Lieutenant Colonel Albert Ernest Prescott, Royal Engineers

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, PE, MInstRE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 1. Lieutenant Colonel Albert Ernest Prescott, DSO, R.E.
(Photograph from The Roads Souvenir Album, 1916-1919 courtesy of the R.E. Library)

This work was begun some 17 years after the author obtained a number of medals that were awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Prescott for his service in the Great War of 1914 to 1918. This narrative is based on information obtained from Army Lists, census documents, various civil documents, The Edinburgh and London Gazettes, internet web sites and various military documents. A good portion of the narrative was extracted from the History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume V, which deals with the Great War in France and Flanders.

Prescott’s service papers are available at the National Archives (TNA) in London, reference WO 339/80288. They are listed in the TNA catalogue description as Public Records dealing with the service of 2^nd Lieutenant Alfred Ernest Prescott, Royal Engineers for the period from 1914 to 1922. At the time that this research work was being performed, the TNA was operating on a much reduced scale due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the pandemic threat has abated, an attempt will be made to get those records. In the meantime, every effort has been made to make this account of his life and military service as complete and as accurate as possible with the information available. Sources for major items of information are referenced in the ENDNOTES.

There is an interesting story behind his medals. This story will be told in detail in Section 8 of this narrative.

2. EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION

Parents

Albert Ernest Prescott’s father was one John Prescott (1845 - ?) of St. Helen’s, Lancashire. John Prescott’s name does not appear on any Prescott family trees on Ancestry.com. The only connections that I was able to make between him and Albert were from the 1891 census, where his name does appear as Head of the family, and from Albert’s marriage certificate in 1905 in which his father’s name is given as John Prescott. John Prescott’s actual name was Jonadab Prescott. This accounts for the name John Prescott not yielding results when searched for on Ancestry.com. He and his twin brother Rechab Prescott were born on the 4^th of April 1845 in New Market, St. Helen’s, Lancashire.[1]

John Prescott was an insurance agent’s bookkeeper whose work seemed to have kept him moving about. In 1861 he lived in Peckers Hill, Sutton, Lancashire and in 1871 he resided in Windle, Lancashire. His address in 1874 was 75 Henry Street in St. Helen’s.

Albert’s mother’s given name was Hannah Winstanley. She and John Prescott were married about 1862.

The 1881 Census of England shows Albert Ernest Prescott living with his mother and siblings at 191 Boundary Road, in Windle, St. Helen’s, Lancashire.[2] Other members of the family are as shown in the table below.

Name and Surname	Relation	Marital Status	Age	Profession or Occupation	Birthplace
Hannah Prescott	Head	Married	37		Rainhill,⁽¹⁾ Lancashire
Richard M. Prescott	Son	Single	18	A police court clerk	Sutton,⁽¹⁾ Lancashire
Margaret Ellen Prescott	Daughter		13	Scholar	Crewe, Cheshire
Matilda Elizabeth Prescott	Daughter		11	Scholar	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
William Henry Prescott	Son		7	Scholar	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
Albert Ernest Prescott	Son		3		St. Helen’s, Lancashire
Florence Vaughn Prescott	Daughter		1		St. Helen’s, Lancashire
John Winstanley⁽²⁾	Relative	Single	27	Engineer	Sutton, Lancashire
Rachel Winstanley⁽²⁾	Relative	Spinster	25		Sutton, Lancashire

Albert Ernest Prescott’s future wife, Maud Elizabeth Cowle was born in 1881. She was baptized on the 16^th of June 1881 at Douglas on the Isle of Man.

By 1891 the Prescott family had moved to 1 St. Thomas Street in Blackburn, Lancashire. The 1891 Census shows the following people living at that address:

