Hello,
I am trying to find out about the life my grandad lived while serving from 1915 to 1919 but I have never known anything about the organisation of the army so it's hard to understand what I'm reading.

Division, Infantry Brigade, Battalion, Company...Have I got them in the right order?
How many men in each? What ranks would command them?

Grandad was transferred from the Infantry to the Artillery. To a Battery. How many men formed a Battery? What rank commanded them?

Sorry for all the questions - this is a whole new world for me.

CGM
You have the order right. There are two extra sub units below Company in an infantry Battalion they are Platoon and Section. The numbers and structures changed during the war but as a guide in 1917:

A Rifle Section would have 10 men in it commanded by a corporal or sergeant. There were other specialist sections for weapons such as Lewis Guns etc but Ill keep it simple.

A Platoon comprised 3 Rifle sections I Lewis Gun section and a HQ group of I Officer (normally a 2nd Lieutenant) and 4 other ranks. Total 46 men.

A Company comprised 4 Platoons and an HQ group of 2 Officers and 57 other ranks. Generally commanded by a Major.

A battalion comprised an HQ unit and 4 Companies with a total of 29 Officers and 1007 other ranks. Commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel

A Brigade comprised 4 Battalions and an HQ unit. Commanded by a Brigadier General

A Division comprised 3 Brigades plus Artillery Engineers etc. Commanded by a Major General

You can see the composition of the 2nd Division as an example here:

http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/~rmallett/index.html

Above this was a Corps and an Army.

Artillery was arranged in 1917 as follows:

A Detachment of 10 other ranks and an 18 Pounder gun or 4.5 inch Howitzer commanded by a Sergeant

A Section for an 18 pounder this comprised 2 detachments, 1 officer (a Lieutenant), 16 drivers and two other ranks (Howitzers had 2extra drivers)

A Battery comprising an HQ unit and 2 Sections and commanded by a Major

A Brigade which comprised 3 18-poubnder batteries, 1 4.5 inch Howitzer Battery and a HQ unit to a total of 20 Officers and 579 Other ranks. Commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel.

Hope that helps.

Tim B

Thank you very much.
Already a couple of things have become clear even as I read it through for the first time. After he was transferred Grandad became a driver.....but I know he worked with the horses. Was he a driver of the horses pulling the field guns?

One thing I've realised - no regiments. Do these only exist in the U.K? In my part of the world, now, we have The Royal Anglian Regiment.

Hello CGM

The number of men in a battery varied according to the number and type of guns served. For a six-gun RFA Battery equipped with 18-pounders, there were five officers and about 200 men in each battery. It was commanded by a major.

There were two ammunition wagons for each gun, and these and the guns would each be pulled by six horses, with three drivers. There were also extra wagons for stores, the cooks etc and some spare drivers. In all, such a battery had 70 drivers.

In the British Army of WW1, the regiment was not a tactical formation. Have a look at the section on army organisation on the "Long, Long Trail" site, using the link in the top left-hand corner of this page.

Ron

You might like to explore this site.
http://www.awm.gov.au/
and if you have not already got his service records go here.
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch/index.aspx

Cheers
Kim

CGM

The AIF was based around Battalions and Divisions not Regiments. You should find his original Unit on the front page of his service file which is normally his attestation papers. The Unit is just under his name. His transfer to the Artillery should be shown on the sheet headed Statement of Service but it should also be recorded on other documents on the file such as the "Casualty Form -Active Service". Given his period of service its is likely that his transfer to Artillery occurred in Egypt when the AIF was restructured in 1915 prior to going to France a number of men with specific skills moved from Infantry Battalions to other units. One of mine went from the 8th Battalion to the 1st Pioneers at the time.

With Drivers (my grandfather was one to) they may have been with a Battery/Brigade or with the Divisional Ammunition Column (DAC) which transported the ammunition from railheads to the guns. My grandfather started in the 1stDAC before being transferred to the 3rd Field Artillery (Army) Brigade (3FAB).

Good luck with your research.

Tim B

Thank you so much everyone. I've been doing sooo much reading! I have my grandad's service record and after reading it through several times, together with the explanations you've written for me here and which are under my personal entry, it's becoming clearer.

I'm starting to write a summary but this is what I have so far

Joined 20/7/1915

Melbourne (Which I know was the port he arrived in when emigrating from the U.K.)
Broadmeadows
C. Coy. 29th Battn (the ink stamp is very faint here - was this the 8th Infantry Brigade?)

HMAT Ascanius 10/11/1915

Now I REALLY must get ready to go to work. Thank you all again.

Hi CGM

The 29th Bn was a part of the 8th Bde (along with the 30th, 31st & 32nd Bns) which along with the 14th & 15th Bdes were a part of the 5th Division. Lieut-Col Alfred Wilton Bennett was the CO of the 29th, and Capt William Tracy was the commander of C Coy.

Ron Austin has a photo of the Ascanius being farewelled from Port Melbourne on the 10/11/15 in his 29th Bn History “Black & Gold” – you’ll probably find this amongst the many photos of the Ascanius in the AWM Collection. (on-line)

He states that it was a ‘relatively uneventful voyage’, which ended with their arrival at Port Suez on the 7/12/15, where they boarded trains to the Aerodrome Camp at Heliopolis.

If you’d like anymore detail on this – just let me know. Or if you want to tell me your Grandad’s name – I’ll see if he gets a mention.

Enjoy the journey of discovery into your Grandad’s war years.
Cheers, Frev

CGM

I had a great uncle Chris Taylor who was in B company of the 29th and joined about 2 weeks before your grandfather or 2 weeks after (there are 2 dates on his papers) he was also on the Ascanius. Broadmeadows was the main army camp for Melbourne located what was then the northern outskirts. It was where most men actually signed their attestation papers there which is why it is mentioned.

You can find out some more about the 29th at the AWM site here:

http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11216.asp

Their war diaries are here:

http://www.awm.gov.au/diaries/ww1/folder.asp?folder=970

The 1915 sections are worth a look as they attach all the routine orders and you may find your grandfathers name there. Unfortunately from January 1916 they they become a lot briefer and just list where the battalion and sometimes the companies were. You may have more luck with Frev's offer to check the Batallion history). Let us know when you find out his artillery unit.

Tim B

Thank you so much everyone! I 've spent the last few days roaming all around the forum, as I'm so new. Using the search facility etc etc and really getting the way of things here.
What wonderful, caring members, and many so knowledgable.

My grandad chose to come back to England at the end of his service so he only spent a small part of his life in Australia but I know a part of his heart always remained there.

Me again CGM

You've probably worked it out by now, but just incase, and also so the experts out there can possibly give you more tips.
Your Grandfather was posted to the 49th Battery on the 15/3/1916, which along with the 50th,51st & 113th Batteries, formed the 13th Field Artillery Brigade (13th FAB), 5th Division Artillery. So you can follow this part of his war by downloading the War Diaries of the 13th FAB (on-line) up to the 29/7/1918 when he transferred to the Australian Employment Coy.

One book that is worth reading (if you can get your hands on it) is “The Gunners – A History of Australian Artillery” by David Horner.

Good luck again, Frev