Tracking an A.S.C private

[Guest DWilson]

My Grandfather Pte Edward J Black ASC M2/08253 joined in Dublin in 1914 and landed in France 10 Sept 1915. My mother believes he was gassed at some stage. He ended up in Salonika as a POW guard and his service card says 'class 2 on 27 june 1919'. Demobilised late 1919. Is there any way of filling in the gaps of his experience between these dates ? He was 28 when he enlisted having previously been in the Merchant Navy and been held prisoner during the Russo- Japanese war of 1905.

[Chris_Baker]

Very difficult unless you can identify his unit. The M2 prefix indicates he was with the Mechanical Transport (that is, trucks or other such vehicles). There were an awful lot of these units, as you can imagine. The only way you can get his unit with certainty is by seeing if you can find his service record on file at the National Archives.

In June 1919 he was discharged to Class Z Army Reserve (not 2). There's been much discussion about Class Z and what it means, on the forum. A search will reveal all.

[Guest DWilson]

Thank you for your help Chris