labour corps gas attack

[grahamwilk]

During WW1 ,my grandfather, George Eyre served with the 26th Labour Company of the Labour Corps, Sometime in the Spring / Summer of 1918 he suffered from the affects of a "gas attack" I believe he was stationed in the Ypres Salient at the time. On the 14th of August 1918 he was brought back to England and admitted to the Stoke upon Trent War Hospital where he stayed for 6 months ! Is it possible to find out where and when this gas attack happened ?

Thanks Graham.

[Lesley Robertson]

Hi Graham,
the Long, Long Trail forum has a thread about the Labour Corps HERE. In it, they say:
"In the crises of March and April 1918 on the Western Front, Labour Corps units were used as emergency infantry. The Corps always suffered from its treatment as something of a second class organisation: for example, the men who died are commemorated under their original regiment, with Labour Corps being secondary. Researching men of the Corps is made extra difficult by this, as is the fact that few records remain of the daily activities and locations of Corps units."

It sounds as though we can't even be sure that he was with the Labour Corps at the time he was gassed.

I tried to look for his medal card, to get his rank and number for a records search, but there arre 4 hits I think one can be ignored as he was in the African regiments, but that leaves 3. Do you know his original regiment? If not, did he have a middle name?

It's amazing how much difference a little more info can make to a search!

[grahamwilk]

George Henry Eyre, 28681, S Staffs. He enlisted with the Lincs Reg but was soon transfered to the S Staffs ! Thanks Graham.

[christanel]

These records are on ancestry. Did you get your information from his British Army WWI Pension Records (below) ?
Medal Roll Index Card
George H Eyre
Regiment or Corps - South Staffordshire Regiment, Labour Corps
Regimental Number - 28681, 15092

British Army WWI Pension Records
George H Eyre
Regimental Number - 15092
Regiment Name - Labour Corps
Form Title - Confidential
Number of Images - 8

Christina

[Lesley Robertson]

The pension records mentioned by Chris are available on Ancestry.co.uk. (If you don't have a subscription, try your local library. They often do.)
It's all post-gas medical records (not at all nice), nothing about how/where it happened. He was discharged from the army as no longer fit for service on 22 Feb 1919.