Royal Army Service Corps
Albert James Mynett was born in the first quarter of 1896, the first of five children born to George and Sarah (Eva) Mynett who, at the 1901 census, were living at Frome Terrace Stroud.
Both of Albert’s parents were born in Stroud. George’s occupation was stated as tailor’s cutter.
By the time of the 1911 Census, the family had moved to 4 Upper Field Terrace, Horns Road, Stroud. Albert was now also a tailor’s cutter and the record shows that he worked as his father did, for a wholesale clothier.
According to the information held by the CWGC, Albert’s parents were George and Eva Mynett and he was the husband of Anna Mynett of 23 Bold Street, Altrincham Cheshire. I have been unable to find any record of Albert’s marriage to Anna and despite considerable time searching, have been unable to establish a connection for Anna with Altrincham, apart from the information given by CWGC.
I contacted Cheshire Archives asking them if they would check the electoral roll for 1921 but alas they do not hold it. Intriguingly, putting Albert’s army number in to a search engine led me to the website of Trafford War Dead where Albert is listed under Altrincham.
Frustratingly, having trawled through what is an excellent archive, I cannot find precisely where in Altrincham he is remembered.
I checked the Stroud Electoral Roll for George, Albert and Anna. Albert does not appear to be living with his parents on the 1918 and 1919 Electoral Roll or anywhere else in Gloucestershire so it can be assumed he was serving with the army.
In 1920 and 1921 an Albert Mynett is listed at 4 Brightside, Horns Road, Stroud – very close to where his family were living. He does not appear on the Electoral Roll after 1921 so I am confident that he is the correct Albert Mynett.
Anna Mynett appears on the Electoral Roll from 1931 onwards, living at various times with George’s family and with her brother and sister in law, Wilfred and Dorothy, in the Horns Road area.
There are three military documents on Ancestry. They show that Albert served with the Army Service Corps (ASC) as a driver with the Gloucester and Worcester Brigade of the 48th South Midland Division, transferring to the Royal Army Service Corps (RAMC) on 1 September 1916*. It shows a disembarkation date of 31 March 1915 and a disembodied date of 26 July 1919.
From information on The Long Long Trail website, the South Midland Division was a Territorial Force and Albert was transferred to regular army terms along with his comrades on 1 September 1916.
It is likely that his number changed to the six digit 248992 early in 1920 and that Albert’s changed and although disembodied he remained in the Reserve. The ‘T’ prefix indicates the Transport Section and the ‘4’ may be an indicator that he was a ‘K4’ recruit (or enlisted as part of the fourth wave of enlistment in the fourth wave of the ‘New Army’.
The Division left Folkestone in March 1915 and was at Cassel by 3 April.
The 144th Gloucester and Worcester Brigade were involved in the battles of the Somme in 1916 and in the 3rd Battle of Ypres a year later.
The Division moved to Italy in December 1917 and were involved in the fighting on Asagio Plateau in the summer and in the battle of Vittoria Veneto in November 1918.
I obtained Albert’s death certificate which shows he died on 29 March 1921 from cancer of the rectum and diarrhoea at Stroud Hospital. No post mortem was held. The death was registered by his brother Wilfred who was ‘in attendance’. Albert was 25.
Albert Mynett was buried in Stroud Old Cemetery where a standard CWGC headstone now marks his grave.
The ASC was not given the pre-fix ‘Royal’ until late 1918, after the declaration of the Armistice. Although the Medal Rolls do show Private Mynett as being with the RASC from 1 September 1916 this may simply be noting his service with the name of the Corps at the time the rolls were drawn up.
Researched by Helen Wollington 30 March 2017