SS/25559 Pte John H Maiden, ASC. Any service info, please.

[jmaiden]

This post refers to my father, who served throughout, or most of, WW1. He died in 1933 before I was born and my mother died soon afterwards, hence my lack of knowledge!

Dad's service record has not survived, but I have his Medal Index Card and Medal Roll copies.

Details of Rgts and No's are:- Pte John Henry Maiden, A.S.C. SS/25559; R.E. 246689: A.R. Class Z, 22nd Nothumberland Fusiliers 56198. Date of disembarkation in France 21/2/1915. My brother has his medals, 1914/15 Star, Victory and British War, all giving his A.S.C. details.

His home was in Southport, Lancashire and that was probably where he enlisted, presumably in 1914.

What is the significance of the "SS" prefix to his number? Other ASC members in the medal roll have different prefixes.

His disembarkation date may give a clue to his Coy or Division. Any ideas anyone?

He was transferred to the Royal Engineers, at a guess, in 1918. Why might that have been?

My brother thinks he may have been a PoW, but no record at TNA, I have written to the ICRC for any info they may have.

Many thanks for any help.

Jack

[welshdoc]

apparently its "supply special (trade)" whatever that means. (info from the British medals forum).

[Paul Nixon]

The A R, Class Z is Army Reserve; ie when he was discharged from the army he was placed on the Army Reserve.

From the mother site: "Class Z Reserve was authorised by an Army Order of 3 December 1918. There were fears that Germany would not accept the terms of any peace treaty, and therefore the British Government decided it would be wise to be able to quickly recall trained men in the eventuality of the resumption of hostilities.Soldiers who were being demobilised, particularly those who had agreed to serve "for the duration", were at first posted to Class Z. They returned to civilian life, but with an obligation to return if called upon."

[delta]

Jack - welcome to the Forum; it has a group of enthusiasts with a wide range of interets so, hopefully, we can help build up a picture of your's father life.

leading on from Welshdoc;s comments: the supply trade stored, accounted for and issued combat supplies (ammo, food etc as well as weapons and technical equipment); something they still do as part of the Royal Logistic Corps.

Your father's entry to France was fairly early for some-one who volunteered in 1914; I don't want to go out on a limb (.................oh all right then) but it is possible he joined one of the local territorial units; several went across at about this time.

Rebadging to the RE is interesting - this could mean he had a special skill which was in short supply - do you know what was his civilian calling? Alternatively he could have been transferrred to look after the "engineer resources" - the specialist stores required to support engineering tasks.

Both the RE and ASC were very large organisations so we may have difficulty pinning down his unit but...............let's have a go. Do you have other clues you can give us something to work on.

[jmaiden]

Thanks, Welshdoc, Paul and Delta.

I was aware that Class Z was the reserve, but wondered if A.R. might mean something other than Army Reserve!

I'll follow up the TA suggestion, there may be info in the local newspaper, copies of which are on film at Southport Library and I have a contact up there who can help with look-ups.

Dad was a railway porter, both before and after the war. Regarding special skills, he was certainly an early radio enthusiast and he built radios for other members of the family - cat's whiskers, 2LO and all that. Perhaps he received some radio training in the army, although it is just possible he started that hobby pre-war.

I will check with my brother, away at present, to see if he can dredge any more clues up from his memory.

Thanks again

Jack

[jmaiden]

Further to my last post.

Not much more info. Dad was age 19 on 2 Sept 1914 and may have been in the TA.

His medal roll entry has the note "I.V. 188/A af (or df?) 24/10/22" in the right hand column. Am I right in thinking this was the date of his discharge from the Reserve? He must have returned home in 1919 as he married Mum on 21 Jan 1920.

We think he was wounded during his service, the story being that one bullet was removed and another remained embedded somewhere as it would have been too dangerous to remove it. We have no knowledge of a Siver War Badge and he may have remained in France throughout the war.

There is still the possibility that he was a PoW.

Jack