William Bickers, Llanrwst- Uniform ID request

[Gow67]

Hi,

This is William Bickers my friend Keri’s great grandfather from Llanrwst, Denbighshire.

Any help identifying his regiment would be greatly appreciated.

All the best

[MaxD]

His cap badge is almost certainly Army Service Corps but his name (or variants) doesn't register among the medal cards at the National Archives.  In fact none of the 8 William Bickers are in the ASC (their badges are all unmistakeably different). Could he have served under another name?

MaxD

[Gow67]

Thanks MaxD.

I am seeing a William Bickers on Ancestry among the Medal rolls- a driver with RASC- service no: T4/058345.

Could this be our man??

G67

[MaxD]

G67

My apologies - no excuse I missed that one as a possibility.  The T4 Prefix denotes a driver (of horses) )in  Kitchener's K4 Army Group)  which gells with his uniform.  In my (poor) defence, I was misled by the non-existence of a medal card which even now with the number doesn't appear. 
There is also, as you would expect for a man with those overseas service stripes, a 1914/1915 Star for him (under W Bickers) from which we learn he went to France on 4 August 1915 and was discharged on 23 July 1919.  There is a possibility that the lack of a medal card is connected with his number being incorrectly recorded and then amended on the 1914/1915 roll as you'll see.

However, his service record doesn't appear either so unless he is somewhere with a mistranscribed name, we can't be sure.  That said, of those few of that name who do exist, he is most likely.

I should have seen that record first time round, I blame old age!

MaxD

[Gow67]

Thanks for all that info MaxD! I think we will go with this as the most likeliest man. I’ll pass info on.

All the best,

G67

[Gwil]

I am seeing a William Bickers on Ancestry among the Medal rolls- a driver with RASC- service no: T4/058345.
Could this be our man??
G67

1918 Absent Voters for Merionethshire has William Bickers, 4 Walter Terrace, Blaenau Ffestioniog as
 ' T5/058345 Driver, 310 Coy, ASC'

You'll probably know thatthis is not that far from Llanrwst.

[MaxD]

Good spot Gwil.

The different prefix T5 instead of T4 is down to the break up of the original divisions in the K4 Army Group and the formation of new K4 and K5 Army Groups - bottom line, same chap.  T prefix still denoting horse transport.

The National Archives has 310 Company as a Mechanical Transport Company acting as 33 Reserve Park.  This is because towards the end of the war the companies became mechanised.  Their task was the ferrying with horse drawn waggons (later lorries) of supplies forward to divisional supply columns

There is a war diary at:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ae11ccc2e7ef4d349c0cd9bea197a3ad

MaxD

[Gow67]

Many thanks Gwil and MaxD. This has to be our man. Passing on thanks from my friend Keri she is over the moon at receiving all this new info. Best wishes from Bo’ness, Scotland.