World War 1 KIA

[cheshiremog]

Goodness John
How did you manage to find that out ?
Mog

[liverpool annie]

Ancient Chinese Secret Mog !! 

[cheshiremog]

And curiosity is still killing this cat! 

[johnmiles]

You can see the War Diary at www.thewardrobe.org.uk As for what went previous to France I have all the regimental histories and am writing more up to date ones myself as I am a Trustee of the Regimental Museum and have access to a lot of data.

John

[liverpool annie]

Well John ...... I appreciate it .... thanks !! 

Annie 

[cheshiremog]

Thanks for that John
Very interesting as my grandfather served in the 12th Labour Corps- Royal Berkshires
I see they have the 10th Labour on the site but not the 12th ?

[johnmiles]

To Cheshire Mog

Only the 10th's War Diary survived - the 12th went to France 19th August 1916 and went to Zenegham near Calais to build an ammunition dump. They became 162 and 163 Coys Labour Corps 9th May 1917.

As a general rule Labour Battalions came under the local town Major and it is his war diary you have to find. I have not as yet gone searching. Can you tell me your grandfather's name and I will look him up

regards

John

[cheshiremog]

Dear John
Thank you for your kind offer.  Yes that is the exact date he went to France on 19th August 1916 !    - I managed to get his burnt record and it is on there.

My grandad always said that he was injured and thrown to the side of the road for dead - with a pile of horses - someone marching past saw him move and realised he was alive.  He did survive but had to wear a back brace for the rest of his life.

His name was Samuel Edward Vittery Clift. Service No 281939 Pte -  He was born in Brixham, Devon on 15th Feb 1873.  He attested at Paignton, Devon on 11th Dec 1915 and gave hs age as 39 years 9 months - but he was in fact 42 years and 9 months. Did he need to lie to get in - or was there some kind of mistake ?  He was a hansom cab driver and we have always wondered whether his horses were recquisitioned for the war effort - leaving him with no job and no option but to join up.

I have always wondered why he ended up in the Berkshires as he was from Devon- I think later in the war you were just allocated to a regiment - or were the Berkshire actively recruiting in Devon for some reason?

Dates I have are:-

Attested Paignton 11.12.15
To Army Reserve 11.12.15
Mobilised 23.6.16
R Berks 12th Home 23.6.16 to 18.8.16
Exped Force France 19.8.16 to 20.3.17
Home 21.3.17 to, 20.11.07
Service 1 year 156 days

Other Notes:-
Depot Posted 21.3.17
Depot 3 Posted 26.5.17
Lab Corps 629  H.S.S.G.T. ? Transferred 30.6.17
Med Board 28.10.17
Discharged no longer physically fit for war service
Docs to Chelsea 30.10.17

I have always wondered if he was sent back from France early due to the injury - or if the regiment came back together

Any further details you could give would be wonderful

Mog

[johnmiles]

Mog

I can fill in a few gaps and ask some more questions

He attested at Paignton under the terms of the Derby Act whereby all men who were not married and aged between 18 and 41 had to register at their Town Hall. Men had four options - enlist immediately, Go onto the B Reserve; promise to enlist and promise to go on the B Reserve. He evidently took option 2 and joined the B Reserve.

Call up started in March 1916 and men were required to report to their local barracks - in his case it would have been one of the Devonshire Regiment. The Army was organised in the UK by Command - Southern Command included Warwick, Worcester, Bucks, Berks, Hants and all counties to the west. Each regiment formed a new battalion in sequence and men from all over the command would go to the regiment forming at the time. From the 19th to 27th June this was the 12th Royal Berks. When he got to Reading he would have been allotted a regimental number - probably in the range 27437 to 27520 as this was a batch whose names were not recorded at HQ. After being kitted out they were sent to Portsmouth to await deployment and get in some pretty rudimentary training as the Labour Battalions were not expected to fight unless severely provoked. About all they were given was basic instruction about a rifle and how to march.

They departed for France19th August 1916 on the Monas Queen and, as I said before, worked on building an ammunition depot at Zenegham.

On 6th January 1917 something happened which caused the deaths of  eight men and they came from all over Southern Command (Parkstone, Wallingford, Malvern, Islington, North Aston, Malmesbury, Bristol and Woking - but the two from Woking and Islington had come from the 14th Devons. My suspicion is that some ammunition exploded as there is no sign of an air raid or anything in the Calais area at the time.

I would assume that your grandfather was caught up the explosion and was injured in the blast together with the horses he was working with. He would have spent some time in a local field hospital and then shipped back to England in March as being fit only for home duties as you give him reporting to the depot the 21st.

He seems then to have joined the 629th Coy Labour Corps on the 30th June - this was a unit working in England - mostly made up of men from the Royal Berks and eventually discharged 30th October. He does not appear on the War medal Roll and would not have qualified for a Star but should have had a Victory Medal - do you know what medals he had?

If you do have his Royal Berks number we would love to know - also where and when he died.

regards

John