Promoted to Corporal

On the 22^nd April 1917 William Alfred Bush, my Great Grand Uncle was promoted to acting Corporal in the 363 Motorised transport Company of the Army Service Corps.

William had been out with the British Expeditionary Force since war broke out in August 1914 and had previously served in the Army Service Corps from 1905-08. Before joining the army in 1905 he had been employed as a boiler maker and in 1911 was a house painter as were a number of his cousins

William was born in Wimbledon in 1879 and the family, his wife Elizabeth and their four children, Lillie, William, Ivy and Dorothy were living at 6 Leyton Road, Wimbledon., having previously lived in Goodenough Street, Wimbledon.

The ASC MT Companies performed a number of functions and some like the 363 company were attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) as Ammunition Columns / Parks. 363 Company, which was formed May 1915 was the Ammunition Column for 18th Brigade RGA. The 18th Brigade later came under V Corps Heavy Artillery.

The heavy guns and howitzers of the RGA, with attendant equipment and ammunition, needed motorised transport to haul them. The MT Companies called Ammunition Parks operated dumps, or stores, of ammunition, with the larger calibres of artillery shells required special mechanical handling equipment.

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