The Railway Operating Division (ROD)

[Greedy Boards]

Owing to a family connection, have just picked up a copy of R-O-D, The Railway Operating Division on the Western Front (2009), by William Aves, which describes this very interesting arm of the Corps of Royal Engineers, that was established between 1915 - 1919.

The introduction describes the scale of operations as " . . . operating from some 30 depots spread across the whole length of the British sector of the Front, from Dunkirk in the north, to Chaulnes (between Amiens and St Quentin) in the south, a distance under 100 miles as the crow flies (less than from Kings Cross to Grantham) . . . with as many engines as the Great Northern Railway . . ."

Sadly, it appears that many of the unit war diary archives were destroyed in a bombing raid in World War Two, with only Commonwealth unit records suviving, principally the 6th Australian Broad Gauge Operating Company, Royal Engineers, which is quoted in the above source. It seems that ROD units may have been formed around railwaymen from existing railway companies back in their place of origin, and I wondered if anyone could confirm this?

The reason for confirming the above is that my Great Uncle, brother of my Grandfather enlisted from the North Eastern Railway on 26th March 1915, as 201626 Sapper Joseph Leonard, and went on to serve throughout the Great War; LNER, and well in to BR in the North Eastern Region. We have some details, but his unit and depot in France still eludes us, and would be very intersted in closing this gap in knowledge.


Regards

Greedy Boards

[2512silverfox]

I am working on my own family genealogy records so I do know my way about the system a bit and have a subscription to Ancestry.com.

I can find 20162 Sapper Leonard in the WW1 medal records, but that gives very little information about his actual service, apart from the fact that he was entitled to the War and Victory medal but not the Star. This could mean that he did not see service in France until quite late in the war if at all.

Can you give me any other information - date and place of birth and possibly home address in 1915? There are plenty of Joseph Leonards in the service record database, but none that so far match the information given.

[Greedy Boards]

Hi

201626 Sapper Joseph Leonard was born on 9th March 1896, apparently in Shilton, County Durham, but this could be Chilton, or even Shildon, both near Bishop Auckland.

Joseph was the first son of John & Fanny Leonard, and joined the NER as a locomotive cleaner on 25th May 1914, signed up with the Royal Engineers on 26th March 1915, when the family lived at Carle House Farm, Tholthorpe near York.

Joseph returned to the NER after the Great War, and was appointed as fireman on 26th March 1920, antedated back to 26th March 1915. He then took and passed his driver examination on 9th August 1923, and we believe was based out of Holgate Shed, or York (South) thereafter.

Joseph's standing amongst his peers was a little on the short side at five foot five & three-quarter inches, so he was awarded the nickname of Little Joe at Holgate. Needless to say that his height was no limiting factor, and he became a Top Link driver on the ECML, and had the honour of driving for King George VI on one occasion.

The WW1 details are sketchy, but we do believe that he served in France, but the unit and location still elude us. However the Aves publication does give a breakdown of locomotives assigned to each depot in France & Belgium, so I can narrow the field of possibilities, IF NER railwaymen were allocated to units that had NER locomotives.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated

Regards

Greedy

[Bryan]

The RE museum at Chatham would be one place to check.
http://www.remuseum.org.uk/

[2512silverfox]

I have searched the WW1 records again but without success. Bearing in mind that quite a few WW1 records were lost by enemy action during WW2, this is not surprising.

I think the direction to the RE's is a good idea, although they may not be able to help very much.

[Greedy Boards]

Many thanks to both of you for the assistance.

Had a chance to talk to my father this week, and it appears that my uncle has two items that may be of help. First is the standard War Office postcard that Joseph was allowed to send to his parents, to inform them that he was leaving for France. The date will be interesting, and hopefully a local post stamped location and date might help as well. Joseph signed up from NER in March 1915, and the first ROD units were formed in March 1915 at Longmoor near Stratford at the same time. Apparently the Workshop Company deployed to France in June that year, but it appears that the Broad Gauge Operating Companies didn't deploy until early 1916. In addition, apparently my uncle may have a photograph of Joseph at a location in France.

The two pieces of info may indicate whether his was one of the early units, and the depot in France from where he operated, and will then contact the RE Museum at Chatham, to see if they can provide any further info.

Regards

Greedy