total novice

[Guest YvonneP]

I have been sent a page from my Great Grand Fathers address book:

I think this entry relates to Frederick Willcock

Corpl. F. Willcock 1829

16th Company A.L.R.O.(Something unreadable)

A.I. (Something possibly F) France

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I think this entry relates to Frank Willcock

55876 Pri. F. Willcock

31st Reinforcement Specialist Company

(Something) Company 4th Reserve Batt

No 3 Company Fli(Something) Salisbury

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I could have the fornames of these two round the wrong way!!!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This I know this entry relates to Edwin Willcock (My Grandfather) The original entry had been amended and had bits written down the sides of the page, so I don't know if I have put everything in the right order.

202638 B.E.F. France

2940 Pr. E. Willcock

(Something poss D) Comp. 2/5 South Staffordshire

Bally K(Something) Camp

County Down, Ireland

Jan 1918 Transfered to:

202638 Pri. E. Willcock

C Company, 7th South Staffords

B.E.F. France

Pri to Corp 109198

Transfered to 37 Company

43 Garrison Batt

Royal Fusiliers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now my questions, please

1) Can someone help fill in the missing bits and tell me what the initals stand for?

2) What do the numbers mean - are they the service number or are they part of the postal address?

3) What other information do I need to take to the PRO, to look up my relatives?

Any help will be very gratefully received.

Thank you,

Yvonne P

[Jean]

Welcome to the Pals

I'm very much a novice but I will try to help a little, until one of the experts chips in with their vast knowledge!

A.I. (Something possibly F) France: I think the missing letter is F and it stands for Australian Imperial Force.

The numbers by the names (i.e. 55876 Pri. F. Willcock) are indeed their Service numbers.

B. E. F. stands for British Expeditionary Force.

Thats about as much as I can help you, but you'll get a lot of help from this friendly bunch. They're a little strange at times but quite harmless!

[Guest YvonneP]

To Jean,

Thank you so much, knowing it could be A.I.F. makes a lot of sense as his brother Frederick had emigrated (date unknown) to Brisbane, Australia.

Isn't B.E.F. easy when someone tells you.

Thanks again,

Yvonne P

[Terry_Reeves]

Yvonne

Bally K is Ballykinler. Fli... is a bit more problematical. The only ones I can find relating to the military on Salisbury Plain in WW1 which are close are Figheldean, Fifield and Fittleton. All are close to each other near the River Avon and not far from Salisbury. The other possibility is Fovant which is a bit further away.

Terry Reeves

[Neil Mackenzie]

Yvonne.

Welcome to the forum.

I think A.L.R.O. may be Australian Light Railway Operating Company.

The 2nd Light Railway Operating Company was formed in January 1917 as 5th Section, Australian Railway Troops. Arrived England 21 July 1917. Redesignated 16th Light Railway Operating Company July 1917. Arrived France 4 October 1917. Renumbered 2nd Light Railway Operating Company 28 February1918.

Above info taken from here:-

Order of Battle

If you want to investigate the Australian connection further there is some great online resource here:-

Australian War Memorial

Neil

[Jonathan Saunders]

Yvonne,

The towns around Salisbury, such as Balcombe, Wilton, Wishford etc, were "occupied"/billeted by Australian troops (amongst others). From what I gather there was a multitude of Australians specifically in this area from late 1916 onwards I think.

A copy of the service record should be available from the National Archives of Australia (check out there website) for a very reasonable fee or you can request they digitise and put on line. About 3/4 weeks if you pay for a copy (and these are cheap by UK standards) or 3 months if you ask for a digitised copy. My dates may be out of date as Ihavent used the NAA for about a year.

Welcome to the Forum and I good luck with yr research.

[Jock Bruce]

Yvonne,

if it helps

2/5 South Staffs (a Territorial unit) were raised in Walsall in Sep 14, then served in the Luton area from Jan 15, in the St Albans area from Jul 15, in Ireland from Apr 16, returned to the mainland in Jan 17 (Fovant on Salisbury Plain) and then went to France in Feb 17.

2940 and 202638 are probaly Edwin's original 4-digit number in the 5th S Staffs and his 'new' 6-digit number following the renumbering of all TF men in early 17. He would have kept this 6-digit number on transfer to 7 S Staffs but got a new number (109198) on transfer to the R Fus.

I you look on the 'mother site' you can get details of the S Staffs and R Fus.

You have more than enough information to start looking for Edwin in the PRO.

Jock

[MartinWills]

Yvonne,

On the light railway front it can be hard to find out much about the units as this is a little researched and little understood aspect of the war. Most of us do not realise the extent to which 60cm / 2ft narrow guage lines carried supplies of all sorts about the Western Front (and elsewhere). Even the railway anoraks who have done almost everything else have done little to explore these light railways.

The principle sources which you may be able to obtain locally through inter library loan are:

TRANSPORTATION ON THE WESTERN fRONT 1914-1918 Henniker, W

HMSO 1937 (part of the Official History set and as scarce as hens teeth)

It has been reprinted recently by the Imperial War Museum/Battery Press.

Light Railways of the First World War, Davies W J K David & Charles 1967

Again as scarce as hens teeth and not reprinted. This is authoratative.

Plateway Press in the UK have published three volumes:

Narrow Gauge at War Vol 1. (mainly a collection of pictures)

Narrow Gauge at War Vol. 2 (a good general account - certainly not superficial)

The Light Track from Arras - a reprint of a 1931 publication by a veteran recalling his service on the light railways. The author T. R. Heritage served with the l9th and 3lst Light Railway Operating Companies during 1917 and 1918.

A number of articles have also been published in Australian railway magazines.

There is/was a useful website at www.wdlr.org.uk/ though I have not been able to access it today and it may have moved or ceased.

http://www.bagofbits.com/tinturtle/ features the locomotive which was restored by the salvage squad on channel 4.

As others have said the Australian War Memorial Site is an excellent resource and you should be able to get service records with ease. The photographic database is also worth browsing. Neil has posted the link to their site.

Other threads have numerous comments on the PRO (don't forget ID to enrol as a reader) and you will find the catalogue online at http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/ though it can take some experimentation to get the hang of it. Most of the files you need will be under the WO classification. You can always ask for further advice on this forum if you get stuck. Do try and sort out what you want to look at before you go. There are good advice sheets available on the PRO site.

Good luck.

Martin

[Neil Mackenzie]

Yvonne.

Just had a look at the nominal roll on the Australian War Memorial website - which for some reason I could not access yesterday.

It confirms that Fred Willcock (1829) was a member of the 16th Railway Company and enlisted on 20/3/1917. He returned to Australia on 31/1/1918.

Neil