Name and Surname	Relation	Marital Status	Age	Profession or Occupation	Birthplace
John Prescott⁽¹⁾ (Alias Jonadab)	Head	Married	45	Assistant Superintendent, Refuge Assurance Company⁽²⁾	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
Hannah Prescott	Wife	Married	45		Rainhill, Lancashire
Margaret Ellen Prescott⁽³⁾	Daughter	Single	23	Paper Bag Maker	Crewe, Cheshire
Matilda Elizabeth Prescott⁽³⁾	Daughter	Single	21	Cotton Winder	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
William Henry Prescott⁽³⁾	Son	Single	16	Book Keeper in Mill	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
Albert Ernest Prescott	Son		13	Scholar⁽⁴⁾	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
Florence Vaughn Prescott	Daughter		11	Scholar⁽⁴⁾	St. Helen’s, Lancashire
James C.W. Prescott	Son		8	Scholar⁽⁴⁾	Accrington, Lancashire
Rachel Winstanley⁽⁵⁾	Sister in law	Single	36	General Servant, Domestic	Sutton, Lancashire
Elizabeth King⁽⁶⁾	Boarder	Single	24	Cotton Weaver	Blackburn, Lancashire

Albert Ernest Prescott was born in St. Helen’s Lancashire on the 3^rd of July 1877. No specific information was found regarding Albert’s education, but apparently he studied civil engineering and began to work in this field in 1899 at the age of 22. Given the positions that he was able to obtain he must have received at least a Bachelor’s Degree in engineering at a university of some repute.

During 1899 he was employed as the Borough Surveyor on at Douglas on the Isle of Man and in that same year he was initiated into the St. Trininan’s Masonic Lodge, No. 2050, in Douglas.[4]

Figure 2. Banner of St. Trinian’s Masonic Lodge.
(Image courtesy of the St. Trinian’s Lodge web site)

The 1901 Census of England shows Albert residing at 45 Loch Promenade in Douglas on the Isle of Man. He was living as a boarder in the home of one Robert Marshall, a medical practitioner. The Loch Promenade was named after the energetic Governor Loch. It was built on reclaimed land and opened in 1878. The promenade runs from the end of Victoria Street along the bay for some 2,500 yards to meet Ramsey Road (a continuation of Duke Street and Strand Street). The work was self financed by selling the reclaimed land behind the sea wall which was quickly occupied by terraces of impressive boarding houses. Prescott appears to have lived in one of these impressive boarding houses from 1901 to 1905. In 1902 Prescott became a member of the Institution of Water Engineers, a membership he applied for under the title of Water Engineer in Douglas, Isle of Man.[5]

Name and Surname	Relation	Marital Status	Age	Profession or Occupation	Birthplace
Robert Marshall	Head	Single	32	Medical Practitioner	England
Edith E. Marshall	Sister	Single	27	Housekeeper	England
Albert E. Prescott	Boarder	Single	25	Borough Surveyor	England
Maria Lace	Servant	Single	25	Housemaid, Domestic	Douglas,Isle of Man

Figure 3. The House at 45 Loch Promenade in Douglas, Isle of Man.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)

On the 12^th of October 1905 Albert Ernest Prescott married Maud Elizabeth Cowle in the Parish Church in Moor Alton, Yorkshire (Church of England). Their marriage certificate lists the groom as Albert Ernest Prescott, 29, a bachelor and civil engineer, resident in All Saints Parish, Eastbourne, Sussex. His father is shown as John Prescott. The bride is listed as Maud Elizabeth Cowle, 24, a spinster from Moor Alton. Her father is listed as James Cowle. Just how Albert, who was living and working on the Isle of Man, met Maud, who was living in Moor Alton, Yorkshire remains a mystery. It appears from their marriage license that Albert had left the Isle of Man and was living in Eastbourne at the time of their wedding; however, this does not explain how they came to know each other.

Prescott’s last year in the St. Trinian Masonic Lodge was 1906. On the 5^th of February 1907 he joined the Royal Connaught Lodge (No. 2676) in Eastbourne, Sussex. He remained a member of this Lodge until 1909.

Figure 4. Banner of the Royal Connaught Masonic Lodge.
(Image courtesy of the Royal Connaught Lodge web site)

From 1909 to 1916 Prescott worked as the Borough Engineer and Surveyor of Eastbourne. His residence during this period was at 28 Arundel Road in Eastbourne. From 1910 to 1911 he had served as the President of the Institution of Municipal Engineers.[6]

In August of 1914, while Prescott was at Eastbourne, the Great War had started. Apparently he made no move at first to join the forces. As a practicing engineer his services certainly would have been of great interest to the Corps of Royal Engineers. Either by choice or by call up (he may have been a member of the Reserve of Officers from his university days, perhaps in the O.T.C.[7]) he joined the Army in 1916.

