Military Chat

Sorry for the slow reply and thankyou all so much for your responses, much appreciated.
There is no name or postmark on the card at all.

I too thought about giving information away as to location.
I believed these things were censored.

Thankyou for all the information supplied.,I shall digest.

AG

RE 9 Nov 2024 13:13
If "No 3 Labour Corp" is the same as "3rd RE Labour Battalion"

FYI - British Army WW1 Corps 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers
Battalion 1,000 men
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You could consider using Army Service Corps or ASC in your search criteria

During the First World War, regiments or corps of the British Army had their own ‘Labour Companies’ and infantry regiments often had their own ‘Labour Battalion’ for field engineering tasks.

ASC (Army Service Corps) Labour Companies
The ASC was organised into units known as Companies, each fulfilling a specific role. In most cases the Company also had a sub-title name describing its role.
In France and Flanders it was soon discovered in 1914 that the local authorities could not supply civilian men for labouring duties, such as helping the BEF disembark its stores and equipment from ships. The War Office arranged to send 300 labourers for these duties. More followed, and by the end of December 1914 they had been formed into *** five Labour Companies of the ASC. They were numbered 1 to 5***
Long,Long Trail

Company should be listed as COY

Therefore, I wouldn't expect there to be a No 3 Labour Corp(s) in 1915 as the Labour Corps wasn't formed until January 1917. I would have expected it have been No 3 Labour COMPANY

A magazine is the location where you store ammuntion, ordnance etc I have never heard of a body of men/ unit referred to as a magazine.

BEF is of course British Expeditionary Force


BRITISH FIELD SERVICE POSTCARD, FIRST WORLD WAR
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205131476
https://www.worldwar1luton.com/object/field-service-postcard

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/embroidered-silk-postcards

Was the postcard hand written with the unit information upon it or was the unit information stamped??
Did it look like any of the above postcards?
IS THERE A POST STAMP AND IF SO, WHAT DOES IT SAY??

Orders of Battle (ORBATS) are documents produced by the military to show the hierarchical structure, command organisation and disposition of units for particular engagements of the British Military.
*****With the ORBATS you are able to determine exactly where units were on a given date and the battle, action or event they took part in.*****

If the postcard has a Post Stamp, it may identify which Field Post Office it was sent from and you would be able to identify where that FPO was (roughly) when the postcard was sent.

Lastly, perhaps there is there some subterfuge afoot.
If you were a serving soldier you would not be allowed to put your units identification on the postcard. If it was intercepted your unit location could be comprised as the post stamp would indicate where the card was sent from, if it was sent by local means.

Is it possible that the sender fabricated the unit information in order to hide his true location??

Observations and comments invited. As always, I am open to correction on any of my entries.

Married 17 years in 1915 - he would have been aged at least c34, and comfortably within the call-up age range.

I've attempted (while WW1 service records are free to view on Ancestry this weekend), to look at all those with marriage date of 30 July 1898, and not attested before 30 July 1915 , and who were in France by that date, and in anything which included "labour" in the name - but couldn't find anyone fitting all those criteria.

Most WW1 records no longer exist, of course.

someone on the Great War Forum may be able to help

https://www.greatwarforum.org


Does the soldier give his name?

Although this relates to conscription I would expect Regular soldiers to have the same age 'restrictions' at the least, if not wider. If your man wrote in 1915 then he was either Regular forces or a volunteer as he would have been, as a married man, exempt under the original Act

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom

Conscription during the First World War began when the British Parliament passed the Military Service Act in January 1916. The Act specified that single men aged 18 to 40 years old were liable to be called up for military service unless they were widowed with children, or were ministers of a religion. There was a system of tribunals to adjudicate upon claims for exemption on the grounds of performing civilian work of national importance, domestic hardship, health, and conscientious objectionThe law went through several changes before the war ended. Married men were exempt in the original Act, although this was changed in May 1916. The age limit was also eventually raised to 51 years old. Recognition of work of national importance also diminished. In the last year of the war there was support for the conscription of clergy, though this was not enacted.[1] Conscription lasted until mid-1919.

Thankyou everyone for your help on this, much appreciated.?

I have no other details on the card sent I'm afraid but it is beautifully embroidered..

I have tried on ancestry, find my past , National archives and Google. trying to find where in France he may have been stationed ,from the little i have..

It only says " on our 17 th wedding anniversary" and the date.
No address on the front of a recipient.

From what has been said by ArgyllGran ( Thankyou) I would have thought he was conscripted into the labour corp as he was unfit for the frontline.( Married 17 years + his age??)
Potentially not of the right age for frontlines?
Thank all, grateful for your time spent.

Where have you looked?

And more:

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/royal-engineers-labour-battalions/

If "No 3 Labour Corp" is the same as "3rd RE Labour Battalion" (but apparently it wasn't formed until August 1915)
there's some info on that link:

3rd RE Labour Battalion

Raised at Southampton on 18 August 1915. Landed at Le Havre from “La Marguerite” 25 August 1915. Strength 12 officers and 1070 men. Proceeded to Doullens and marched out to Warnimont Wood.

Became 702nd Labour Company of the Labour Corps 1 August 1917.

War diary National Archives WO95/408.



ADDED:
This link below - for what it's worth - says the labour battalions were formed "during June 1915":

https://reubique.com/labourbn.htm

Info re Labour Corps 1914-16:

The Royal Engineers Labour Battalions

The RE raised 11 Battalions for labouring work.

Infantry Pioneer and Labour or Works Battalions

An early solution to the vast demand for labour was to create in each infantry Division a battalion that would be trained and capable of fighting as infantry, but that would normally be engaged on labouring work. They were given the name of Pioneers. They differed from normal infantry in that they would be composed of a mixture of men who were experienced with picks and shovels (i.e. miners, road men, etc) and some who had skilled trades (smiths, carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, masons, tinsmiths, engine drivers and fitters). A Pioneer battalion would also carry a range of technical stores that infantry would not. This type of battalion came into being with an Army Order in December 1914. In early 1916, a number of infantry battalions composed of men who were medically graded unfit for the fighting were formed for labouring work. They had only 2 officers per battalion. Twelve such battalions existed in June 1916.
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-labour-corps-of-1917-1918/

Does the postcard give the soldier's name?

Could anyone help please?
I have found a postcard sent to home from France and have been unable to locate where in France the soldier served or the card was sent from.
The details I have on the card are as follows
Dated 30/7 /1915
ALC no 150 gang,
No 3 Labour Corp
No 1 Fringe Magazine
BEF france
Any help, gratefully received.many thanks