Help Understanding Casualty Record for ASC Lorry Driver

[Victoria_Drummond]

I am trying to understand the service history for Pte William Henry John Bartlett.  He was conscripted in 1916 and mobilised in early 1917.  He went to Grove Park for driver training, then served in Belgium and France.  His Regimental no was M/282153.

I have found his Casualty Record and transcribed below, as best I can.  Some of it I’m not sure I have transcribed correctly.  Other parts, I just don’t understand what they mean!

Any help gratefully received!

Row Number	Date	From Whom Received	Record	Place of Casualty	Date of Casualty	Remarks	My comments
5			Joined A.S.O M.T	Grove Park	5/1/17		Certified as a “Learner Driver” on 9/1/17. William was only at Grove Park for a week, does this imply he could already drive when he arrived?  “ASO”, possibly incorrect - should it have been “ASC”?
6			Posted A.S.O M.T	Isleworth	13/1/17	LT.& Q.M.A.S.O	Isleworth had a military hospital - would that have been this posting? Could he have been an ambulance driver?
7			Embarked Southampton		11/5/17
8			Disembarked Rouon/Rouen.		12/5/17
9			Per S. S. “King Edward”.	ASO/N12/4700 or possibly ASO/M12/4700
10			let B.H.F. Depot Rouon.				BHF misprint? Should it be BEF for British Expeditionary Force?
11	10/6/12	1.BMTD	To 19.V Park (N)		1/6/17	OCR 2/617 C/24/17	1.BMT = No1. BASE MECHANICAL TRANSPORT DEPOT   Not sure what “To 19.V Park (N)” is.  Incorrectly transcribed?
12	12/6/17	IATSC	To IATSC		4/6/17	OCR C3?	What was IATSC?
13	20/6/17	“A” Sup loc	To 3 Aust Tim Co	RE	6/6/17	R213 9/6/17 C 25/17	Not sure what any of this is!
14	21/6/17	1st At LC	Atchd to A Corps Sup Col		5/6/17 DGR 5/6/17 C25/17		Not sure I have transcribed correctly.  “A Corps Sup Col” = “A Corps Supply Column”?
15	1/5/18	2nd Rep Shop	To 2nd ASC Repair Shop		20/04/18	“ 21/4/18 C18/18	Repair Shop
16	“	.  “	“ 1st B M T D		21/04/18	“ 21/4/18 C18/18	1st BMT = No1. BASE MECHANICAL TRANSPORT DEPOT
17	3/5/18	1st B M T D	To 35 Aux (P) Corps		18/4/18	??2 4/186 18/18	35 Aux (P) Corps - Auxiliary Corps - what was this?
18	14/5/18	35th Aux P Corp	To 5th Aux P Corp		25/4/18	OCR 26/4/18 C20/18
19	14/5/18	“	To 3rd Cav Div MT Coy		25/4/18	OCR 26/4/18 C20/18	3rd Cavalry Division?
20	19/12/18	3 Cov : Div MT Coy	Granted first G C Badge		31/8/18	B213 / 23/11/18 A 31/18	“Good Conduct” stripe.
21	?3/1/19	.   “	Leave 24/12/18 to 7/1/19 14 days RA(B)			B2B 21/12/18 C3/19	What does RA(B) stand for?
25			Demobilised during leave to U.K			PRII Gaden 6/19	Leave extended.  Transcribed correctly?

[jim1]

12=1st. Army(or Australian) transport supply column..possibly.
13=3rd. Australian tunneling Coy. Royal Engineers.

[Victoria_Drummond]

Thank you Jim!  I was wondering if Aust was short for Australia.

[keldon]

You may find this page and the links from it useful.
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-army-service-corps-in-the-first-world-war/

[keldon]

IATSC - probably 1A T.S.C. - Army Service Corps
Another useful page on the same website.
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/letter-prefixes-to-british-soldiers-numbers-in-the-first-world-war/

[jim1]

5. As a laundry proprietor it was more than likely he could
drive.
On arriving at Grove Park it would have been a case of testing his
driving ability & then posting him on.
10. Looks like B.M.T.=British Motor Transport Depot.
21. This is a pure guess on my part. Other Ranks didn't travel alone when overseas
they would have gone in a group accompanied by an Officer(s).
It's possible he was attached to a group from the Royal Artillery & travelled with them.
Another possible for 12 is 1st. Army Advanced Motor Transport Depot (ASC) which was based at Rouen. Been abbreviated again to IATSC.
11. No. 19 vehicle park.

[Jebber]

There was no official driving test in those days, so he may simply have done a crash course (excuse the pun) once in the Army.

The Army do intensive driving courses, my son learned to drive in the Army in the eighties, he went from complete beginner to passing his test in fourteen days.