Albert Ernest Prescott was appointed a Temporary Major in the Corps of Royal Engineers on the 14^th of December 1916.[8] This appears to have been a direct commission to this rank as a result of his extensive surveying and civil engineering experience and the very great need for officers in France and Flanders with experience with road construction. Because of his experience he was posted immediately to the Directorate of Roads as a staff officer and was appointed a Deputy Assistant Director of Roads, graded for pay purposes as Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General.

At the beginning of the war it was the Director-General of Transportation (D.G.T.) who was responsible for roads, railways and inland water transport. The responsibility for roads on the Line of Communications in France and Flanders ultimately was handed over to the Director of Roads, the man to whom Prescott reported, Brigadier General Henry Maybury, (later Sir Henry).

Figure 5. Sir Henry Percy Maybury, GBE, KCMG, CB.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

Brigadier General Sir Henry Percy Maybury, GBE, KCMG, CB (17 November 1864 – 7 January 1943) was a British civil engineer. He began his career as a railway engineer, working on many railways in England and Wales before becoming the county surveyor for Kent. At the start of the Great War he was appointed to supervise roads used by the Allies in France, holding the British Army rank of Brigadier-General. In recognition of his services in this theatre he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath and a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George by the British government and an officer of the Legion of Honour by the French. After the war he held various civil service positions, mainly within the Ministry of Transport, and was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1933.[9]

The similarities between Prescott’s experience and direct appointment as a Major and Maybury’s appointment as a Brigadier General should be immediately apparent. Both men had been county surveyors and both had extensive experience with transportations systems; Maybury with railroads and Prescott with roads. Both men were plucked from civilian life to fill much needed appointments dealing with road construction and maintenance in France and Flanders. Their experience was not available in 1916 with many regular officers of the Royal Engineers; hence, the War Office had to search the civilian ranks to get his experience and put it on the ground in France with all due haste. To further understand how their commissions came to them at such high ranks without any military training, one must understand the problems being experienced by the Army in the field in France during the last half of the Great War. These problems will be described in detail in the following section.

Roads were one of the three life lines for the Army in France and Flanders, the other two being railways and inland waterways. Movement cross-country also was possible during the early days of the war, but it became virtually impossible as the countryside was torn to pieces by shell fire and the ground became a quagmire. Each of the three life lines was important, but the roads carried the majority of war-critical items, to include men and horses, heavy artillery, ammunition for the troops at the front and artillery batteries, evacuation of casualties and all types of general supplies and equipment needed at the front. The Roads Directorate played a critical part in supplying this support and Prescott’s role in that work was to be noteworthy.

Without access to his service papers, it is not possible to know just where Albert Ernest Prescott served in France since men assigned to the Directorate of Roads probably were stationed at major headquarters or bases. There were numerous base depots that housed officers of the major directorates (Works, Transportation, Railways, Roads, etc.). The men who served in these directorates were primarily responsible for design and logistical work rather than actual work in the field, although many probably visited work sites associated with projects in their fields of endeavor. In the discussion of Prescott’s campaign service it is probably best to simply discuss the nature of the work that he might have performed rather than trying to pin down his location on the ground at any time during the war. As previously stated, his service papers if they were available, might help somewhat in placing him at different locations in France, but knowing where he was probably would not add significantly to his story.

Major Prescott arrived in France just is time for the preparations being made for the Somme offensive and he was immediately thrown into the work required to maintain the main lines of communication in preparation for the offensive. The main roads in the area were not constructed for heavy or extensive traffic. The thickness of the surface course (road metal) was only about three inches on a foundation (subbase and subgrade) of chalk, and it broke up if the surface was cut and water reached the chalk. The side roads were little better than tracks. To define responsibility for the maintenance and repair of roads a line was drawn running approximately through each corps headquarters in front of which each corps carried out repairs. In the rear area a sub-committee, which had at its disposal two companies of a Royal Engineers labour battalion and two companies of French cantonniers, controlled the repair operations.[10]

The Roads Directorate was charged with the upkeep of roads between the front zone, which continued to be the responsibility of the Commanders Royal Engineers at the front, and those maintained by the British on the Lines of Communication, which remained the responsibility of the Director of Works in the rear area. The dividing line between the Directorate of Roads and the CREs was “the boundary of shelled area in front of which wagons and lorries were unable to proceed by daylight.”[11] This was a rather arbitrary boundary and subject to frequent change as the war progressed.

