The Depot Unit of Supply was a unit of the Army Service Corps. Each was organised to be sufficient for a depot feeding up to 4000 men and 1000 horses or mules (so, for example, a brigade of infantry).
The following information is from “War Establishments of the New Armies”, a War Office publication of 1915.
Establishment
- 1 Captain, Lieutenant or Second-Lieutenant in command
- 1 Warrant Officer
- 6 clerks and issuers (2 each at Sergeant,Corporal, and Private)
- 4 Butchers (normally Privates)
- 1 Cook (normally Private)
- 1 Batman (normally Private)
If the depot was also required to supply bread, a bakery section would be added for every 4000 rations required:
- 2 Sergeants
- 2 Corporals
- 2 Privates
Research tips
Very few war diaries of the Depot Units of Supply exist, and those that do are held in the WO95 series of documents at the National Archives. As such, this is a type of unit that can be very difficult to trace, but they are mentioned on occasion in the war diaries of the Army headquarters, Base Depots, Base Ports, etc. The DUS employed men who had been enlisted into, or who were otherwise serving in, the Supply department of the ASC and would have a number prefixed with the letter “S”.