801 MT COY ASC
Sergeants
Sergeant William Douglas
Sergeant William Douglas son of William and Barbara Douglas was originally from Cupar in Fife, at some time before the war he moved to Morpeth in Northumberland and married Margaret. His medal index card shows he was entitled to a Victory Medal and British War Medal which suggests he went overseas in or after 1916. The RASC is the only unit recorded on his medal index card which suggests he enlisted into the Army Service corps. His regimental number prefix is DM2, Motor Transport Driver. Unfortunately the only mention he gets in the 801st war diary is when he died, during an influenza outbreak on the 19th December 1918 in the 25th Casualty Clearing Station. He is buried in Sarigol Military cemetery, Kriston, Greece.
Sergeant Fieldhouse
There are three ASC Motor Transport Medal Index Cards for Fieldhouse, a Rex, a Frederick and a William all served only in the ASC and all were entitled to pairs indicating that they went overseas in 1916. The first diary entry for Sergeant Fieldhouse is in May 1917 when he was still a Corporal and was taken to the convalescent home at Lahana, there is no indication as to what ailed him, but he returned to the company just four days later. In November 1918 when Sergeant Hollands was reduced to the ranks, Corporal Fieldhouse was promoted to acting Sergeant to fill the vacancy.
Sergeant Lewis Fletcher
Before the war Lewis Fletcher was working as a cashier for I. J. & G. Cooper Ltd of Dale St Manchester, he was married to Fanny and they had two children, Samuel and Richard. Lewis enlisted in December 1915, probably under the Derby Scheme. He was called up in May 1916 and reported to Grove Park for training in the Army Service Corps. In September he passed the learners test and joined the newly formed 801st MT Coy ASC as a driver. He was appointed acting Corporal in October 1916 and went overseas with the 801st arriving in Salonika on the 15th November 1916. In February 1917 he was involved in accident probably while unloading his Lorry at a dump near Likovan on the Seres road. He suffered a crushed toe and was taken to the 27th Casualty Clearing Station before being moved to the 4th Canadian General Hospital. Despite losing his big toe he was soon back in the drivers cab and in September 1917 he was promoted to Corporal. When acting Company Sergeant Major Black leaves the 801st in May 1918, Corporal Fletcher is appointed acting Sergeant with pay to act as the new C.S.M. He was now the senior Non Commissioned Officer in the 801st MT Company. On the 11th July 1918 he left the 801st to join the 910th M.T. Company A.S.C. He stayed with 910 MT Coy in Salonika until he was discharged from the army in May 1919. He received a gratuity of £70 as compensation for the loss of his toe.
Sergeant Holland
Sergeant Hollands joined the 801st from the 910th MT Company in an exchange with Sergeant Fletcher 4th July 1917. Five months later Sergeant Hollands was reduced to the ranks for serious neglect of duty, he left the 801st on the 20th November and joined the B.M.T.D. It appears that he survived the war as there is no entry for him on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission list.