Robert Turnbull Grant of the Army Cyclist Corps No 20972

[Georgesgrandson]

My Great Uncle Robert Turnbull Grant served in the Army Cyclist Corps with the rank of Private No 20972

He was born 2nd May 1894 in South Shields and died on 3rd October 1973 in South Shields

Medal Card States Victory & British Medals E/1/104  B8   716

His WW1 pension ledger and index card give a discharge date of 26 Feb 1919, and a pension record ledger reference 2/Mg/No3058 

 

After the war he ran a newsagent/grocery shop in Whitburn, near Sunderland.

Although he never talked about his service the family understand that when in his 70s he was asked about his breathing and the doctor asked why he only had one working lung -he said that he had lost a lung when gassed.

He kept in touch with regular meetings his Captain - name forgotten - and other members of his unit for many years

I would like to know where he served, and what his medical problems were and any other details of what the duties of the cyclist corps were.

 

[RussT]

5 hours ago, Georgesgrandson said:

I would like to know where he served

I know very little of the ACC, their structure, deployment and their role - the Corps doesn't seem to be a particularly well-researched topic.

Some info here:

War on two wheels: British army cyclists 1914-1918 | The Gazette

There is very little on the LLT:

Army Cyclist Corps - The Long, Long Trail (longlongtrail.co.uk)

Searching the Forum for relevant key words does bring up quite a few threads so you may learn a bit that way.

I see from his Medal Roll that he served overseas with VI CCB which I take to mean 6th Corps Cyclist Battalion.

I think this link leads to their War Diaries, which are free from the National Archives:

Search results: 6 corps cyclist Battalion | The National Archives

I hope it provides you with a start.

Regards

Russ

 

[RussT]

You can see from his PIC that he had the earlier Service Numbers of 2234 and 365733, which I conclude are his former Northern Cyclist Battalion Territorial Force numbers. His original number upon enlistment would have been 2334 but he was re-numbered in early 1917 with the 6-digit number of 365733 when the whole of the TF was re-numbered.

Some info on the NCB here:

Cyclist Battalions of the Territorial Force Infantry - The Long, Long Trail (longlongtrail.co.uk)

I understand that (some) men from the NCB were transferred to the ACC and re-numbered - Grant was evidently allotted the number 20972 in the ACC.

There is a Service Record for the man (Cecil Iley from Gateshead) who had the near NCB numbers of 2232 and 365732 who was later 20982 ACC. He was a Derby Scheme volunteer (attesting 11/12/1915) who was mobilised to the NCB on 14/06/1916. It seems likely that Grant joined the NCB on or close to this date. Iley was transferred to the ACC on 03/05/1917, which I would suggest was also the date that Grant was transferred.

Examining further records of other men with similar service numbers might help piece together some movements/deployments in the UK and which might give you some credible indications as to when Grant was sent to France

Russ

 

[Georgesgrandson]

3 hours ago, RussT said:

You can see from his PIC that he had the earlier Service Numbers of 2234 and 365733, which I conclude are his former Northern Cyclist Battalion Territorial Force numbers. His original number upon enlistment would have been 2334 but he was re-numbered in early 1917 with the 6-digit number of 365733 when the whole of the TF was re-numbered.

Some info on the NCB here:

Cyclist Battalions of the Territorial Force Infantry - The Long, Long Trail (longlongtrail.co.uk)

I understand that (some) men from the NCB were transferred to the ACC and re-numbered - Grant was evidently allotted the number 20972 in the ACC.

There is a Service Record for the man (Cecil Iley from Gateshead) who had the near NCB numbers of 2232 and 365732 who was later 20982 ACC. He was a Derby Scheme volunteer (attesting 11/12/1915) who was mobilised to the NCB on 14/06/1916. It seems likely that Grant joined the NCB on or close to this date. Iley was transferred to the ACC on 03/05/1917, which I would suggest was also the date that Grant was transferred.

Examining further records of other men with similar service numbers might help piece together some movements/deployments in the UK and which might give you some credible indications as to when Grant was sent to France

Russ

 

Interesting.

I had understood that his unit was local,(NE England) and this would perhaps back that up. I had requested his records from Kew but they replied that they could not trace "Uncle Bob" .... 

I will get back to them using this information too.

Thank you