case) and there is no reference to his unit.

His MIC is below:

which is pretty "bog standard".

From his entry date into France of 9-10-1915, I assume he enlisted in early 1915 and was allocated a number around then.

He was from Peterborough, Cambs. so may have gone through the Signals Depot at Fenny Stratford? It is also possible that he enlisted at the same time as his eldest son, who enlisted in London to the 9th Black Watch on 3-5-1915.

Entry into France in October 1915 does not coincide with any initial (rough) Embarkation dates of Divisions (and possibly Divisional Signal Companies) as given on the Long, Long Trail.

The only date I have come across which coincides is a Signaller from 50th TF Divisional Signal Company. His number was in 75000 range.

However, if he was designated a TF man his number would have changed (even if he went to a Regular Unit later) and it apparently didn't.

Looking at the MICs and SDGW gives a largish group of soldiers in the 70000 range which were Signall Company men. (A big batch of 78000 men were in 42nd DSC)

So to my question:

Can we tell what Royal Engineers unit he was in solely from the number?

Apologies for the "thinking on screen", and thanks for any help,

Steve.

[Terry_Reeves]

Steve

Some RE units can be identified from their numbers, but not all. One way of checking, is to find men with a close number and search for their service records and check the names against the relevant medal role. Have a look when they enlisted and where they trained ect. This is not a foolproof method by any means, but if you find a pattern emerging, you may be able to link him to a unit, and then check the relevant War Diary to see if there is any mention of him. It's a bit of a flog, but you never know.....

Terry Reeves

[Stebie9173]

Thanks, Terry.

I'd hoped you would drop by.

I have a long list of the surrounding RE numbers and men to check to Service Records. The only one with a close number that has a specific unit reference on the online index of MICs is 71105 in 50 Air Line Unit.

Can you confirm to me that his lack of re-numbering would have ruled him out of this unit?

I may have a look at this chaps MIC at some point to see when he embarked, but that's for later.

The Service Records will certainly get a look, too (I forgot to say that I had checked for his Service Records and they are of course not there)

Thanks again,

Steve.

PS Herbert's son, Walter, transferred to 12th Div Signals Coy RE, number 236948. Would January 1917 sound about right? Were the numbers being allocated in sequence/small batches by then?