Each corps had two companies of an infantry labour battalion. The lack of stone for repairs was the greatest problem. In the Fourth Army area there was only one quarry, north east of Corbie, and this yielded poor gravel mixed with a lot of clay. Clay present in the gravel would have made it hard to work and difficult to compact, so its use was very limited. The supply of good gravel for the British was always behind requirements. There was neither stone available nor trucks to carry it and the roads could not be used less or closed as was suggested by engineers back in England who were studying the problem. Repairs had therefore to be made as traffic permitted with the road gangs worked between vehicles and horses, mending the worst places during halts or when the road were blocked by the work parties.

Log (corduroy) and sleeper roads over bad spots were not in general use until September of 1916 and plank roads were not in general use until October of 1916. Planks, when available, practically solved the problem of forward roads as they could be laid quickly and if the road suffered from shell damage could be easily replaced.

Special attention had to be paid to the roads leading to the supply dumps and railheads, but owing to the lack of gravel little could be done except to patch the worst places, fill potholes and improve drainage. To make the roads more continuous for military traffic was beyond the available labour, materials and plant. There was a shortage of steamrollers. In addition to road maintenance a great deal of work also had to be done in repairing and widening bridges, widening roads or providing bypasses and in the construction of causeways over the River Ancre, laying out tracks, marking and preparing fords, making approaches to new camps and paving halting-places at railheads in station yards and alongside new sidings.

During the preliminary period of the offensive, although the condition of the roads gave planners great anxiety, there was no actual breakdown. It was hoped that the success of the Allies in the offensive would soon carry them out of the zone of devastation by artillery fire and damage by battle traffic on to roads kept in good repair by the enemy. This “hope” that the British planners had seems rather ludicrous. Why would they expect that British artillery barrages would not damage roads behind the German lines and how could they make plans based on the assumption that the Germans would keep their roads in good repair?

During the first two weeks of the battle the roads just managed to hold out, but after that the consignments of stone received were a very small fraction of the essential minimum required. Both transport and labour was difficult to obtain and the thin crust of road metal was cut through by the heavy traffic. Rain penetrated the chalk subgrade and the surface became a mass of liquid mud without bottom. A nightmare situation arose.[12]

All existing roads were improved for this campaign and gravel-paved roads were carried into forward areas almost to the front line. Large dumps of stone and beech-wood slabs were accumulated for the rapid extension of the roads over the new ground that it was hoped would be gained. The use of timber roadways had become more common, for after the experiences of the Somme, it was realized that a timber road could be laid far more quickly than a metalled one and did not require so much consolidation to avoid settlement. The operations in the Ypres salient during the latter half of 1917 saw a greater development of this type of road. The slabs were ten to twelve feet long, two and a half inches thick and roughly trimmed on the edges. They were cut by the Royal Engineers forestry companies in the rear areas and were usually laid by infantry pioneer battalions, R.E. labour companies, tunnelling companies and sometimes by field companies resting out of the line in rear areas.

The formation was prepared by digging side drains and filling shell holes with the spoil, or with rubble from ruined buildings. The construction and maintenance of these improvised roads, often under heavy shell fire, involved high casualties; but without them the essential British artillery barrages could not have been fed with ammunition. The Flanders campaign became a long struggle with the mud and the work of the Royal Engineers consisted very much of constructing and maintaining the tracks and roads.[13]

During 1917 the new roads built and depot areas paved with stone were equivalent to 85 miles of 18-foot roadway, while 190 miles of roads were reconstructed. At the end of 1917 the Directorate of Roads was maintaining 1,900 miles of road in army areas and 1,200 miles elsewhere.[14]

Figure 11. A Well-Maintained Road Carrying Heavy Traffic.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

On the 26^th of April 1917 Prescott was promoted Temporary Lieutenant Colonel and appointed Assistant Director of Roads (graded as Assistant Quartermaster General, Class X).[15] On the 11^th of December 1917 he was mentioned in the despatches of Sir Douglas Haig, dated 7 November 1917, for distinguished service and gallantry during the period from the 26^th of February 1917 to midnight on the 20^th/21^st of September 1917. Further recognition came to him with the award of the Distinguished Service Order published in the London Gazette date 1 January 1918.

