Army Service Corps 1917

[ValJJJ]

In a Board of Guardians children’s record, it states one of their wards ‘enlisted in army and was to start with his company for Salonika on May 11th 1917’.

I take that to be the date of sailing.

I have his WW2 service record (he enlisted in 1944), and it states his previous engagement was with the RASC and rank at discharge was corporal (but noted that the rank was unverified). His service no. was 1884035.

Are there any war diaries showing the movements of the ASC (as it didn’t get the Royal prefix until after WW1)? Where would they be archived?

Also would a WW2 recruit be given a new service number or retain their old one?

Thanks in anticipation.

[alan o]

ASC did not have war diaries as such but this site may help if you have any details about him. 

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-army-service-corps-in-the-first-world-war/

The ASC was a huge corps so there were many units in Salonika.

[ValJJJ]

Thanks.

I did find a Victory and British War medal record for the right name and rank in the RASCM with a service number prefixed with M.

So a motorised unit. That makes sense as he was a working for a marine engineering company before enlisting.

[TullochArd]

In a Board of Guardians children’s record, it states one of their wards ‘enlisted in army and was to start with his company for Salonika on May 11th 1917’.

I take that to be the date of sailing.

I have his WW2 service record (he enlisted in 1944), and it states his previous engagement was with the RASC and rank at discharge was corporal (but noted that the rank was unverified). His service no. was 1884035.

Are there any war diaries showing the movements of the ASC (as it didn’t get the Royal prefix until after WW1)? Where would they be archived?

Also would a WW2 recruit be given a new service number or retain their old one?

Thanks in anticipation.

1884035 is a post WW1 number.  These numbers are Army numbers (not Regimental) and are absolutely unique to a specific man. Multiple identical Regimental numbers proved an unexpected problem in WW1. 1884035 is Cpl Sidney Charles Covey 245 Fd Coy RE killed 29 June 1944.  His parents are Arthur Edward and Ellen Covey of Dorking, Surrey. 1884035 Sidney was born in 1919 so cannot have ‘enlisted in army and was to start with his company for Salonika on May 11th 1917’. Are we talking about Covey's ValJJJ?