William Sellars

[Guest ses]

I would like to say thank you to all the people who helped in my search the William Sellars that was found 51476 Cheshire regiment was indeed mine. I went and searched the files and could not believe the amount that was in his file it cost me £7 to copy it all so I could read it at home.

I would like to ask if any one could give me more infomation on the Army Vet corps and where they were stationed. I would also like to know more about the Cheshire regiment.

Any books or websites would be usefull and once again thank you all Ses

[gem22]

Ses

I have access to a copy of the History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps if you have any specific enquiries I can help with.

Garth

[John_Hartley]

Can't really help with you on the AVC.

The "bible" for the Cheshires is Arthur Crookenden's History of the Cheshire Regiment in the Great War. I t covers all battalions for most major actions (but is a bit light on details for the "in between times").Your local library should be able tog et it for you on an "inter library loan".

The regimental museum at Chester has a good set of war diaries (although not all), if it was more convenient for you to arranage to go there than the National Archives.

John

[roger]

Ses

I have access to a copy of the History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps if you have any specific enquiries I can help with.

Garth

Garth,Can I jump in on this one? There isn't any mention Of Captain James Sherley (KIA 1917) in the Histoery of the RAVC is there?

Cheers, Roger.

[Guest ses]

I would like to find out about what william may have been doing he was already a groom when he enlisted and carried on being one in the unit. What were his duties etc, I would like to know where the unit was located he enlisted in October 1914 Hounslow. Died in France with the Cheshire reg May 1918.

[John_Hartley]

Ses

I've just checked your earlier post. The 6th Cheshires are my "home town" battalion (from Stockport) and I have something of an interest in them. William doesnt appear in the Roll of Honour in the Battalion's history, althoughn he does in the Crookenden book I mention earlier. Can't explain this, other than error in compilation at the time.

There is currently a copy of the book available on Speedbid if you have the cash (too expensive for me). I have a scan of it from another Forum member and am happy to let you have a copy. You'll need to email me as I can't add an attachment if I email you through the Forum.

It shows the Bn was in action a few days befiore he died . This is probably when he received his wounds (although you can never be sure when someone has died well away from the battle area in hospital). That said, his service number doesnt represent the usual 6 digit format, that you would have expected from a territorial battalion soldier. Just a thought - but do all the papers confirm he was 6th Battalion?

John

[Guest ses]

I do have another army number for him but that is for AVC SE/732 His medal card states 6/ CHES. R. I also have his death certificate in french that was in his file which I think also confirms this.

From what I can read he was missing in action for a few days, it says he died in a trench hospital a few days later.

I would like to know more on the books though I may be able to find one somewhere else.

I am amazed at how much info there is on him in it but would love to know more if you can help I would be most grateful. All my family ever knew of him was a name and that was it.

Ses

[Guest ses]

Looking at the info on another document it says 1/6th Cheshire Reg. I live nr Kew so it would be hard to get to the museum at the moment. So I am grateful for all help given.

Ses

[gem22]

Ses/Roger

Sorry I should have been a bit more explicit in my original posting. The history makes very little mention of people. It's a history of the development and merger of what were two different subjects; animal handling and veterinary science. It shows how the Corps expanded from a few hundred people to over 40,000 at its peak. The book does contain a few stats on numbers of men killed, died , wounded, etc. but mentions very few by name.

It may be possible to work out where someone saw action but you would need to know which section or hospital the soldier served with.

To give you some idea of the problem the BEF had about 53 mobile veterinary sections (regular army) and 17 (TF) as well as over 20 vet hospitals in the spring of 1917.

They also manned vet sections in places like Egypt, Salonika, Mesopotamia, East Africa as well as Home Command.

The book is mostly about treatment of animals and less about the personnel involved. Even so if I can pull out any useful info please ask.

Garth

[roger]

No problem Garth, I thought it was worth a try thats all.

Cheers,

Roger.

[Guest ses]

Garth,

Thats ok. Could you tell me roughly what sort of duties he would have had as a groom in the AVC. I am trying to get hold of the book's through the local library (may take months)could you just to tell me something of the day to day running and how it came to be. He served from 1914 to 1918 with them before being sent to the Cheshire regiment where he died a few months later.

I am trying to picture what it was like for him. do you have a picture of the uniform they would wear? Do they have war diaries? or a museum.

I got into family history as my children wanted to know what my granddad did in the 2nd WW(Buffs). I had another relative in the cambridgeshire reg. I have several books on these units and have learnt a lot I would now like to know about the 1WW.

I am most gratefull for all the help

Ses

[gem22]

Ses

Lots of questions but sadly I can't give all the answers. I'll do what I can though and in no particular order.

Uniform - would have been the same that everybody else wore. It is possible that they would have had an occasional specialised piece of uniform but generally they would have been in the same khaki as everyone else.

Museum - I don't know of a specialist one but some exhibits can be seen at the army medical museum

http://www.army.mod.uk/medical/ams_museum/

War diaries- If they exist will be at the PRO at Kew and should be easy to find but bear in mind that the AVC had over 50 mobile sections in F and F as well as about 20 hospitals. It would help if you could find out which he served with. Not an easy task.

As for his duties they would have been much the same as he had as a civilian. The care and maintenance of horses and mules was a very important task and was carried out, wherever possible, by experienced personnel. Efforts were made to provide short training courses to increase the numbers of trained men. The AVC recognised tho' that this was not the best way to do things. The AVC was probably one of the few Corps that had taken the lessons of the Boer war and applied them to the possibility of a future european war. They were well ready for the war in all but manpower. They started the war as just a few hundred men but at the peak employed over 40,000 men.

Rest asured that men like William were vital to the war effort. It might not seem a glamorous job but good animal care ensured that over 90% of horses and mules treated for wounds or illness were returned fit for duty.

Good luck with your further research

Garth