13th works btl devonshires

[Guest martine42]

Hi there

As a new girl I'd really appreciate any help in finding out anything about my grt grandfathers WW1 service.

What I know so far is that after enlisting in the Devonshire regiment in Dec 1915 he was released to army reserve and not mobilised until aug 1916 when he was posted to 13th works battalion.

In april 1917 he was transferred to the labour corps and posted to the 3rd battalion. in june 1918 he was posted to 374th h/s coy labour corps before ebing released to class z reserve in february 1919.

I's love to know anything about what/where he might have been/done and also what does class z reserve mean?

This is a great site - I've learnt a lot already.

Thanks

Martine Knight

[Jon Miller]

Hello Martine

As far as I can tell, your ancestor's WW1 service is unlikely to seem terribly exciting. Many men signed up at the end of 1915 under the auspices of Lord Derby's idea whereby men would sign up, then return home until called upon. This was the last effort to gain voluntary recruits, before the onset of conscription in 1916.

The 13th(works) Battalion of the Devonshire Regt apparently had little more connection to the Devonshires other than it was led by officers invalided temporarily or permanently out of the front line battalions. They had hardly been founded than they were transferred to become Labour Corps. They were still in England when your Great Grandfather's Corps were affiliated to the 3rd Devons. This battalion's job was to supply the overseas battalions with drafts of fresh recruits and officers, and recovered soldiers and officers with previous experience. In all the time that your GG was attached to the 3rd Battalion, the 3rd remained in Plymouth. Where the 374th h/s labour corps took him, I cannot tell you, but I would tend to think it unlikely that he went abroad, but I might be wrong. Another enquiry about the 374th on the forum may give you more information.

One possible plus, is that because your GG ended up in the Labour Corps, there is a fair chance (in relative terms) that his service records survive in the NA at Kew. Whilst I had a less than 1% success rate with soldiers in the Devons, I found quite a few of my local men's service records if they had been in the Labour Corps, so you MIGHT be lucky.

Jon.

[Guest martine42]

Hello Martine

As far as I can tell, your ancestor's WW1 service is unlikely to seem terribly exciting. Many men signed up at the end of 1915 under the auspices of Lord Derby's idea whereby men would sign up, then return home until called upon. This was the last effort to gain voluntary recruits, before the onset of conscription in 1916.

The 13th(works) Battalion of the Devonshire Regt apparently had little more connection to the Devonshires other than it was led by officers invalided temporarily or permanently out of the front line battalions. They had hardly been founded than they were transferred to become Labour Corps. They were still in England when your Great Grandfather's Corps were affiliated to the 3rd Devons. This battalion's job was to supply the overseas battalions with drafts of fresh recruits and officers, and recovered soldiers and officers with previous experience. In all the time that your GG was attached to the 3rd Battalion, the 3rd remained in Plymouth. Where the 374th h/s labour corps took him, I cannot tell you, but I would tend to think it unlikely that he went abroad, but I might be wrong. Another enquiry about the 374th on the forum may give you more information.

One possible plus, is that because your GG ended up in the Labour Corps, there is a fair chance (in relative terms) that his service records survive in the NA at Kew. Whilst I had a less than 1% success rate with soldiers in the Devons, I found quite a few of my local men's service records if they had been in the Labour Corps, so you MIGHT be lucky.

Jon.

Hi Jon

Thanks for that - every little bit of information is very welcome.

Do you know what the difference was between a labour battalion and a works battalion?

What excatly does it mean to say that the battalions job was to supply the overseas battalions with drafts of fresh recruits etc? I kow it wouldn't have been press gangs !!!! so wonder what/how they did it?

Regards

Martine

[Jon Miller]

I haven't the foggiest about the difference between a works or labour battalion. The three such battalions in the Devonshire Regt were the 12th (Labour) Battalion, the 13th (Works) Battalion and the 14th (Labour) Battaion. How different they were to the later Labour Corps, I still don't know.

I'm guessing again here, but here's a theory about the 3rd Battalion. In 1914 and 1915 when volunteers enlisted, they would choose which battalion they wanted to join. After most of the battalions had gone abroad, and after the start of conscription, recruits might have been able to sign for the Devons, but choice of battalion would be out of the question. You'd be sent to the battalion garrisoned at the depot, in this case Plymouth, be trained up by the 3rd, and then shipped out to whichever Devon battalion was in the most need of a fresh draft. I'm quite prepared for someone well versed with these kind of machinations to put the record straight.

Jon.

[Guest martine42]

Hi Jon

Thank you. Your theory sounds as good as anything I can come up with!!

Martine