2271 Private David Ward, 1st Dock Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment

David Ward was born in Liverpool in 1880. The 1911 census shows that he worked as a railway clerk and lived with his wife and two young daughters (Edna and Ida) at 34 Haggerston Road, Walton. By 1915 he was working as a shipping clerk and they had added a son (David) and another daughter (Dorothy) to their family. They lived at 103 Endborne Road, Aintree.

David was 35 years old when conscription was first announced in 1915 and, like many other men in his situation, he chose to enlist under the Derby or Group Enlistment Scheme whereby men enlisted voluntarily but were assigned to a group according to their age and marital status on the understanding the groups of younger and unmarried men would be called up first.

David volunteered for this scheme on 9th December 1915 (conscription was to begin in March 1916) and was put into group 41. You can find more information about the Derby Scheme and the group system here (external site, opens in a new tab).

Group 41 were mobilised in April/May 1916 but David wasn’t - this was not unusual and would have been particularly welcome for David as another daughter (Edith) was born in May 1916.

What is unusual though, is the amount of information given by his service record – letters from David show that he was due to be mobilised on the 5th November 1917 but on the 25th October he wrote to the King’s Liverpool Regiment Adjutant, asking if there was a position for him in the Dock Battalion. The Adjutant wrote back on the 27th October, saying that there was no such vacancy but David could present himself for an interview on the 29th to see if anything could be done.

David must have impressed at the interview as the Adjutant informed him that he couldn’t take him on because he was due to be mobilised in just a few days, he did, however, write a letter to the Recruiting Officer at Byrom St Technical School which said:

“This man has had considerable experience of dock work from a clerical point of view and if you can see your way to have him posted to this unit he would be extremely useful as a ‘counter-off’, experienced men of this nature being difficult to obtain.”

David went the very next day (30th October) to the recruiting office where he was re-examined and placed in medical category C3 due to V.D.H (Valvar disease of the heart, probably a heart murmur) and the recruiting officer said he would write to the War Office in regard of David’s placement, recommending he be posted to the Dock Battalion. A grading of C3 indicated that the man was only suitable for sedentary work so this would only help his application for the clerical position in the Dock Battalion. A note was made on his medical form that a decision was needed before 5th November as that was when he was due to be called up.

It would seem that his call-up was delayed and, from his letters, we can infer that David made frequent trips to the Recruitment Office to get updates. On 10th November David was informed at the Recruiting Office that the War Office had, just the previous day, endorsed his transfer to one of the Dock Battalions, and he was to present himself at the Technical School at 9am on Monday 12th November for posting.

On 16th November 1917, David completed a new attestation form specifically for the Dock Battalion, stating that he was in the National Union of Dock Labourers and was willing to be enlisted in a Dock Battalion. He was then posted as Private 2271, 1st Dockers Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment.

The Dockers Battalion was for home service only, ensuring the vital work of the docks was kept manned and organised for maximum military efficiency. David appears to have been a model soldier, there are no disciplinary notes on his file and he was appointed the rank of Corporal on 5th April 1918. He was demobilised on 31st July 1919 and was finally struck off the regimental roll on 28th August 1919.

Although this may not be the most interesting service record, I find it fascinating that it gives such a clear picture of how David found his way into the Battalion, presumably so that he could stay in the relative safety of Liverpool and be near his family.

David and his wife Edith (formerly Edith Brown) can be found in the 1939 register living at 39 Ingleholme Rd with their youngest daughter and David's mother. The register shows that David was working as a Relieving Officer (in the days before the welfare system the local 'relief board' or workhouse system would identify people in need of relief and medical aid and would offer them whatever assistance was available). The register notes that David, aged 59, was also on 'emergency duties' which could have included volunteering for the ARP, fire-watching, search and rescue, first aid and welfare.