Q & a

What can you tell me about Joseph’s service?

Q I am trying to work out what Joseph Mellor Vernon (1886–1953) did during the First World War. A pottery worker living in Porthill, Stoke-on-Trent, he married Phoebe Turner in 1911 and they had three children. Some service records have survived that show he attested in 1915 and was mobilised on 29 June 1917 as a private in the North Staffordshire Regiment (116815). On enlistment, his height was given as 4 foot 11 inches, which was below the regulation minimum of 5 foot 3 inches, so why was he accepted? He is recorded as being in various battalions. His military history form is blank, but I know he went overseas and was in the Labour Corps later on.

Janet Hurst

A A partial service record is helpful here as the usual route for finding out about a soldier’s service, through the Medal Rolls, doesn’t help in this case. His Medal Index Card on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) and The National Archives’ (TNA’s) website (nationalarchives. gov.uk) says that his Labour Corps number was 682739 and, using that number, the roll we located only confirms that he served with the North Staffs (no specific battalions).

However, his service record remnants say that he attested on 4 December 1915 (before conscription began, so he could specify his regiment and served under 1915 rules), but was only mobilised on 19 June 1917, being posted to the Base Depot (Whittington, Staffordshire) for training. He went to France in March 1918 (4th Battalion North Staffs), then to 5th Battalion on 13 April.

The 5th Battalion’s War Diary shows that Joseph must have joined them while they fought in defence of Bailleul, a small town with vital rail links to the front line, south of Ypres, during the Battle of the Lys. During four days’ heavy fighting, they lost six officers and 172 men, and were withdrawn. Joseph was posted back to 4th Battalion on 4 May, then to the depot in August. Then he was transferred “permanently and completely” to the Labour Corps, although I can’t decipher the rest. He clearly served in 525 Company, Labour Corps – probably in the UK.

War Diaries for both battalions Joseph served with in France can be downloaded, free, from TNA’s website in series WO 95. The 4th Battalion diary from October 1917 (when it first went to France) to April 1919 is under reference WO 95/2488/3 and the 5th Battal