By 1918 the demands for maintenance of roads and for construction of new roads, especially the paving of yards at railheads each equivalent to several miles of road, had grown out of all proportion to the amount of stone available, although the output of local quarries and the import of road metal had increased threefold. The Director of Roads was maintaining 1,600 miles of roads and Chief Engineers of corps and armies were also responsible for very long distances. In the winter of 1917/1918 there was again, as in previous years, a road crisis due to weather combined with the destructive effect of the large number of 3-ton lorries with their narrow solid rubber tires (see Figure 11).

In order to curtail additional demands the General Staff issued a plan of the roads to be maintained. In October of 1917 they selected the roads required for strategic movements, including two lateral roads approximately parallel to and extending along the whole front then held by the British. The forward lateral road was generally about ten miles behind the front line trenches, but for a long stretch it was only from four to six miles behind the front line. The rear lateral road in the north was about 15 miles and in the south it was as much as 40 miles behind the front.

In January of 1918 GHQ took further control of demands for roads and their maintenance by issuing maps showing the strategic roads to be maintained in army areas.[16]

Figure 12. Strategical Road Map for France and Flanders, 1918.
(Image from History of the Great War: Transportation on the Western Front, 1914-1918)

The map shown in Figure 12 illustrates the roads being maintained by the Directorate of Roads in May of 1918. The main roads crossing the Somme between Amiens and the sea converged at Abbeville. To make the six main routes earmarked for a withdrawal independent, if a withdrawal was required, it would have been necessary in many places to make use of lengths of cross-contrary roads of varying quality, an in certain cases to construct lengths of new road to link up existing roads. On the routes laid out in this manner, widening and other improvements were needed at places where congestion was likely to occur and weak bridges would have to be strengthened to enable them to carry heavy vehicle loads, artillery and tanks. The total length of the six routes amounted to 1,170 miles, of which 700 miles were along roads that had not been maintained by the British Roads Directorate.[17]

Prescott’s work had been noticed not only by British GHQ, but also by the French government. French forces in the field had benefited greatly by the efforts of the Roads Directorate. France’s gratitude for the work done by Prescott came in the form of the award of the Legion of Honour, 5^th Class and the Croix de Guerre, Chevalier with palm on the 10^th of October 1918.[18]

The works of the Roads Directorate was considered to be essential for the prosecution of the war in France. In 1918 Sir Douglas Haig wrote: "With the development of modern methods of warfare, the importance to the army of a good road service has vastly increased, while the problems of road construction and maintenance have grown enormously. That the needs of our Armies in this respect were so well met, even in the most difficult days of 1918, speaks very highly for the zeal and efficiency of all ranks of the Roads Directorate."[19]

Prescott’s work during the war would have been concentrated in the areas of road construction and road maintenance. The topography in France did not require difficult survey work, as most of the battlefield areas consisted of fairly level ground. There was no need for designs of tunnels or vertical grades over mountainous areas. There was, however, a need for survey work to have roads cross rivers, streams and trenches with the least amount of effort.

Knowledge of soils and soil mechanics was certainly required in order to enable bearing pressures to be estimated for the foundations of bridges and culverts. This knowledge also was required to allow the design engineer to estimate the load-carrying capacity of existing roads and proposed roads. This type of engineering knowledge was not readily available in the field units of the Royal Engineers, so it is no wonder that men like Prescott and Maybury were needed and given immediate commissions at elevated ranks to undertake this highly technical work. The principles and practices of soil mechanics were just in their infancy during this period and not many engineers, civil or military, were very competent in the field.

Prescott left the Army soon after the end of the war. He was probably demobilized in early to mid-1919, as he was living in Eastbourne, Sussex by October of that year. His total service amounted to about three years, all of which had been spent in France.

The following sections are presented in tabular form to summarize Prescott’s promotions, appointments, and qualifications and the medals that he was awarded during his time in the Army. They are provided to give the reader easy access to these aspects of his military career. The tables are followed by sections dealing with his marriage, personal information and post-service life.

