Topic: AIF - AASC
During the Great War, when the AIF was being transported overseas, the Military authorities required a centralised information system to record those soldiers who embarked. The reason for this was simple. The men embarked from various ports all around Australia which created a disparate and uncollated circumstance. Men who subsequently made claims for overseas service could not be readily checked. To ensure that all the various administrative offices of the various Military Districts had the same data about the men, the massive task of constructing Embarkation Rolls began. Once collected, they were printed by the government printer and made available to all relevant offices.
In undertaking this task, errors crept in. Men might have fallen sick or deserted but still were recorded on the Embarkation Roll. Men with similar names might be omitted. There are cases of men on active service being wrongly identified as deserters because of mistakes on the Embarkation Roll. But for all its many failings, the Embarkation Rolls are one of the most important and useful documents in undertaking research upon soldiers in the AIF.
One of the errors is now about to be corrected. The following is a list of identified men who enlisted in the AIF and embarked for service as Australian Army Service Corps reinforcements but were never recorded on the Embarkation Rolls. In an earlier post, 7545 Dvr Walter John Watson was given a brief biography. He was one such man.
Through the work of Stephen Becker and with his kind permission, the following list identifies the men from the 11th Reinforcements to the Light Horse Brigade Trains (1st, 2nd and 3rd). Next to the name is an abbreviated military biography.
BAILIE Arthur James 7529 Dvr 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to 6 LHR to APayC AIF HQ UK rtn ER Cpl AIF HQ Cairo disch 4-3-18 MU
BOYLE Leo Stanley 7526 Dvr 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to RHQ/7 LHR to 32Co Anzac MDT to 27 D/US to 26 D/US
BRISTOW William David 7541 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to 46Bn to 26Co 4 Div Trn to 13 MG Co 4 MG Bn F&B
BUTTERS Clarence Morten 7548 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to 3 LH Bde Sup Sect to S/Sgt 27 D/US MID to 35Co AASC AMDT to 36Co
CLARK Alexander 7511 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to 8 MVS (212) to 37Co AMDT (British RFA 16 years)
DANN Archie McKenzie 7547 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to Gnr 110Bty/10 FAB WIA 1-10-17 head F&B DoW 1-10-17 buried Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Belgium
JENSEN Timothy John 7533 Dvr 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to 5 Fld Bky (19Co) to Cpl 1 DSC to 1 MTCo F&B
LAWRENCE Horace Manuel 7512 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to RHQ/02 LHR att 1 LH Bde Trn
MacINTOSH Hugh Hay 7513 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to RHQ/01 LHR (214a) brother Eric in AIF
MacMILLAN Alexander 7516 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to 14Co to 4 Div HQ (215) F&B
MAGOR William John 7543 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to Anzac Sig Sqn to 31Co AASC UK to 7Co 4 Div Trn F&B (Boer War 3 Troop CSqn/6 ACH (316)
MAWBY Geoffrey Osborn 7514 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to 31Co 6 Div Trn to Cpl AASC Dtls (213) UK
McKINNON Donald 7531 Pte 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to 1 LH FSE to Dvr 689Co AASC 3 Div Trn F&B
MOLLISON Alexander Stewart 7515 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to 01 LHR (218) to AProvC 14 AGH guard to 32Co Anzac MDT WIA 3-4-18 thigh
NEVILLE Charles Leslie 7527 Dvr 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to 1 LH FSE to Sgt 2 LH Bde Sup sect to RQMS DADOS 1 LH Bde HQ to Sub conductor ER Wo1 AAOC 2 LH Bde HQ MID
REIN Albert Victor 7528 Dvr 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to 6 LHR to Sgt 1 LH FSE to APayC to 2 LH FSE
STANGER Percy William 7530 Pte 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) to Cpl 1 LH FSE to 32Co Anzac MDT to Sgt AASC MT (British Notts Yeomanry and RHA)
THOMPSON Donald Malcolm 7544 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to 31Co AASC to 2 DSC to 2 MT Co F&B
THRUCHLY Jack Kettle 7532 Pte 2 LH Bde Trn 11R (6Co AASC) att 12 LHR to 2 LH Bde HQ to CQMS 33Co AASC Anzac MDT to 32Co
WATSON Walter John 7545 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to 117Bty/25 FAB to 104Bty/4 FAB F&B disch 3-9-18 MU hernia
WHELAN Joseph 7546 Dvr 3 LH Bde Trn 11R (12Co AASC) to Anzac Sig Sqn to 14Co 4 Div Trn F&B
WILLETT William Aubrey 7517 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to 01 LHR (216) to 2/AM 68 Sqn (2 Sqn) AFC to 4 Sqn AFC F&B married in UK
YOUNG Alexander 7518 Dvr 1 LH Bde Trn 11R (5Co AASC) to Transport Troop RHQ/01 LHR (217)
Few of these men remained in Egypt with the AASC. Most went onto France with other units.
Citation: AASC Reinforcements not recorded on the Embarkation Rolls
