Corps or Company?

Question

The Great War Project have a category for soldiers of the category: Labour Corps, British Army, World War I.  However, there is also a category for the soldiers of the Labour Company, British Army, World War I. Should these categories be merged?  My understanding is that the only difference is the variation in the name.

Answer 1

Corps, Battalions and Companies are different sized organizations.  They are not interchangeable.

Comments

Thanks Susan!

Answer 2

according to what I just read, "On 22 February 1917 an Army Order formed the Labour Corps, turning the pre-existing Infantry Labour Companies and Infantry Labour Battalions into 203 Labour Companies." So, the companies were subordinate units of the Labour Corps.

Answer 3

Thank you for the explanations of the difference in terms. Whilst I can understand the hierachy it has left me with a different question.  Presumably everyone in the Corps was assigned to a Company, so how do we decide which category to use?

Comments

lowest in the tree for which adequate sources are found.  So if you can't find anything more specific than they were in the corps, then that applies, if you have more refined data, can go further down the cat tree.

Answer 4

In addition to the size differences, the US Navy does not use the same names or criteria as the other branches.

Beginning at the smallest, you have Squads, Platoons, and Companies.  In Naval Aviation at least, they serve in Squadrons.

Comments

I'm not surprised, the British navy, army and air force all use different terms for their various divisions, I suppose it's the same the world over.  It's just unfortunate for those who aren't clued up on military matters when we are faced with minimum information about an individual's service and multiple categores which might be appropriate.  Hopefully those who maintain the military projects and categories are forgiving of the rest of us!