Albert Ernest Prescott received the following promotions during his time in service:

Lieutenant Colonel Prescott is known to have received the following medals, awards and decorations during his time in service.[20]

The photograph below shows a trio of medals that were given to me by a well-known and trustworthy medal dealer from Pennsylvania back in the early 1980s. There is a very interesting story surrounding this medal group, particularly the story about the 1914-15 Star. The British War Medal and Victory Medal were undoubtedly awarded to Prescott for his service. This has been verified by his Medal Index Card and the Royal Engineers Medal Roll presented below.

Figure 14. The Medals of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Ernest Prescott, Royal Engineers.
(Photograph from the author’s collection)

Figure 15. The Medal Index Card of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Ernest Prescott, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

Figure 16. Royal Engineers Medal Roll for the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

Both the British War Medal and Victory Medal are named to Prescott on the rims in upper case impressed lettering as follows:

The 1914-15 Star also is named to Prescott on the reverse of the medal. The naming on that medal is in engraved upper case letters as follows:

Figure 17. Reverse of the 1914-15 Star
(Photograph from the author’s collection)

The reason the medals were given to me, as stated earlier, had to do with the 1914-15 Star. The dealer who gave me the medals had acquired Prescott’s group consisting of all the medals listed in the Medal or Award table above as well as the 1914-15 Star. He listed the group in one of his sales catalogs with a description of the naming on the 1914-15 Star. The group was sold to a collector who, after examining the Star, decided to return it to the dealer. The dealer listed it in his catalog a second time, again explaining the problem with the Star. The group was sold again and then returned to him again. The dealer, in his frustration, removed the Distinguished Service Order, Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre from the group and sold those medals separately. Knowing that I was a Royal Engineers collector and a good customer, he then presented the remaining three medals to me as a gift. At the time that all this was going on there was no internet access to Medal Index Cards or medal rolls, so verification of Prescott’s entitlement to the 1914-15 Star was no easy matter. My first reaction when examining the 1914-15 Star was that it was a replacement medal for Prescott’s original medal which he probably had lost. The engraved naming, the style of the naming and the concave shape of the reverse of the medal were too obvious. No unscrupulous dealer or collector would have named the medal in such a way as to try to pass it off as authentic. It was my opinion that Prescott had acquired a 1914-15 Star that had been issued to some other man and had it renamed to himself to replace the one he had lost. Since he left the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel he had his highest rank engraved on the medal. His Medal Index Card of course destroys that idea. Prescott never was awarded the 1914-15 Star. How did the medal get into his group? Did he feel that he was entitled to it? Was it vanity on his part? We will never know. In any case, because it makes a good story, I leave it mounted with the medals to which he truly was entitled. I also have added miniatures of his other authorized medals.

Figure 18. Distinguished Service Order, Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre.
(Medals from the author’s collection)

During this research, no evidence was found to indicate that Albert and Maud had any children.

Maud Elizabeth Prescott died on the 1^st of February 1934 while they were living at St. Stephen’s House in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. She was 52 years old. She was buried in St. Stephen’s Churchyard in St. Albans. Unfortunately the Prescott headstone is very worn and any markings on the stone are indistinguishable.

Albert’s sister, Florence Vaughn Prescott, married a man who also had served in the Great War. He was 177137 Sapper Joseph Robert Pickering, Royal Engineers. Pickering was a 30-year old electrician from Broughty Ferry, a suburb of Dundee, Scotland, when he attested for service in 1916. He and Maud had two children at the time of his enlistment; John Prescott Pickering, age 4 and William Joseph Pickering, age one year. From his military service papers it is known that Sapper Pickering served in the 300^th Electrical and Mechanical Company, R.E.. Maud and Joseph had been married on the 23^rd of February 1911 at Old Kilpatrick in Dunbartonshire, Scotland, so the fact that he and his brother-in-law had both served in the Royal Engineers appears to have been purely coincidental. For his service during the war Joseph also was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal. He survived the war and was demobilized on the 19^th of July 1919.

