The work of the Army Ordnance Corps, as its
name implies, is mainly connected with the transport of stores and
munitions of war, and to this corps falls the duty of despatching these
to the different stations both at home and abroad. The pictures
that we show here give an excellent idea of the work engaged in and of
the men who carry it out.
The first picture is that of the Aldershot Ordnance Staff. The
first officer on the extreme left is Lieutenant and Assistant Commissary
of Ordnance W. Hutchings. He is in undress uniform. The next
is Lieutenant and Assistant Commissary of Ordnance W. Cox. He is
in Church Parade order. The officer in the centre is Colonel F. G.
Wintle, D.S.O., the senior Ordnance officer at Aldershot, in full
dress. The fourth is Captain H. H. R. Taylor, 4th Class Ordnance
officer, in undress uniform. And the officer on the extreme right
is Lieutenant and Assistant Commissary of Ordnance D.E.
Collins. He is in drill order.
The Army Ordnance Corps serves all over the world, and its duties are
both dangerous and manifold. There are six officers of the 1st
class, twelve of the 2nd class, eighteen of the 3rd class, and twenty
seven of the 4th class, besides quartermasters and officers ranked as
Assistant Commissaries of Ordnance.
In the next illustration we give a number of types of the men in the
Corps. On the left is a bugler on duty. Next, a private in
full drill order, followed by Quartermaster-Sergeant Gibson, in Church
Parade order. Conductor Robertson, who did good service in the
last Ashanti Expedition comes next. Slightly in rear is a private
in working order. And we have Sub-Conductor Bonsor, acting as
Regimental Sergeant-Major. The uniforms of conductor and
sub-conductor are exactly the same, according to Queen's regulations,
although the former hold senior rank, and often performs the duties of a
commissioned officer, especially whilst on foreign service. the
man on the right is a private in marching order.
The bottom picture represents a detatchment of the Army Ordnance
Corps loading a truck at the Government siding, which connects the camp
at Aldershot directly with London, Southampton, and all ports of
embarkation. Here, daily, officers and men are busily engaged in
sending munitions of war to foreign stations.
