Labour Corps-WW1: Roy McConville

[jim1]

They arrived in France in March.
There are lots of theories. He may have been called up Jan. 1916 & put into Special Reserve. This meant going back to his day job until required. Highly unlikely a single man would be able to dodge call up until 1917. It may be he was considered more use as a seaman at the time.
Roy didn't go overseas with the LC he went with the KLR & then transferred some time after.
He could have been transferred straight from the Infantry Base Depot (IBD) France or later.
In the absence of a service record theories are all there is.
However looking at his LC no. 53690 against the batch allocation 53401-54000 means he was 289th. on the list. The diary says the 90th. had 495 OR's at it's formation which indicates to me he was in the 25th. Lab. Coy. KLR when they transferred rather than being given a spare number at a later date.
Just another theory.

[johneowens]

... Yes, but probably a more informed theory than mine.

Roy is on the 1915 Electoral Register at Winwick Asylum as an attendant working with Cassie, also an attendant. I'm guessing that would not be a protected occupation; as you say, "highly unlikely a single man would be able to dodge call up until 1917." But, by December 1916, when they married, he had become a seaman, which presumably was protected, at least until 1917. Does that sound plausible?

Thanks again for the clarification re. which unit he enlisted with: "Roy didn't go overseas with the LC he went with the KLR & then transferred some time after." Presumably, you mean that after being called up in the Special Reserve in Jan 1916, in March 1917 he enlisted with the 25th. Lab. Coy. KLR in Liverpool, and then was likely deployed to France May 1917.

Best

John

[jim1]

There were no protected occupations only protected industries & this was only after conscription.
Everything happened to him around the same time. Joining the KLR, going overseas, posting to the 25th. Lab. Coy. & transfer to the LC.
The route & timetable have been lost so no way of knowing for sure.

[johneowens]

Yep. That about sums it up.

Best

John

[johneowens]

... One more question, Jim1. Roy was born Sept 1887, which would make him 29 in December 1916, when he married, and probably when he was conscripted. Would being 29 preclude him from being assigned to a fighting unit rather than an LC - although as we know, sometimes the LCs were in range of German guns?

BTW, just discovered his wife Cassie was a Red Cross Trained Nurse deployed to France March 1916 to Mar 1917, by which time she would have been heavily pregnant - which might give me the answer to my original question, as to why she died in Essex rather than home in Lancashire.

Best

John

[jim1]

Age wasn't a factor only fitness. The first batches of conscripts were single men then married men & finally married men with children. So he would have been called up pretty quickly. What happened to him after that we'll never know. My guess would be Special Reserve as he was a seaman Dec. 1916 but it's just a guess.

[johneowens]

Thanks again, Jim.

Best

John