His Medal Index Card shown below does not indicate a place or date of service. The 300^th Electrical and Mechanical Company in which he served had been formed with Regular Army soldiers in September of 1916. The company was raised for service in Mesopotamia. Pickering’s service papers indicate that he was serving at home from 30 May 1916 (the possible date of his enlistment) until 25 July 1916. The papers then indicate that he went to Mesopotamia, but the entry is illegible due to the fact that his record was retrieved from the “burnt record” files, War Office files WO363. It would appear, therefore, that Pickering’s Medal Index Card in incomplete.

Figure 21. The Medal Index Card of Sapper Joseph Robert Pickering, Royal Engineers.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com).

Albert’s brother, Richard M. Prescott, became a town clerk and solicitor in Nelson, Lancashire. He died in Leeds, Yorkshire in April of 1913.

His brother William Henry Prescott became a prominent Civil Servant, Consulting Engineer, Barrister and Politician. See Addendum No. 1 for further details.

Figure 22. Sir William Henry Prescott, Bt.
(Photograph courtesy of the Prescott Timeline web site)

No further information could be found on any other member of the Prescott family.

After demobilization from the Army, one of Prescott’s first actions was to again become involved in Freemasonry. On the 23^rd of October 1919 he joined the Southbourne Lodge (No. 4006) in Eastbourne, Sussex and he would remain with this Lodge until sometime in 1920.

Figure 23. Banner of the Southbourne Masonic Lodge.
(Image courtesy of the Southbourne Lodge web site)

In 1920 Prescott was appointed the County Surveyor of Hertfordshire and was residing in Hatfield. During 1921 he became involved in military matters again, but only to the extent of obtaining his medals. On the 9^th of February he applied for his British War Medal and Victory Medal and on the 14^th of April he was authorized the oak leaf for his Victory Medal as recognition for his Mention in Despatches by Sir Douglas Haig. His British War Medal and Victory Medal were issued to him on the 17^th of November.[21] There is no record of him ever applying for or receiving the 1914-15 Star, although this medal, as explained above, somehow became part of his medal group with his name and rank engraved on the reverse.

In 1930 Prescott and his wife were living in St. Stephen’s House in St. Albans, Hertfordshire.[22] Following his wife’s death in 1934 he continued to live at this address. From 1937 to 1938 Prescott served as the President of the County Surveyors’ Society and in 1939 he was employed as the County Surveyor and Architect to the Hertfordshire County Council.[23]

Albert Ernest Prescott died on the 20^th of December 1948 at the age of 71. He was buried with his wife in the St. Stephen Churchyard in St. Albans. The probate of his will took place in London on the 15^th of February 1949 with his effects being left to his sister, Florence Vaughn Pickering, the wife of Joseph Robert Pickering, in the amount of £29,924 11s and 5d (about $1,320,000 US in 2020 currency).

Figure 24. Sir William Henry Prescott, Bt., CBE, DL.
(Photograph courtesy of the Prescott Timeline web site)

William Henry Prescott was born on the 26^th of March 1874 in St. Helen’s, Lancashire. In 1884 he moved with his family to Blackburn, Lancashire when his father joined an insurance company. From 1884 to 1891 William attended Blackburn Grammar School and for a short time in 1891 he was employed as a bookkeeper for a textile mill.

From 1891 to 1894 William worked as an Assistant Borough Engineer in Grimsby, Lincolnshire and from 1894 to 1897 he worked as the Deputy Borough Engineer in Darwen, Lancashire.

William married Bessie Smith Stanley on the 27^th of December 1897 in the Wesleyan Chapel in Moore, Daresbury, Cheshire.

Figure 25. Lady Bessie Smith Prescott.
(Photograph courtesy of the Prescott Timeline web site)

From 1897 to 1900 William Prescott worked as the Borough Engineer in Reigate and Redhill, Surrey. The Prescotts first child, Richard Stanley Prescott (1899-1965) was born in Redhill in on the 26^th of January 1899.

William was appointed Chief Engineer and Surveyor for Tottenham, Middlesex in 1900 and in1901 he was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. His wife gave birth to a daughter, Bernice Louis Prescott in 1903.

In 1909 William was made a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and was elected a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. During this year he studied to be a Barrister-at-Law and was called to the Bar at Grey’s Inn.

The Prescott’s second son, Stanley Prescott, was born in 1912 at Allington House, Tottenham.

William Prescott was commissioned in the Royal Engineers and left his position as the Chief Engineer and Surveyor in Tottenham to serve in the Great War. He served as a Major in command of the 222^nd (Tottenham) Field Company, Royal Engineers in France and Flanders from 1914 to 1915, and was invalided home. The 222^nd Field Company formed part of the 33^rd Division. The company joined the division at Clipstone Camp near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire on the 14^th of July 1915. The company landed in Le Havre, France on the 17^th and 18^th of November 1915.[24] It was not engaged in any significant action until the Somme offensive in July 1916, so it appears that William Prescott may have been invalided home due to ill health. He continued serving until 1918 when he was demobilized and resumed his duties in Tottenham.

Figure 26. The Medal Index Card (front) of Major William Henry Prescott, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

William Henry Prescott’s MIC shows that he arrived in France in November of 1915. For his service he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Figure 27. The Medal Index Card (back) of Major William Henry Prescott, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

The back side of his MIC shows that after the war he was residing at Allington House on White Hart Lane in Tottenham. He made application for his British War Medal and Victory Medal on the 24^th of July 1920 and received the medals on the 24^th of August 1920.

From 1918 to 1922 Prescott served as a Member of Parliament (Conservative) for Tottenham North. He was awarded the CBE in 1920 and the Knighthood in 1922. In 1922 he established a consulting engineering practice in London which he continued until 1928. From 1928 to 1940 he served as the Chairman of the Metropolitan Water Board and in 1929 large steam engines and water pumps at Kempton, Middlesex were named in honour of Sir William and Lady Bessie Prescott.

Prescott was created the 1^st Baronet of Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire in 1938. The following year he was appointed the Honorary Colonel of the 1^st Anti-Aircraft Divisional Signals (T.A.), Royal Signals, an appointment that he held until his death in 1945.

Sir William Prescott died at his home at “The Chestnuts” on West Road in Godmanchester on the 15^th of June 1945. His cause of death was coronary thrombosis and arterio-sclerosis.

1. HENNIKER, A.M. History of the Great War: Transportation on the Western Front, 1914-1918. The Imperial War Museum, London, 1937.

6. WILLIAMSON, H. The Great War Medal Collectors Companion, Volume III. Anne Williamson, Harwich, Essex, 2014.

[1] The names Jonadab and Rechag are from the Bible, Jeremia 35:18 and 19. "18: And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

19: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever."

[2] Now Merseyside. The structure that was at 191 Boundary Road no longer exists.

[3] Larceny charges fell into different categories. “Larceny by clerk or servant” (otherwise known as “Larceny by Servant”) is the offence of theft or stealing by clerk or servant, and is often charged when it is alleged that an employee stole from their employer. This added factor of “clerk” or “servant” makes this more serious than the normal larceny charge.

[4] Ledger of St. Trinian’s Lodge, 1899 to 1909.

[5] Transactions of the Institution of Water Engineers, 1902-1902.

[6] Who’s Who.

[7] Officers Training Corps.

[8] Army Lists, 10 January 1917 and 29 January 1917.

[9] Corps History, Volume V, p. 155.

[10] Road repair workers.

[11] History of the Great War: Transportation on the Western Front, 1914-1918, p. xviii.

[12] Corps History, Volume V, pp. 258-259.

[13] Ibid., pp. 302-303.

[14] Ibid., p. 627.

[15] Monthly Army List, November 1917.

[16] Corps History, Volume V, pp. 637-638.

[17] History of the Great War: Transportation on the Western Front, 1914-1918, p. 406.

[18] London Gazette, 10 October 1918.

[19] Foreword to The Roads Souvenir Album, 1916-1919.

[20] The British War Medal and Victory Medal are in the author’s collection.

[21] Medal Index Card.

[22] Who’s Who, 1930, p. 2740.

[23] 1939 Electoral Register.

[24] WILLIAMSON, H., p. 1209.

Date of Promotion or Appointment	Rank or Position
14 December 1916	Appointed Temporary Major in the Royal Engineers. Graded as a Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General.
26 April 1917	Promoted Temporary Lieutenant Colonel. Graded as Assistant Quartermaster General (Class X)

Date	Qualification
14 December 1916	Deputy Assistant Director of Roads.
26 April 1917	Assistant Director of Roads.

2. EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION

Parents

Date of Promotion or Appointment

Date